This week’s small pleasures #451

Thistles and Kiwis

It was one of those week where I had to travel for work up to Auckland as I mentioned on Friday. It was a good trip, and I had a nice three days to rest and recuperate as well. There are so many signs of spring right now, but another few weeks of winter still to go. Anyway…here are my small pleasures of the week.

Friday

As I had to work on Wednesday, I took Friday off instead. I decided to take a walk up Cuba Street, with a goal of finding some new salad servers after the demise of half of the set we have been using (the wood split and not reparable). The mobile record store, Herb’s, is such a fun thing to see even though we don’t have a turntable or any vinyl any more. It looks like the sort of place where you just know you could discuss something obscure. I also spotted the yarn bombing outside Te Whare Manaaki o Toda has been in place since March I believe and is great fun.

Further up the street you can find Good House Keeping (bottom left), a wonderful shop full of all sorts of things for the kitchen and home from Japan, Germany and many other places around the globe. There are eco friendly cleaning materials, wooden spoons and lots of other fun things. Over the road is The Nut Store, selling, well, nuts and dried fruit. Another lovely little spot to visit, both of which I have featured in the blog before. The final picture is of a building opposite the nut shop from 1907.

Food – and other – shopping

There was no Wonky Box this week as we are off on a trip later in the week, as well as having lots of things to use up. I did pick up a big bag of spinach (only some of it in the picture), two rangpur limes, some shallots, a couple of kiwi fruit, some tortellini to have the day we get home, tins of chickpeas and butter beans. We also spotted this steak and cheese pie beer from Garage Project, which, despite the name, does not taste like a pie, but is a double dry hopped hazy IPA. I had a sip, and can vouch that it tastes like beer!

I found salad servers and another wooden spoon at Good House Keeping, and some hazelnuts, pistachios and cashew nuts from The Nut Store.

Out and about

I had a lovely minestrone soup for lunch on Friday at Floriditas which was just the thing for a cold, grey winter day. It was served with a sour dough toast topped with parmesan.

I was also in town on Saturday at the hairdresser, and on my way back to the bus stop, spotted well known street performer, Tree, with his saxophone.

At home

It was lovely to get home from the trip. We watched the Swedish film An Honest Life on Saturday evening, are still following Masterchef Australia and we are rewatching old episodes of Australian comedy Utopia, which remains one of the best comedy shows. Below is our Sunday morning breakfast bread – no, not made by me.

Simple things

  • Going to the hairdresser and coming out feeling good.
  • Finding a dress in a second hand shop from Cos, a favourite label of mine.
  • Hearing from one of my oldest friends who is undergoing chemotherapy.
  • Relaxing, reading and cooking on Sunday.
  • Having smooth flights to and from Auckland.
  • Spotting this cute embroidery kit – could not resist.

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.

the eternal traveller

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

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

34 Comments

  3. I’m so glad you had smooth travels. Thank you so much for the mention — the vintage sofa set was definitely a surprise adventure of its own 😅 Your minestrone lunch sounds absolutely perfect for a grey winter day, and now I’m curious about that pie-named beer! Wishing you more gentle days and small pleasures this week too.

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  7. Hi, Barb – This is such an uplifting post with such fun photos. That yarn bombing photo is fabulous as is the Tree saxophone player. Thank you for the shoutout (I greatly appreciate it). Enjoy your upcoming travels!

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  11. Cuba Street looks fun, with lots of quirky things going on like the saxophone player and the yarn bombing. I must remember to put minestrone soup on the list for winter, I make a lot of my own soups but haven’t actually made minestrone in years! Can’t think why not. Enjoy your travels. And I love that hebe.

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  12. I would love to visit Cuba Street. Of course you had me at yarn bombing. The Good Housekeeping store and the nut store would definitely be something I would have to visit. I can’t figure out how that street performer gets into that outfit he surely must have help. Have fun on your trip.

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    1. There are some really nice shops at the top end of the street, including one that specialises in books on crafts and has embroidery materials too. I also wonder about that tree costume! Thanks for the wishes.

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  14. I’d love to visit the stores on Cuba Street. The yarn bombing and the tree saxophone player look so much fun. Thank you for the mention and for your weekend coffee share. I hope you have a lovely trip.

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  15. Lovely post! I really enjoyed seeing glimpses of your town. The yarn bomb is incredible. And Tree, the saxophone player, beautiful.

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  16. Lovely post! I really enjoyed seeing glimpses of your town. The yarn bomb is incredible. And Tree, the saxophone player, beautiful.

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