This week’s small pleasures #470

Thistles and Kiwis

The news is one relentless horrific, crazy or awful story after the other at the moment, so looking for the small pleasures and the things that bring joy are even more important. So take a moment, enjoy the birdsong (even when it wakes you up at 5am), savour the flavour of your first cup of tea (or coffee) in the morning and watch for the little things around you that add a little sparkle to your day.

On Sunday afternoon I went for a walk and couldn’t help but smile as first one, then two, then three ducks popped out through the hole in the fence. There were another couple around the corner, and a cat, who ignored the ducks as they ignored him, all living in harmony.

In the basket

I love the produce around at this time of year. There is just so much to chose from that the temptation to come home with bags of fruit and vegetables is hard to resist. Anyway, we took delivery of a Wonky Box on Friday, which had courgettes, an aubergine, a sad bunch of asparagus, carrots, red skin potatoes, a leek, a lettuce (not shown) and broccoli that was already showing signs of yellowing. I roasted it and made a salad as part of my work lunch. I topped this box up with a big bag of fresh peas (used in a fabulous salad as shown below), more asparagus, a couple of oranges and a bag of greengages. There were strawberries, blueberries, burrata and tubs of smoked mussel and smoked tuna paté, which, provided they don’t get opened, are meant for the Christmas table. I also spotted this white pudding, which I don’t think I have had in over 20 years. I have no idea what this will be like, but I could not resist it. If you don’t know what it is, it is like a black pudding but without the blood, and found in Scotland and Ireland (and maybe elsewhere, but I have eaten it in both those countries). On Sunday I remembered the lemons I had forgotten, along with some decently priced blackberries and a tub of taramasalata (one of my favourite things).

Food aplenty

‘Tis the season for eating too much, and on Tuesday I enjoyed some wonderful Christmas cake (top right) made by a colleague at work (there was more today made by another colleague). Other sweet treats were another pastel de nata on Friday and this rather festive Afghan biscuit on Saturday. Next week will have to be one free of such things before the season gets into full swing! There was a tuna salad bagel from favourite The Bond Street Deli. The bagel is normal sized but the filling….well, see for yourself! I swear they give me more each time I go in. The ‘interagency’ or work book club met in person this month, and I enjoyed a glass of rosé wine with a plate of garlicky pasta and prawns. Finally, something healthy, with the pea, olive, rocket and burrata salad from Alison Roman’s book Nothing Fancy that I believe Jo was making as well this weekend. It was very good and will definitely do again.

Going out, staying in

There has certainly been a cultural mix in the past couple of days. On Friday, we went with some friends to the panto. For those of you unfamiliar with the tradition of a Christmas pantomime (or panto), the first paragraph in this Wikipedia entry sums it up nicely. This year’s offering at Circa Theatre was Robin Hood, all done with a cast of 6 and a set of props. There were the usual local references, bawdy humour, songs and of course lots of opportunities to shout ‘he’s behind you’, ‘oh no he isn’t’ and of course boo the baddy.

In complete contrast, on Saturday evening New Zealand time, morning in Sweden, we watched this year’s Luciamorgon or Lucia morning from Visby. It was of course lovely as usual, with some excellent singing, though it was quite odd watching it in shorts and eating blueberries while the singers were in winter sweaters and warm gloves. You can watch it here if you are interested.

Simple things

  • Enjoying drinks and nibbles at the Pilates studio to celebrate the end of the year.
  • Lighting the candles on the third Sunday of Advent (see the featured image at the top of the post).
  • Counting three more working days to the summer holidays.
  • Sitting outside with a cup of tea and a book and feeling the sun on my face.
  • Reading a new cook book and planning what to make from it.
  • Looking at these beautiful flowers on the corner of our street on the way to the bus stop.

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.

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

35 Comments

  2. I had to Google Visby to see where it was but I have it running as a soundtrack while I type this. Very different, we were at a Glen Miller Orchestra performance last night and I loved every second. There is still joy in the world alongside the evil, but it is sometimes hard to remember. Wishing a healthy, happy Christmas to you and yours, Barbara xx

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  11. I agree, the news over the past few days has been just awful, so much so that we have hardly had the TV on, except to watch the cricket. So much sadness. Instead we’re focusing on the joy of having family visiting, especially our two young grandsons.

    Visby was one of the two places on our Baltic Sea cruise which we missed due to bad weather and the ship being unable to dock. I was so looking forward to it and was very disappointed. We will just have to plan another trip to Sweden, for a longer time.

    Happy Christmas to you.

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  13. Pingback: matchy-matchy – Touring My Backyard

  14. I completely forgot about Luciamorgon this year, perhaps because it was on a Saturday and I wasn’t up early. Thanks for sharing the link, I haven’t even thought of looking at SVT Play. Perhaps I’ll watch it over the weekend for some extra Christmas feel.

    That wonky box sounds like something I’d like to get!

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  15. That tuna salad bagel is just wow! Definitely focus on the good things. Thank you for the mention and your weekend coffee share. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

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  16. I agree with you about the news at the moment. I’m trying not to think about it. You have reminded me that I haven’t eaten out at all in December. Will try to get at least one meal out before Christmas. Your Wonky Box looks great.

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  17. I haven’t had any Christmas cake yet this holiday season. Nobody else in my house enjoys it, so to buy one seems like a big eating commitment on my part. The one you shared a picture of looks tasty.

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