This week’s small pleasures #454

Thistles and Kiwis

It is Monday evening. After a short stroll for a bit of fresh air after work, I heated up homemade pumpkin and carrot soup (with a touch of coconut milk and Thai red curry paste) which I enjoyed with a slice of good bread and cheese. A good way to start the end of the day.

It has been a week of very mixed weather. Tuesday was quite wild with lots of rain and strong winds – Karl captured this picture of one of the Cook Strait ferries at noon in the harbour. I worked at home and was quite happy to keep out of the weather.

However, it all changed, and the second half of the week and the weekend was gloriously sunny – the picture below was taken standing at the bus stop on Saturday morning. It was still, calm and perfect late winter weather. The featured image at the top of the post was taken today.

In the basket

On Wednesday I picked up some Zany Zeus feta and halloumi (my favourite brand), bunches of cavolo nero and red chard, a radiccio, a jar of lovely looking red cabbage sauerkraut and a bar of Baron Hasselhof’s chocolate (Butter Boom! burnt butter and cinnamon). I topped this up with some tofu, smoked fish, a fennel bulb and a few other bits and pieces.

The Wonky Box delivered always welcome mushrooms, potatoes, onions, yams (oca), a butternut squash, broccoli, a turnip and a lettuce (not pictured) as well as some very good value for this time of year, tomatoes, that I added to my order.

Going out, staying in

I finally got to Squirrel on Wednesday, one of my favourite cafés in the city. I had one of their excellent Maude’s chicken sandwiches (named after the owner’s dog), which has capers, salad and lots of other good things. I then popped next door to Small Acorns to pick up my 2026 planner and pen from Emma Kate, so beautifully wrapped and presented.

We changed our plans on Sunday, and instead of going to see a film we were only half interested in, had lunch over at our local library café, enjoying excellent cheese, ham and tomato toasties. It was then home to make the soup, a small batch of lemon curd, and to read and rest.

We watched the British series The Hostage which was OK but full of unlikely plot devices, and the excellent film 6 days about the Iranian hostage siege in London in 1980.

Beervana

On Saturday, we went to Beervana, the annual beer festival held here in Wellington. We tasted several different beers from New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and I even had a stout from Sweden. We ate pierogi from The Little Polish Kiosk, and of course, oysters from Mahurangi Oysters. I found a rhubarb cider called ‘Barbara’ and we queued up at local brewery Garage Project’s stand because that is a must.

Simple things

  • Enjoying some fabulous food, wine and conversation at Noble Rot.
  • Getting out some new books from the library.
  • Going to book club at Marsden Books on Thursday evening.
  • Feeling the warmth of the sun.
  • Listening to tuī enjoying the kōwhai flowers.
  • Spotting this daffodil the garden.

What were your small pleasures this week? Here are some other blog posts from a few fellow bloggers looking at the good things in life. 

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

39 Comments

  1. I smiled when I read about the beer festival. Here in Europe it would be unthinkable not to have German beer 🙂 I never thought of South Korea as being big on beer. so I learn from reading blogs from around the world.

    Your wonky box as usual looks good. 🙂

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  2. Tui in the Kowhai – that brings back lots of memories. An aunt had a large kowhai in her garden in Hastings which flowered profusely. The Tui are such beautiful birds – a study in yellow and black – with a puff of white.

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  3. 🥣🌤️ From pumpkin soup to pierogi, it all sounds like a treat for the senses. 🍞🧀 Beervana sounds like fun, but what really got me was that perfect mix of soup, good books, and sunny moments. 📚🌼 The little things that make the whole week. 💛

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  5. Thanks for the mention!

    That pumpkin soup sounds delicious. Does the curry paste make the soup very hot?

    What movie had you planned to see?

    Was thinking of putting The Hostage on my TBW list.

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    1. I just put a little curry paste in that added a nice amount of heat and flavour. We had planned to see a French comedy, but when we looked at the plot, and the fact that Karl was flying off to the UK on Monday, we just stayed home.

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  6. Well you couldn’t not have a can of the Barbara. I’d quite like rhubarb cider too, I am quite fond of a fruit cider. Another lovely week of delicious food.

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  7. I don’t think I’d want to be on that ferry; it looks like it’s ready to tip over. Good thing the weather quickly changed for the better. Finding a beer named after you must have put a smile on your face. Thanks, as always for linking my recent blog post!

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  9. A rhubarb cider? That sounds so interesting! I had more rhubarbs than my friends and I together could find a use for this year, perhaps making cider is something I should look into? I haven’t been to a beer festival in years, when I was younger I used to visit Stockholms beer and whiskey festival in the fall. Maybe I should go this year 🙂 Thank you for a wonderful post.

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  11. Glen would enjoy Beervana. I must remember it if and when we plan our next NZ holiday. Our weather’s been much the same – warm and sunny one day, cold and damp the next. We’re really looking forward to summer.

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  12. That latter toastie looks fabulous … all that ooey gooey cheese!

    I love the look of those yams in your Wonky Box – I had to check several times to figure that’s what they were. Are they anything like sweet potatoes or more like larger yams?

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  14. The beer festival looked good and your own can with our favourite black cat! Our weather’s been up and down too with faint glimpses of spring. Rain all week now. Hope your week is a good one. 😊

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  16. I’d be all over that beer festival! And your soup sounds very lovely, I make something quite similar. That ferry looks like it’s actually going to capsize it so angled!!

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  18. Pingback: hankering for an oatmeal cookie? – Touring My Backyard

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