This week’s small pleasures #387

Thistles and Kiwis

I’m writing this on Monday evening feeling pretty lousy. I ache, I have a sore throat and feel totally exhausted, but at least this morning I tested negative for Covid. Lots of hot drinks, napping and spending far too much time watching YouTube videos of cats and cooking have been the order of the day. At least my diary isn’t too full this week, or at least appointments that can be changed. Fingers crossed I keep testing negative for Covid! Anyway…..to this week’s small pleasures…

In the basket

The Wonky Box delivered some great things this week: a big cauliflower, onions, a fennel bulb, a cucumber, one carrot (well…..there are others left in the fridge), tomatoes and a bag of baby spinach (not pictured). I topped this up with green beans, seasonal persimmons and mandarins, some more greens (silver beet and cavolo nero) and some bright red chillis.

And….my souvenir jar of Fix & Fogg peanut butter arrived, complete with a sticker and stamp. As I mentioned last week, their crunchy peanut butter is the first
New Zealand Food brand to venture into space with NASA.

Out and about

On Thursday, we popped round the corner to our local pub, The Pickle Jar, and enjoyed burgers – classic for Karl and chicken for me. It made a nice change – I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a chicken burger.

On Saturday, a friend and I went to see the choreographic season at the New Zealand School of Dance. This evening showcases short works made by the third year students, this year featuring eight works. It was a nice evening, full of energy and grace.

Eurovision 2024

I am really not sure if this was a small pleasure or not…certainly entertaining at times at least! Because we are in New Zealand, we have to get up on Sunday morning to watch the start of the show which for us is 7am. This year the competition was from Malmö, as Sweden won last time. My favourites were Italy and Luxembourg, thought the French singer certainly had a fantastic voice. Switzerland won, a clear favourite by both the jury and the popular vote. Ah well….you can see the Italian one here and the Swiss one here if you so desire! We kept ourselves going through the marathon 4 hour event with smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels (on the left below).

Simple things

  • Eating a date scone with a coffee at the little café next to the local library (see above on the right).
  • Seeing all the amazing pictures of the Aurora Australis, even though we didn’t see them ourselves.
  • Lighting candles at the dinner table now the darker evenings are here.
  • Digging out my most cosy sweaters.
  • Getting decent lunch time walks (even if only to pick up an order for a shirt and another for a book).
  • Enjoying sunshine and blue skies

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 shared in the weekly 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 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

  1. I hope you feel better very soon! We have been shrouded in thick mist so far this morning, although it hasn’t stopped the starlings from feasting on the Natal figs!

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  2. Thanks for mentioning the peanut butter! What a story it has to tell. I want to try it and I’m sure my kiddos will love that this brand of peanut butter went into space with NASA.
    I hope that you feel better soon and that you continue to test negative for COVID. Take care. 🙂

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  4. Thank you for the mention Barbara, I do hope you feel better soon, and that it is not covid. After blue skies last week we are back to rain and low cloud today.

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  5. Hope you are feeling better and that you don’t have Covid. Sounds as though Eurovision was lots of fun, even if you did have to sacrifice some sleep time. Sometimes it is necessary to suffer for art. 😉

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  8. As others have said, I hope you get better soon, there are so many random “bugs” around as winter sets in…

    I’ll have a look at the two Eurovision songs that were your favourite..

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  9. Eurovision was ‘entertaining’ to say the least. I didn’t catch much of it but saw enough :). I do hope you’re feeling better by now. We looked for the lights here biut one night was cloudy and the others we couldn’t see anything of note which is a real shame! Some of the shots from those around the world and here in Aus have been fabulous!

    Thanks for the mention – as always!!

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  14. I hope you feel better soon. The Wonky Box items all look great although the bright red chillis may be too hot for me. Thank you for the mention and for your weekend coffee share.

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  15. Whew Barbara,

    I thought for only a moment that you were going to tell us that you caught covid.

    So glad that wasn’t true. I hope you’re fully recovered by the time you read this and am happy you were spared from all the discomfort that comes with that nasty bug.

    Blessings

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  16. Hope you are well recovered from your Monday ills. Covid or otherwise, it is no fun being under the weather.

    I have seen Fix & Fogg on our shelves but have not tried it. Crunchy is my PB of choice. Now I have to get me some.

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