Party News and Ideas

It’s official – the summer has finally gone. If it ever arrived is questionable, but with the light fading at 6pm and the clocks set to go back an hour, the winter is just around the corner. As winter arrives so does Christmas with all the pantomimes to complement the festivities. The pantomime I mean is the annual scramble for last minute presents at Christmas, although I might attend a performance to hear the familiar chant of ‘he’s behind you’.

All the heavy spending is still on electrical goods and cloths, with the large players gearing up to manage the extra demand. Life is so easy for consumers as a result of the Internet, but has arguably stunted the experience of the human contact within a shop.

I am amazed at the seasonal interest in buddha statues, which come in a variety of different sizes and shapes. The statues may help people to relax and calm down after the stresses of normal day to day life! Buddhas have been the object of worship for centuries, and possibly would be welcomed and worshipped by anyone receiving one for a present at Christmas.

There is also a thriving market for classic old fashioned telephones, which seem to be appearing more frequently. Don’t trouble my neighbour, as far as he is concerned his old telephone has never gone out of fashion! But these retro phones are seriously cool, combining the nostalgia of a bygone era with the modern advances in telephonic engineering.

Winter wouldn’t be the same without the hot water bottle to add some comfort when the temperatures drop in the forthcoming months. I can never remember hot water bottles being anything other than functional rubber bags, discarded for the majority of the year. They are now very fashionable and widely available in many shapes and sizes and colours, making great presents at Christmas.

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Technorati Tags: buddha statues, buddhas, hot water bottle, Hot water bottles, retro phones

As unusual gifts go, a hot water bottle probably doesn’t seem like a particularly good choice of gift for anyone. Outdated and uncool, you wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being thrown away unused after years of sitting forgotten in a drawer. But it’s often the most unlikely gifts which turn out to be an unprecedented success and if you think about it hot water bottles can be useful in any number of ways besides just keeping your feet warm in winter, and they could even help save money too.

The primary use of a hot water bottle is, of course, to keep your bed warm at night. OK so having a bag of boiling water in your bed might not sound too pleasant when you have the option of an electric blanket. But this is where a hot water bottle could help you save energy and money – it doesn’t need to be plugged in so you’re not paying to use it, you only have to boil the water in the first place. They’re greener, they cost less and don’t waste energy by continuing to heat you while you sleep, until you wake up uncomfortably hot in the middle of the night.

Hot water bottles can also help your health, alright you’re not going to get a miracle cure out of one but they do help with minor aches and pains. Relaxing with a hot water bottle can really help to give relief for any type of back or neck pain, and give you the chance to have some rest. They can also help to ease stomach aches, and pregnant women swear by them. I think if someone was looking for an unusual gift for me I would rather get something with so many different uses than the usual nice but essentially useless plethora of scented candles and bubble baths, random gadgets, Buddha ornaments and other household clutter.

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Technorati Tags: buddha ornaments, Gifts, Hot water bottles, Unusual gifts

We tend to see less of certain furry mammals in winter as hibernation occurs, the opposite applies to the common hot water bottle. It stays hidden in some dark corner of a cupboard until it feels the first sign of a chill. Then, voila! There it is at the bottom of the bed

Of course this is nonsense, but I just wanted to highlight that for most of us hot water bottles are aesthetically-challenged objects. It has been such a long time since I bought one, I can’t even remember when it was. I am sure it would have been a last-minute idea for an elderly relative at Christmas.

We as as nation still appear to be ‘tied’ totally to them. We were once as a nation ridiculed by a Hungarian born author, George Mikes. In his hilarious book ‘How to be an Alien’ he remarks “Continental people have sex lives, the English have hot water bottles’. It is possible that there was an element of truth in the parody, especially in the days when designs were bland and uninteresting. These words probably match the average continental person’s view of the way the English have sex.

But wait! Much has changed since then. i wouldn’t have believed it, but these things are actually now considered to be ‘sexy’? The other day I stumbled across this site that appears to stock many different styles and shapes. If ever I was looking for unusual giftsto buy, things that you wouldn’t normally find in the high street, this would certainly be the place to start. They have everything here, from buddhas to retro telephones, and most things in between!

If you are primarily interested in hot water bottles, my favourites are those with a cushion shape, like the ‘Giraffe cushion’. All of these looked extremely comfortable, and probably had therapeutic values for those suffering from lower back or neck pain. They are made from 100% recyclable materials, and are guaranteed not to fade – perfect for the environmentally conscious.

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Technorati Tags: Hot water bottles, Retro Telephones, Unusual gifts