This week’s small pleasures #344

Thistles and Kiwis

I am writing this post on not only a rather grey and drizzly day but at home from work feeling pretty awful with this never ending, long lasting cold. I feel I cannot drink any more tea (luckily I have lots of different ones but you know what I mean), stick my head over a steam inhalation and flop around but that is what seems to be necessary. As a result, this week’s small pleasures are very much focussed on things at home.

Activity in the sky

Actually, I am not sure this was a small pleasure, but it was certainly entertaining. The structural engineer came around on Wednesday, and as I was at home, I was able to see him use a drone to get a view from the air of the slip. I wished that Mr Tootlepedal had been here with a good camera to capture the 10 kākā that decided the drone was invading their territory and begin circling it, calling loudly. Great fun to watch!

Food

In the basket this week….a leek, a piece of pumpkin, a little celeriac, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, pears, tangerines and witloof (chicory). There was also a bag of potatoes, a chicken to roast, and some pork and fennel sausages.

Despite not feeling 100%, I made a proper Sunday roast, making the herbed roast chicken with buttery croutons from Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s Around the Table, my latest cook book purchase. I served it with potatoes, the sprouts and roasted pumpkin and purple carrots – a veritable feast. The left over vegetables made an excellent Monday lunch, topped with cheese and popped in the oven, and the leftover chicken was used to make a pasta sauce with mushrooms for dinner. Apologies for the photos but it is all about the artificial light in the evenings at the moment! And yes the skin did burst open on the roast chicken….and you can find the recipe here.

Activities

With having had a cold all week, there have been no nice lunches or dinners out, no trips, no events, but there has been a lot of sofa sitting, YouTube watching, magazine dipping, and a bit of reading too.

I also had a go at Ju Lyn’s 5 minutes with, (photograph and look at an object or scene for 5 minutes – check out her post with instructions) using this iconic Kosta Boda snowball candle holder, with the candle lit and unlit – these were my two favourite pictures.

Simple things

  • Looking at some stunning sunsets such as the one in the featured image.
  • Enjoying crime dramas Unforgotten and Beck.
  • Watching Masterchef Australia.
  • Realising that the days are gradually getting longer.
  • Thinking of all the things I could cook….
  • Smiling at the mince face in the supermarket

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. Also entered in the weekend coffee share hosted by Natalie.

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.com

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

35 Comments

  2. One reason why I hate long haul flights is that I always get a cold on arrival. Must be all those germs cycling through the air system. Hope you feel better soon. Colds are miserable. That chicken looks very tasty.

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  3. Sorry about that cold! Wonderful that you still found the energy to cook. Thanks, as always for the mention. Also, fascinating use of the drone. Very helpful, too, I would imagine, even if the birds didn’t like it.

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  4. Hi, Barbara – I am sorry that your cold has been hanging on for so long. I love how, despite of it, you found time to enjoy small pleasures. Like how cool is that Mince Face?! (Very!!)
    Thank you for the shout out. I greatly appreciate it

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  5. I’m sorry your bad cold is lingering. Your roast (how did you do it?!) looks divine, and your photos are lovely as ever. I’m delighted you shared your (and the kākā’s) experience with the drone; a good laugh can do as much as a cup of tea sometimes. (The Mince Face definitely counts!)

    Many thanks for your warm mention!

    Finally, I hope you are gentle with yourself. We’re rooting for your quick recovery (and permission-giving rest).

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  6. What a lovely sunset, it looks like a movie set against the ferns and trees.
    I’m thinking the days are getting longer too…cross fingers on that one, and hope your cold gets better soon.

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  7. I love the mince face. I wish that I had a drone but it would be out of my control within seconds, I fear. I would like to have seen the birds mobbing your engineers drone.

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  8. Good basket, and that chicken looks divine! I am definitely going to make that when the days get cooler. I refuse to think about my days getting shorter right now 😏. I kind of did a set of six on Saturday garden but also six gratitude. It is important to see the bigger picture amongst the weeds or a bad cold.

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  11. Goodness! This cold has lasted sooooo long. It must be an extremely resilient variant that you carried with you from your vacation! Hope you feel much better soon.

    So happy you tried the 5 mins with … such a beautiful candle holder.

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  12. I’m sorry to hear about your cold! As frustrating as it is, I do hope the forced rest was good for you 🙂 Looks like you had a lovely, if mellow, week. Hope you heal up quickly!

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