Gift for 62 year old lady…

[ChakaKhanfan]

Not my mom but someone I care for deeply.
She is a widow and had breast cancer herself a couple of years ago although (hopefully) fully recovered.

She is wonderful to me and my children and I want to buy her a gift. It’s usually just socks and chocolate but this year I want to treat her a bit more.

She doesn’t really drink, I know she likes to read crime thrillers, she has mentioned a few times about sensitive skin (chemo side affects) not really sure what she watches on TV or whether she has a DVD or not.

Any ideas?
I am rubbish at gift buying!

@lottiegarbanzo I totally take your point that we are all different. Equally not all scarves/ chocolates/wines/ toiletries are the same. I

It’s just the way it is that generic gifts will be given. However I have found that a different version of something I don’t think I like, often turns out to be much nicer than I thought.

Having had BC myself I can say that a day out might be exhausting, especially as she's not long away from treatment. As she likes crime novels and if she's tech savvy, an Amazon gift 'card' might be ideal. She can choose what she likes. (You buy it and they give a code for her to quote when she buys the book.)

Really sorry to quibble, (again) but I honestly don’t think being able to use an Amazon gift card counts as ‘tech savvy’!

(They’re not terribly reliable though.)

For a reader a relevant book subscription would surely be welcome? But again the OP would need to know her prospective recipient’s taste in order to choose the best source.

... and I've just remembered this site too, which has some fab things www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/collections/jigsaws

Jigsaw possibilities for @barskits

The grammar grumble mugs are brilliant www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/pages/search-results-page?q=grammar+grumbles+mugs

I'm sure Avon does a range of products for post chemo skin sensitivity!!

I love scarves / shawls so if you ladies with loads want to send them my way I'll be very happy.

Rather than giving to the charity shop consider giving them to your local women's shelter.

OP I was looking for advent calendars yesterday and found one that's actually a game with 24 clues.

www.amazon.co.uk/Hidden-Games-Professor-Charlies-calendar/dp/B09FFKY4S1/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3AK3RNSHOI9LY&keywords=advent+calendar+mystery&qid=1669085984&sprefix=advent+calendar+mystery+%2Caps%2C112&sr=8-4

You mention that she is kind to you and your children, could you do something together with her? Pantomime or show, even a school carol concert.

I am way older than 50 and I have never owned a single scarf in my life.
If someone actually gave me a scarf of any shape colour or fabric I would probably strangle them with it before they did the same to me.
They are seriously creepy gifts.

This thread overall is why I hate gifts.

I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t read books or where scarfs or shawls, I am allergic to all toiletries, pretty much everything you put on your skin or scalp
I hate cut flowers and plants and can’t drink coffee because it makes me nauseous with my ADHD Meds. I couldn’t think of anything more old and doddery at getting a jigsaw puzzle But one that has the words Rest in Pieces on the front after someone has had BC is just inappropriate

Some of the suggestions make me think that there are seriously old people out there whether they think they are old or not.

I'll be 62 in a month's time. I would love a spa day voucher, a 'limitless' movie pass for a year, a luxury blanket/shawl. I work full time in a job with long hours that requires me to get to grips with new computer software on a regular basis and I stream my TV to my laptop. Someone gave me a Disney plus subscription last Christmas which I absolutely loved!

I wouldn't want a cashmere anything, so that's not a given 😂

@Kennykenkencat What do you buy your friends out of interest?

Fashionable cook books can be quite a nice gift. They're nicely personal as well: I liked this and thought you might as well. And you can pick one at an appropriate level of adventurousness for the recipient. Obviously some people hate cooking but it's quite an easy thing to find out about them.

I've got a shelf of cookbooks, I hardly use them as it's easier to do an internet search. 'Fashionable' cookbooks probably aren't going to have many recipes suitable for single people.

I know lots of people do prefer to use online recipes but the OPs friend sounded a bit old school. Nigella has some excellent sections on single person recipes.

To be fair it was other people that made Op’s friend sound old (school). Perhaps it was the fact she doesn’t really drink 😬.
None of my 60 year old friends are any different in their tastes, hobbies or looks to my 50 year old friends. They do have a ton of stuff though.

Maybe a signed crime thriller book? Then even if she’s read it, it still has something special about it.
A magazine subscription of some sort? Would she like flowers every month? Both of those can be recycled and might be things you wouldn’t pay for yourself.

If anyone gave me a cashmere scarf I’d think they’d lost their mind.

Almost 3 weeks and still no real idea of the OP’s budget!

Though I assume the gift has been bought by now.

I'm 60. I'd love a flower subscription (which I gave myself last Christmas) or a beauty voucher.

I bought this for my MIL and she LOVES it. Its a painting by a lady who has parkinsons.

art-rabble.org/products/black-and-white-card-classic-fr-framed-mounted-print?variant=41251581001916

They have loads of other arty stuff and have artists with downs syndrome, autism etc so it feels like I'm doing good. I think it's even a social enterprise.

We don’t do gifts. I don’t buy for them and they don’t buy for me. It is so freeing when you sit round a table and everyone is handing out gifts and you don’t have to worry what people think of your present and you don’t have to mask when someone has got you a gift that you have no use for, hate or are allergic to.

If you're thinking of flower subscriptions, I can heartily recommend Cornish Blooms - a family firm, gorgeous blooms, I was lucky to receive a subscription last year. They also have short subscriptions eg 4 weeks of scented narcissi which would brighten anyone's January.

Or a Christmas flower arrangement with candle, the sort of lovely table centre it's hard to justify buying for yourself, I got one for my sister last year as her main pressie was a voucher and she loved it. Like this one

Sorry, forgot link cornishblooms.co.uk/product-category/christmas-flowers-by-post/

I feel really old now…..
seriously, ask her… I still attend punk rock gigs, recently married a younger man, and have retired abroad…I am also 62.

An electric fleece. My friend just turned 60 and her cats adore it.

That sounds like a perfect arrangement for non gift givers. I have have that agreement with my siblings as nether of us think it’s worth the effort.

This is a thread to specifically to suggest presents though.

I was replying to someone who asked what I gave my friends as gifts because I thought the suggestion were either generic or very old for someone my age and to point out to a poster who thought all 50year olds owned a scarf that they didnt