This week’s small pleasures #304

It is Monday evening, the sun is shining and I am home for work, welcomed by a very happy Charlie. Spring is in the air, I started a new book at the weekend and enjoyed browsing through recipes on Sunday evening. All small pleasures in themselves. Oh and we collected a parcel of Swedish ‘treats’ today!

As so often in these posts, I share things I have seen in the Botanic Gardens. These beautiful dark purple magnolia are quite stunning, and I look forward to seeing them every year. This azalea is also so pretty just now, with its soft pink and frothy flowers.

So over to food, and there was fish and chips at the Shepherd’s Arms on Thursday (seemed like an age since I had had that) and a croque monsieur at Tartines in Eastbourne for lunch on Sunday. In the shopping bag this week were carrots, kale, a leek, shallots, green beans, oranges, a grapefruit (which are so good right now), tomatoes which I am craving though it is not the season, some cannellini beans and two lemonade fruit. A cross between a mandarin and a lemon, these were apparently first discovered here in New Zealand in the 1980s. They are quite tart, and are more of a lemon substitute to my way of thinking than a fruit just to eat.

Saturday was a lovely sunny day, with the brightest of blue skies which always makes everything look cheerful. The building on the left below in the city is the Old Bank Arcade, just across from where I do Pilates, The picture on the right is looking up towards the Majestic Centre with its distinctive ‘flag pole’ feature on the roof. I really must go out and about and do a ‘tour of the city’ post at some point!

On Sunday, we visited the Petone Settlers Museum, which we had never been to for some reason. The building, known originally as the Wellington Provincial Centennial Memorial, was opened in 1940 as part of the centennial celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The building’s original purpose was as a bathing pavilion, and the remnants of bits of that original purpose can be seen in the building.

The museum sits on the site of the where the first ship carrying organised British settlers arrived in Wellington on 22 January 1840. I was drawn to this poster encouraging people to build the first Scottish colony. In fact this ship was the fourth to arrive at Petone in February 1840.

I was also drawn to the frieze in the entrance to the museum, in particular the two children in the bottom left of the section in the photo below with suitcases marked ‘Polska’, reminding us of the arrival of a ship with 700 Polish children in 1944. The museum is small, but well worth a look, for the history and the building itself. The featured image at the top of the post is taken from near the museum looking over to Wellington.

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 brought a huge smile to my face by featuring Whistler’s portrait Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, one of my favourite pictures. She also shares lots of other delights so do check her post.
• Ju Lyn at Touring my Backyard goes for a walk with friends
• Natalie the Explorer makes our mouths water with some wonderful looking food (think lobster, think blueberry pie….).
• Anne over at Something Over Tea shares a memorable teaching moment.
• Share a coffee over at Trent’s World and hear about his week.
• Gary drinks tea and enjoys the company of lizards.
• Laurie over at Notes from the Hinterland delights at autumn.
• Retirement Reflections makes some immune boosting soup.
• And Popsicle Society motivates us for Monday.
• Green Dreams talks about sprouting and sustainability.
• Southern Patches shares her Friday Favourites.

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