Secret Santa

Blue_Elephant

Hi! I apologise if this is the wrong place but although a lurker I find you guys an amazing bunch!!

My colleague at work has had a bit of a tough year, what with her husband having cancer etc and well, I've drawn her in the office secret santa.

I don't want to get her some generic tat but rather something she'll actually like, but I'm stuck!!

She's just turned 60, into gardening/growing veg, wine making and reading. I do know she has a kindle but buying an amazon voucher seems like a bit of a cop out! On the other hand, anything I think of re the gardening or winemaking just seems to create more "work" for her.

The budget is £10. Please help??

mountainofdebt

Well my mum loves her gardening and has said that if anyone wants to get her a pressie, then gardening vouchers - which she will enjoy spending in the spring - will be very welcome.

If she enjoys gardening/winemaking then she won't see it as work,more as leisure.

Maysie

I am getting my mum one of these kits http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Goat-Cheese-Kit-Make-your-own-creamy-chevre-FREE-DELIVERY-/321249572802?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item4acbf777c2

She makes her own yogurt already which she says is easy to do so this is just an extension of that i thought. my mum is 61. I was thinking of adding posh crackers.

You sound a lovely thoughtful colleague i hope you come up with something brilliant.

trolleyrun

Perhaps some gardening gloves (possibly warm ones for winter/spring)? A gardening "goody bag" with twine, metal wire, seeds, etc - the £ shop usually sell lots of things like these, so you could get quite a few bits.

Edinburgh Woolen Mill often have sales on fleeces etc, around £10, so maybe a gardening/wine making fleece?

leandygandy

You can get gardeners soap/hand cream sets designed to shift mud better than normal handwashes can, so maybe something along those lines?

balletshoes

most garden centres do vouchers which are exchangeable in just about every garden centre in the country, so I'd go with those - I've got my mum some in the past and they were very well received .

scaredy_cat

or a kneeling pad for when she's gardening?

geoffky

Another who thinks a kneeling pad..

meritaten

No, if she has a Kindle and loves reading then a voucher may be just the thing.

otherwise - amazon also sell Gardening books. she may well like to have a reference book such as the Royal Horticultural Society books or a gardening book by Alan Titchmarsh or Monty Don.

Tiddlywinks

We only ever buy funny jokey pressies in our secret Santa - anyone who gets a proper present is normally a bit disappointed.

Is this the same in your team?

How about a saucy dot to dot book to cheer her up? Or a pamper kit?

When you've been through a crisis sometimes laughing is the best present in the world.

Savvy_Sue

I might get a bargainous 'little' thing like the handcream or soap, and a voucher with it, best of both worlds.

Or, instead of the handcream thing, I've got a nice slimline calendar with a gardening theme for FIL, and a similar one with birds for a friend.

And, in various popup shops last weekend I saw slate 'labels' for plants.

Me, I'd love the goody bag idea, lots of little bits.

As for jokes / saucy presents, let's just say the Ann Summers chocolate body paint didn't go down well at our place.