The Gardener

Gloves
Gloves are boring right. Well no! If you don’t like cold hands and want a tough glove that isn’t just looks then it’s these.

These winter gloves are soft, warm and hard wearing and RHS approved. This is a great website for all things RHS. Please note these do use animal products.

https://www.rhsplants.co.uk/
Price about £27

The Left Handed Gardener & right handers too

Secateurs
We all know Niwaki. A great place to get Japanese and Japanese style garden implements. But what you might not know is they like left handers. Yes indeed, you can get left handed secateurs here. They span the whole scale of prices, but they are good tools. Also don’t forget Felco who also make for us Southpaws. Of course there’s stuff for you dull old right handers too.

Felco
https://www.worldoffelco.co.uk/secateurs/left-handed-secateurs

Niwaki
https://www.niwaki.com/left-handed

Prices:-  up to ££’s

The Cook

Tea towels and aprons are never boring

It’s so easy to get blasé about your everyday apron. But what happens if you would like to wear a piece of art. Where can you go? How about British made, British designed goods that look like nothing you’ve seen before. Our designs are aimed to be arty and exciting. They can be purchased at The British Craft House. These are retro but we also have modern and fine art work based designs. These are quality aprons, well made and accommodating. And we have them in adult and child sizes. Beat that if you can!

Our aprons and tea towels here at The British Craft House

https://thebritishcrafthouse.co.uk/shop-category/lucy-hughes-home-and-interiors

Prices:-  £ – £££

Spatulas
How can spatulas be interesting? Well they can. In a small town nestling just a little south of Hadrian’s Wallworks Tim Foxall and his team. And they make the most interesting spatulas on earth. In crazy shapes and with fun looks these inexpensive wonders light up your kitchen. Are they a piece of art work? Should you hang them on your wall? Well you could, but they can also be used.

There is a wide range to pick from so you can always contact him for advice. Some are more practical than others, some suit a small hand and some a larger one. Some left hands, some right. They are a joy.

The place for spatulas is here:- https://www.timfoxall.com

Prices are very competitive £.

The Scientist or Engineer

Magazines are never dull
Now come on, are we being lazy? A magazine albeit available digitally and in print. No absolutely not. The New Scientist is a far more approachable magazine than many people realise.

It has fantastic photography sometimes of beautiful places of nature in the world, photomicroscopy of the strange and wonderful, articles on games, science fiction books, films and series. Then there is the science which can help you learn how you think, what to eat, the latest on the climate, the latest in physics and also the quirky science which can turn rather interesting. Do you want to know if plain chocolate will help you free Schrodinger’s cat? This is the place. A good gift for people who want to understand the world. And you can remind the receiver of the gift about it every time you meet, ‘Hey Jill what’s the latest in modified Newtonian gravity?”.

New Scientist:- https://www.newscientist.com

Prices:-  depend on the subscription

It ain’t heavy man…
So ok, there had to be one gift for the musical scientist. And this is it. I am not sure it fulfils all the required ethical elements, but it’s from a museum and it’s all organic… well organic cotton. The T-shirt itself is of course heavy metal, it’s a conundrum. There are many T-shirts out there but this is seriously geeky and cool, well when I say cool obviously close to 300K but you know what I mean. When you are in a hole you stop digging. So when your favourite engineer is jamin’ this is the shirt for them, make ‘em look the part.

It’s from the Science Museum, London, https://shop.sciencemuseum.org.uk/products/science-museum-heavy-metals-t-shirt

Prices:-  are very competitive £

The Artistic creator or Writer

Words or a thousand pictures or something…
There are a lot of places that are battling outrageous fortune at the moment. One that comes to mind is Ukraine. People have done a lot to help in an impossible situation there. One thing we can do is support businesses sympathetic to or directly in that part of the world. Let’s begin with watercolorist. Rosa Gallery paints are single pigment watercolours that are lovely to use and they are manufactured in Ukraine. We use them and they are good quality.

You can get these from a number of suppliers, give Bromley’s a try, a small family art business.
https://www.artsupplies.co.uk/c/rosa-gallery

Prices:-  £ – £££ 

What about Egyptian birds?
We were thinking about the Benu, an ancient Egyptian name for a phoenix. It’s also a brand of seriously wacky fountain pens (and roller ballers if you must). They are not mainstream but if you are reading this you too are a bit out there. I don’t think I should go into too many details but this company moved from Russia to Armenia to continue trading. It has been highly sympathetic to peace rather than war. This has proved a dangerous position to take up for some involved. Benu make pens that are just not the norm, they can be bright and sparkly but also celebrate darker things. MAKER NO MISTAKE, they are proper writing instruments, I feel Salvador Dali may well have used one had he had the chance. The nibs are Schneider and reliable. There is no one like them, and if you enjoy the different gift this is it. And yes that is a skull, they also do rubber duck pens!!!!!!!

Benu can be bought direct or from places such as Cult Pens who have every pen in the world. Both have exclusives.

Benu – https://benupens.com or in the UK Cult Pens – The Story of Benu

Prices:-  ££ – £££ the sky is the limit

The Luxury activity maker

Chocolate thats not boring
Yes we know, some people just like chilling out at home and enjoying the finer things in life. Why are you never on these lists. Fear not, we have got you covered possibly in chocolate. OK a company that tries to do its bit for sustainable cocoa is Choc on Choc. Yes you’ve probably seen their name here and there. Did you realise their registered offices is called Chocolate House, now that would be a meal in itself. It’s a UK company based in Bath, but how does it fit into this list of the stuff you wouldn’t think of? Well I present you with this, a chocolate soldier (literary reference) from the Nutcracker (yes fish in a barrel). But he is cut off at the feet. Is this odd? You decide. Good for the kids, good for you. There’s a lot of nice stuff here and a coffin full of bones. You wanted a list, you’ve got one. This is another activity set to do at home have fun, just don’t tell the neighbours and pull the curtains, or not.

As with any food product beware of gifting this to anyone with food allergies. Choc on Choc the place for err, chocolate https://choconchoc.co.uk

Prices:-  £ – ££

Cocktail tales
The absolute best way of partaking in a cocktail is having it served to you exactly as you like it. The cheapest way to make cocktails is to buy all the individual bits separately from your local supermarket and mix it yourself. But where is the fun in that? Is there a middle path? There sure is you booze hound, I mean sensible drinker. Making your own allows you to get it exactly as you like and you can tune its alcoholic content to pace yourself. See, now you think it’s a good idea.

There are countless cocktail offerings out there. And many of them are good. There are a couple I favour as a gift for yourself or others. They are the Cocktail Connoisseurs and the TASTE cocktails. Both get good reviews and both have a different slant on the kits. Don’t forget to try a Moscow Mule, the best cocktail of all time. Here are your choices:

Cocktail Connoisseurs https://www.thecocktailconnoisseurs.co.uk

TASTE Cocktails https://tastecocktails.com

Prices:-  £ – ££

The DIY-er

Pliers, you can’t be serious, oh but we are.
To Knipex or Not to Knipex? Well we know the answer. KNIPEX!! They make plier type things in Germany. And they’re good quality. Very good quality. We have found it one of the most consistent manufacturers on the planet. Their tools are reliable and do the job they’re designed too. Even if you are sending coals to Newcastle, i.e., buying something for the DIY expert they will appreciate these beasts. And you can go to the cheap end and still get something good.

Our recommendation is the Lock Button Waterpump Slip Joint Pliers. You can get their stuff from good quality tool specialists and Amazon. Prime Tools have a good selection. For the EDC person they do make a cute little set consisting of a 2 Piece Cobra Mini Waterpump Pliers Set in a small pouch these mini tools are great for around the house jobs and if you add a torch and Swiss Army Knife you’ll be able to do a host of different jobs.

Knipex from Prime Tools https://www.primetools.co.uk/brand/knipex/

Prices:-  £ – £££s

And finally the best till last – for the specialist
British made. Beautiful. Incredibly practical and available in a range of sizes and shapes. These will last a lifetime. What am I talking about? Diamonds, gold? No steel. Ashley Isles tools. We are huge fans of the dovetail chisels however all of their tools are good. Take a look at the detail carving set as well.

Although buying direct from Ashley Isles is the most direct route sometimes there is a long wait. Search around, Toolnut is another option which may hold some stock. A gift voucher may be your best option, but tools of this quality are worth waiting for.

Ashley Iles – https://www.ashleyilestoolstore.co.uk or Tool Nut – https://www.toolnut.co.uk/collections/ashley-iles

Prices:-  £ – ££’s

NOTE

The author assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the goods presented here. The author makes no warranties of any kind, express or implied as to the materials and products presented here.

The images used here are intended for informational purposes and have been included as fair use. All rights to the images belong to their respective owners.