This week’s small pleasures #312

Summer is here – and so far we have had a fair bit of sunshine, and certainly warmer temperatures. The longest day approaches, and it won’t be long until I am on holiday too. It is hard to believe we are nearly at the end of 2022 already – where has the time gone? These ducks look like they are looking for the answer…or maybe just something good to eat.

Fruits of the season and other food

It was lovely to see the first of the cherry sellers on Friday, and the ones I picked up were particularly good and sweet. We are also enjoying strawberries of course – in fact nothing beats summer fruit. In the basket this week was more asparagus and sweet corn, tomatoes, peas, grapefruit and a bunch of garlic scapes. I enjoyed a pastrami sandwich for lunch on Wednesday at Pickle & Pie, always a small pleasure.

Thorndon Fair

On Sunday we headed down to the annual Thorndon Fair, which takes place on the first Sunday in December. There are stalls selling everything from wine and olive oil to dog treats and cheese. The grey skies don’t give an idea of the temperature, better shown by shorts and short sleeves! In the picture on the right below you can see not only my husband but the grey building in the background is Premier House, the Prime Minister’s residence. The front entrance of the house is open for the Fair, home to a small stage and a few stalls like the one below.

We picked up bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard for lunch, and spotted Tree walking about. We somehow missed the Morris dancers though, always a favourite of mine. In any case, it was great to be at the fair again after it was cancelled last year. I picked up a few things of course: some stocking fillers which I can’t show (just in case!), two pieces of cheese from Geraldine Cheese Co and some crackers from The Baked Dane and this lovely little bowl from Galit Maxwell and what I hope will be useful, a bowl with holes for pulling leaves off herb stalks – I’ll experiment and let you know how that goes.

Out for dinner

Sunday was of course also the second Sunday in Advent and St Barbara’s Day, that is my Name Day. Name Days are celebrated in many European countries such as Poland and Sweden. We headed out for dinner to Liberty to celebrate. As is the case in so many places now, the dishes are made for sharing, and we opted for tostadas with pulled pork which had just the right amount of spice (not pictured), the extremely delicious burrata, prosciutto, olive and ‘gin melon’ with a side of lovely warm bread that was served with black garlic butter (see Karl digging in below), grilled octopus with white beans and a mint salsa verde (see below), fish and prawn dumplings and gnocchi with venison bolognese. It was a lot of food, and all very delicious.

So that is it for this week. 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 shares her delights of the week – do pop over and read her post – it will bring a smile to your face.
• Ju Lyn at Touring my Backyard shares some lovely pictures of otters and signs of Christmas in the Botanic Gardens.
• Natalie the Explorer shares some amazing walks and art in November. She also hosts the weekend coffee share.
• Anne over at Something Over Tea writes about being tidy….our home is also very much lived in.
• Share a coffee over at Trent’s World.
• Popsicle Society as ever motivates us on Monday.
• Green Dreams decorates her Christmas tree and enjoyes ore sprouting seeds.
• More Christmas cheer over at Southern Patches  
• Retirement Reflections tells us about a new blog share coming up next year.
• Laurie over at Notes From the Hinterland shares her Thanksgiving.
• Deb shares things she is loving – and being amazing of course too.
• Jo over at And Anyways shares tales of her recent trip to the UK.

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. If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com or lofgren@thistlesandkiwis.org