What a week! Days in Perth, a new city for us, travel issues, a dance performance, dinners out and a Christmas fair….but we got there, and to be honest, it was a week filled with a lot of small pleasures. So without further ado…here we go.
Field & Green at Floriditas
One of our favourite restaurants in Wellington was Field & Green. The food was always good, service friendly and just a nice place go for delicious food. It was a sad day for the city when they closed their doors at the end of last year, but chef Laura Greenfield and partner Raechal Ferguson have not disappeared from the city’s hospitality scene. There have been a few ‘pop ups’, with the latest being at one of our other favourite places in town, Floriditas. When I saw this event, I booked immediately. The menu was composed of a old favourites (with a twist), and did not disappoint.
A glass of sparkling wine greeted us, and the first course was one of the famous red Leicester cheese scone topped with Welsh Rarebit in miniature – a beautiful combination. The next course were kickshaws, little dishes based on other favourites from the restaurant: kedgeree croquette with curry oil, a mini fish finger sandwich (the full-sized original was always a Sunday lunch treat) and Moroccoan tuna cigar with chermoula. This was followed by the wonderful orange, cured black olive and red onion salad, before the main dish of slow cooked beef cheek with chickpeas, spinach and tomato gnocchi and Sicilian sweet and sour courgettes (would love that recipe). Dessert was stem ginger ice-cream with a Tunisian fried pastry, orange blossom syrup and sea salt. We had a glass of sauvignon blanc with the first there courses and a shiraz with the main. Glorious!
Lunches
On Tuesday, in Perth, I just needed a comfort lunch and somewhere to sit to pick up the amended flight details, so opted for this perfect cheese and ham toastie which was just the thing for my mood. Sticking to toasties, I also had one on Thursday at the cafe next to the library. Look how that cheese has melted…. And on Friday I stopped at the new branch of Shelly Bay Baker in Karori, and picked up a smoked salmon bagel to eat at home as the cafe was full and the queues…! Great to see of course.
In the basket
The Wonky Box delivered up a cos lettuce, red capsicum, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, pak choy, half a cabbage (not pictured) and…avocados…of course! I topped this up with a couple of oranges, fresh peas and broad beans, tomatoes, strawberries, pasta, feta, sausages and chicken mince and this beautiful bunch of radishes. Yes – that is a bunch of miniature beetroot…which I roasted with lots of garlic, smothered in feta and balsamic dressing for my Saturday dinner (Karl was having pizza later…). Dear readers…I ate beetroot….
Out and about
On Saturday evening, a friend and I attended the end of year performance at the New Zealand School of Dance. It is always fun to see the graduating students and to see where they go in their careers. We always like to go to the Thorndon Fair. and this year the weather gods looked favourably down on the event, unlike last year. We had a good walk around, picking up some lunch, and of course stopping to watch the Morris dancers, a curious but lovely thing to see in New Zealand.
A bit of shopping
When we were in Perth, I spotted and could not resist this summery plate with a bright red crab. It survived the journey, and I expect to use it for something on our Christmas table. Realising that Sunday was the First Sunday in Advent, I headed to National Candles on Egmont Street to find some good candles and got the ones you can see in the featured image at the top of the post and these blue and bronze ones.
At the fair, I bought some bread and crackers from The Baked Dane, a beautiful bowl and the plate the candles are standing on in the featured image from local potter Gallit Maxwell, and some of the great seasonings from Spicecraft.
Simple things
- Chatting to the wonderful man who showed me the way to the museum in Perth – what a delightful conversation we had and how true is the phrase ‘the kindness of strangers’.
- Getting home…always nice after a trip.
- Finding something I thought I had lost in the most recent move.
- Speaking to a lovely woman while our husbands queued for food at Thorndon Fair.
- Welcoming summer.
- Finding a three cherries together. Yes the season is here!
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 her early summer garden.
- Natalie tells us about her 5 best outings in November.
- Deb of Deb’s World writes about seasonal celebrations.
- The Glasgow Gallivanter takes us on a walk on Eriskay.
- Trent of Trent’s World offers us some good coffee and conversation.
- There are some very posh scones over at Brookford Farm Diaries
- Sue goes ona quick getaway.
- Mr Tootlepedal may not have had a snappy day, but there are still lots of birds in the garden,
- Enjoy Jude of Cornwall in Colours week of flowers.
- Fred celebrates six things in his garden.
- There is interesting jug over at Leah McFall.
- And Lisa of Southern Patches shares a Wordless Wednesday.
- The Travelsketcher shares a week of thanksgiving.
- I’m really enjoying the Paris by Numbers series from Travels Through My Lens.
- .…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.