As we move to shorter days and our thoughts turn to autumn and the winter ahead, I am reminded that it is spring in the northern hemisphere, with pictures of daffodils and snowdrops gracing many a bloggers post. The clocks went forward in Europe this weekend, and in the UK (and elsewhere) it was Mothering Sunday (always the fourth Sunday in Lent). In Wellington this weekend we had the Cuba Dupa street festival, which thanks to my moon boot, we couldn’t go to this year. Anyway, the sun shone and it looked like there was an excellent turn out. Maybe next year…
Meanwhile, all sort of interesting fungi are popping up in the garden, such as this rather fragile looking one, which was there on Saturday morning but had gone by the time the afternoon sun shone on it.
In the basket…
…or rather the Wonky Box this week were courgettes (zucchini) which are now taking over the vegetable drawer, radishes, red capsicum, mushrooms, carrots, onions, another leek, some red skinned kumara and a head of lettuce (not shown). I also got some more of the red kiwi fruit from them. I topped all this goodness up with a couple of very large lemons, a couple of feijoas, a small aubergine or eggplant, and with autumn now here, it was lovely to see cavolo nero and rainbow chard back on the shelves. I also picked up potatoes, lamb mince and some other bits and pieces for the week’s cooking.
On repeat….
I was working at home on Friday, and needed a break from the small screen, so popped over to the cafe in the library again for one of their spectacular BLATs. There is a lot of avocado and tomato in this sandwich which makes it extra good. On Thursday I found I had nothing for my office lunch box, so popped to the other library cafe in town for one of their sandwiches (not as big as the picture makes it look!) and a cheeky little pastel de nata – another lunch I had recently. I really ought to ring the changes a bit more!
Going out and staying in
On Sunday afternoon, I went with a friend and her son to see Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit at Circa Theatre. It was a fun production and so nice to see live theatre for a change. The ‘updating’, as seems to be the norm these days, really worked and the 70’s inspired set suited the play too.
After a comforting meal of sausages from our local butcher and mash (and a large salad), followed by ‘mixed fruit’ (ie left over apples, pears and feijoas) crumble on Saturday, we settled down to watch the film The Holdovers. We had no expectations, but really enjoyed it and recommend it for a cosy night at home.
Simple things
- Enjoying Pilates for body and mind.
- Getting some cleaning and tidying done on Sunday morning – the kitchen was sparkling by the end and the freezer and pantry got a good tidy up.
- Having scrambled eggs for Saturday breakfast.
- Listening to the birds in the morning and the cicadas at lunch time.
- Finding that it is getting a bit easier to move about with stick and boot. Still tedious though.
- Watching this butterfly in the garden.
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.
- Laurie goes from zero to six over at Notes from the Hinterland.
- Anne of Something Over Tea spots lots of things while sitting in the garden.
- The Glasgow Gallivanter shares a Manchester miscellany.
- Deb of Deb’s World takes a walk in the park.
- Enjoy coffee and a chat with Trent who had family visiting.
- Maria of Green Dreams makes us waffles…and tells us about her allotment.
- Meanwhile check out the birds and spring flowers over at Mr Tootlepedal
- Donna of Retirement Reflections shares what’s been on her calendar – including visiting Quebec and Montreal.
- Sue boosts our start to the week.
- There are some wonderful pictures of baby sea turtles over at Travels Through My Lens.
- And Fred shares 6 things from his spring garden in France.
- Like many of us The Travelsketcher finds it hard to believe it is already the end of March.
- Mr Platypus of Now I’m 64 shares a peaceful picture from Nova Scotia – somewhere I would love to visit.
- Jude of Cornwall in Colours is also celebrating spring.
- And Natalie considers the bright side of March.
- ..…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.