Shop local!

Having seen this bowl in the window of Louis Farouk while walking along Blackstock Road the previous evening, I went back to bring it home, taking a couple of friends with me -

The painted creature is an Egyptian cow, not a horse as the tail led me to believe!

We went on to Ink@84 and noted some books to add to our ever-growing heap/list of "must read" volumes -

 ... and spotted some lovely cards -

 Then to Mountgrove Road for Alterier

 I bought a tiny thing and it was wrapped so beautifully that instead of keeping it for myself, I'll send it overseas as a birthday present -

 The shop includes a workshop downstairs with some interesting garments. If you happen to need a zipper, there's a rainbow of them available -

Shopping done, I succumbed to taking the bus to my next meeting, sitting upstairs. It stopped for the traffic light in this perfect place and I couldn't get my camera out fast enough - or rather, I managed to get it out in time to snap the view (how confusing the language can be!)

Walking back in the warmth of the afternoon, a little rest was needed, on the pretext of making a little drawing -

I'd recently seen #walktosee on Instagram, which is about catching the things we see daily as we walk around - hmm, that's what I do, but I don't often stop to draw them ("just start somewhere") but now I will, a bit more often. My mantra for this is the one I use for housework: "you can do anything for 15 minutes".

Also of local note on the shopping front is the relocation of my favourite greengrocer to a spacious shop near the crowded old premises -

 There are 18 different kinds of tomatoes (some are now in my "gnu" bowl) -

 all sorts of peppers and chilis -

 big bunches of herbs, not wrapped in plastic -

 and interesting things such as smoked garlic and "solo garlic" -

Many kinds of apples etc etc etc too.

Across the street is a nice little coffee shop (it sells my fave sourdough bread), and a useful cash point.

When I moved to this area all those years ago, it was very very different - sweatshops and other small businesses, small Caribbean and Asian grocery stores, only a few restaurants (no pizzeria!) ... and we had a library that has since been closed and a block of flats built in its place.