In a week that saw Wellington go back up to Covid Alert Level 2 (extended on Sunday for another 48 hours), closure of the Trans Tasman bubble for a few days, and lots of rain, it has been even more important to think about the small pleasures in life. There was some time to read, a visit to the hairdresser, my usual Pilates classes and lots of cat cuddles from Charlie.
There was also this wonderful sky on Friday morning, as seen walking to work. The colours were amazing and just lit up the sky as you can see below, looking particularly stunning behind The Beehive, the New Zealand parliament building.
And so to the round up of this week’s good eatings, of which there are quite a few. Starting at the top left, there was a gorgeous rhubarb and custard tart from Arobake for a Saturday afternoon treat with tea, pasta with the mushrooms I grew (see Saturday’s post) during the week and a hot chocolate when working at home on Thursday. In the shopping basket this week there was cabbage, mushrooms (I have to wait a few more weeks for more home grown ones), limes, more yams (oca), passion fruit, tamarillos and kumara to mash with potato for a topping for a cottage pie. I had a really lovely seafood chowder for lunch at Prefab on Wednesday when I met my nephew’s wife and great nephew (he is 9 months old and such a gorgeous wee thing). On Sunday, Karl and I had the most wonderful fish finger sandwiches at Field & Green with some polenta fries on the side for lunch. Now, that was a real small pleasure!
So those were my small pleasures this week ā what were yours? As usual, I like to feature other bloggers who have made me smile, made me think or generally shared some interesting aspects of their lives.
- Laurie over atĀ Notes from the HinterlandĀ shows off her beautiful summer garden.
- Carol Ann ofĀ Fashioned for JoyĀ has so many delights this week – make sure you check them out.
- I love the sculpture over at Ju LynāsĀ Touring My BackyardĀ
- Natalie the ExplorerĀ shares some lovely summer pictures from Corktown Common in Toronto as well as hosting the weekend Coffee Share.
- Trentās WorldĀ enjoys a kayak paddle on a summer break
- Anne at Something Over Tea reflects on winter – as it is for us in the Southern Hemisphere.
- Finally, please think aboutĀ Sanch WritesĀ over the Tasman in Sydney as the city enters yet another lockdown. She has had cat cuddles and supportive colleagues and friends at least, but it isn’t an easy time.
Thistles and Kiwis 
During these trying times it is ever more important to focus on the positive things – as you have done. We move to Level 4 at midnight (the ‘third wave’ is crashing all about us, sadly), however: I enjoyed a drive along a country road this morning and saw impala, a black-backed jackal and a herd of roan antelope; chatted to my eldest granddaughter who lives in Norway; to my daughter in Cape Town; and now am enjoying the calm after the chilly wind that has been blowing all day has finally settled. Thank you for providing a link to my blog, which is very kind of you!
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Oh, no! So sorry to read this!
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Beautiful clouds and delicious-looking food! I enjoyed cycling and walking in parks this past week. Thank you for the mention and for linking with #weekendcoffeeshare.
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Thanks for stopping by!
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Beautiful photos the sky looks so vast so I guess more rain, pink sky in the morning. Do you make your hot chocolate using choc chips, sometimes I add a little chilly powder to mine for extra warmth it doesn’t alter the flavour. Food all looks yum.
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I have a dark hot chocolate powder I use. Might try the chilli idea.
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All your dishes look like lovely hearty food, the kind you need in winter! I loved the photo of the Beehive building and the beautiful morning sky. Lucky to catch that sky.
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Yes – not weather for salads! I was lucky to catch the sky like that on Friday.
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Oh, the food! And what a sky. Beautiful.
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It was rather an indulgent week regarding food!
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I love your sunset photos.
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Sunrise actually!
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Rhubarb and custard – yum. Though my favorite rhubarb dish is strawberry rhubarb pie.
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I love skies like that and that food looks so dedlicious! š
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Hope your restrictions have eased and there were no cases from the Sydney flight to Wellington. I do understand though how hard it becomes to have to look for the little things. Skies like that are gorgeous and I love your captures! Hope your week is going well
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Yes back to Level 1 at least! Hope your week is going well too.
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It was good to hear that Wgtn got out of jail and back on the same level as the rest of us…”how we managed not to see Delta variant arrive and stay is amazing”. Your food adventures look enticing. And yes small pleasures are the essence of “now” – mine that I can stay home and do whatever I like. This morning Auckland was at 3 degrees at 7am, but apparently we did the 0 earlier and that some places in the SI were warmer, of course the wind chill with the southerly up here is the killer. Hope you are not located near the coastal sea swells…
It looks like a beautiful day outdoors, sun is out but I think the cold air is still with us…maybe I will go out later.
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That rhubarb and custard tart looks so yummy! New Zealand is a place my husband and I are daydreaming to go.
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It was very good. New Zealand is a lovely country to visit.
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