Help me with dp please

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Dp has been an absolute rock to me over some very stressful times at work this year. He's struggling to find much work himself and we are totally reliant on my job and basically he's helped me many times to just not walk out and never go back. He's taken on all of the housework and a lot of the cooking, as well as being a brilliant dad to our dds. Then, earlier this year, his mum died.

I want to get him a really lovely Christmas present but have no idea what. He's not interested in 'experience' type presents and nor is he interested in gadgets or expensive clothes or cufflinks or wallets or anything else like that. What he likes include books, DVDs, CDs, food - but none of them seem particularly special or exciting.

Please help!

Apologies for double negative there

Does he have any favourite books or authors? Could you try tracking down a first edition/signed copy of something he'd love?

How about making up a photobook/album with lots of pictures of his mum/your dd's etc?

And if he loves food make up a hamper with his favourite snacks. If you have a Christmas market you could fill it with lots of lovely locally made cheeses/cured meats etc?

At the risk of being totally cheesy, since he's been your rock, why not get him a rock...
www.rockgifts.biz/index.html

kindle?

I do him food stuff every year, so he'd love it but it doesn't feel 'special' enough iykwim.

He is Mr Minimalist, so would hate a rock, sorry - and I think he'd find the picture thing a bit odd, as he's not one to dwell over things. It's something his dad would like though, so I might help dp to put one together for his dad.

I like the First Edition idea a lot. And I suspect a Kindle would go down v well, though are they worth the money? It seems a lot of money when you then have to pay to get the books on it anyway. I could buy him a lot of books for ninety pounds! :)

Thanks ever so much for the ideas everybody. Would love to hear any more.

How about taking him away for the weekend, and/or going to dinner at a fancy schmancy restaurant?

You say he likes cds - what about tickets to a gig?

A watch?? and if you have tesco clubcard vouchers you can 4x their value at goldsmiths.

I'd like a nice dinner and weekend away though.

What's your budget, OP?

BTW he sounds absolutely lovely.

Abes Books have a serach for First Editions thing here. I think that's a lovely idea.

Kindles are SO worth the money and you can get lots of free books.
I get my paper on mine - its fab and a lot cheaper than buying one every day.

I loed going down to do a course at River Cottage, definitely worth the money, if you are too far then you could both go down do B&B and he does course while you mooch around?

He likes eating food but doesn't really enjoy cooking. It's been a big learning curve for him to have to cook several times a week.

I think a Kindle or a first edition are probably the way forward. Will do the dinner or going away thing for his birthday in January.

Can you buy Kindles in real shops, or just on Amazon?

Thanks everybody. He IS lovely - well, some of the time!

Tesco has the £89, PC World has them as well.

The new "cheap" Kindle only works with Wifi, it doesn't have 3G - just in case you don't have Wifi at home. You just can't get full benefit and use of one without Wifi.
The 3G ones can be used almost anywhere, and the connection is always free once you've bought the Kindle. You can go online with it too, albeit in a clunky way, it's ok to check email though, and simple things like that.
Loads of books are free or very very cheap for the Kindle, and even brand new ones do tend to be a bit cheaper on Kindle than in paper form.

Thanks both.

We have wireless internet - is that what you mean? And does that mean he couldn't use it on the train or anything? I have absolutely no idea what 3G means. How much are the 'non-cheap' ones?

You really don't need one with 3G. It just means that he won't be able to download books/papers while out and about, but he can download everything he wants while at home and just have it stored on his Kindle. My DH got me one for my birthday and although I wasn't sure at first (as I love actual books) I'm now totally converted. If you live near a larger Tesco they have them and you can have a play around with them in store.

I have a first edition of one of my favourite books and I absolutely treasure it.

Wonders how much a first edition of Sense And Sensibility would cost. :)

Thanks for the info - I think I will get him the 'cheap' one.

A subscription to The Economist, Private Eye, or LRB?

A painting?

Thank you. He announced today that he wants lots of small, cheap presents rather than one big expensive thing! Ten pork pies it is then!

A painting is a brilliant idea though.