If it was your 60th birthday, what would you like?

[SomeInspirationRequired]

I've absolutely no clue what to get, I'm hoping for some magical Mumsnet inspiration please

Lady in question doesn't drink alcohol or do sports
Does enjoy most things to do with nature but lives in an apartment so doesn't own a garden.
She's not into expensive handbags/jewellery

Was thinking more of a thing to do rather than a wrapped gift but right now I'll take any suggestions please!?!

Does she read? A subscription to Willoughby book club would.me my favourite thing to receive. You can decide how often the books arrive (I'd choose one book every 2 months). They are beautifully wrapped, fit through the letterbox and if there's one she's already read they replace it with a different title.

Everyone has been stuck inside due to covid

So meal, cream tea, drinks out somewhere at pub, cafe, restaurant

I wouldn't want a thing to do unless it also included somebody to do it with.

What's your budget? Will you be giving it in person or getting it delivered to her?

Waitrose Garden have nice houseplants for delivery, some of which are in pretty pots. So do Bloom & Wild.

A book of local walks?

A trip to Kew Gardens with you?

Need more info really. Her age is the least relevant thing.

Spa break in a nice hotel

They tend to include a meal, some are situated in lovely grounds so can go for a walk etc

What’s your budget, if any?

I would hate any “thing to do”, as I prefer to choose for myself how I spend my time.

At the moment (apart from wine, which is useless to you) I’d be very pleased with some sparking, newly published books - cookery, philosophy, fiction … Or an item from one of my favourite designers - but you may not know who they are. Or some extremely luxurious perfume from a particular maker.

I would not want any generic tat assumed suitable for a ‘lady’.

Oh! Also a really superb Santoku knife.

A dyptique candle

Thank you so far... she's not a huge reader but I do know someone who's a real book worm so I've saved the Willoughby book club for a gift idea another time 😊

Budget is £150 ish
I would be giving it to her or it could be delivered.
She's not into any beauty treatments unfortunately
Tickets for anywhere would be for 2 people
Doesn't have any particular hobby as such, but she likes to be kept busy

I would want to do London Zoo after dark. Rather pricey but I would love that.

A flower subscription?

What about a plant or nature magazine subscription or a bird feeder and nesting box?

I'd be delighted with either.

For my 60th birthday day I neither wanted nor needed anything, so I asked for 60 trees through onetreeplanted.org/products/plant-trees. My friends got together and in the end I had 250 trees, and 1 as my best friend bought a magnolia for my garden.

If she's by herself (and it sounds as if she is), then do make sure she's got a friend to do stuff with, before buying her an experience of any sort for two people - or offer to go with her. The Chelsea Garden Show is back on this autumn, and would make a lovely day out?

Yes, I’d like a flower subscription.

Freddie's flowers subscription

I was treated to lunch at the Ritz by a friend (she came too). I had a cashmere sweater and a Liberty scarf as well

Subscription to landscape magazine.

Or monthly flowers.

Do you know if she's a member of the National Trust? If not, and there are at least some places to visit fairly not too far from where she lives, you could buy her an individual membership and a gift card for the remainder of the amount which she can use to pay for entry for a friend or spend in the shop/cafe.
We use ours a lot for parking, eg at a beach and for walking, not just for entry to houses at gardens

With that lovely budget and the fact that you can see her in person, a day out with lunch or afternoon tea with you. Is there somewhere relatively near you where you could combine good food with a walk?

'Fairly close' or 'not too far' - not fairly not too far, obviously!

Or yes to a flower subscription.

My DDs got me a voucher for an hour’s training in a racing car, followed by taking the wheel for off road rally driving!
Sadly the pandemic lockdown and my hospitalisation with Covid supervened, but it was a brilliant present idea. I hate the usual spa/jewellery/handbag crap.

I will always think of mine as the big damp squib covid birthday! It rained as well so we couldn't even light the bbq.

My DD sent me Bloom and Wild flowers and after initially thinking I'd received a box of weeds, I put them in water as instructed and they were beautiful by the next morning.

Does your person have any dietary needs? My DS made me a 'hamper' of gluten-free chocolate, and fruit.

Actually, there’s also a particular piece of exercise equipment I’d like that would be around your budget. Even if your recipient isn’t into sport they probably do some sort of exercise.

Yoga mat?

Weights?

A fitting for decent trainers?