What to buy my 91 year old nan for her birthday?

[whatdayisit7]

My Nan turns 91 on Saturday (we are very close). She's very independent: still drives and goes to the shops daily, does gardening, reads the newspaper and completes crosswords daily. I've always got her garden ornaments in the past but I feel as though I've exhausted this gift now! Any suggestions of what I could get her? I did ask and she told me not to get her anything as there's nothing she wants 🙄. She's right to an extent because anything she needs or fancies she will get for herself but of course I want to get her a special gift.

A kindle? Tablet? A nice scarf / coat / gloves now the weather is turning cold? A pamper session?

My local garden centre sells lovely hand creams and similar for gardeners.

Also lovely quality gardening gloves. Thorn proof and such.

Might be nice?

Old ladies are always cold so I would recommend a nice blanket wrap, sheepskin slippers or some cashmere wrist warmers (went down very well with my 90 something grandmother) .

Posh chocolates and a bottle of sherry?

Grandparents can be hard to buy for! I've started getting my Nan these cute little dog ornaments that she's building a little collection of and for my Grandad it's usually something gardening related, a gadget of some sort or, if all else fails, he gets some lovely new slippers!

She's told you she wants nothing, and it sounds like she can afford to buy things herself, so why not listen to her and do that?

She might be worrying about where to put all this stuff, or the impact on whoever has to clear her house out when she passes on or goes into a nursing home - this is a thing - google Swedish Death Cleaning - it's not as grim as it sounds.

If she drinks, a bottle of nice fizz, or mini bottles if she might only want a little tipple every once in a while and not need to finish a big bottle, or bottle of nice gin if she likes that, plus maybe flowers or go out for afternoon tea, or a nice meal. It's almost certain that quality time together and maybe a short lived/consumable treat, will mean far more to her than yet another item she has to give house room to.

Take her out somewhere she wouldn't usually go? Meal, Christmas market and buy her a decoration etc

If she doesn't want "stuff" then listen to her. Some small bottles of wine, if she likes that.

My granny loved getting a huge box of chocolates so she could share it with her friends when they came over.

I would take her out for afternoon tea or a meal.

Hot air balloon ride? Drive in a classic car and afternoon tea? Fish and chips on the sea front?

Would these work? My Nan loved them www.thesmallhome.co.uk/collections/sheepskin-moccasin-slippers/products/handmade-sheepskin-moccasins-sand-rhubarb-1

Subscription to a gardening or home magazine? I did this for my grandma's 90th and she loved it.

take her out for afternoon tea or a trip to the theatre

My elderly nana used to like her nails painted - what about going for a gel polish manicure

Cashmere-lined leather gloves - in red!

www.aspinaloflondon.com/ladies-collection/ladies-leather-gloves/ladies-cashmere-lined-leather-gloves

If M&S have got them in, they're around £50 there. Make sure it's the real cashmere lining though.

What about a personalised crossword?

Thank you for all the suggestions! :) the only reason she doesn't want things being bought is because she doesn't want us spend money on her (but if we didn't get her anything she'd be cross, trust me 🤣).

When my grandpa turned 90 I didn't have a clue what to get, unfortunately he wasn't as with it and mobile as your nan. So me and my husband printed off lots of pictures of the family and had them send some up to date ones and made a lovely framed collage. We're a very small family but had to remind him of who some of us were, especially the ones of when we were younger. He loved it and everyone said how lovely it was. Would she appreciate something like that?

I bought my grandad a box with photo frames on it (Wilkinson's) and copied or printed out pictures of us together at different ages.

Id take her out for afternoon tea to a really nice place. Nothing materialistic, just give her your time!

Go out for lunch somewhere. I expect time with you will be more valuable to her than a gift, per se

If she is a reader, what about a collection of well written short stories? I find that's a nice present to dip in and out of. Or audiobooks if her eyesight isn't great for long stretches of reading

how about vouchers like 5 though cleans of bathroom, or oven cleaning vouchers or window cleaning? You of course do the cleaning.

I bought my dad an 1933 OS map of where he grew up and framed it. He sat and talked for hours about his youth and showed me all the houses of his friends, his school, dens etc etc. It was £3 on Amazon or eBay and he absolutely loves it. I had to get 2 more for him to send to his siblings!

Take her out somewhere nice, take a photo of you together there, and give heath photo framed nicely afterwards. Dont get her Stuff, get her a lovely experience.

What a wonderful idea, Dilkhush