Friday 14 June 2013

Wants and needs.

There is a difference.   I need to get supermarket shopping in order to feed us, the dogs and the cats for the coming week.   I want a lobster salad, just because I adore lobster and I really fancy it, but I don't need to spend the money on it - I shalln't starve if I forego it.
So there we have it - wants and needs.   Sadly the farmer does not show any preference for either.

This week is his big O birthday and I want to buy him a special birthday present.   What does he want, I ask - he can't think of a
single thing.   What does he need, I ask - nothing.   I suggest a new
mobile phone as he has had his since mobile phones were first invented.   It is a museum piece.   Oh no - he can't have a new one because he doesn't want to be bothered to relearn how to use it!  In any case, it isn't broken and his philosophy is 'if it's not broken, don't try to mend it.'

So we are at a stalemate.   I am baking him a birthday cake as I write and intend to add one candle rather than the number he is entitled to.   Icing and marzipan are on standby.   I am taking him and my son and his wife out for a meal on the big day - and that will have to do.

Come to think of it - I can't think of anything I either need or want.  Perhaps it is something to do with getting older.   Looks as though on my birthday in October I shall have to be taken out for a meal.
Time was I would have liked a Gucci handbag if anyone had asked - now I will make do with what I have got.

In any case handbags are dispensed with from now on as I have bought myself a shopping trolley.   This morning it had its first outing into our little market town - coffee as usual with 'the gang' and then fruit and vegetable shopping on our wonderful Friday market.   The trolley was a great success and I didn't need the L plates the farmer suggested I use for my first outing.

20 comments:

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

I think you should write him a poem.
xoxo,
p

Em Parkinson said...

Poem is a great idea. I have the same problem with my partner so I listen throughout the year in the hope of something being mentioned that I can squirrel away in my memory banks....

Heather said...

My husband is the same and on more than one birthday or Christmas various members of the family have donated to his favourite charity on his behalf. When my father was eighty I wanted to buy him something special but he didn't want or need anything. However, he had always fancied a grower's bale of peat - (it wasn't frowned upon back then) so I bought him one and wrote an ornate label commemorating the occasion.

Terry and Linda said...

We have arrived at that place also. So now instead of things we give each other (and the kids give us) experiences. A trip to get a massage, a trip to a hot springs...stuff like that. Works are really nice.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
¸.•°❤❤⊱彡

Bovey Belle said...

Plant a tree for him perhaps (or rather you buy it, and he plants it) and then there is something to admire in the coming years.

Enjoy the cake-making (and eating it too!)

Rachel Phillips said...

Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on your own one day.

Rachel Phillips said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
crafty cat corner said...

I know exactly what you are saying. My kids ask what I want for Birthday, Christmas etc, and I can never think of anything. Still it's nice to be like that, not wanting anything. Of course I suppose I could say thread or fabric but they wouldn't understand that. lol
With you on the phone thing too, Tom's is so old fashioned but as we don't hardly use it, it doesn't matter.
My daughter is getting a new phone soon and has promised me her i-phone, She'll have to give me lessons though, I'm not good with this technology stuff. lol
Briony
x

The Weaver of Grass said...

Some good ideas here - thanks for those. I might well do one of them as well as the meal out - I will let you know after the event.

MorningAJ said...

Cinema? Theatre? Seaside? Bottle of brandy/scotch/whatever? Lobster salad? :)

Barbara said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your farmer!
While I don't have any suggestions,(I'm afraid we're in the same boat...no real needs or wants)there IS something to be said for just being content, being together.
Enjoy the cake!

angryparsnip said...

I like the poem idea too. With a nice dinner out with family sounds perfect !

cheers, parsnip

Arija said...

I think it is that when we get to a certain age, we have everything we need and the wanting of things beyond that as somehow melted away. After all, things are just things and need a place to store them and are really only more clutter. Funny how we change. When I was young I wanted jewellery and mostly got an electric frying pan or some other gadget that I was just disappointed with. Now all I desire is what can be eaten or used up. The perfect present for me would be if the g-children brought a wheelbarrow full of sheep manure from under the shearing shed or a bag of blood and bone for the garden. My how times change.

When the candles get to be too many on a cake, we have just three, one for last heal, one for next year and one for life.

A very happy Birthday to your dear Farmer.

Elizabeth said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the farmer!
Really the best presents are being surrounded by family and friends.
Loved Arija wanting a wheelbarrow full of sheep manure..... a really excellent present for gardeners.
Poem idea good too.
Food good too.
Have a wonderful celebration.

Crafty Green Poet said...

We're always short on ideas for presents, oddly it's my parents who are insistent that they need this and that or that I must need or want something, so it's not necessarily purely an age thing.

I like Pamela's idea that you should write the farmer a poem.

Dartford Warbler said...

I love the idea of planting a tree. I hope that the Farmer has a wonderful birthday and that you all enjoy your family meal.

The Weaver of Grass said...

My poems phase seems to have passed - I find writing poetry difficult these days.
As for a tree - the farm has a woodland area and also lots of trees in the hedgerows, so I am not sure a tree would be appreciated.
Still the farmer seems happy with the meal idea.
Thanks for the suggestions though.

Stuart said...

I have an endless list of things that I want: more cookery books, books on spiders, flies, bugs, cookery, moths, beetles (currently £200+), dragonflies, cookery books, WW1 aviation, WW2 aviation. I also want more pans, pots, gadgets and other kitchen paraphernalia. Did I mention cookery books? My family never has a problem with things to get me. Father's day tomorrow.......;) These are all WANTS, of course. What I NEED is more bookshelves.

The Weaver of Grass said...

I think Stuart's comment is worthy of a poem. So why not give it a try Stuart.

Stuart said...

Well, you asked for it.....

------------------------------

It’s Father’s Day tomorrow: I wonder what I’ll get.
A cookbook or a grater? They’d make a quite safe bet.

I want a book on beetles, although they cost a lot,
Or maybe one on dungflies? Nah, they’d think I’d lost the plot.

Another book on baking? That’s one I’d surely take.
Just flour and eggs and sugar to make a tasty cake.

My kitchen’s full to bursting with lovely books and tools,
But still I want some extras (my family knows the rules):

“Just get me stuff for cooking, or maybe wildlife too”
No-one needs my wants-list: they all know what to do.

My study’s full of test tubes and microscopes and lights
A net for catching pondlife? I used my wife’s good tights.

My wants-list just gets longer with every year that passes.
Some new books for my Kindle: a pair of reading glasses!

But wait! I’ve thought of something I need, not want. You see
I need an extra bookcase or maybe two, or three!

------------------

I don't write much poetry, and I suspect you can now see why!