This week’s small pleasures #475

Thistles and Kiwis

Today is the Wellington Anniversary holiday, so those of us who live in and around the capital, it has been a long weekend. This will mean a 3 day working week for me too – a small pleasure in itself. The news is just….well….too depressing to even think about…so I won’t mention any more and look at the small pleasures of the week instead.

Anyway, I went for a walk after work on Tuesday, and spotted these fruits on the ground and in a tree above. I used the Picture This app which identified them as Bradford Pear. What do the more expert amongst you think? I took one home and cut it open and it certainly looked pear like inside.

In the basket

I spotted these gorgeous white cherries in a local shop on Wednesday, and could not resist them. They are just so full of flavour and juicy and very hard to resist, and in fact bought another box this morning. We got a Wonky Box on Friday after a bit of a break. There was a small aubergine (or eggplant), a bunch of carrots, two large avocados, potatoes, sweetcorn, 2 small beetroot, and not pictured, a bag of green beans and a cucumber, so a good box full this week. We picked up some white peaches, plums, tomatoes, a jar of sauerkraut, more potatoes (for an experiment….I’m going to try making hasselback potatoes), lamb mince, pork filet and salmon.

Nothing fancy….

It is back to ‘normal’ eating now the holidays are over, with one of the fabulous tuna bagels at Bond Street Deli for lunch on Wednesday and an egg salad sandwich from Dough Bakery for lunch at work on Thursday. I made a pasta salad with lots of veggies, ham and bocconcini, with leftovers for a workday lunch. We had the salmon on Sunday (this version – but I forgot to buy baby spinach so put tomato on the base) and I made a variety of cheesecake that I will write about on Wednesday in this month’s cookbook post.

Out and about

On Sunday afternoon we went to see Sentimental Value, the latest film from director Joachim Trier. As it says on Rotten Tomatoes:

Sisters Nora and Agnes reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav, a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star. Suddenly, the two sisters must navigate their complicated relationship with their father — and deal with an American star dropped right into the middle of their complex family dynamics.

The film stars Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve, who I loved in The Worst Person in the World (also directed by Trier), and Stellan Skarsgård as the father. I really enjoyed this measured film, with its beautiful scene setting, filming and elements of humour. Highly recommended – and you can practice your Swedish, Norwegian, and even a bit of Danish.

Simple things

  • Getting back into Pilates.
  • Finding a smart jacket that should pack well at a huge discount in a sale.
  • Going to the hairdresser and being very pleased with the result.
  • Laughing with friends at the pub on Friday.
  • Enjoying all the wonderful fruit that is available at this time of year – the berries, and stone fruit.
  • Filling a vase with flowers.

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.

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

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

32 Comments

  5. The short work week sounds wonderful!

    About the pear you found, I believe it is an invase species often spread by bird droppings. I’ve only seen them a few times on road trips in the US.

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  7. sounds like another very enjoyable week for you. I’m cooking some new low calorie but delicious meals each week, going to the gym, playing pickleball, reading lots, and watching tennis. It’s a busy life. Pauline (Happy Retirees Kitchen)

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  8. Those cherries wouldn’t last more than five minutes if they were anywhere near me.

    Even I can tell that finding a smart jacket that packs well at a great discount is a very rare thing. Well done.

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  10. Returning to a sense of normality can be such a relief and delight in itself, as you say. Holidaying is good and fine, but it is such a departure form all the healthful things we try to do!

    That bowl of cherries! Yum yum

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