This week’s small pleasures #401

Thistles and Kiwis

The past week has seen good food, conversations and some very mixed weather. Today, for example, it was grey, then sunny, then raining again. You really can’t guess what will happen next! Anyway, I was at home today and went for a short walk and spotted this magnolia and the camellias in the featured image right round the corner from our house, which certainly lifted the spirits and were small pleasures in themselves

Sunday

The rain was falling, the skies were grey, but we had no plans and so spent the day at home. Waffles were made for breakfast with my new waffle maker (I had broken a bit off one to try in the picture below), tea was made (a pot of choco chilli from Tleaftea) to drink while reading, dinner was prepared (we had this) and a little housework fitted in too. It was just a lovely day! Below: the rain bouncing off the ground, tamarillos with a waffle, tea and the sky on Sunday morning.

In the basket

It was a real delight to see red capsicum in the Wonky Box this week as it being winter, these are pricey in the shops right now. There was more white kumara, potatoes, a little pumpkin, yet more onions (which are, at least, useful), a lettuce, a small leek and then….bok choy and kailan again. Ideas on how to use these always welcome!

I topped it up with cavolo nero, a few more potatoes, oranges and pears. Saturday’s dinner was some good sausages, a kumara and potato mash, roasted parsnips and carrots left over from last week’s box along with purple Brussels sprouts. Delicious!

Burger Wellington

Wellington on a Plate, and Burger Wellington, continues, and we have enjoyed two more burgers, one at Ombra and one at Bellamy’s. The one at Ombra was “Woody’s free range pork and beef patty, housemade Cacio e Pepe “cheese”, red pepper relish, rocket, and white pepper mayonnaise in a Brezelmania milk bun”. I really enjoyed the red pepper relish with the burger, which added something just a bit different.

Our second one this week was the It’s a Little Woke burger at the restaurant inside the Beehive (Parliament building) which was a “120g Angus beef patty, Café de Paris butter, bacon jam, cheddar, smoked tomato relish, pickles and iceberg in a sesame Brezelmania milk bun, with beef fat fries”. This was a classic burger and really excellent in its execution, though Karl thought it could have done with a bit more seasoning. The name? Read here and here – it was a 48 hour news story about school meals. The pictures below are in and outside the resaurant.

Simple things

  • Catching up for lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen for ages.
  • Hearing from Carol Ann of Fashioned For Joy – looking forward to welcoming her back to the blogosphere.
  • Doing some new exercises in Pilates – and feeling it!
  • Laughing and having fun in French class (think miming activities….my impression of gardening was prize winning…..)
  • Joining the book club meeting – always fun!
  • Spotting a mother duck and her eight little ducklings round the corner from where we live.

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 into the weekend coffee share hosted by Natalie.

  • Anne of Something Over Tea shares wonderful pictures of cosmos.
  • I love to see all the produce grown by Maria of Green Dreams.
  • Laurie gives thanks for strawberries and corn – tastes of summer.
  • Its time to catch up on reading with Deb’s World.
  • Learn about dovecots over at Now I’m 64.
  • I loved reading the moments that brightened Sue’s week.
  • Fred is back with stunning his pictures from his garden in France.
  • Say hello to the Sunday Schnauzer over at The Widow Badass.
  • Mr Tootlepedal meets his visitors over at Tootlepedal’s Blog.
  • Jude over at Cornwall in Colours celebrates oranges and lemons .
  • Natalie takes us around Philadelphia’s buildings and doors.
  • And of course there is always a good cup of coffee over at Trent’s World.
  • .…and all the other lovely bloggers out there. Sorry if I have missed anyone…..

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

Unknown's avatar

Published by Thistles and Kiwis

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

41 Comments

  1. Sounds like you had another delightful week of small pleasures, and that you worked around the weather.

    Cavolo Nero is my absolutely favourite kale! I have been eating lots of it while in London. While I can occasionally find it in Singapore, the cost is rather dear.

    P/s I spotted lovely rainbow chard yesterday and thought of you (unfortunately I had already got my leafies for the next few days)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. I haven’t made waffles for years – this is a fine reminder to do so 🙂 I had to look up kumara – what we call a sweet potato! Such fun to see the duck and her sucklings too.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. As always, thanks for the mention. Those baby ducks are so cute. Such an adorable sign of spring.I, too, was delighted to hear from Carol Ann, who is actually going to be in Maine this October, and we are going to meet. Wish you could join us!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. I have never heard of a burger that sounds so much like fine dining! Café de Paris butter, bacon jam, a sesame Brezelmania milk bun! You have such wonderful meals. No avos this week I see, and cavolo nero is one of our favourite vegetables. Nothing beats sausage and mash (though your mash is infinitely more interesting than mine) for a good winter supper. Thanks for the mention Barbara. Have a lovely week – we seem to be heading into autumn, already the nights are drawing in.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. We’ve been having weather like that too; in fact the sun came out today and I was just about to say something about when I turned around and saw that the skies just opened up and began downpouring! Your waffles look yummy!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Hi Barbara, those burgers look huge! I remember a time when Mike and I would catch a movie on a Sunday afternoon and then go to Parrots. It was a gourmet burger restaurant and oh my goodness so delicious. They closed unfortunately. Now another reason for me to visit Wellington – the burgers. Have a lovely week. x

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. It sounds like a wonderful bit of small pleasures. I love waffles and recently had to throw out my old waffle maker. I have to get a new one. And that burger looks almost too good to eat and such a beautiful restaurant. The Wonky box always intrigues me because I see things we don’t often see at our grocery here. Have a wonderful week.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I’m a bit late, to comment but enjoyed seeing your duck and ducklings, (spring time!) and you always seem to enjoy Pilates, my daughters have been encouraging me to start Pilates, they both love it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. The magnolias are so beautiful! That burger looks very tempting, even for someone like me that doesn’t eat meat very often. We are also experiencing some mixed weather. Higher humidity than usual, more bugs, but rather warm for the season. Enjoy the rest of your week ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. That is hilarious – the list of woke foods (smashed avo and the two pronunciations of Quinoa are hilarious). The anti woke people are such d/ckheads. How to be outraged over nothing. And in Australia and presumably NZ, how is sushi woke? We eat more sushi than in Japan. I was stunned how rare it was to eat sushi over there, and my friend who lives there when I questioned them said ‘Oh, we’d eat it maybe once a fortnight’ (we’d have it a couple of times a week! Ha….but I do live in the woke heartland (inner city latte sipping leftie according to Dutton). Great share! And I’m glad the burger was good!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I know – it was so hilarious at the time. Sushi places are all over the place here, a common lunch thing, so not sure why that was picked – but you people do latch on to the funniest things (like avocado toast – when they are in season here they are so cheap so hardly a luxury or hard to come by product)

      Like

      Reply
  15. Pingback: Six on Saturday 24.08.24 – Thistles and Kiwis

  17. Oh yes the camellias and magnolias are fabulous here at the moment Barbara! We’ve had some story weather and at the moment it’s bucketing down outside. I always enjoy hearing about your small pleasures and the wonky box fare. Thanks for the mention!! Have a great week.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  18. I love the pink camellia, magnolia flowers and those adorable ducklings. They’re sure signs of spring. The burgers and wonky box look so good. Thank you for the mention and your weekend coffee share. Have a wonderful week ahead!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. Wow! What a busy, full, and awesome week! I love all the photos. The burger looks amazing. I’m a sucker for a good burger.

    You did so much this week.. Reading it made me super tired. lol. Maybe because I was in the pool with my daughter for almost four hours yesterday! Ha! That and our warm weather came back and that’s making me a little sad since I’m ready for some cooler temps. The swimming was fun, though, so I’m not really complaining.

    Like

    Reply
  21. Pingback: Sunday Bookends: I think Summer is really over..I think…and lots of mysteries on the agenda – Boondock Ramblings

Leave a reply to Retirement Reflections Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.