WHERE IS THIS?

I’m still knee deep in Christmas shopping, wrapping paper and decorations as time is flying by much to quickly for me at the moment, but despite this I’m taking the afternoon off to go for afternoon tea with a small group of friends as a Christmas treat and I’m amazed at how many places offer fabulous afternoon teas.

Most cafés and many of the hotels offer wonderful variations of cakes, sandwiches and other treats, making it a delicious way to pass a few hours, eating, drinking and blethering, all of my favourite things to do.

It’s also a perfect gift to give, a voucher for afternoon tea, whether it’s a takeaway one that the recipient can have at home or a chance to go somewhere nice and enjoy some ‘me’ time in good company, I can’t think of a nicer present.

Food and drink are featuring a lot in my Christmas shopping this year, mainly because it’s something everyone enjoys and also because we have so many fabulous food producers in this area.

A wee visit to Food from Argyll on the Pier, Taste of Argyll, Go Naked Veg or Alba’s Kitchen Garden will prove my point, and on top of that there is Oban Food Hub online, all making it easy to build hampers which would please anyone.

Add something nice to drink from Oban Whisky and Fine Wine or The Whisky Shop and you really have the perfect present – not that I’m dropping hints to anyone.

As I say every year, it really is possible to shop for everyone in Oban and be creative about it too.

The photograph last week was taken inside The Lorne on Stevenson Street, and this week’s isn’t too far away.