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Why not - I'm asking for advice (non-CLL question) Тhank you all, we have already made a decision with your help

Yalokin profile image
61 Replies

Today, my wife and I were invited to my neighbor's 100-year anniversary (I repeat - my neighbor's, not my wife's).

We are extremely at a loss as to what gift to give other than pretty flowers.

It is very complicated, a person presents something useful or something symbolic.

She lives most of the time on the French Riviera - there is a daughter and she is married to a Frenchman.

About 1-2 years ago, she started developing dementia (that's 100 years after all).

I will discuss any idea you give me because the celebration is in 2 days.

What would you like to receive on your 100th birthday?

Apologies for this topic if it seems out of place to anyone.

Yalokin.

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Yalokin profile image
Yalokin
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61 Replies
Shepherd777 profile image
Shepherd777

A Bible, ice cream and chocolates.

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toShepherd777

I'm not sure if she's a believer, but she might beat me up if I give her a Bible hahahaha

Shepherd777 profile image
Shepherd777 in reply toYalokin

if she starts beating on you, tell her that her ice cream is melting.

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toShepherd777

I'm not sure he'll hear me...

Shepherd777 profile image
Shepherd777 in reply toYalokin

Than the soft wool throw it is.

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toShepherd777

😃😃😃

AnneHill profile image
AnneHill in reply toShepherd777

I like that idea. I wear wraps and a soft shawl is similar.

LeoPa profile image
LeoPa in reply toYalokin

A hearing aid!

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toLeoPa

Not yet. When we celebrate 110 years maybe!😆

CycleWonder profile image
CycleWonder

Fall and Winter will be coming soon. Perhaps a soft wool throw to use when it gets colder.

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toCycleWonder

I accept the advice, I write it down

Panz profile image
Panz

You can’t beat balloons and flowers!

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toPanz

I accept the advice, I write it down

AnneHill profile image
AnneHill in reply toPanz

Balloons are great fun. We had lockdown on my husbands 70th birthday. My son brought big balloons and it was great.

Edalv profile image
Edalv

A nice green indoor plant, they last longer than flowers… and they will crean the indoor air… nice and practical…

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toEdalv

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.

Palmetto profile image
Palmetto

Are you serious they married 100 years ago?? Were they wed at birth?? WOW

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toPalmetto

It's my neighbor's 100th anniversary

Newdawn profile image
NewdawnAdministrator in reply toYalokin

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.

Newdawn

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toNewdawn

Thanks-in trigger for discussion.

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...

Newdawn profile image
NewdawnAdministrator in reply toYalokin

In that case all she needs is the love and appreciation from her friends and any remaining family 😊

Newdawn

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toNewdawn

👍👍👍🌹

Palmetto profile image
Palmetto in reply toYalokin

Sorry I saw Newdawns post it is still quite a milestone!! May we all have a long life like that.

Annie1920 profile image
Annie1920 in reply toPalmetto

In French and perhaps Bulgarian anniversary is a word used for birthday

AnneHill profile image
AnneHill

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

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toAnneHill

It is not appropriate to give her a perfume, because there, in France, they have a perfume factory. Rather, they give us gifts all the time.

Otherwise, they are unlikely to put a flower on a plane.

Ghounds profile image
Ghounds

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!

Not that I'm wanting to promote drinking 🤣

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toGhounds

You reminded me that he drinks red wine (and beer). Maybe a bottle of quality red wine.

You are on the list. Thanks!

Ghounds profile image
Ghounds in reply toYalokin

You're welcome! And I'm happy to have made the list 🙂

Annie1920 profile image
Annie1920 in reply toGhounds

Our friend who reached nearly 102 always had a glass of vin mousse or champagne with her lunch 💜💜

SofiaDeo profile image
SofiaDeo

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?

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toSofiaDeo

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.

SofiaDeo profile image
SofiaDeo in reply toYalokin

Oooo specialty honey sounds yummy, and they don't have to eat it immediately, or travel with it, and it will keep for months.

Awyn profile image
Awyn

While she’s visiting, plant a seedling tree in her name, in a place that is special to her that will go on another 100 years or more.

Big_Dee profile image
Big_Dee

Hello Yalokin

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.

Pin57 profile image
Pin57

If she likes a good laugh, you could get her a small hand-held blower to help her with putting out 100 candles on the cake!

Sunfishjoy profile image
Sunfishjoy

A donation to her favorite charity.

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toSunfishjoy

I don't think there is one, but the idea is good.

Annie1920 profile image
Annie1920

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

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin

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.

it looks like that:

perga pict
Yalokin profile image
Yalokin

the set looks like this (it is not an advertisement, because it is not sold outside Bulgaria):

honey
bennevisplace profile image
bennevisplace in reply toYalokin

I like the idea of this. Would they ship to the UK?

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply tobennevisplace

As far as I have seen, they do not sell outside Bulgaria.

bennevisplace profile image
bennevisplace in reply toYalokin

Thanks

StAsaph47 profile image
StAsaph47

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.

ygtgo profile image
ygtgo

Old photographs of where she grew up as a child ... then listen to the stories she'll tell

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toygtgo

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.

And she has been retired for 45 years !!!

bettyba profile image
bettyba

Hello

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

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply tobettyba

interesting👍

Bribin profile image
Bribin in reply toYalokin

Buy a plot on the Moon.lunarregistry.com/moon-land/

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toBribin

😃😁😃

blowinginthewind profile image
blowinginthewind

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.

Liz P

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toblowinginthewind

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!

Davidcara profile image
Davidcara

Test yourself for covid right before going. I think not giving her covid would be a great gift.

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin

It is not desirable for very old people to put candles on the cake and blow them out, because it can become foul:

youtube.com/watch?v=bHIaf4-...

Gridleythedog profile image
Gridleythedog

A gift to a charity in her honor.

New-bee-cell profile image
New-bee-cell

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?😁

JeannineMarie profile image
JeannineMarie

Have you thought about having a tree planted in her honor. Also some places offer a choose of reforestation to a location of your choice world wide.

Yalokin profile image
Yalokin in reply toJeannineMarie

thank you all, we have already made a decision with your help

ksteinberglewis profile image
ksteinberglewis

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

jijic profile image
jijic

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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