Problem Presents

Well, it seems like everyone is talking us into recession, whether or not we want to go! So, in preparation for us all having to tighten our belts, lock up our wallets and eat up our leftovers, these are my top 5 ideas for frugal gifts that only scrimp on cost, not style.

1.  Go homemade. If you put homemade into the search box of any online bookstore, you’ll come up with a list of 100s of books on different things you could make at home (although probably you could leave the DIY submachine gun manual there). So with a bit of advance prep, you could be treating your friends and family to everything from homemade jams to biscuits, books to jewellery. I love the idea of a homemade biography, which is one of the books I came across. And River Cottage have a brand new book out on preserves which should fire up your creative culinary juices!

2. I wrote about this last week, but now would seem a good time to break out the home brewing kits. Or you could try easy things like sloe gin, although you’re too early for sloes yet, but you can do things with strawberries and things as well. Although can I pass now on any offers of plum brandy please?

3. Go second hand. Or gently used. Pre loved. However you want to describe it, the eBay habit has changed us all. Or it could be vintage books, almost anything really. Or get up early and go back to car booting!

4. Support other people’s homemade efforts.  Try Etsy or Not On the High Street to find unique pieces from other peoples creativity

5. Plan ahead and shop early, as shopping in a hurry tends to end up with expensive mistakes. Start thinking about Christmas now (sorry), really think about the people you are buying for and look out for early bird discounts. Which we are sure there will be plenty of!

And not just with Father’s Day. In fact, in our biggest month ever, even though Father’s Day was huge, there were a whole load of other things on your mind ahead of those. Among the many things you were looking for, these were our top ten gift problems you need solving.

1. Still holding onto the top spot, it was all things Gene Hunt. I think there are a lot of people opening up t shirts, although still to see someone out and about in one. Apparently filming of the new series of Ashes to Ashes is about to begin, so not too long until we get more great lines from Gene. Unless my Doctor Who season 4 finale theory comes true, in which case could be even sooner than we think!

2. You were still worrying about gifts for difficult people, and hopefully we were providing lots of new answers!

3. Winston Chesterfield is nearly as popular as Gene Hunt, although their personal styles are quite different! I think this probably makes Winston our most popular interview of the week so far. Check back here to see Winston’s views on the modern dandy.

4. Lots of you were remembering your anniversary, and looking for anniversary presents by year according to the old tradition. Or possibly the modern list. Dr T and I will hopefully make it to 9 years in a few weeks time, which gives us a choice of pottery or leather. So tempting to switch from the traditional to modern list! If you need another year, check out our guide here.

5. Well, the wedding season is in full swing, and a lot of thoughtful brides and grooms were looking for honeymoon gifts. For brides, the just married flip flops seem to be really popular. Lets just hope not everyone is going to the same beach! And for the guys, the Twister beach towel is winging its way into quite a few suitcases.

6. Last minute presents were next. It doesn’t seem to matter how often we try to encourage you to plan ahead, there’s always a hard core of last minute shoppers! You could try the hot off the press page which has the latest offers available. And resolve to be better organised next time!

7. We’re with you all on the next one: foodie gifts! And there is no need for the last minute rush to the high street for a themed hamper, not when there are so many glorious variations available online. Check out our guide to the best foodie (and drinkie) gifts around over on the main site. I’ve mostly been thinking about ordering a cream tea in a box, for the brief afternoons when it’s sunny!

8. The next one is quite specific, but very gorgeous. Bon Fae produce beautiful crystal jewellery and their Tribute brooches are beautiful. For us, it’s a two way choice between the Marilyn and the Audrey. Possibly both. They do great brooches too for different professions, such as teachers, hairdressers and make up artists.

9. A good month for those passing driving tests, as not only did they pass, but people were thinking about finding interesting gifts to say congratulations. We’ve got two guides, one for the ladies and one for the men, and this is not so the women’s one can include lots of pink fluffy things for the car! Heaven forbid!

10. And finally the dads make an appearance. Or more specifically the new dads. Yes, there must have been a lot of babies born since last Father’s Day, as lots of you were looking for special gift ideas for those dads celebrating their very first Father’s Day. Hope you found them something brilliant and you all enjoyed that special day.

Enjoy July! We’ll be busy trying to avoid Christmas!

Oh, I’ve given up counting the time, as it’s so close now. And so everyone is hoping the tennis doesn’t over-run, nor that there is a power cut.

And oh how the theories have flown around the net about what might happen next! I particularly like the Donna as Time Lord theory, the Rose Going Over to the Dark Side theory, and the possibility of the reappearance of the Master. As long as it’s John Simm.

Oh, now there’s a theory we haven’t had. Here’s one from me. All the time travelling ends up back in 1973, John plays the Master and Sam Tyler, and cue the gene genie, Gene Hunt strides out and has serious words with the Daleks. Not to mention knocks nine bells out of them! I think it’s time to break out the “you’re surrounded by armed b*st*rds” tshirt, one of Gene’s more diplomatic lines!

See you the other side of the finale, if the nerves hold out that long!

Yes, if we’re all going to tighten our purse strings, or if  you just don’t want to send the Treasury so much money, then now might be the time to get into home brewing.

And Brew It Yourself are offering an incentive, with 5% off your total purchase, with code promo68w. And it’s not just one beer, I was amazed, their site has every kind of beer, lager or stout you could possibly ever want to brew!

Not to mention wine and even shots!

There’s a long tradition of home brew in our family, from a time when everyone made oak leaf wine. And, I think, very few people drank it! So, here’s hoping things have improved. Might treat Dr T to a starter kit, we’ll start with beer economising first! Although if you want the tecno, upmarket version, then check out the Beer Machine!

The British Airways sale is on until 15th July, and I always end up looking and just imagining if it was just possible to squeeze some extra money out the bank account, and some extra time out of the school holidays.

If I can, then save me space on the flights to New York at October half term please! And, lets face it, if they’re going to lose your luggage, there are worse places to be stranded needing to shop than New York, especially at still nearly $2 to £1!

And if you are heading out there, check out our shopping and sights guide. And, if the bank, like ours, only stretchs to economy even with the sale prices, then check out our guide to things you need to survive long-haul travel.

Which is good news for everyone. For the women, it’s a great excuse to treat yourself either ready to go on holiday, or as compensation in advance for rubbish weather coming up.

For the men, this is a dream. Beautiful jewellery that will help solve the gift problem for difficult women. And the best bit? It’s beautifully gift boxed! I loved this bit almost as much as the jewellery.

 Just don’t forget to buy the jewellery!

Sale finishes 25th July, so best get in sharpish!

I know, you think it’s the 25th of December, but in the land of press shows, it’s all kicking off for Christmas. There were at least three today that I know of, and it’s always kind of weird to go from pretty hot and sunny outside (between the showers) to Christmas tree filled rooms and Christmas songs.

I’m not sure what I concluded from the experience, though. There were lots of lovely gifts, and the prices are going to be keen. I think my brief for Christmas then is to search out fantastic value gifts that are unique, unusual, stylish and have that wow factor on Christmas Day, as the recipient haven’t spotted them as they’ve trawled the High Street on the run up to the big day.

Let me know in January how I did!

No, not another Mama Mia mention (although can’t wait to see it)! It’s just that Problem Presents had its best month ever in June so thank you for turning up!

I think Problem Presents has been a slow burner but more and more people are finding us, talking about us and finding out, hopefully, that we have solutions to the endless search for great gifts for difficult people.

So, thanks again, we’re raising a glass of our favourite fizz to you!

As we’re heading into Father’s Day, it’s time to have a man back on interview of the week, as the women have been dominating for a while. The Suburban Bushwacker blog is on Dr T’s feed list, and SBW is a man with a mission and a passion. You might not agree with it, but it makes great reading, and, as with the answers we got to our questions, really well argued. See what you think.

You’re probably the first person we’ve come across with the ambition to hunt and kill an elk with a bow, how did it come to be your mission in life?

It all started quite a long time ago, when I first stopped being vegetarian and wanted to reconnect with my place in the food chain. See a post called ‘our first hunt‘.

I’m taking it there’s not much elk hunting in the UK these days, where do you plan to head off to?

The red stags of Scotland are genetically very similar, and I will be hunting and eating one soon. However bow hunting isn’t legal on these islands at present, so my ultimate hunt is more likely to be in Finland as I can bring the meat home. I’ve always had a hankering to hunt and fish the Southern Alps in New Zealand and as BoB (brother of bushwacker) has made a forward camp there it’s plausible.

I am sure there are people already tutting at the prospect, what would you say to them?

If you feel strongly enough to tut, I welcome the chance to debate the issue with you. Feel free to leave comments on my blog. I even allow anonymous comments. I’ll make every effort to play nice, but remember I don’t approve of not hunting.

What do your kids think? And what bushwacking skills have you already schooled them in?

The kids think its hilarious, they have been specially trained to mock me by their mum. My eldest seems to think its just another piece of evidence of my madness, (one of his classmates thinks I’m the coolest dad ever - much to his annoyance). His little sister says she wants to hunt with me (no one so loyal as daddy’s little girl!)

How much do you reckon the distance a lot of people are from the start of the food chain has to do with their reaction to hunting?

If meat just appears like magic in a little plastic tray from the supermarket, and animals talk to you from the TV screen, having experiences and living lives you can relate to, you could be excused for investing emotionally in what appears to be the benign alien world of animals outside the city. The ‘disneyfication’ of animals leads to some pretty emotive places; and small animals are the perfect victims. Innocent of the harsh ways of the world, defenceless and fluffy to the touch. The thinking is done for you.

Sadly, just as in the human world, ‘victims’ don’t always perform in the role we assign to them. Often the ‘poor oppressed victims’ are actually doing a fair bit of oppressing themselves. The reality of the food chain isn’t pretty, and once we get away from the cities into the real wilderness, we are not the top of the food chain. I was once asked by a grown man of 30 years of age ‘Don’t you feel bad about eating hunted meat’?, I replied that ‘I feel bad about eating factory farmed meat, don’t you’? He replied ‘my mum cooks all my meals’. Need I say more?

So what’s your favourite part: the planning, the preparation, the waiting or enjoying the tales and spoils?

The planning is great fun, but ultimately frustrating. There’s so much you can drool over on the internet.

The physical preparation is battering. I’m still a long way from the level of fitness I really need. Another problem I have with the preparation is finding somewhere to practice shooting razor sharp broad heads out of a 50lb compound bow.

Then comes the ‘we leave tomorrow’ preparation, and it’s the most nerve wracking - I’ve read stories of arriving on site to find essential equipment has been left behind and I really don’t want it to happen to me!

The waiting is where the challenge is, you have two choices: you can sit and think or just sit. One is easy to do but hard to bear, the other is harder to do but easy to bear.

Of course the tales and spoils are the best bit - eating and laughing at my own jokes! What could be better!!

If anyone suddenly has the urge to get back to nature, where would you suggest they start?

At the end of your garden, by a stream that runs through the city, in the bit of the park no one goes, anywhere you can find to sit still for half an hour - then nature will come to you.

How far does your back to nature life go? Would you say you live an eco or sustainable lifestyle in other ways?

I’d say I aspire to, I’m starting to grow a lot of vegetables, but I’m still a long way from living by Rod, Gun, Rifle, Ferret and Forage.

You talk about butchering the elk yourself, are you in training already, or how do you plan to do so? Copies of the River Cottage Meat Book and How to Butcher Livestock and Game at the ready?

A few people have asked me this, but I cant see what the fuss is about. Butchery is pretty straightforward.

How does your wife feel about you turning up with dead things for the dinner table?

Mrs SBW, sweet though she is, is useless as a hillbilly wife. Fortunately I love to cook and she has other talents.

So, what do you think the kids will buy you for Father’s Day? Do you always get outdoor and hunter themed gifts? Anything that you have particularly loved? Or loathed?

Usually I do get outdoor stuff. Last time they bought me a really neat 210mm travel rod which is very handy for fishing in streams which are overgrown. I could really do with a pair of waders and Beretta make a lightweight 12g which would be just the thing for upland bird hunting and rabbits.

So, what’s your next planned trip?

Probably more inner city fishing with Jeremiah, I’m long overdue some pigeon shooting in Kent and Essex. I have an invitation I’d really like to take up to stalk Muntjac in Dorset and I’m looking for some affordable boar hunting in France. There is of course the legend of a stocked lake miles away from the nearest road, where no one goes, where the trout grow to enormous sizes………..

So, you think you’ve got challenges shopping for gifts for your other half! Spare a thought for Mrs SBW! Not sure if we cover anything for bow wielding hunters, but our best guide to great Father’s Day gifts is here.

More jam and a bit of mild swearing actually. Which might be a WI meeting, but I still consider myself too young to find out. Just.

Anyway, our lovely builders, bless them, had managed to turn off the freezer on Friday night, and we didn’t discover it till this morning. Which is going to leave us with some interesting dinner choices tonight and tomorrow. And left me with a whole load of soft fruit defrosting.

I had forgotten there is something really relaxing about creating jam, about producing something to last all winter out of not much more than fruit and sugar. I had forgotten how much I drooled over the recipes in Mes Confitures, which certainly took you beyond the regular raspberry or strawberry types of jam.

So I was inspired to throw in these rapidly defrosting dog ends of raspberries, strawberries, cherries, and something that is either blueberries but possibly sloes. We’ll find out when we bite into one. Oh, and I added a splash of vanilla extract and a pinch of cinnamon with a Gallic shrug of the shoulders.

And I had forgotten how relaxing it is to stand there, stirring the pan of rapidly bubbling fruity sugary goo.

Which is why the pan is now soaking in the sink, with a thich crust of caramelised fruit at the bottom.

I’m thinking of investing in the new Tefal Electric Jam Maker. It might be cheaper, and more relaxing, in the end! And perhaps I’ll just order in a cream tea, just to celebrate the brief British summer in all its glory!