This week’s small pleasures #408

Thistles and Kiwis

Ni sa bula vinaka kece sara! Yes, time to celebrate Fijian language week, a country we visited back in 2017.

We were woken on Sunday morning at 05:10 by the shake and rattle of a 5.7 quake. Not a small pleasure I can tell you, but a reminder to be prepared for ‘when the big one hits‘. Mother Nature was certainly working hard this week, with heavy rain causing floods in and around Dunedin, closing roads and cutting the city off from the main roads. However, we were also treated on Saturday morning to bright blue skies and glorious sun as you can see belo The picture was taken in Post Office Square on the way to Pilates.

This week’s sandwich

I hadn’t been to Shelly Bay Baker on Leeds Street for ages, so popped in for a quick sandwich on Wednesday. I had the smoked salmon, also filled with avocado, cream cheese and salad greens, but resisted buying any bread.

In the shopping basket

A small pleasure this week was not getting avocados in the Wonky Box delivery….if you’ve been reading the past few posts you will know why! Instead I found two beautiful fennel, a leek, capsicum, onions, potatoes, fine stemmed broccoli and asparagus. I topped this up with some spinach – half of which we had with some excellent snapper on Saturday, the other half in a pasta bake along with some of the fennel. I also picked up a few tomatoes which were on offer, oranges, grapefruit, rainbow chard, more asparagus and both plain and mint feta from Zany Zeus.

A trip to the garden centre

To be honest, after being woken earlier than I wanted on Sunday, the energy was a bit lacking, but we headed over to the garden centre for a couple of things including two lavender plants and some more pots. One plant got a little bashed in the car, but will no doubt perk up. We had a lot of rain on Sunday evening, so all the new plants got a very good watering.

Bus fun

I was sitting on the bus on Saturday morning, and a gentleman sitting across from me smiled and said ‘I do love the way people in this city say thank you to the driver when they get off’. I agreed, and said I liked it too and that on some buses, we say ‘good morning’ as we get on as well.

This morning, I got on my usual bus, quite an early bus so most folk were still waking up and adjusting to the new work week. We were trundling on as usual, until we got to a particular junction where the one I was on should turn right. However, this morning, the bus driver, who obviously had Monday Morning-itis, turned left onto quite a narrow bridge by mistake (probably thinking he was driving the bus that does go in that direction). Luckily, a few passengers who were not reading or looking at screens noticed, and there then followed some nerve racking moments as the bus driver tried to turn the bus around. He succeeded and we all got to our correct destinations. Naturally, we still all said thank you as we departed the bus (and he wished us all a good day).

Simple things

  • Enjoying a surprisingly quiet week for change.
  • Going to our local pub for burgers on Thursday evening – a mini treat.
  • Getting lots of laundry done and hung outside to dry in the sun.
  • Reading about this fantastic looking exhibition of Japanese replica food in London.
  • Spending Sunday afternoon on the sofa reading.
  • Having bread and other treats delivered, and enjoying the rhubarb tarts with tea in the afternoon sun on Saturday..

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 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.

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

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

42 Comments

  2. I remember saying thank you to the bus driver as a child in Murray’s Bay, also when I lived in Belmont for a year when I was studying and during the time we lived in the Wellington region from 2007-2017. As a result, I say it to the bus drivers in the Netherlands as well, and hear more people doing it. A small but great pleasure!

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  3. I loved the way even senior school pupils would sing “Thank you Mr Bus Driver” after we had returned from a long trip from somewhere. Those tarts look delicious!

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    1. The tarts are very good. I am sure you also remember the days of standing up when the headmaster came into the room and we all stood up and ‘sung’ ‘Good morning Mr…..’.

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  4. I too am one who says good morning to the watchman at running centre…haha…not many folks greet these days…thou.
    Glad you all are okay…after the quake…

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  8. I love this post, Barbara as it is a great reminder to count your blessings be it seeing the beauty in the small moments, finding fun in everyday exercise and chores, and filling the days with simple pleasures that feed our soul! In Ireland, it is very common to thank bus drivers, taxi drivers, shop assistants, waiters and anyone else who is doing their job – just like the rest of us! All the drivers seem to appreciate the thank yous from all the passengers and seem to have their own way of responding which can be funny sometimes to hear them say it to everyone! Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx

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    1. Thank you Aiva. There is one very jolly bus driver who always smiles and says good morning as we get on and wishes us all lovely days and thanks us when we get off. It certainly makes for a bright and cheery start to the working day. Have a good week!

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  9. Between the earthquake and the bus, I would say you had quite the exciting week. Glad you were able to slide in some simple pleasures, including saying thank-you to the bus driver even though you were taken the wrong way.

    Thanks for the mention.

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  10. I enjoyed reading about your small pleasures this week. It’s always refreshing to find joy in the simple things. The incident with the bus driver made for an interesting story! I also appreciate the list of other blog posts to check out. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

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  11. I always thank the bus driver too when I use a bus. Your bread delivery looks yummy. The quake not so much, I had a read of the preparation for the big one. Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. Let’s hope it never happens.

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  13. Yikes! I don’t think I’d enjoy being woken up by a earthquake like that. Glad there didn’t seem so be any damage you had to worry about though.

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  15. Hi, Barbara – No avocadoes? What ever will you do without them?! 😀
    We also had not one, but two, minor quakes nearby in the last seven days (3 days ago we had one on the mainland, 3.7 magnitude, 61 km depth, and 1 week ago, we had one upisland, 4.0 magnitude, 52 km depth). As with yours, not big ones, but we did feel them, and they are an excellent reminder to be ready when a larger one hits. Thank you for the shoutout! ❤ ❤

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  19. A 5.7 earthquake sounds like quite a big one. Stay safe. Here people thank the bus driver. In Bristol some passengers say cheers drive. The bus company made it into an illuminated sign as part of a recent light festival.

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  20. 5.7 earthquake is strong and scary. I’m glad you’ve had many simple pleasures in the week. Years ago I had a similar bus fun. The wonky box and baked treat delivery both look so good. Thank you for the mention and your weekend coffee share.

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