Shopping around I Blac She'ila Bla-ck * Macondo describes itself as essentially an ethnic shop specializing in the handwork of the Indiars of the Northern Andes (Ecuador and Colombia). Yucatan, Guatemala and the San Bias Islands. Hand-loomed and embroidered shirts, smocks and dresses of wild Andean cotton are really pretty. The long dresses are enchanting for parties and there are pinafores, sort of back to front, which would wear as dresses. But do not expect them to be cheap. The value is good, how- ever, at around ?24. For the winter there will be heavier wool ponchos, ruanas and serapes. Presley Norton, who runs the shop and is often there himself, is an archaeologist and these im- ports are the result of his field trips to remote and often inaccessible areas. They are, therefore, unusual, even for cosmopolitan London. The mixture is great fun, full of natural warmth and texture which gives you a longing to feel and to touch. They sell those pack-flat , open-out to Glad- stone-bag-shape Tula Bags (call them Moo Bags properly) at ?8 to ?10 in red or tan, with handles at side or top according to what you need .to carry. Padded. patchworked Suzy bags are about ?9 and match patchworked tennis racket covers at about ?-these sell like hot cakes as pairs to carry the tennis gear and to contrast with white. Baroque, giant gold candlesticks are from around ?15. Skulls carved out of solid wood-by a man in Ecuador who has devoted his life to studying and carving skulls are about ?33. In the photographs are the patchwork pieces and some of the cheaper lines like nests of baskets which are usually bought for housing pot plants. The pots should be on little base saucers or, in time, the basket rots from the wetting it gets under the pot. They are from 40p. Large log baskets start at about ?7. One of the skulls is there. So, for holidaymakers and stay-at-homes, are a couple of examples of their large stocks of espadrilles which are from ?1.50 to ?3. The ?3 ones are great as slippers, with their thick woolly uppers in two colours, and they are really warm and rather different from the usual slipper. Macondo is at 11 Walton Street, London SW3 2HP (Telephone 01-584 3595). ness glass, Govancroft pottery and other Scottish familiars-they do buy fine china and gift lines from outside Scotland. Be- sides gifts, there is great emphasis: on craft things like candlemaking sets, and making kits of many, many other kinds. The evenings are long in a Scottish winter and such home pursuits are in demand. Books, too, are plentiful, both about the Highlands and elsewhere. Many are also concerned with nature and crafts-birds, flowers and fish of the Highlands are in much demand. Lovely jerseys, tweed skirt lengths, toys and, well, anything-you-would like and all in good taste. * A new Habitat, the first In Yorkshire, has opened at 26/27 High Ousegate. York, just off Parliament Street and a short walk from The Shambles. A new, enormous warehouse has been built at Wallingford, dominating the immediate locality, and Wallingford remains a popular pilgrimage for Habitat devotees. Catalogues are 20p from any store or from Habitat Designs of Hithercroft Road, Wallingford, Oxfordshire. There are also gift voucher and wedding list services. Chinacraft has also opened a new branch, at 198 Regent Street, London W.1. For the first time in Chinacraft's history, it is selling silverware, cutlery and allied merchandise. Their silver is from the Lawrian collection, which is no longer sold by mail but only through a few selected stockists and which is run by designer Ian Lawrence, brother of Christopher Lawrence and a- jeweller who believes .men should,wear more jewelry. The range can be built up over the years as these are not one-off silver pieces. Salt and pepper pots start at about ?88 the pair. Hand-made silver cutlery is from ?230 per place setting. In the basement are gifts and oven to table ware. Crystal is on the first floor. The second floor displays limited editions, modern sculpture and costlier pieces. Chinacraft is an odd sort of shop. Apparently packed with souvenirs for tourists, it does contaihi a great many beautiful pieces which, my friends in the crystal and. china business assure me, sell very well there. * The trouble with Skyline's new vegetable scrubbing brush is that it removes so much. I wanted to bake potatoes in their. jackets and set. to scrubbing them with the bristly side, not even the ridged and diamonded backs of the plastic head, which rough up anything and remove most tough skins expertly. How- ever, even the nylon tufts rapidly rubbed off all the potato skin and I found myself baking naked potatoes which were, never the less, delicious. I haven't used the brush long enough to break it but it strikes me as being really strong. Its ruthlessness with vegetables is welcome because it speeds up. the cleaning job and does away writh a lot of peeling and/or scraping. The maker claims that it is virtually unbreakable. All I can say is that the nylon tufts stay clean and shake free any deposits and it is comfortable' to use. The head seems to me to be at the right angle and I like both the golden yellow and the warm tangerine colours in which it sells. It floats, too, so you don't have to fish around for it. The price is about 45p and it is widely distributed. Skyline's head office is at The Prestige Group, Prestige House, 14/18 Holborn, London ECIN 2LQ but I think you will find it stocked without their help. in finding stockists. * Tourists and families of oil searchers are moving in on Scotland this year. Not far from the massive rig at Nigg, where I golfed as a teenager, is Ullapool, a lovely spot in Ross-shire, overlooked by purpling hills and mountains while it nestles by a deep blue sea. The car ferry to Stornoway has put Ullapool on the modern map. In Ullapool is the Captain's Cabin, a shop in a building dating from about the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury when it was used by Norwegian fisherpeople as a headquarters. The Cabin as a shop, started in the middle of the vil- lage 26 years ago. When the founder died, her daughter, Gillian Troughton, deter. mined to keep it going despite having family and interests based in or near Lon- don. That was eight years ago and it thrives under an efficient manageress and Gillian's love for it. "We have a whole separate life going", she says of the shop. Husband Dick, chairman of a large public company, prefers escape to Ullapool rather than to the more cliched executive holiday places like the South of France and is up there now. The merchandise is as Scottish as possible. However, while stocking the best from Scotland-Caith- * I had a visitor from the country this weekend. Since she rarely finds Christmas shopping easy in her village, or near it, she started in London and was delighted with her spoils. Last year, I shopped early for 'toys. Not this early, I admit, but around late September. I was glad, too, because supplies ran low towards Christmas and late shoppers found gaps instead of the toys their young relatives or friends coveted. So, while I do not suggest any need to rush out now, here are some more toys to bear in mind. The trouble with Wibbly Walkers is that they are hard to keep shut away until Christ- mas and inttrigue adults or children so much that they will probably be wound up for in- stant walking. Comical little four-legged creatures, they have fixed keys that cannot be lost and they wobble because the upper parts of their bbdies are on spring mountings. They do need frequent winding, and they stop fearfully at even the weak- est barrier, like the hanging leaves of an indoor plant, but they can soon be set going again. They do not turn corners when they meet walls, as some of the larger toys do. They are endearing, and rather pathetic. They are also cheap enough at 75p each at most toyshops. Raving Bonkers are not new but are going to be more plenti- ful this year than they were in 1973. The game is a table-top boxing match for adults or child- ren. Two robots-Biffer Bonker and Basher Bonker-fight it out in a roped, bright yellow boxing ring fitted with left hand and right hand punch buttons. The robots are then manoeuvred into positions where they can knock each other out. When a real knock-out punch lands, the Bonker's head flies off while a howl of anguish rends the air. Each robot is about 9b-in tall and of a very tough plastic material. Tests in large stores, with determined children, show the robots to be nearly in- destructible. The price is about ?6.99 and most larger toyshops will have it. These two games are made by Louis Marx and Co of Swan- sea Industrial Estate, Swansea SAS 4JD. Others in their range that I like include the perennial Dalek (is he still loved ?) at ?2.64; the yo-yo. on a. card featuring Disney. char acters from about lSp each-great for the stocking now that the yo-yo craze is back yet again; a magnetic shooting game called Magic Shot which is completely safe, and sells at ?4.99. It is safe because the toy guII does not actually fire anything. The gun's magnetic muzzle picks up the pellets in the acetate face of a moulded shooting gallery and the trigger action causes a sharp shock which sends the pellet towards target. Real sharpshooters can ring a bell. a The mandolin (non-musical. variety) is one of the really useful kitchen tools. Much as I like my old wooden one, I have to admit that the metal ones with stainless steel blades are more efficient-so much so that I have succumbed and bought one. Actually, it looks very smart too, with its dullish, silvery finish. The cutting edge of the blade is slightly serrated which ob- viates that occasional sticking I get on the flat-edged blade of my old one. In fact, this metal version is so sharp that you really do have to watch your fingers-but they are at risk with all the best kitchen tools and knives. If you love dressing things up-especially salads- with raw onions and carrots as I do, this mandolin is for you. If you cook them, this is for you. Cucumbers can be finely or thickly sliced for serving a la Grecque. Potatoes also,.for oven or pan cooking. In fact, I slice a great many things on a mandolin, and the steel one deals cleanly with really firm tomatoes too. The adjustable blade has an easy-to-turn screw and I have to admit there are advantages when it comes to washing up 'Ir dishwashing with this mandolin, which measures 4in wide by ilin long including the handle. Flat and slim, even the holding frame is under an inch thick. The price is E1.67 from Divertimenti who will post it anywhere for an additional 20p. Divertimenti has expanded and taklen over the shop next door. The catalogue itself is 22p including postage or 15p if you collect it personally). It is probably the largest specialist cookwvares shop in London now. The address is 68-70 Marylebone Lane (that is the Wigmore Street end), London WIM 5FF. ___ ;i Shopping around