This week’s small pleasures #301

So I came home on Sunday last week, to sunshine, a magnolia in bloom and a cold and empty house. The heating went on, bags were unpacked, Karl came home that afternoon and we picked up Charlie from the cattery on Monday. Soon the house was cosy and the three of us were retunited.

I didn’t go back to work until Thursday, so on Monday I fitted in an extra Pilates class which my body definitely needed after a 13 hour flight. I had lunch at Pickle & Pie – a great pastrami based sandwich with a giant piece of pickle (see below) – and ended up having a lovely conversation with my server about the book I was reading, Dunedin and Edinburgh. A real small pleasure.

On Tuesday I picked up my Emma Kate Co 2023 diary from Small Acorns, and enjoyed a crumbly rhubarb scone in next door Squirrel. Wednesday was a domestic day, clearing the ironing, cleaning the fridge and pantry, and listening to an audio book to keep me going through all this domesticity.

It was back to work on Thursday, followed by Pilates and The Great Kiwi Bakeoff, which saw the contestants tackle some incredible looking desserts. Friday saw some book ordering and shopping, a fun conversation with a colleague about what we are reading and of course, the start of the weekend after a very short week for me.

Saturday’s walk to Pilates took me past masses of wild garlic, wallflowers and tulips (see the featured image at the top of the post), and of course The Beehive, as the building housing the New Zealand Parliament is known. It was a gorgeous, crisp morning and one could smell spring in the air.

In the evening, a friend and I went to an evening of memoirs, Pointe Shoes and Showbiz, featuring Lesley Bandy, who started her dance career in Auckland and danced in London, Paris and Las Vegas, before moving into arts management. She was really funny, recounting tales of her life – three husbands, dancing at The Lido as well as classical ballet, escort to The Chippendales and managing MGM Grand’s parkwide Halloween events. Dancers Tabitha Dombroski and Björn Åslund helped bring these stories to life. I hope she turns her tales into a book – I felt there was a lot more to her life story. 

Sunday morning was spent doing a little tidying in the garden, and the usual household chores, and then we enjoyed our first asparagus of the season for dinner along with a pork mince based pasta bake. And that was the week. I’m off to Christchurch for work this week, so this post is a little earlier than usual.

So, 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. 

• Carol Ann over at  Fashioned for Joy reminds us of a holiday in Vietnam and reminds us to face our fears.
• Ju Lyn at Touring my Backyard shares her happy place and happy space (despite a broken toe).
• Natalie the Explorer visits Hawthorne Cottage and Brigus.
• Anne over at Something Over Tea enjoys watching birds at Ebb and Flow.
• Share a coffee over at Trent’s World.
• Joanne at And Anyways shares what is on her bookshelf (my post will be a week late on Wednesday).
• Retirement Reflections also shares her last month’s reading.
• I was so pleased to see Sanch Writes blogging again – a small pleasure!

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

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