Today is the Wellington Anniversary holiday, and the sun shone – hoorah! We have had a relaxing day, reading, cooking and pottering about. However, the best small pleasure this week was a trip up to Paraparaumu and a walk along the beach – more pictures on yesterday’s post. Smelling the sea air, listening to the waves, spotting things on the beach…glorious! It really lifted the spirits after the first week back at work.
Banksy Exhibition
On Wednesday morning (Pilates starts up again next week), I headed over to The Art of Banksy exhibition at Tãkina. It was one of those ‘going around the world exhibitions’ so some of you may well have seen it. It was a well curated exhibition, and it was clear from some of the early exhibits that he (sorry if that is the wrong pronoun) can draw. If I am to be honest, I found the work rather dull after a while. Anyway, I am still glad I went to see the collection of work and learn a bit more about them.
Lunches
After the exhibition I did some food shopping then went for lunch at August, enjoying their wonderful Istanbul eggs with excellent toast, which can be seen in the second gallery below. On Friday, I treated myself to some sushi, and did the usual civil servant thing, and sat in Midland Park to enjoy it in the sun. I got there early to make sure I got a seat.
On Sunday, after our walk along the beach, we stopped at Marine Parade Eatery, where we both enjoyed toasted sandwiches (I had a bacon, lettuce and tomato and Karl the ham and cheese). I liked the sign beside the counter – laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, dreams are forever.
In the shopping basket
On Wednesday, I picked up a couple of heirloom tomatoes, some yellow shiro plums (which I ended up making into a compote to have with yoghurt for breakfast), and some yellow and green courgettes. I also got up some fine stemmed broccoli, miniature carrots, raspberries, blueberries, black Doris plums, my favourite strong cheddar, feta and some peaches. To be honest, the stone fruit this season has not been that great, but the berries have been excellent. I stocked up the pantry with a jar of sauerkraut, some millet and a super grain quinoa mix. The Wonky Box delivered no avocados (I now have none in the house!), but instead a cucumber (not pictured), a not very seasonal pumpkin, a bunch of basil, potatoes, mushrooms, green beans, some (not very fresh) choy sum and one sweetcorn (I bought some more).
Simple things
- Reading about dogs and TV.
- Starting a good book…and finishing it too.
- Spending time in the sun – finally!
- Popping to our local pub for food on Thursday because we felt we need it.
- Getting a huge pile of ironing done – not a pleasure at the time, but it was when it was done.
- Spotting these purple flowers of a butterfly bush against the blue sky on my Monday walk.
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.
- Anne of Something Over Tea introduces us to another plant.
- The Glasgow Gallivanter shares another Geometric January.
- There is snow in the world of Southern Patches.
- Deb of Deb’s World shares what she has been reading.
- Trent of Trent’s World always makes an excellent cup of coffee.
- Jo over at And Anyways shares excess baggage.
- Mr Tootlepedal tests out his new boots – and says hello to a robin.
- Sue has a new podcast up!
- Donna also shares her recent reading.
- A birthday is celebrated over at Travels Through My Lens.
- Fred shares his six things in his garden, including the start of a pineapple plant.
- Maria of Green Dreams shares a wordless Wednesday.
- The Travelsketcher has a week in The Pearl.
- Mr Platypus of Now I’m 64 also has a wordless Wednesday.
- ..…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.
You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis.