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Original poster

Help me get a birthday present for lovely sixty-something aunt

32 replies

MarthaDunstable · 10/08/2019 16:52

Trying to help my father get a birthday present for my lovely aunt who is in her late sixties but is not in need of lavender pot pourri, slankets, jigsaw puzzles or other gifts occasionally suggested on MN for anyone over the age of 45 Smile.

She’s a retired Classics teacher, broadsheet reader, very cultural, quite keen on Mediterranean cooking, loves her garden, devoted to her young grandchildren.

Any brilliant ideas? Budget between 20 and 50 quid.

OP posts:
cannycat20 · 10/08/2019 17:02

How about:

  • a cooking experience day
  • subscription to Gardeners' World or something similar or have a look at Scottish National Trust subscription (they have a reciprocal agreement with the English NT) or a year's pass to her closest favourite garden or some gardening vouchers or furniture?
  • nice high tea out
  • without knowing the part of the UK where you live it's tricky to suggest other things, but what about something related to the Ashmolean or British Museums if she's still keen on classics?
  • Or a subscription to her favourite broadsheets?

I take your point about the slankets and things. I've always thought someone's personality is more important than their age when it comes to buying pressies....

fluffiphlox · 10/08/2019 17:03

I’m 61. Not very lovely. Decent champagne please.

ElspethFlashman · 10/08/2019 17:05

I'd get a really expensive Mediterranean cookbook. Some of them are really a bit pricey so you wouldn't buy them yourself.

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ranoutofquinoaandprosecco · 10/08/2019 17:10

What about some naice pots of Mediterranean herbs that she can use in her cooking?

Horsemad · 10/08/2019 17:30

Afternoon tea.

I always suggest this for this sort of question, probably because it would be my ideal present! 😆

Dandelion1993 · 10/08/2019 17:31

Theatre vouchers?

mnahmnah · 10/08/2019 17:36

A hamper of yummy stuff

Almahart · 10/08/2019 17:37

Really nice wine and some good novels.

Gonegrey31 · 10/08/2019 17:47

There is a wonderful new cookbook called A Table in Venice by Skye McAlpine. Delicious recipes but also an insider’s guide to Venice ) and she has taken all the photographs. Might appeal ? Someone gave it to me recently (I’m 63) and I was thrilled with it .

owlonabike · 10/08/2019 17:51

Subscription to Private Eye?

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 10/08/2019 17:52

Theatre tickets? I try to get experiences rather than things for my rellies, as they don't need "stuff". I have paid for a gardener for my grandmother and just got my mum some tickets for a show in the West End.

Sadik · 10/08/2019 17:52

Bottle of good wine / port / whisky depending on her tastes, plus a new hardback book from an author she likes?

owlonabike · 10/08/2019 17:53

I’d second the theatre vouchers suggestion too.

Footle · 10/08/2019 18:01

Massage voucher? I'm older than her and I'd love one.

Original poster
MarthaDunstable · 10/08/2019 18:30

Thanks all. Theatre tokens had occurred to me already so good to hear them seconded (though I think her DC fall back on them quite often). Massage vouchers have reminded me of her local spa which she’s quite partial to, so we could do that.

OP posts:
onalongsabbatical · 10/08/2019 18:36

Sounds a bit like me - trouble with vouchers of ANY kind is they're impersonal. An expensive garden plant? A lovely acer, for instance? Not the usual one. Plus an art book?
Those two would make me pretty ecstatic!
I can get more specific if you like re both the acer and the book!

JiltedJohnsJulie · 10/08/2019 18:47

If she’s into Classics and gardening, there’s a Rose called “Zeus” which might combine the two?

If she likes cooking, how about a really lovely pestle and mortar?

A subscription to a gardening magazine might be nice too?

NaturalBornWoman · 10/08/2019 18:48

I would get a plant probably. Or the Venice book. Theatre and spa are both nice but more than £50

ajandjjmum · 10/08/2019 18:58

Could your father take her to the theatre or to a concert she might enjoy? This would give them time together as well as covering off the 'gift'.

Footle · 10/08/2019 19:05

Vouchers are only impersonal if they're for something you could easily buy for yourself. If you need a bit of encouragement they are ideal.

Starisnotanumber · 10/08/2019 20:26

An olive tree in a pot. Covers the gardening she likes plus a reminder of Mediterranean culture.

irishtwo · 10/08/2019 20:32

What about meal voucher for him and her to catch up? Or some sort of activity they do together? I usually get my aunt of that age a mix of hair voucher, massage voucher, gin or basically something she would never buy herself last year I bought her cheese fondue set including the massive block of cheese she loved it and would never bought it herself

Original poster
MarthaDunstable · 10/08/2019 21:44

Doing things together is a lovely suggestion but sadly impossible.

OP posts:
Original poster
MarthaDunstable · 10/08/2019 21:46

..they meet each other a couple times a year and chat regularly on the phone but that kind of trip out would be logistically impractical.

OP posts:
Nanasueathome · 10/08/2019 21:48

Fortnum and mason do a small tea hamper
Lovely basket and goodies

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