Today is the Wellington Anniversary holiday, and the sun shone – hoorah! We have had a relaxing day, reading, cooking and pottering about. However, the best small pleasure this week was a trip up to Paraparaumu and a walk along the beach – more pictures on yesterday’s post. Smelling the sea air, listening to the waves, spotting things on the beach…glorious! It really lifted the spirits after the first week back at work.
Banksy Exhibition
On Wednesday morning (Pilates starts up again next week), I headed over to The Art of Banksy exhibition at Tãkina. It was one of those ‘going around the world exhibitions’ so some of you may well have seen it. It was a well curated exhibition, and it was clear from some of the early exhibits that he (sorry if that is the wrong pronoun) can draw. If I am to be honest, I found the work rather dull after a while. Anyway, I am still glad I went to see the collection of work and learn a bit more about them.
Lunches
After the exhibition I did some food shopping then went for lunch at August, enjoying their wonderful Istanbul eggs with excellent toast, which can be seen in the second gallery below. On Friday, I treated myself to some sushi, and did the usual civil servant thing, and sat in Midland Park to enjoy it in the sun. I got there early to make sure I got a seat.
On Sunday, after our walk along the beach, we stopped at Marine Parade Eatery, where we both enjoyed toasted sandwiches (I had a bacon, lettuce and tomato and Karl the ham and cheese). I liked the sign beside the counter – laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, dreams are forever.
In the shopping basket
On Wednesday, I picked up a couple of heirloom tomatoes, some yellow shiro plums (which I ended up making into a compote to have with yoghurt for breakfast), and some yellow and green courgettes. I also got up some fine stemmed broccoli, miniature carrots, raspberries, blueberries, black Doris plums, my favourite strong cheddar, feta and some peaches. To be honest, the stone fruit this season has not been that great, but the berries have been excellent. I stocked up the pantry with a jar of sauerkraut, some millet and a super grain quinoa mix. The Wonky Box delivered no avocados (I now have none in the house!), but instead a cucumber (not pictured), a not very seasonal pumpkin, a bunch of basil, potatoes, mushrooms, green beans, some (not very fresh) choy sum and one sweetcorn (I bought some more).
Simple things
- Reading about dogs and TV.
- Starting a good book…and finishing it too.
- Spending time in the sun – finally!
- Popping to our local pub for food on Thursday because we felt we need it.
- Getting a huge pile of ironing done – not a pleasure at the time, but it was when it was done.
- Spotting these purple flowers of a butterfly bush against the blue sky on my Monday walk.
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,
- Anne of Something Over Tea introduces us to another plant.
- The Glasgow Gallivanter shares another Geometric January.
- There is snow in the world of Southern Patches.
- Deb of Deb’s World shares what she has been reading.
- Trent of Trent’s World always makes an excellent cup of coffee.
- Jo over at And Anyways shares excess baggage.
- Mr Tootlepedal tests out his new boots – and says hello to a robin.
- Sue has a new podcast up!
- Donna also shares her recent reading.
- A birthday is celebrated over at Travels Through My Lens.
- Fred shares his six things in his garden, including the start of a pineapple plant.
- Maria of Green Dreams shares a wordless Wednesday.
- The Travelsketcher has a week in The Pearl.
- Mr Platypus of Now I’m 64 also has a wordless Wednesday.
- ..…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.
Thistles and Kiwis 
Those toasted sandwiches look delicious. I thought of you when I planned my weekly menu before shopping: we haven’t had pasta for ages, and so today is the day 🙂 🙂
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The sandwiches were great. I love pasta – probably too much!
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No avocados! Whatever shall you do? Thanks for linking.
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I know!!
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The Wonky Box selections never disappoint and they are always photogenic!
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Always a surprise!
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Your vegetable photos are really beautiful. Thanks again for the shoutout!
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Thank you!
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I’ve never seen anything by Banksy in person, and don’t know how bothered I am about that. But I do love the quotes you feature – evidence of a sense of humour?
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I wasn’t going to go to the exhibition, but at least I can now say I did. The quotes are fun.
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I like Banksy, but I have never seen a lot of his work at one time. I can imagine that it might pall in an exhibition.
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Don’t think an exhibition is necessarily the right place to see it? I am not sure. I understand he makes templates and sends them to people to spray paint his work eg the suspected piece in Ukraine.
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I hadn’t read about that.
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Always enjoy the weekly basket review. Everything looks so fresh and delicious!
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Thank you! Vegetables are always photogenic!
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I’ve heard of Banksy, Barbara but don’t really know a lot about his work. I wonder what you will make with all of your fresh produce? Have a lovely weekend. A huge pleasure this week was booking another trip for 2025, this time to Norfolk Island. 2025 is shaping up to be our year of travel with 4 trips booked! I am very spoilt. xx #WeekendCoffeeShare
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I’ve been making salads a lot this week. I still have the pumpkin though…seems wrong for the middle of summer! Having trips to look forward to is indeed a small pleasure!
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That looks like quite a haul of fresh produce! I love seeing all these sunny, beachy photos since it is so cold and snowy here.
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Sunday was a beautiful day – perfect for a beach walk. Yes last week ended up vegetable focussed!
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Reading, cooking and pottering about (or puttering about…I wasn’t sure), all sound perfect to me. And no avocados in your house? What ever will you do? 😀
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I know – no avocados!! I nearly bought a couple today…but resisted 🙂
I always say pottering – puttering is like a little engine in an old fashioned moped.
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I love that beach photo and the sign beside the counter at Marine Parade Eatery. The food and wonky box items look so good as usual. Thank you for your weekend coffee share.
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Thanks Natalie – it was a lovely day.
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I come from Bristol so I have seen a lot of Banksy’s work. I think there are lots of better street artists with more to say. He is definitely a man and you are right he can draw and paint. He is also very good at seeking publicity.
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It was good to see some of his drawings as it showed he is an artist. As you say, he is very good at seeking publicity. I heard he sends out stencils of his work out to people so his ‘work’ can appear anywhere eg Ukraine.
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I believe has a new work out about Musk….#WeekendCoffeeShare
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