Well…Karl had a bad cold this week, and of course, shared it with me, and I ended up coming home from work on Friday feeling lousy. This of course kind of spoiled the weekend, leading to a couple of cancellations, but also a chance to read and rest. As well as that, we were woken up by a 4.9 earthquake on Saturday. (there were two quakes down south earlier in the week and another one in Taranaki on Sunday morning). Anyway, despite these things, there were some nice small pleasures this week, such as these tulips (they did get a bit crushed on the way home).
A mini exhibition
In my lunch break on Tuesday, I popped into a mini exhibition at the Museum of Wellington, Capital of Kai, a very brief history of eating establishments in the city (kai is Māori for food). I loved these miniature food items: on the left, coffee and a donut from Prefab, char koay teow from Little Penang and beer cans from Garage Project. On the right, hummus, pita bread and fried cauliflower from Damascus, and on the right from the now closed Hiakai (which we visited in 2019) a “lemon posset, glazed oranges, blackcurrant meringue, blueberry meringue, kawakawa granita, blackcurrant caviar and dried raspberries”. The bottom picture is of the equipment used by Garage Project to make their first beer. It was just a room full of things but fun nonetheless.
Lunch and shopping
On Wednesday, I popped into one of my favourite cafés, Squirrel, for some smoked salmon on toast. I was surprised it was so empty – usually at that time of the day it is hard to get a seat – but what happened after I sat down? Yes, lots of folk came in. I went next door to Small Acorns to pick up the beautifully wrapped diary I had ordered (yes, 2027 diaries are now available), some candles and a refill for the soap I like. The café and shop are both a real delight to visit.
In the basket
The Wonky Box delivered up lots of carrots a few potatoes, parsnips, three small beetroot, a punnet of mushrooms, avocados, a bag of baby spinach and some tender stemmed brocooli. I topped this up with oranges, a grapefruit, apples and pears, garlic, half a small cabbage and….the first of this year’s asparagus (except, of course, that this is my second round of asparagus in 2026 thanks to being in Europe in their spring). We enjoyed that with snapper on Saturday. I made a cottage pie on Sunday, with a potato/parsnip mash top, and a couple of carrots and the baby spinach with the meat. I also roasted last week’s baby beetroot and mixed it through some well massaged left over kale for week day lunches.
Simple things
- Browsing cook books for ideas and inspiration.
- Watching (too many?) cooking videos on YouTube (blame it on being sick).
- Enjoying the tui outside the house, singing loudly.
- Staying inside and keeping cosy, listening to the rain on Sunday evening.
- Wishing my step son a happy birthday.
- Seeing another beautiful sunset on Wednesday.
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.
- Jo shares some storycrumbs from August.
- Laurie is back in the swing.
- And Fred takes us round his garden.
- Jo of Still Restless Jo takes us to Elvas and Estremoz.
- There is a beautiful dandelion head over at Anne’s recent post.
- The Glasgow Gallivanter goes gallivanting.
- Meanwhile Travels Through My Lens takes us on a second round of hot air balloon ride.
- The Travel Sketcher encourages us to sketch – and in fact I did do a wee scribble yesterday.
- Mr Tootlepedal manages to get on his bicycle – good news.
- There is some coffee over at Maria’s.
- And a Silent Sunday at Neal’s.
- Ju Lyn shares her Happy Place, Happy Space.
- Ilze is saving seeds.
- And Natalie shows us murals in Sitges.
- Deb takes stock at the start of spring.
- Finally….Mr Platypus takes us to The Abbot’s House.
- ..…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 and good food. Thistles and Kiwis can be found on Facebook and Instagram @thistlesandkiwis
Thistles and Kiwis 
Not good to hear you’ve both been unwell. Hopefully you’ll soon be back to normal. I read that there have been several earthquakes right around the Pacific Rim recently. Things must be on the move a little. I love your yellow poppies. Here we’ve gone directly from winter to summer. The temperatures over the weekend were in the high 20s here and mid 30s in Brisbane and the coast. It’s milder today, only 24.
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Yes – as you say, there has been a lot of shaking going on around the Pacific Rim! It is very much spring here still, and snow is still falling on the mountains.
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Do hope the colds leave both of you soonest and that bigger shakes of the crust below you are not in the offing! As mobility issues are largely keeping me at home currently have become a firm friend of our free SBS Food – if other TV offerings don’t suit it is easy to push ’31’ 🙂 ! Amongst my currently huge favourites is Tareq Taylor from Sweden with his wonderful ‘Nordic Cookery’ . . . truly hope you get it!
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We are both improving thanks! Cookery programmes can be addictive.
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Eeeeks! Hope you are completely recovered.
The Wonky compositions are beautiful as always, as I imagine the meals that were made from them. I love the composition of your fabric and candles, too.
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There is a lot of flu about but think we got away lightly with just bad colds.
Thank you for enjoying the vegetables!
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It must be unnerving to have earthquakes and tremors a regular part of your life, Barbara. It’s a strange world we live in, isn’t it? Love the photo with the cabbage- very creative. Take good care of yourselves, and thanks for the link xx
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It is a bit! You don’t really get used to it but they are frequent so you can judge if you need to duck, dive, hold. Thanks for liking the cabbage picture! it is fun to make up a composition like this.
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Get well soon! The smoked salmon on toast looks very inviting, yum!
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The toast was very good.
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So glad you sketched.
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Not for public consumption, but I did have a go.
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I hope that by now the two of you are well on the mend – glad you managed to get in some good viewing and eating before succumbing to the cold!
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Yes thanks we are both definitely feeling much better and looking forward to what will hopefully be a sunny weekend.
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Families do share such things, don’t they? I thoughtfully passed Covid on to Clif. Hope you are feeling much better. Thanks as always for the mention.
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Yes they do! And thanks, we are both feeling much better.
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An earthquake; yikes! They certainly get our attention! I hope you both feel better soon. Thanks for the shoutout.
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Earthquakes…there is always that ‘is this the Big One?’ moment. We are feeling much better thanks.
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I find John is always very generous with his germs too! Hope you are both feeling better now. Love the yellow flower arrangement and your own ‘still lifes’. Thanks, as always, for linking.
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Sharing is caring! Yes thanks we are both feeling much better today. I loved the yellow flowers.
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The song of the tui is one of my favorite memories of NZ. And kias eating off people’s plates at outdoor cafes.
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An earthquake and bad colds. Not great. I hope you’re both feeling much better now.
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The sun is shining today too and our colds are much better.
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I admire the sangfroid of New Zealanders in the face of constant earthquakes.
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You don’t really get used to it, but they are part of life here.
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