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Gift advice please


Hoddy
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Each year we arrive in France in March or April and take a little gift for our neighbour who keeps a general eye out for us over the winter. He has a cupboard full of whisky and we've taken shortbread biscuits and Stilton cheese among other things. He particulary liked the bottle of Bushmills with his name on the label.

This year I would like to take something really special because of his extraordinary kindness last year. We were not able to go until July because my OH was recovering from a hip replacement operation. When we arrived we found our garden already planted with potatoes, onions, green beans, courgettes and tomatoes. He had even planted a couple of my pots with flowers for the terrace. He wouldn't even accept the price of the seeds.

I thought of buying him a top quality English knitted something, but then I thought that his daughter, who does his washing, might not be pleased with something which required special care. Just to make things more difficult he is well into his seventies and says he wants for nothing.

Any ideas gratefully received.

Hoddy
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If you do decide on garden tools, Hoddy, these are definitely the best:

http://www.worldofwolf.co.uk/#

German made, last a lifetime, a real pleasure to use.  If you buy him one of the tools with a handle attachment, the handle will also fit other tools in the range.  In other words, you can then buy him different attachments in other years.

There are other stockists, but the above company are superb; efficient and competitive with pricing.

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I slightly feel that a person of that age, so keen on gardening, will probably already have his favourite garden tools that he has used and loved for decades.

The above suggestion of a couple of David Austin roses is brilliant. And what about some seeds of vegetables that are much eaten in Britain but are less common in France? Parsnips, runner beans; tomatoes or French beans of unusual colours? We gave a similarly kind neighbour some physalis (cape gooseberry) seeds once, and he did so well with them that his wife was making jam with the fruit!

Angela
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[quote user="sweet 17"]

If you do decide on garden tools, Hoddy, these are definitely the best:

http://www.worldofwolf.co.uk/#

German made, last a lifetime, a real pleasure to use.  If you buy him one of the tools with a handle attachment, the handle will also fit other tools in the range.  In other words, you can then buy him different attachments in other years.

There are other stockists, but the above company are superb; efficient and competitive with pricing.

[/quote]

Just to be picky, Sweets, I believe you will find that Wolf is actually French, somewhere near Strasbourg I think. Which is rare in this day and age when every French factory seems to be closing down.

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[quote user="woolybanana"]

Just to be picky, Sweets, I believe you will find that Wolf is actually French, somewhere near Strasbourg I think. Which is rare in this day and age when every French factory seems to be closing down.

[/quote]

Is that right, Wools?  I am a trifle surprised because, as I said, the tools are WELL-MADE and well-designed. [:P]  Still, Strasbourg is practically Germany, isn't it?[6]

They're expensive but, I guess that if you want quality, you can expect to pay for it.

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I don't think a pair of felco pruners would ever go amiss but of corse louiseau is right, as we get older we kind of stick to what we are used to....

Edit, just had a thought, what about something personalised from Emma Bridgewater? A mug ( maybe a pint one) or a French bowl with something apt or his name...or even something Quimper personalised...but EB is British....
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Thanks for the suggestions. I think I’ll go down the tools route. My neighbour has all that is absolutely necessary for a man who gardens on an almost commercial scale. I remember that he borrowed a pair of loppers from us a few years back and so I think I’ll probably get him a pair of those.

I’m already a keen user of Wolf tools. I have a hoe on which I’ve had a replacement blade and two new stales. I’ll see what they have.

Hoddy
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[quote user="Hoddy"]Thanks for the suggestions. I think I’ll go down the tools route. My neighbour has all that is absolutely necessary for a man who gardens on an almost commercial scale. I remember that he borrowed a pair of loppers from us a few years back and so I think I’ll probably get him a pair of those.

I’m already a keen user of Wolf tools. I have a hoe on which I’ve had a replacement blade and two new stales. I’ll see what they have.

Hoddy[/quote]

I love my loppers and they saved me a fortune when we re did our garden a few years ago, cutting higher things also helped excercise my shoulder which I had broken a few months before - great idea Hoddy, I hope he loves them!
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Hoddy, now that you've got us all thinking garden tools, please come back and tell us what you are going to buy and also, describe his face when you present him with the present! (sorry, just can't resist these plays on words, I shall never be a proper grown-up person!)
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What they don't seem to stock in France are border or ladies forks. They have these great long forks. If this guy is getting older and enjoys gardening he might find one of these more useful than the traditional french ones. OH and I both swear by them. You'll pick one of these up either at Wyevale or B&Q or anywhere like that. Just a thought...

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[quote user="Pommier"]

[quote user="nomoss"]I have a hammer which I bought nearly 30 years ago. I use it regularly. It has had 2 new handles and one new head [:)][/quote]

I've got a broom like that. It's had 5 new heads and three new handles.

[/quote]

Pommier.

My mate Trigger has one like that.

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I gave my Uncle a stainless steel spade in the late 60's, when they were quite a new idea.

He was delighted with it, as he said it cut into the ground better and the wet earth didn't stick to it so much.

He left it to me in his Will, and I'm still using it.

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If I had a handbag I am sure it would be full up with all the other paraphernalia that ladies stuff in the bag, not sure if a handbag is a place for an electronic gadget, nor can I see why you would need to carry the equivalent of a couple of bookcases with you. If you read one of your 300 every day you have nearly a years worth with you.

With my book I don't need any extras to read it; no special cover, no plastic film to prevent scratches, no pen with a rubber bobble on it and no charger for batteries.  

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