Jackie's Highland Gift Guide
Five top tips for your list
Token gifts are best - and I generally prefer to buy from the makers. Here in the Highlands, there are many people who take advantage of nature’s abundance to craft unique and beautiful things. Fortunately for those of you in more remote locations, far from green hills and the music of the wind, most of them have online shops.
I attended a Christmas fair in Torridon last week and found some great stuff.
Here are five top tips for your Xmas list
#1 Loch Ewe Salt and Seaweed
Jackie Macleod was laid low with a severe and chronic condition related to IBS. Her granny suggested seaweed - but initially she pooh-poohed this old folk remedy. After all, she was on heavy meds from the doc - though they didn’t seem to be helping much. Granny persuaded her husband Sandy to add some to the family meals. Jackie quickly realised what was going on - and that she was feeling a bit better. She started taking seaweed every day. Soon her health improved so much that she was able to start her own business from their croft, near Inverasdale in Wester Ross.
Sandy gathers the seaweed from the foreshore, and Jackie dries and grinds it. Her recipe book has a range of tasty dishes she has created using the powdered product. I have now started taking it myself. Ground bubblewrack is a bit of an acquired taste, so I just mix half-a-teaspoon with water and take it every morning. Maybe it’s a placebo effect, or that we have had bright sunshine the last few days, but I definitely feel more energetic.
If you want to buy LESS, act soon as Jackie is closing down the business after Christmas to concentrate on other things.
A gift hamper of different varieties of seaweed plus a recipe book is £25
Online shop: Loch Ewe Salt and Seaweed
#2 Deer horn candelabra
Johnny Ross uses cast-off deer horns to make a range of fantastic objects. The four species found in Scotland - roe, red, fallow and sika - all produce material with different looks and feels. They are organic, sustainable and so much nicer than plastic things (by the way did you know there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by weight by 2050?)
An antler candelabra, filled with red candles would give any Christmas table a lift - and an air of ersatz Balmoral charm. Johnny also makes bottle openers, fireside poker sets, knives, horn-handled spoons and many other items.
Antler candle holders for the table start at £20
Online shop; Sutherland Horncraft on Facebook
#3 Hand-turned Xmas tree ornaments
David Hay makes beautiful, tactile wooden objects - including gorgeous, smooth Christmas tree ornaments that will always be a pleasure to take out of the box when it is time to deck the halls.
David first discovered wood turning in Dingwall Academy as a teenager, where he made his first lathe out of bits of a motorbike and an old drill. Many years later, a friend gave him a very old second-hand lathe which he used to teach himself how to make all kinds of wooden items from honey-spoons to serving platters.
In an interview he gave to local magazine “An Carranach”, David explained a bit about how he works. “I source all my wood locally and with our weather there are always trees blown down. Drying wood is a long process, sometimes it takes years; I use a moisture gauge, half turn the pieces then leave them to dry in the shed.”
A forever Christmas tree bauble is £15
Online shop - David’s work is on view at the Torridon gallery or you can email him at haziehay@icloud.com
#4 Fancy food and drink
Craft beer, heather honey, crofter’s chutney and handmade chocolates
Loch Ewe Brewery is run by a husband and wife team, Jamie and Jo Struthers. They use Scottish malts and grains and Highland water. Their operation is powered with renewable energy and they don’t use carbon in their beer.
They produce eight different brews and you can select a variety to put in their selection box - a great Xmas gift.
The introduction mixture of 12 bottles is £48.50 including postage and packing
Online store at Ewebrew.bee
Barefoot on the Croft
I have been enjoying the tangy green tomato chutney, dark chocolate gingers, delicious raspberry jam and other goodies that I bought, intending to give as Christmas presents. Eleanor Kennedy is a woman of many talents - as well as growing and making incredible produce, she also runs a children’s bookshop from their croft at Kinlochewe.
Online shop - Cromasaig 9
Tigh Brachen Heather Honey
Honey from the western fringe of the Torridon mountains, it is raw, cold-pressed and pure. Some of the honey you buy in supermarkets is adulterated with corn syrup or blended, but this is the real deal. Full of vitamins.
Incredible value at £5 for an 8oz jar.
Online shop: www.tighbrachenheatherhoney.co.uk
#5 Arts and crafts
Christmas decorations, candles, pottery, prints and etchings
Tartan door wreaths
Another fun item that has that feel of Victorian Christmas with a twist is a wreath made with colourful tartan. Barbara Graham was recovering from an operation on her foot and she passed the time by turning offcuts from Loch Carron Kilts into wreaths. Barbara doesn’t have her own shop but her wreaths are available from Torridon Gallery
Torridon Gallery - contact tccgallery@gmail.com7 - or email Barbara at beegees@ntlworld.com
Scented candles
I bought some lovely scented candles from Jackie Dee, who primarily makes silk flowers.
Online shop - Highland Blooms on Facebook
Prickly Fish
This arts and crafts shop makes and sells pottery, textiles and other gifts. They have a shop in Laide (as in “Is this the way to get to Laide?” which opens on request.
Hannah Feuerstein
Hannah is an artist who makes beautiful etchings of mosses, seaweeds and landscapes. She also does bigger artworks, installations with ceramics and metal.
Website: www:hanneh-feuerstein.com
Patterns of Light
Hannah MacIver is also an artist, based on the Applecross peninsula. She makes mugs, coasters, chopping boards, and handpainted slates, all unique and inspired by nature.
Website: www.patterns-of-light.com
Eoghain Maclean Photography
Eoghain specialises in close-up shots of Highland wildlife - from a mojutnain hare to a stag in the snow. You can buy tea towels, mugs, and prints of his work.
Website: https://www.eoghainmacleanphotography.co.uk
Many of the items listed above are available from the gallery in Loch Torridon Community Centre
Thanks for this Jackie. I bought some honey because of this post. Hoping the recipient doesn't see this comment :)
Damn, I haven't been to Scotland for 30 years! Torridon looks divine.