This week’s small pleasures #462

Thistles and Kiwis

I grew up in the UK, and the topic of the weather is often the first topic of conversation when we meet someone. It is much the same here, and honestly I don’t know what to say about the weather the past week – we’ve had gloriously sunny days, we’ve had rain, we’ve had wind, and in our suburb, mist. Some days we’ve put the heat pump on, other days we’ve had the windows open, and while changeable weather is normal for spring, this year seems more extreme. Take Sunday for example…we woke up to mist, rain and wind. By the time late morning had rolled around, the skies were blue and the sun was shining.

Anyway, this post is coming to you from Hawke’s Bay, where I am for work. The photo below is coming into land this morning.

In the shopping basket

I cancelled the Wonky Box again this week as I am travelling for work, but picked up some good things on Saturday morning. Both green and purple asparagus (one must make the most of the season), oranges, green beans (from Australia), a yellow capsicum, a bunch of cheery looking radishes, a tin of cannelli beans for the store cupboard, some mint feta, plus a bag of mesclun salad, a cucumber, some salmon, sausages and lamb mince.

In the kitchen

I made Ottolenghi’s wonderful spicy lentil soup for dinner on Wednesday with coconut milk and a good sprinkling of coriander. Workday lunches on Thursday and Friday was a delicious salad of chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, asparagus, black olives, halloumi, lemon juice and sprinklings of seeds. I made scones on Saturday, served with apricot jam and Earl Grey tea.

Going out and staying in

On Friday evening, we headed out for dinner at Ortega Fish Shack, one of the most consistently good places in town. While mostly a fish restaurant as you might guess, they do an excellent steak, and therefore a good place for both of us. I started with the trevally ceviche with avocado,
lemongrass, Vietnamese mint, crayfish oil and a little chilli. I have had this before a few years ago and it did not disappoint this time around either. Karl had the duck liver paté. For my main dish I had some perfectly cooked John Dory with asparagus, lemon, fennel cream and fried sourdough. I have to say that this was one of those memorable dishes not to be forgotten. Everything was perfect and the flavour combinations spot on. Karl had the steak with chips and café de Paris butter. We don’t normally do dessert, but this evening we did with me opting for the bush honey panna cotta served with roasted rhubarb and almonds accompanied with Astrolabe Late Harvest Chenin Blanc and Karl the crepes with an orange caramel sauce and vanilla ice-cream with glass of Alvear Moscatel. We had a glass of Ortega’s ‘own savvy’ with the first course and Chateau Marsyas B-Qā with the main.

It was book club at Marsden Books on Thursday where we had a good discussion and introduced a new member and new resident to the local politics of Wellington. On Sunday we popped over to our local café for lunch, for the usual cheese, ham and tomato toasties and some sneaky chips on the side. We also met one of our local cats going for a walk, and said hello to some ducks.

At home, we’ve been watching Australian courtroom drama The Twelve, a couple of episodes of the new series of The Diplomat, and the truely awful The Woman in Cabin 10, which was a waste of Keira Knightly’s talent.

Simple things

  • Enjoying the first cup of tea of the day.
  • Seeing blue skies after the rain.
  • Spending Sunday afternoon reading after deep cleaning the fridge.
  • Thinking about going to Europe in 2026.
  • Going for a lunch time walk along the waterfront as a break from work.
  • Spotting a bee enjoying the lavender.

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.

  • There are some gorgeous looking apricot and hazlenut cookies over at Brookford Kitchen Diaries. I’ll maybe to make some next weekend.
  • Laurie of Notes From the Hinterland enjoys a fabulous birthday treat (in North Berwick – no not that one, another one!).
  • Anne of Something Over Tea updates us on the urban herd.
  • Travels Through My Lens takes us to The Painted Hills in Oregon.
  • Natalie sends us postcards from Yojo and Banff National Parks.
  • Min of Write of the Middle tells us about her travel plans.
  • Mr Tootlepedal has a day of off.
  • The Travel Sketcher celebrates the past week in The Pearl and shows us some wonderful sketches from Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil beds…and eats some lovely looking fish.
  • And the Glasgow Gallivanter takes three walks in Cumbria.
  • Fred shares six things in his garden in autumn.
  • And Ilze shares her life in October – click on the translation.
  • Jude shares six things from her autumn garden.
  • Ju-Lyn shares a fallen beauty. 
  • And Jo shares more of her time in Edinburgh.
  • ..…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.

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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 always enjoy reading your weekly reflections, Barbara — they feel like a warm cup of tea shared with a friend. Thank you for including my October post, it’s lovely to be part of your roundup again! 🌿

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  3. No matter what the week brings, you always eat well, Barbara. A trip to Europe is quite an undertaking from NZ, isn’t it? When were you last here?

    We’ve enjoyed eating out with friends this week, but our best experience was a music venue we didn’t know existed until 2 guitarists that we really like chose to play there. A wonderful evening xx

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  4. Thanks for the mention! Funny how there is a North Berwick here and there. As always, I enjoyed reading about your simple pleasures.

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  5. As Jo remarked, you do eat well. I love asparagus but it has a very short season. Unless you buy it from Peru of all places! And what a pretty nasturtium, mine are almost done flowering now.

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      1. That will happen. It wasn’t the best book I ever read but a a good light read. I didn’t like the movie version of Girl on A Train but liked the book. Similar type story.

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  9. A few people have recommended The Twelve to us and it’s on our watch list. I’ve already decided The Woman in Cabin 10 wasn’t for me after seeing the trailer. Your toasty looks good. Sometimes a simple toasted sandwich is the best lunch ever.

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  12. I have waited with bated breath for the new Diplomat season, and I binged it all over the past weekend. I love the characters, and the stories, as a friend I talked to tonight about it, have the feel of “truth” to them, even though it’s fiction. I love Bradley Whitford, with his dry humor as the “First Lady,” of course Rufus Sewell is hot. I just wish someone would brush Keri Russell’s hair occasionally. I know it’s part of her overwhelmed and stressed character, but it’s a distraction. Can’t wait for the next season, which hasn’t even started shooting yet!

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    1. We really enjoy this series too – I know exactly what you mean about an element of truth too. Surely the Keri Russell character would just wear her hair up all the time to keep it out of the way? 🙂

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  14. I’ve never been to Ortega – must get Heather to add it to the list for the next time I’m over. As for the Woman in Cabin 10… yeah and nah. I had high hopes. They weren’t satisfied.

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  16. I love the pretty nasturtium and lavender flowers. All the foods look so good. Thank you for the mention and for your weekend coffee share.

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  20. I’ve heard lots of good things about “The Diplomat.” It’s a shame about the “Woman in Cabin 10” I heard they changed some things. I don’t have Netflix but I heard good things about “Black Doves.”

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