This week’s small pleasures #481

Thistles and Kiwis

I wasn’t going to bother with a small pleasures post this week as we were supposed to be leaving for Hamburg on Monday afternoon. Our route was Wellington – Sydney – Dubai – Hamburg. Yes….so as I type this on Sunday evening, New Zealand time, we have no idea when/if we will be heading to Europe. Luckily we are at home, so in that respect we are fine, and not stuck somewhere. It could be a lot worse.

Ballet

Anyway, yesterday a friend and I went to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s new production of Macbeth, with choreography by Alice Topp and specially composed music by Christopher Gordon. The production had a contemporary setting (the witches were influencers, taking selfies and documenting everything. I have mixed feelings about it – wonderful dancing, the choreography was interesting, really working with the music, but there was something that didn’t quite work. The sets were fantastic, especially the use of a platform with a bath for the ‘out damned spot’ moment. I sort of feel if I saw it a second time I might get more out of it.

St David’s Day

Today (1 March) is St David’s Day and it was lovely to see the Welsh flag flying from a neighbour’s flag pole against the gorgeous blue summer sky (note….it is now raining).

Simple things

  • Having a long Sunday lunch with friends.
  • Being thankful we are still at home somehow!
  • Enjoying meeting up with the work bookclub.
  • Seeing summer return for a bit.
  • Going to the hairdresser, Pilates and other everyday things that make me smile.
  • Spotting these grapes outside our friends’ house (also in featured image)

I’m not linking up to other bloggers this week – apologies but I wasn’t even going to post!

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer and good food. Thistles and Kiwis can be found on Facebook and 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

44 Comments

  2. You are extremely lucky this caught you still at home . . . hope all will be well with the tickets as ‘activities of war’ supposedly are not covered by insurance – hope I am wrong?

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  3. Oh, dear! Well, at least you are comfortably at home, with time on your hands and possibly a bit of replanning? I don’t know what happens in these situations but it’s a no-fly zone at present. A good friend has a niece working in Dubai, who sent videos of the explosions and it’s not a comfortable place to be. Let us know what happens xx

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    1. We will contact the travel agent this morning. The tickets were booked through Karl’s work so will just see what we can do. At least we are at home, and depending on what transpires, I might just go back to work for a few days. I hope your friend’s niece is safe x

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  5. You are in the best place right now, a long, long way from the action. I hope you get to make your trip – safely! – before too long. It’s a mad world, don’t you think?

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  6. I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve had to postpone your European adventure; how extremely disappointing. Our idiot ‘president’ has caused so much death, destruction, pain and heartache. Hopefully, he will soon be impeached and removed from office.

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      1. I guess since I flew through LAX so often in my working days I got used to it, but it can be a bit of a downer. Hope the agent can help, we always book direct so don’t have that luxury. Keeping fingers crossed.

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        1. The good news is we have new flights but not until next Monday via Hong Kong and Heathrow (another horrid airport). We tried to get on a flight via Vancouver but there was only one seat.

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  13. Thank goodness you were still at home and not halfway around the world. It will all work out for you, I’m sure and I see by your comments above you have new flights. We always used to do our own bookings but since Covid I always use a travel agent for flights. That way, they can solve problems that arise. Once you’re there you will still have a marvellous adventure.

    I know what you mean about the ballet’s interpretation of a classic. A few years ago we went to see a production of Much Ado About Nothing in London. The reason we chose it was because Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones played the lead roles. While it was amazing to see them on stage, the play was set in London during the Blitz and it was all a bit weird. Some things just need to be done the traditional way.

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    1. Yes the travel agents have access to a lot more than we do – they found a solution that wasn’t too expensive (well….comparatively!). It is a work trip for Karl too.

      Sometimes a ‘modernised’ version of a classic can work but not always. At least there were no ‘faux Scottish’ bits in it!

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  18. Fingers crossed you can find a safe way to get there. Indeed lucky to still be at home and not stuck in transit at an airport in a city being bombed.

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  19. I was wondering how your travel plans were going Barbara! I’m so glad to read you have managed to change them through your travel agent. Hope all goes well for you.

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  20. Well shoot! I’m glad you’re stuck at home at least! Fingers crossed for safe passage and adventures galore as soon as possible ❤

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