The problem is that they come to Bulgaria for 15-20 days 3 times a year and it becomes a bit pointless. The other time their apartments are empty. Otherwise, the idea is good.
You mean it’s her 100th birthday 😊 A real achievement.
I’d be giving her something connected with Bulgaria, a place she clearly loves. A print of a local place, a book on Bulgaria etc. though I appreciate there’s limited time.
She sounds relatively fit for a 100 yr old lady if she travels so much.
Yes, her father lived to be 106, her mother died at 99 (I remember her).
She had 3 marriages. All three husbands died, as well as 1 son.
2 months ago (during her previous visit here, she got infected with Covid (You especially know why). Her saturation dropped to 60 and now she has nothing. Well, they carry her around the airports in a wheelchair. When the "GOD" poured on someone poured in more...
We have given a garden rose plant in a nice pot in the past although Im not sure wether it is too hot in France or if it will get looked after. An orchid real or artificial. I imagine she has everything. My Mum is in a carehome and my son bought her a radio. She sings along to the music.It depends how much you want to spend and how withit she is. I buy my Mum perfume. Photo frames are nice if someone can put a birthday photo into it. Anne uk
Flowers or a nice book, maybe about Bulgaria? Or a good bottle of something alcoholic, lots of older people credit their longevity to a little nip of spirits!
I like food items. I will do perishable ones only if I happen to know they are a favorite. So bottled beverages, certain fruits, canned specialty things, perhaps a baked good or other item that can sit at least a few days before being enjoyed. Is there a local/regional jelly or pickle not found outside the area? Local charcuterie items? A seasonal item currently available? Something that can maybe last until they come back on their next trip?
At the moment there are a lot of fruits and vegetables, but these are normal things. I just remembered a client of ours who only produces gourmet honey. I remember that they produced honey with truffles. I'm writing it down myself. I don't know if they will I have time though.
At 100 years old I doubt that she feels any need for nick-nacks she would have to dispose of soon. I would suggest her favorite food if she can still eat it. You might also check to see if a local newspaper would be interested in doing a article interview of her.
We bough a couple of CDs with music from the 1930s and 40s for a French friend who had a 100th birthday. If that helps as a suggestion. And a mock up of a card from Queen Elizabeth as she was a great fan. She also began dementia at over 100years and died at nearly 102
Last night I fell asleep at 10:00 PM Bulgarian time (UK-8:00 PM) because before noon we were in the mountains next to us and did a 2-hour hike, saw wild mushrooms, picked wild raspberries, etc. and I was tired.
Thanks everyone for the ideas so far.
With a hint (thanks SofiaDeo), I really thought about whether a set of bee products wouldn't be suitable.
Honey has properties to strengthen the immune system as well as propolis (especially). She recently had covid and I think it would be a useful gift.
Moreover, the products are of local origin, they are not sold outside, some are not even produced elsewhere.
The set contains:
Natural honey 900g
Linden honey 900g
Manov honey 900g
Honey with rose petals 250g
Bee pollen 100g
Bee elixir 4 in 1 - 250g
Perga 100g
Glue-propolis tincture 25g
Information about manna honey:
How to get honey honey
Bees collect it from manta on oak and linden leaves. This blight is obtained with the help of insects that pierce the leaves of the trees. They feed on a part of the juice that flows out, and the rest is secreted on the leaves as a sticky liquid. When there are not enough nectar plants around bees, they produce honey from this mana.
Manna honey is dark green to black in color. Almost no sugar.
High-quality honey has a high percentage of amino acids - arginines, glycines, histidines, lysines, methionines, as well as aspartic and glutamic acid.
The taste is slightly different from nectar honey. Manna honey is astringent and very slightly bitter.
Due to its high hygroscopicity, it quickly absorbs moisture from the environment and quickly seeps.
Due to its high mineral content, manna honey has not only a higher nutritional value, but also a higher price than nectar honey.
The largest amounts of mold are released from oak. It is a light and transparent liquid that turns dark over time. Oak Manta honey is known to contain many beneficial substances and is most valued for its healing properties.
To extract honeydew, the presence of deciduous trees heavily infested with aphids is necessary. From the place where these pzrazites make a breakthrough for mana, it long after separates from there. Insects return the received liquid back to the leaves, having previously enriched it with enzymes. Bees collect the enzyme-enriched manna, process it and produce honey.
Side effects of honey honey
The recommended daily amount of honey is 15-20 grams. The main harm from its consumption is related to an allergy to bee products.
In large doses, it is toxic not only to bees (for them, honey causes toxicity and death regardless of the amount), but also to humans.
Manna honey is distinguished by its high calorie content, which is characterized by rapid breakdown and transformation into a hormone that promotes the burning of stored fat. 100 grams of the bee product contains a total of 323 kcal.
The extraction of honeydew is difficult and time-consuming. It is thick and slowly grinds into a thin stream through the centrifuge.
What is perga (I didn't know either):
Perga - or also known as bee bread - is preserved bee pollen with the help of a special ingredient of enzymes and honey. The role of the bees is to "cement" the pollen in the cells. And there, thanks to anaerobic conditions (lack of oxygen) and under the influence of bacteria, yeast and enzymes, lactic acid accumulates.
This is how bee bread or perga is preserved. In simpler terms, pollen goes through lactic acid fermentation. During this process, the shells of the grains are destroyed and that is how the useful ingredients contained in them become more available.
I once gave an African Violet plant to my grandmother, age 96 and and in a nursing home. She was delighted. She said I love receiving plants as you can watch them grow but you just watch flowers die. Another suggestion is good quality hand cream.
Unfortunately, this place no longer exists. Otherwise, she showed me old photos. There were 6 brothers and only she was a girl. When they sat down at the table to eat, the brothers ate first and she ate if there was any left over from the food. It was big At that time, the parents of daughters were not very happy.
They only had land that someone had to work.
It will be hard for some to realize this…
Life has been downright cruel to her.
But she has an indomitable spirit.
Oddly enough, she was my inspiration. We are very close.
She worked for 40 years in a pharmaceutical production-shop for tableting analgin.
Amazing stuff. Virtual reality experience. Which could be done in the comfort of her chair and it could be a trip somewhere she has already been or always wanted to goxx
Something like flowers or wine or a balloon bouquet would be nice. However, when I have special birthdays I generally ask for donations to a chosen charity. When other people have significant birthdays I go along the idea of Oxfam Unwrapped or a similar idea. For example a charity called Smile Train a donation of a particular amount - it is about £30.00 UK Sterling will pay for the repair of a hare lip/cleft palate for a child in a developing country. I have been known when people ask what I want to ask for them to donate to Smile Train - a little while after the donation, you get a before and after pic of the child, which is so lovely. However - I have no idea if these charities operate and fundraise in Bulgaria. But there probably some such things there. And you do it online so the gift is instant, you just print it out.
The idea is good. As a matter of fact, the culture of donating is not very developed in Bulgaria. Usually money is donated here for a sick child (for treatment abroad). Most ordinary people here do not live richly. Not everyone has a surplus to donate, but -the correct one is the lack of such habits. Besides, there are very few charities here. There are animal shelters that mainly send the animals to Western Europe. I don't want to go into details, but your idea is good. Thanks!
A picture frame and a photograph of something that is still remembered (or maybe not) and meaningful. Perhaps a photo of the celebration with the neighbour at the centre, a childhood home, their daughters, their garden or subject of a beloved hobby - time spent in the Riviera?😁
I was thinking that Covid is still active and since you are on this site, you or your wife have CLL. I agree that a soft throw will be wonderful but I would mask up to not give her Covid and not get it from someone
How lovely! I think a beautiful shawl, as others have mentioned, would be a great gift. Or some very nice soft clothes to travel in (a cashmere-blend sweater perhaps? something not itchy).
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