Compiled by Nicoline Greer.
GIVE GREEN Goats' milk from Old MacDonnell's Farm on the Great Sugarloaf is just one of the raw materials used in a new range of handmade soaps and toiletries from Enniskerry Essentials. These include hand, face and foot creams, made without any paraffin derivatives, artificial hardeners, colouring, preservatives or fragrances. The goats' milk soap, for example, contains olive, palm, coconut and Vitamin E oils, with grapefruit seed extract used as a preservative. The products, which smell divine, are not tested on animals, "just family and friends", according to the labels, and prices are from €2.99 for a lip balm, €13-€17 for the creams and €25 for Potters' and Gardeners' Hand Cream. The products can be bought from www.enniskerryessentials.ie or Ecoshop, Glen of the Downs, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow; Harvest Loom, Roundwood, Co Wicklow and Healy Pottery, Rocky Valley, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow. -Deirdre McQuillan
KERRY GREENS Forester Jim Costello set up his foliage-for-floristry business Forest Produce Ltd in 1993. As well as growing eucalyptus and the like, the Kerry-based company is licensed to harvest from Coillte's forests and Killarney National Park. Ironically, one of the most successful leaf products is the alien scourge of the southwest, Rhododendron ponticum - much of which is exported abroad (excellent idea: sell your weeds to your neighbours!). For Christmas, Forest Produce's decorative wing, Arbeo, has created four arrangements, at €95 each (plus €10 for delivery in Ireland, and €18 for the UK). Designed by Galway floral artist Richard Haslam, the fir wreath and birch twig wreath are fine big things, eighty centimetres across. The fir mantel decoration is similarly generous, while the fir and cinnamon-scented table piece comes with its own candle. All are sustainably grown and made in Ireland, ensuring you a doubly green Christmas. Arbeo, Ballyard, Tralee, Co Kerry (066-7121217); www.arbeo.com. -Jane Powers
LISTEN UP CDtoMP3 is a new conversion service that will keep you up to date with the ever-changing world of music technology. Iain Montgomery will convert entire CD collections into compressed audio format for iPod and MP3 players. He can come to your home or business, collect the CD collection and digital player, transfer all music onto the player and return the CDs and player within five working days. It costs €1 per CD, plus collection and delivery, and a back-up portable hard drive is provided as an optional extra. Vouchers are available for the music lover in your life. CdtoMP3, 087-2027174, 01-4545848, music@cdtomp3.net, www.cdtomp3.net.
PRETTY AS A PICTURE John Minihan is a legend in the photography world. His iconic photographs of Jimi Hendrix, William Burroughs, Samuel Beckett and Princess Diana represent photojournalism from a different age. He was an apprentice photographer with the Daily Mail by the age of 16 and spent the 1960s photographing the smoky clubs of Soho and the short skirts of Carnaby Street. Now, he lives in west Cork and has produced a book of photographs of his favourite subjects: people and places. His portraits include painters, poets, writers, musicians, cobblers, bishops, Corpus Christi processions and leaning madonnas. It's an eclectic and personal view of the county. John Minihan's Cork is published by Hale, €10.35.
SHOWER OF BANKERS Bankwatch.ie is a new independent website that invites the public to post information and criticisms of Irish banks. There is also a bank response page to allow the financial institutions to respond to any postings. www.bankwatch.ie, bankwatch@eircom.net.
IT'S A KIDS' THING It was only a matter of time before someone thought of this. The new children's gym in Castleknock has kid-size colourful equipment. It aims to compensate for the fact that P.E. class is all too often just one hour a week and that running is now banned in many schoolyards. They have classes in ballet, capoeira, aerobics, yoga, tai kwon do and tai chi. The Kids' Gym, Collegefort, Carpenterstown Road, Castleknock, Dublin 15. (01-8699055), www.kidsgym.ie.
TASTY STUFF Enowine is a new wine shop in Monkstown with a fresh approach. They have a serving system that lets you taste your wine before you buy it. You prepay for a card worth €10 or €20 and, with the assistance of notes, choose the wines you would like to taste. Insert your wine card and the amount (between 20 cents and €4 depending on the bottle) will be deducted and a 30ml measure dispensed. It's a better approach than a nice-picture-on-the-label one, but watch you don't get carried away after all that sipping! Enowine, 23 The Crescent, Monkstown, Co Dublin (01-2303500).
FIT TO PRINT On Sunday, December 5th, the National Print Museum is running a Christmas card printing workshop for adults. You can print your own unique cards using traditional letterpress techniques, with tutor Conrad Devlin. The workshop (2-5 p.m.) is limited to 10 people and advance booking is essential. (Tickets: €20/€15). National Print Museum, Beggar's Bush Barracks, Haddington Road, Dublin 4, (01-6603770), npmuseum@iol.ie.
SHOPWATCH From here until Christmas, shopping becomes an extreme sport.
Irish-owned toy store World of Wonder has added five new shops to the group. All 35 World of Wonder stores around the country stock games, toys, stationery, computers, videos, books, and DVDs that extend into the teenage market. Santa's letter is going to be an epic this year. New World of Wonder locations are Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in Dublin; Carlow Retail Park, Co Carlow; Meridian Point, Greystones, Co Wicklow; Patrick Street, Fermoy, Co Cork and Portadown, Co Armagh.
Know what a "lifestyle boutique" is? You'll find one on the Lisburn Road in Belfast. B & Co Interiors sells furniture and accessories such as Belle Maison's chairs covered in a cheery check, handcrafted and painted to your requirements in a converted barn in Surrey, Pewter Renaissance's pewter ware, Kit Heath's contemporary jewellery and damask quilts and throws. And - we think this is the "lifestyle" bit - they'll give you a break from your shopping with a freshly brewed cup of coffee. 222 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 6GD.
If you can't face the streets, cower in front of a computer and do your shopping from there. E.directory.ie calls itself an "online shopping centre" and it does have a vast selection of products. There is a health and beauty section; music, DVDs and videos; sport; pictures; a garden section, and that's only the start of it. Unlike most online shopping sites, it doesn't link customers to individual merchants' sites. www.edirectory.ie.