Gifts for my father - part five - a failure

@JudyEv (367364)
Rockingham, Australia
December 15, 2025 9:01pm CST
This is the last post I’ll be doing about Christmas gifts I bought my father. Over the years, I tried to come up with something different rather than just buying initialled hankies or jars of cashews. He was at the age I am now and didn’t really want for anything or worry about gifts but it was important to me at the time to put a bit of thought into his gifts. However, one was less than successful. I bought a pattern for a rocking chair. Dad had started doing a bit of woodwork and I thought it would be nice if he could make a rocking chair. We didn’t just buy the pattern; we bought the timber he needed too, against Vince’s better judgement, as it ended up quite expensive. The whole project proved too complicated and many years later, it ended up in our hands and we never got around to making it either. All I can say is that my intentions were good. The photo is of a candlestick which Dad turned from a banksia nut.
16 people like this
15 responses
@sallypup (67126)
• Centralia, Washington
22h
That's quite the candlestick. Your heart was in the gift even if things didn't go well.
6 people like this
@sallypup (67126)
• Centralia, Washington
11h
@JudyEv I love wood. I wonder if you couldn't make something else with that wood?
@JudyEv (367364)
• Rockingham, Australia
21h
Yes, that's true. I did get a bit carried away I guess but I knew he wouldn't buy the timber if I just gave him the pattern.
4 people like this
@DaddyEvil (163679)
• United States
16 Dec
The candlestick looks nice! Intentions count for a lot when it comes to our parents. In my opinion, of course.
4 people like this
@JudyEv (367364)
• Rockingham, Australia
23h
Thanks. Your opinion means a lot to me!
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (163679)
• United States
19h
@JudyEv You're welcome.
@FourWalls (81049)
• United States
8h
Hey, the best laid plans of mice and men and rocking chairs….
@jstory07 (147004)
• Roseburg, Oregon
16 Dec
I do like the candlestick.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (367364)
• Rockingham, Australia
23h
Thanks. The banksia nuts carve nicely and have an unusual texture.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (488976)
• Italy
20h
I am sure he appreciated your present. I am trying to remember what I bought for my Dad for Christmas, I remember that one year I bought for him a beautiful Chess board, he loved to play Chess. Now my husband has that Chess board.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (488976)
• Italy
20h
@JudyEv - I remember that, after I got married, my husband received an expensive wrist watch from a client. He did never wear wrist watches, so we offered it to my father for Christmas. That idiot of my brother wore it to go to the beach and lost it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (367364)
• Rockingham, Australia
19h
@LadyDuck I can imagine how disappointed you were that the watch was lost.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (367364)
• Rockingham, Australia
20h
That would have been a very appreciated gift I'm sure. It's good that it's still in the family.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (52238)
21h
I love the candlestick. So unique and different! Well, like you said, your intentions were good. We all make mistakes on gift giving sometimes. All we can do is our best. You put love and a lot of thought into it, that's what really mattered.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (367364)
• Rockingham, Australia
20h
Thanks. Yes, my intentions were good but it was complicated the way they cut it out of the minimum amount of timber.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (367364)
• Rockingham, Australia
19h
@MarieCoyle Some are incredibly hard to buy for.
@MarieCoyle (52238)
19h
@JudyEv It was very hard for me to surprise my Dad with a gift when he was alive. He never really wanted anything. He loved the little things my children gave him more than anything.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (108116)
• United States
16h
It really was a good thought. I always tried to get inventive with what I got my dad, but of course, my budget was almost always limited. But like my dad with my gifts, your own dad must have thought it was an original gift you came up with.
@snowy22315 (200095)
• United States
15h
Oh well you triied. I remember one year I got MY dad a Danger men cooking apron..because he was into barbecuing. Hat is the most creative I got other than the sport team remote older I talked about on here efore.
@LeaPea2417 (39263)
• Toccoa, Georgia
9h
Yes, it was the thought that counted.
@wolfgirl569 (126508)
• Marion, Ohio
14h
It was worth a try
@just4him (319662)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
12h
I'm sorry it was a failure. Yes, the intentions were good.
@Shiva49 (27713)
• Singapore
14h
At times, what we get as a gift may not prove useful to us. I feel guilty to pass them on to someone else as a gift. Eventually they get discarded.
@Dreamerby (9721)
• Calcutta, India
14h
Ahh timber gone to waste...Anyways it was a thoughtful gift!
• United States
16h
That would have been quite the undertaking
@LindaOHio (208335)
• United States
17h
Well, your heart was in the right place.