After lots of rain and wind at the start of the week, we had lovely sunshine at the weekend and also today. Yes it is cold (the roof opposite was white with frost on Sunday morning), but so nice to see blue skies. The featured image was taken today, Monday, at lunch time.
A nice surprise
A cactus that has never flowered, flowered…in winter….but it does sit on a very sunny windowsill. The bright pink certainly brightened up our lives and the second cactus to flower in as many weeks.
In the basket…
The Wonky Box delivered yet more avocados (I do like them…but you can have too many), white kumara, parsnips, a bunch of carrots, broccoli, more bok choy (such a boring vegetable), onions and a lovely little bunch of rocket that formed the base of Friday evening’s salad (eaten with an excellent steak from our local butcher).
I topped it up with cavolo nero and spinach for more greens, a couple of grapefruit, tamarillos which I am really enjoying at the moment, a piece of ginger, pasta and smoked salmon, cured by the butcher, part of which went into a fish pie (forthcoming post on Wednesday).
Eating!
Well, we ate a fantastic lunch on Wednesday (you can read about it here), but I also enjoyed a chicken, salad and pesto sandwich from a local cafe and eaten at my desk on Friday. As I mentioned, I am enjoying tamarillos as a breakfast fruit just now (top right below), and roasted the butternut squash from last week to have for lunch today and tomorrow (along with feta, walnuts, seeds and some salad leaves).
Out and about
On Saturday, a friend and I went to see the triple bill performed by the Royal New Zealand Ballet. The first piece, Infra, was by the great choreographer, Wayne McGregor. A moving piece about city life (its loneliness, the possibilities of connections), it was accompanied by a back drop of anonymous figures walking across a screen. You can see bits of the piece see here. The middle piece was my least favourite, a new work by Kiwi choreographer Sarah Foster-Sproull. I am not a fan of her work and this new piece did nothing to change my mind. Far too repetitive and also a bit derivative (for ballet fans, I was reminded in one part of a bit of Nijinska’s Les Noces). The final piece was High Tide, an origninal work for the company by the resident choreographer at the Australian Ballet, Alice Topp. The set was a wonderful blend of light and shape that enhanced the dancing. A good evening all round.
Simple things
- Crisp, dry, winter days (forget the wind and rain on other days….).
- Enjoying that first cup of tea of the day.
- Appreciating the blogging community.
- Ordering seeds and pickled herring – but not at the same time!
- Hearing that my brother has safely arrived in Washington DC.
- Spotting these little fungi – before the grass was cut – 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.
- Anne of Something Over Tea shares six indigenous flowers.
- Sanch takes us through her July reading.
- Share a coffee with Maria of Green Dreams and her wonderful green fingers.
- Laurie celebrates the arrival of a new car.
- Meanwhile, there is a great tour of the diverse nature Great Dixter over at Now I Am 64.
- There is a Friday Free for All over at Deb’s World.
- Mr Tootlepedal takes a new approach to route finding over at Tootlepedal’s Blog.
- Jude over at Cornwall in Colours shares a wonderful picture of the North Cliffs in Cornwall,
- Natalie shares her July highlights in 12 photos.
- There is always a good cup of coffee over at Trent’s World.
- .…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