Actually nice gifts for elderly housebound nan

[Olive180]

DHs nan is 92, in very good mental form but essentially house bound - she can't walk for more than 2-3 minutes as she has bad hips. Too old for surgery.

She has 3 children, 6 grandkids and 5 great grandkids and gets the usual blankets, jumpers, slippers, bed socks, hot water bottles etc. every year from half the family which she is fed up with. Any other ideas?

Few notes: she has diabetes so no sweet or fatty foods. Doesn't have a garden, and not good with electronic gadgets.

Btw way there's lots of free content on audible plus public libraries have audio books too

What about an electric blanket? Or an oodie? Or a massage chair thing? What you plug in and lay over the back of an armchair

What about tickets to afternoon tea that you could take her to? Or have afternoon tea delivered to her house and print off "tickets" with the date that its coming and you join her

I would go for bulbs in a pot which will grow and bloom in the new year. Or something small but lovely, - Liberty hankies were mentioned up thread. A bunch of Christmassy flowers? She doesn't need to be filling her house with ever more crap. and don't inflict Body Shop hemp hand cream on her

You mentioned electronic gadgets as a no no but Kindles are very easy to operate.

or if she doesn’t already have one, could the family all club together for a ride and recliner chair. Would make her daily life so much more comfortable.

Photo book of all the grandchildren
Calendar of all the grandchildren

Same but for photos of her youth

Invite a load of the family and do a ‘this is your life’ event where people tell stories about special times with her/show photos and mementoes

Send out a load of blank postcards to the whole family and ask everyone to write on 5 each ..something that they love about her/treasured memory/something funny/a memorable moment etc. Then collect them in and put them all in a photo album. The ones from smallest dc can be the sweetest as they can draw a picture of nan or a heart or do a hand print or something. Each card should be signed.

Manicurist/podiatrist visit at home
Luxury versions of stuff she can eat/drink from somewhere like Fortnum and Mason.
Jewellery - an usual brooch
Warm winter boots for a trip outside in a chair. Feet get even colder when you are not walking
Assuming she can leave the house with assistance and use the bathroom reasonably independently then trips out. She won't be able to do it for much longer.
Tickets to a show even via Zoom. They are still run post Covid. You can often see something from the Royal Opera house in a local cinema which is usually far more accessible that the average west end theatre.

Not necessarily everyone’s idea of a good gift I know but my late granny was really pleased with a new towel bale one year and a new duvet set another. They were functional but pretty and the sort of thing she couldn’t just pick up herself because she was largely housebound too, yet also things no one really thought to replace for her as her stuff got older and worn out.

Hits with my gran over her later years when she had limited mobility and limited cash:

• new bedspread. She hasn't replaced hers for decades as it's not the sort of thing that wears out and, despite being in good health, was always expecting to die at any moment
• new curtains for her bedroom (followed on from the bedspread)
• a voucher for the local florist which she used when it was her turn to do the flowers in the sheltered accommodation
• an M&S voucher which she used to buy fancy biscuits when it was her turn to provide the biscuits for her bridge group
• a voucher for the cinema which was enough for both her and a friend
• she didn't drink but half a dozen bottles of wine which were used as gifts or thank yous, for example once a month or so friends would invite her over for Sunday lunch and she liked to take a bottle of wine with her
• £100 on account with the local taxi company so she had a bit of independence if she wanted to visit a friend who'd come home from hospital or had gone to a friend's house and been collected and taken their by that friend but wanted independence on the way back

As you'll see, most of these weren't for her as such but gave her a great deal of pleasure in feeling as though she was paying her way and not a burden and she wouldn't have been able to afford them herself. I often explained that I would happily have given her those items and a gift but, no, because of the whole charity thing.

A Stoov? Infra red heating and helps my mum’s sore hips and back.

What about an indoor smart garden? You can set it up for her with whatever she chooses to grow (herbs, flowers, tomatoes or something) - she may love that

Familio — relatives upload stories and pictures to a website and she gets a printed magazine/newsletter with them all in.

If you see her to play it and she enjoys it, something like a board game but easier to see/handle — I've seen backgammon with magnets and little handles on the pieces, and also large print scrabble.

She'd need WiFi for an Alexa wouldn't she?

Bulbs in a nice pot for the windowsill are very cheering - I particularly like Narcissus Paperwhite for winter forcing; they smell nice. Or a terrarium display to make up for lack of garden, perhaps?

A magazine subscription can make a nice, non-clutter gift. I got a gardening one this past year and liked it very much.

I got my Dad a collection of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue radio episodes featuring his old favourites and that went down well. The BBC's back catalogue has some absolute gems.

If you get her a the local library membrship which can all be done online she can join borrowbox which is an audiobook service .An afternoon tea delivery from Daffodil might be nice - they do a savoury one so should be OK for her . A microwaveable warming pillow or scarf?

I've not read the whole thread, so someone may have already said this, but I bought my Nan a bird feeder that sticks on the window, you can get them from Amazon.

Other presents I've bought her are -
Bird bath
Winter hanging basket
Bulbs that grow indoors
Hamper that I've made up with coffee, nice biscuits, hand cream, etc

We bought a similar nan an electronic photo frame and loaded it with all her old photos (we borrowed and scanned them).

She doesn't need to know anything about tech and it is always just on it off - but when on, the photos cycle round and she enjoys seeing them all.