I’m writing this on Monday evening feeling pretty lousy. I ache, I have a sore throat and feel totally exhausted, but at least this morning I tested negative for Covid. Lots of hot drinks, napping and spending far too much time watching YouTube videos of cats and cooking have been the order of the day. At least my diary isn’t too full this week, or at least appointments that can be changed. Fingers crossed I keep testing negative for Covid! Anyway…..to this week’s small pleasures…
In the basket
The Wonky Box delivered some great things this week: a big cauliflower, onions, a fennel bulb, a cucumber, one carrot (well…..there are others left in the fridge), tomatoes and a bag of baby spinach (not pictured). I topped this up with green beans, seasonal persimmons and mandarins, some more greens (silver beet and cavolo nero) and some bright red chillis.
And….my souvenir jar of Fix & Fogg peanut butter arrived, complete with a sticker and stamp. As I mentioned last week, their crunchy peanut butter is the first New Zealand Food brand to venture into space with NASA.
Out and about
On Thursday, we popped round the corner to our local pub, The Pickle Jar, and enjoyed burgers – classic for Karl and chicken for me. It made a nice change – I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a chicken burger.
On Saturday, a friend and I went to see the choreographic season at the New Zealand School of Dance. This evening showcases short works made by the third year students, this year featuring eight works. It was a nice evening, full of energy and grace.
Eurovision 2024
I am really not sure if this was a small pleasure or not…certainly entertaining at times at least! Because we are in New Zealand, we have to get up on Sunday morning to watch the start of the show which for us is 7am. This year the competition was from Malmö, as Sweden won last time. My favourites were Italy and Luxembourg, thought the French singer certainly had a fantastic voice. Switzerland won, a clear favourite by both the jury and the popular vote. Ah well….you can see the Italian one here and the Swiss one here if you so desire! We kept ourselves going through the marathon 4 hour event with smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels (on the left below).
Simple things
- Eating a date scone with a coffee at the little café next to the local library (see above on the right).
- Seeing all the amazing pictures of the Aurora Australis, even though we didn’t see them ourselves.
- Lighting candles at the dinner table now the darker evenings are here.
- Digging out my most cosy sweaters.
- Getting decent lunch time walks (even if only to pick up an order for a shirt and another for a book).
- Enjoying sunshine and blue skies
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.
- Green Dreams shares some pictures from her allotment – the rhubarb looks fantastic!
- Anne of Something Over Tea spots some fun signage on trucks.
- Mr Tootlepedal shares so many gorgeous signs of spring over at Tootlepedal’s Blog.
- Jude over at Cornwall in Colours shares a lovely six on Saturday in her garden.
- And Ju-Lyn sends us a postcard from a concert hall over at Touring My Backyard.
- Deb of Deb’s World shows us beautiful cobalt blue.
- Sue over at Women Living Well After 50 has a break away and reflects on May so far.
- Platypus Man visits New Lanark in Scotland – a really interesting read.
- Natalie takes us on walks around Toronto in the spring.
- And The Glasgow Gallivanter visits Clonard Monastry in Belfast.
- .…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. If you want to get in touch, email me on lofgren@thistlesandkiwis.com