This week’s small pleasures #82

So here we are in February already!  January was the hottest month that New Zealand has had in 150 years, with temperatures on average 3C warmer than usual. The weather broke this week, with the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Fehi, bringing flooding to some areas, and wind and rain for us here in Wellington.  February is usually known for being the hottest month, so let’s see what the weather will bring.

The orchid

Moving the orchid upstairs has given it a new lease of life, and we have been blessed with these beautiful blooms.

Breakfast

Tomatoes

The blogger Life Patisserie said that tomatoes are one of the most important things in life, and I so agree with her.  Regular readers of this blog or if you follow Thistles and Kiwis on Instagram, will know that tomatoes often feature, and with this being the season for them, it is hard to resist buying a new selection each week.

I made a really good salsa style accompaniment for salmon on Saturday, using roughly chopped tomatoes, a little sweetcorn, seasoning and a dash of white balsamic vinegar.  It was so fresh and light, and perfect the next day with some good bread and mushroom slices from Field Roast.

New cook books

Gaz Oakley aka the Avant-Garde Vegan has his first book out.  If you haven’t seen him on YouTube, go and watch now!  The other book is from Love and Lemons, that I have been thinking about buying for months, so with 20% discount, I could not pass it by this time.  I really have enough cook books now…well, for the time being.

Unplanned trip

The sun came out, so we drove over to Greytown, where we hadn’t been for ages.  We had some lunch and had a good stroll around.  It was nice to get out of the city, but of course, the ironing didn’t get done again…..but then that isn’t exactly a small pleasure…

And of course…it is still stone fruit season….hence the greengages in the featured image.  There are plums, peaches and nectarines in abundance everywhere you look.

Thanks to Mani over at A New Life Wandering for the original idea.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram@thistleandkiwis.  As for Twitter….am totally inactive these days.  If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com