Friday Routines in London - 11/7

No jaunt out to Bluffton today or at all this weekend.  Instead, there will be a jaunt to Northcote Road in Battersea.  I’ll see my old butcher Bob Dove.  In 1899, Bob’s great grandfather started the business in the same corner shop where Bob runs it today.  The original deed hangs on the wall and the butcher block is carved in the middle as it should be from years of trimming, chopping, cutting and preparing the angus beef, free range chickens, and spring lamb.  It’s a traditional “proper” butcher shop.  I wish there were more like him around, hence my passion for Scotts back home in Bluffton, South Carolina 

Debbie and I are going to have a “Friday Curry Night.”  Curry is to Friday’s in England as Chinese is to Friday’s in America.  But instead of a take-a-way, we’re making it and inviting friends.  I’m excited about the joint cooking effort with my BFF Deb the reluctant cook.  I asked Deb about her aversion to cooking, she said, “I’m not a reluctant cook, I just can’t be bothered.”  Well, okay then.   But I can’t blame her.  She’s running Senti from her home, so cooking is put on the back burner while her home fragrance business wafts though the house.  I love this story not just because she’s my friend, but also because Deb started her business from an idea after a trip to Florence, Italy.  She stayed at the fabulous Villa la Vedetta and noticed wonderful smells throughout the hotel.

Like this...

Deb did her homework and went back to London with Dr. Vranges diffusers, then thought, if she liked them so much, then perhaps so would others. 

This one's my favorite

And there began Senti.  Deb sniffs out new products and now has soy candles as well as wonderful soaps and perfumes. 

Like these!

...and these...

Three years on she has shops cueing up to stock her stock. 

But curry night is curry night, and nothing stands in the way of that, not even commerce.  I’ll post the recipes and pictures tomorrow.  Cheers from Wimbledon!  Ta Ta…