This week’s small pleasures #430

Thistles and Kiwis

What a week….being put in a moon boot, a 4.3 earthquake on Saturday morning that was noisy and shaky, and, most important, the final of Melodifestivalen in Sweden (Maria – what did you think?). And of course, our thoughts on this side of the Tasman are with our neighbours across the water who have been affected by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Hope all of you and your loved ones in NSW and Queensland are safe and dry.

Anyway, back to the small pleasures of the week, and I managed to get through the ironing pile, spraying lavender scented linen water where necessary that helps this rather dull task along. Just getting something like this completed is a good feeling. The last time I mentioned ironing, several of you were surprised I ‘still’ ironed and am curious as to what you do – perhaps you have a steamer? I love to wear linen and natural fabrics and use tablecloths, so ironing is a part of life. When I am ironing I need to be entertained with something gentle like being taken on a tour of a supermarket in Toronto by Rajiv Surendra on YouTube or an episode of Dish Podcast (also on YouTube).

In the basket

The Wonky Box was full of glorious colour this week with a leek (definitely the new avocado…), courgettes, red capsicum, a little aubergine (eggplant), tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, as well as a lovely head of lettuce and a bag of green beans (not pictured). I topped this up with a couple of punnets of blueberries, apples, feijoas, lemons, a fennel bulb, some fine stemmed broccoli, some mint feta and tin of tuna. There was also some pork mince for meatballs for during the week.

On my plate

I met a friend for lunch on Thursday at a local cafe where we always have a cheese, ham and tomato toastie on wholegrain bread. It would be such a shame to stop the tradition 🙂 Salads this week include this one with leaves, tomato, peaches, green beans and feta that made for lovely salty/sweet accompaniment.

Out and about – dance

On Wednesday, a friend and I went to an evening of flamenco at the New Zealand School of Dance. Every year, the classical students are lucky to have a series of classes in flamenco taught by Catarina Mora, and we were treated to seeing a class and a short performance by the students, followed by a ‘Q & A’ with the director of the school, Garry Trinder. These little evenings are such fun and really worth going to (and luckily I could be driven there and back).

Out and about – Chaat Street

On Saturday evening, we headed out (by taxi) to Chaat Street in town, a really excellent restaurant serving ‘Indian street food’ that I highly recommend should you be in Wellington. We had the dahi puri (pictured top left) which were so good, filled with chickpeas and other good things; jhol momo, a type of chicken filled dumpling; beef pepperfry, sirloin with a curry leaf and black pepper marinade and Kashmiri kanti, a lamb dish with tomatoes and onions, all served with kulcha (a type of bread). All the dishes were full of flavours and bursting with fragrant spices. I had a special beer brewed for the restaurant by local brewery Garage Project which went very well with the food.

Simple things

  • Reading a lovely little booklet from Terry Christopherson of The Travel Sketcher about sketching and painting.
  • Managing to get on a bus and go to Pilates. It was wonderful even though what I could do was limited.
  • Sitting outside with a good book, a pot of tea and my foot up on another chair.
  • Enjoying lovely sunny weather at the start of autumn.
  • Making that perfect end of summer dish of pasta with courgettes (zucchini) and lemon.
  • Getting a little bag of apples from a neighbour’s tree, made into an apple puree to have with thick, Greek yoghurt.

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. 

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

46 Comments

  2. You had an earthquake, Barbara and we had a cyclone. What is happening in Nature???? #climatechange. We are very fortunate not to have sustained any damage or inconvenience. I do feel for those who are now experiencing flooding, no power and food shortages. I hope you are back dancing your own flamenco soon without your moon boot. Take care. xx

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    1. Well, earthquakes are pretty standard here, which does not mean one gets used to them! I am so glad to hear you have not had any damage or flooding where you are. Stay safe!

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    1. I had looked in my diary for March and realised it was full of things from the theatre to the cinema to dinners out and thought well, I’m not missing anything…taxis are there to be used.

      A steamer might be a good investment!

      And we all love the snow-gauge!

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  4. Since the OH hasn’t needed to wear formal shirts I have pretty much given up on ironing, I used to iron pillow cases and duvet covers, but I don’t even do those now!

    I’m glad to see the moon boot isn’t stopping you from going out and about. As usual your foodie photos make me very hungry! My grandsons (11 and 9yrs) were actually disappointed that the cyclone bypassed them (northern Brisbane), but I am grateful that they were safe.

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    1. I’m still going to work 4 days a week, and regularly meet ‘externals’ (as we call them) so need work clothes. My husband buys no-iron shirts and doesn’t care if his linen is crumpled (‘looks cool’).

      So glad your grandsons are safe…they probably didn’t realise how damaging a cyclone could be.

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  7. I have a cousin in Queensland; fortunately she and her family are safe. You asked about what we do if we don’t iron? Well, being retired, I don’t have to dress for work and I live mostly in t-shirts and leggings. When I do go out, I wear jeans or knit pants, and most of my tops are knit or permanent press, as are the tablecloths (which I use only for special occasions). Just hang or fold straight out of the dryer. I do creative stitching, and I use the iron to press the fabric before cutting, but I put a towel on the kitchen counter rather that drag out the ironing board. When I was much younger I ironed sheets! And I have relatives in England who I think iron their underwear! When I did iron, I usually watched TV. It’s a matter of priorities and how best to use our time. To each her own!

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    1. So glad your cousin and family are safe.

      Funny thing – my ex-mother-in-law (English) used to iron underwear too! I remember coming home from work once to find she had done the ironing (nice) including my underwear. I was horrified!

      My mum had an old iron, the sort pre electricity that she would heat up on the stove for pressing knitting/sewing. She said it was better than a regular iron as it was very heavy.

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  11. I’m glad your injury is not holding you back too much. I can’t remember when I last ironed anything.If it needs ironed I don’t buy it! John has one shirt that needs ironed – for formal dinners and they are very rare indeed now he is retired. He did it himself anyway.

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    1. Karl goes for non-iron shirts at least. I remember my mother’s cousin telling me to never learn how to iron a man’s pair of trousers….I never did and never will but it does make me think of how things have changed that this was considered a good piece of advice!

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  13. Wow the earthquake sounds scary. Good luck with the moon boot. I still iron some. I do have a steamer that I love. My mama ironed everything. I still have an iron in my laundry room because there are just some wrinkles the steamer can’t get out. The restaurant with the Indian street food looks delicious especially the jhol momo I love any type of dumpling. Thank you for linking b my post. Have a wonderful week.

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    1. We have earthquakes here quite frequently but I still hate them! I am slowly getting used to the moon boot but I can’t say it is a lot of fun. Glad someone else still irons at times!

      The food was excellent.

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      1. And mending. She turns my shirt collars, which not many people do these days., as well as darning the elbows of my jumpers. I am a lucky fellow.

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  18. Pingback: Shout-Out Saturday: Sharing is Caring – Deb's World

  19. A Moon boot is not good ( being summer ) but the Melodifestival is great. I love Eurovision but not many around here apart from my family watch it. I guess there has to be a connection. I am on the peninsula north of Brisbane and although we are safe, Alfred presented quite a challenge. Losing power and trees down. The worst part was after it had passed. The following night was a horrible horrible night with 110kmh winds. Unusual for us. Just another sign of global warming as the sea temps were higher, allowing the cyclone to move further south than normal. The floodwater are ebbing away now, so hope the season for cyclones is over now as the weather cools. Thanks for thinking of us. Take care,
    Amanda

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  20. My comment seem to have disappeared ? I’ve had that happen a lot lately..yes, I did watch the final of Melodifestivalen. I liked the winner. I like the happiness about the song and the fact that it is in Swedish. In my opinion the competition gets more colourful when all the countries use their own language. It’s part of the fun! Did you like the winning song?

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  21. Ironing is still a necessary choir. In my household it is a task my spouse enjoys while watching/listening to his favorite show. – Chaat Street looks delicious. Thank you for sharing.

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