This week’s small pleasures #366

Thistles and Kiwis

It has been a glorious, sunny day today, a proper summer day – unlike yesterday’s rain and wind. The pōhutukawa are flowering (see the featured image at the top of the post), the cicadas are singing…and the forecast for Christmas Eve is rain. Ah well…anyway, yesterday was also the third Sunday in Advent and we lit candle number 3.

More bird news

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a link to the good news that kiwis are returning to some parts of Wellington, thanks to the creation of preditor-free areas. Another bird that has certainly made the city its home is the kākā. The population of this big, red and brown parrot has increased by 250% between 20011 and 2020, and the birds are now a common site across the city (I even saw two in the middle of town the other week).

If you look at the picture of the tree below, you will see the trunk has been damaged. No, this is not caused by humans but by kākā. The tree sits across the road from Parliament, on the corner of a busy road, and is an obvious attraction to the birds. You can read more about them here and a survey from this year here.

Eating out

On Wednesday, we headed out for dinner to Concord, on Victoria Street in town. I love the decor here, with bright colours (you can see the red and blue at the bar, bottom left) and a joyful atmosphere. I started with half a dozen te matuku oysters from Waiheke Island, and Karl had veal croquettes. We both opted for the steak sandwich as our main, which was quite different to the one we had had there before, but still tasty. We drank a light dry red from Halite Wines, served slightly chilled.

In the basket and other eatings

There were lots of good things in the Wonky Box this week – potatoes, another leek, tomatoes, bok choy, caulilini, a bunch of carrots and (not shown) two avocados and a large head of curly lettuce. It was exciting to see the first stone fruit appear in the shops, so I picked up two peaches. Desert on Saturday was raspberries with the ginger ice-cream I bought a couple of weeks ago, with strawberries on Sunday.

I also spotted gooseberries – a little punnet was quite expensive but so hard to resist. They take me right back to childhood, and my dad coming home with bags of the fruit he grew. There were both green and red gooseberries, the latter being sweet enough to eat as they were. I cooked these ones down with a dash of sugar and will enjoy them with yoghurt for breakfast this coming week. Of course, I couldn’t resist more asparagus and also some green beans.

Only one sandwich to report on this week, a simple ham and cheese baguette at Pandoro. I also found some mini mincemeat pies, so it is really beginning to feel like Christmas now.

Simple things

  • Enjoying an evening of fun and laughter with the book club, meeting in person and not just online.
  • Watching the Lucia morning concert on Swedish television, this year from Kalmar Castle in my husband’s home town. You should be able to watch it from this link.  
  • Seeing lots of pictures of my great-nephews on their first trip to Japan to visit their grandparents.
  • Watching Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday for the umpteenth time.
  • Finding something I thought I had lost, and finding it. I am sure you have all experienced this at some point!
  • Seeing that at least Santa values public servants!

So those were my highlights of the week. 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

Published by Thistles and Kiwis

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

30 Comments

  2. The weather is doing strange things: my son, from Glasgow, wants to know what happened to the heat and sunny skies South Africa is well-known for. I don’t mind the cooler weather as I seem to have more energy then. I have enjoyed this post of yours 🙂

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  3. I love gooseberries but in the past 5 years have never seen them for sale in the small shops around me. I have lots of recipes I want to try out, some that I used to make years ago.
    Next year I will try to get to the big market in Leeds and hope to get them there.
    Lucky you to have bought some.

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    1. Yes – they strip the bark off trees and then feed on the sap. I read that most of the damage appears to occur in winter and early spring, probably as other food sources are relatively scarce at this time of year.

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  11. I hadn’t heard of the KaKa birds. Thanks for the link. As a bird lover I found it interesting to read about them. My best wishes for a Merry Christmas. I look forward to reconnecting in the new year.

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  12. Barbara, I love your photos of the flowering trees, the candles, the produce and food. I hope the poor tree that gets cuts by the birds will heal and thrive. Thank you for the mention and for your weekend coffee share. Merry Christmas to you and Karl!

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  13. Your summer photos brings warmth to my home 🙂 It is very white outside my window, a beautiful winter’s day. Your veggie boxes always looks yummy, makes me dream of gardening. A very Merry Christmas to you!

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  15. That’s fantastic news about the birds! Too bad for the tree though, but yeah, that’s nature. I’m so glad you were able to meet up in real life with the book club. I’ve heard good things about Lucia celebrations from Maria too, so really should check that link out. Have a wonderful Christmas.

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  16. The pōhutukawa blooms look a little like the bottlebrush trees I grew up with in Northern California. Thanks for sharing the link about kākā – I’d never heard of them.

    My simple pleasures this week: Starting Winter Break (no work till a week from Wed.), starting a book I’m really enjoying, and a day of much-needed rain.

    Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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  18. Merry Christmas. The food is making me hungry as I’m having my morning coffee, reading & looking at your pictures. That tree is beautiful with those bloom. Since it’s winter in our part of the world, the trees are currently leaf barren. I’m looking forward to spring when the dogwoods are in bloom again.

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