Whilst Joy waa making the coffee we - Jackie , Margaret and I - made an assignation to scour the town for a gift from us for her 80th birthday in August. Yesterday, after searching four estabishments we returned to the one that not only had something we all liked but also had the perfect assistant with a warm smile. Next we had to choose a card and I was glad the girls didn't jib when i suggested we got one without the big 80. Then we got pretty wrapping paper embossed with lavender flowers and pretty lilac-ish ribbon.
We were all busy, so parted as sooon as the job was done. When I got home I realised I had taken my camera and forgotten to use it - so involved were we in getting the right gift. Margaret dropped something in on her way home and I persuaded her to have a coffee whilst I unpacked - did the deed and repacked. Margaret will do the final gift wrap and we plan to present Joy with it on her birthday outing with us in August.
The Garden Group are taking her out for tea at a special garden place and she has been given the honour of opening a new garden - created by The Townswomen's Guild - for Minehead's Steam Railway Station. Looking at the girls the other day I asked Jackie who was 80 some years back, why some people - the same sort of age - seemed so old and she said it was because they had given up. It seems such a pity.
A litttle box for rings and things
A frame for a special photo
Joy can keep orchids going for years and has lived abroad for many years.
Did we choose well?
18 comments:
You did - although I hope Joy doesn't read your blog!
I could be wrong, but I think some people get a mindset as to what sort of behaviour befits their age and therefore they appear to age quicker... if you see what I'm saying?!
Sx
Queenie: Joy is the only one who has a computer but like most of my family and friends have no interest in blogs. Fortuitously:)
Scarlet: yes - I see what you are saying. For good or ill that mindset has escaped me and - on the whole I'm grateful.
Good job.
Cheers.
I remember my mother saying an aunt of hers had declared once she turned 40 she would no longer go upstairs on the bus. Age is such a state of mind, which must be why you seemed so young when we met :)
You chose BEAUTIFULLY...! Everything is so pretty and I love the theme.....That is a very sweet frame!
I think that genes and health issues play a part in people getting "old", too....And some health issues can make you feel like giving up, you know?
Beautiful!
A few years ago I'd have said poverty, but then I met two men in their nineties who were poor as church mice but looked and acted as though they were about fifty! Genes probably has something to do with it, as does, as Scarlet and Kim have said, attitude, and, of course, health, as oldoldlady of the hills said. I'm just copying everyone aren't I, nothing original to add today?
My late grandmother used to say that you can't judge age in years, and I think she was right. Some people are old at 60, and others never seem to reach 'old'. My mother in law hasn't, and she's in her hundred and first year.
Randall: glad you approve:)
Kim: compliments gratefully received.
My Gran believed the normal span of life was three score years and ten and she died as my first son was born at aged 70.
Naomi: of course one's health makes an enormous difference and you are a living example of how - with health issues - it is possible to remain young at heart.
Hats off to you.xox
Eryl; you don't have to be original. Sometimes it's sufficient to say hi:)
Ann: goodness - 101 now that's an age.
nice post today and choices were charming. . .
the honor of opening a new garden sounds lovely to me very special !
Very pretty! I do especially love the ring box.
And this post has reminded me to stop going around groaning and moaning about my imaginary aches and pains... ; )
I well remember buying my old mother a picture frame similar to that, with a photo of me and the wife and kids in it, for her 85th.
She unwrapped it, looked at it for a while, and said, "I would sooner have had a crate of gin, that's more use at my age". Tut!
You: "Did we choose well?"
Me: "See above."
Parsnip: knowing Joy I'm sure she played an active part in the actual planting thereof. She has a very difficult garden of her own - on a slope - which she manages without help.
Leah: we all groan and moan. it helps to pass the time:)
Keith: I feel more confident about this choice than with anything I bought for my mother. What is it about mothers that makes them think we want them to be totally honest?
You chose very well!
Love the gift, as for age, it's all in the mind. I am not that old but know people younger than me who look at me as though I am mad when I tell them what I have been up too.
I have a friend whose 85 year old mother plays on line bridge and loves it.
I hope to age like that.
Lovely presents. It's often very difficult to find gifts for older people if they have lost interest in things that used to amuse them but it's great that Joy is still young at heart. My husband (Bear) has noticeably slowed down at 82 and I think arthritis and diabetes (badly controlled because he won't eat sensibly) are contributory factors.
Post a Comment