Coronavirus may have forced you to cancel your Easter break to the Highlands and islands, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bring the sights, smells and tastes of Scotland’s most beautiful areas into your home during social distancing and self-isolation.
Delivery details will be changing constantly when it comes to the Covid-19 outbreak, so double-check the details on the website before placing an order and, if you’re not sure, give the retailer a ring to find out.
Prints from Shetland
Simon Drew’s prints always bring a smile to the face – especially the “Never trust a thin cook” range – and they’re available online from The Peerie Shop. Check out the prints of Lerwick scenes too to bring a glimpse of Shetland into your living room.
Judith Glue knitwear
Feeling the chill while working from home? Orkney-based Judith Glue knitwear could be a cosy solution. Her website is full of other great Orkney crafts too – and when life gets back to normal then her coffee shop opposite St Magnus cathedral in Kirkwall is an absolutely essential place to visit, for the cheesecakes if nothing else.
Sheila Fleet jewellery
Her shops may be closed by Covid-19 but jewellery designer Sheila Fleet’s website is still up and running, with lots of ideas for birthday presents and other gifts inspired by the beautiful landscape on Orkney. Her Daisy collection is also raising money for Pancreatic Cancer Scotland.
Mey Selections food hampers
Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay, launched the North Highland Initiative in 2005 to help businesses in Caithness, Ross & Cromarty and Sutherland, with its Mey Selections brand featuring tasty treats ranging from beef, biscuits, cakes, cheese, marmalade, honey and smoked salmon all the way through to gin and whisky. They’re available online via Loch Fyne in Argyll, boosting another rural business.
www.lochfyne.com/shop/mey-selections
Ullapool Smokehouse
Ullapool Smokehouse uses salmon from Wester Ross Fisheries – certified to the RSPCA’s freedom foods standard – and cures it with malt whisky or heather honey before smoking. If you can’t go out and enjoy smoked salmon in a restaurant then this is a sure-fire way of bringing a taste of the North-West Highlands into your house.
Tipsy Unicorn Sweets
If home schooling is showing you what a tough job that teachers have then once the weans are tucked up in bed tuck into Tipsy Unicorn’s range of alcohol jellies – insert responsible drinking message here. The apple martini flavour is made with Dunnet Bay Distiller’s Holy Grass vodka and the gin and tonic flavour with its Rock Rose gin, while the Manhattan incarnation features Shetland Reel whisky.
Isle of Harris tweed
Let’s face it, if you were visiting the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides then chances are you’d come back with a Harris tweed souvenir – and you still can, thanks to Campbell family’s online store. Few cushions look smarter than those covered in Harris tweed, plus the lavender scented pouches will help if you’re self-isolating with a smelly spouse or bairns.
www.harristweedisleofharris.co.uk/
Skye Skyns
Who knew you could make so many items from wool? Skye Skyns not only produces some of the softest sheep skin rugs that you’ve ever felt but also makes boots, slippers, cushions and even teddy bears.
Island Bakery
The apple crumbles made by the Island Bakery on Mull are, quite frankly, amazeballs and a real treat whenever they turn up on a shop shelf or in a café. Its lemon melts were crowned as one of the nation’s favourite organic products by The Soil Association to boot.
Peatcense
Can’t get to Islay to watch the peat being cut and taste the island’s peated whiskies? No problem! Order some Peatcense instead – it’s described as “Just like frankincense, only better”. Make your home office smell like a comforting peat fire.
