Tag Archives: gifts

I watched a film the other day called ‘The Vow’ about a woman who had been in a coma and had woken up but had lost part of her memory so she couldn’t remember being married or her husband. The film focused on the attempts he made to help her to remember which included revisiting many of the places they’d been to whilst together and unfortunately none of them did.
The film got me thinking and I did a little research into memory, how it works and how it can be stimulated. It’s a complicated process, completely different to how a computer memory works according to some, for instead of storing information our brains use a series of stimuli gained from our senses to remind us of what we are ‘remembering’.
It covers simple things such as when we see a collection of marks on a piece of paper our brain follows the process like this…

It’s information, so it’s there to tell me something.

The marks look like letters so they must form words

The arrangement of the letters match with words I know

I can link them all up to read the message

I can understand the message being given by those marks

It’s the same when we meet someone again, our brain matches the face to all the faces we’ve seen in the past and if it’s one we’ve been introduced to it will then try to link the visuality of the face to a name.
And again when we taste food that we love or that we hate, memory has a big part to play. In the film, the woman was a vegetarian but because of her memory loss can’t associate the taste of bacon with her former life as a vegetarian.
Some of the most inspiring ones for me are the memories associated with smell and they’re one of the strongest memory joggers. I love the smell of newly made cotton which reminds me of gifts of clothing. Going into a room where onions are frying reminds me of my favourite dish my mum used to make whilst jasmine makes me think of a garden I loved years ago and the people that owned it. There’s perfume or aftershave that lingers on clothes or furniture or in the room that reminds us of our partners too and each time I smell scented stocks, I’m carried back to the summer evenings in my parents’ garden.
Giving flowers isn’t just a visual gift, you can more than double the effect by choosing scented flowers – research has shown that smell is one of the oldest senses and is even used by bacteria to be able to react to their environments.
If you want to create memories or just stir up some from days gone by, don’t just think about that flowers to give, think about what scents those flowers will have. If you’re not sure, the knowledgeable staff at Cosmea Gardens are willing and able to assist in helping you to give the gift of memories as well as flowers.

We’re fast approaching Easter in the UK and a week after it will be Orthodox Easter and this year I get to celebrate both, being in the UK for their Easter weekend before flying back to Cyprus for theirs.
I love Easter, for me it truly signals the end of winter and spring and the start of the countdown to the heady days of summer. Whilst for many, it’s just a time to consume tonnes of hollow chocolate objects and have an excuse for another family dinner, for the more religious it marks the most important festival in the religious calendar.
I’ve often wondered, especially since living in Cyprus, why the Cypriots don’t really do Christmas and save all the celebrations for Eastertide until I looked up a theological essay on the subject.
As far as I can see, the birth of Jesus is relatively unimportant in its significance to the development of Christianity and I can understand why Epiphany is more important as being the first time he is acknowledged as King by the wise men. But it’s Easter and its implication in the ideology of eternal life that is the main festival because it’s when Jesus shows us that it is possible to be raised from death, if only as a soul, and to take our rightful place in heaven. The whole dogma of Christianity hangs on that one event and is summed up succinctly by the Easter morning Greek greeting of ‘Χριστός Ανέστη’ and the reply ‘Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη’, Christ is risen and the reply, truly he is risen.
On a far more light-hearted note, it’s this time of year when I laugh at the friends who have decided upon a ‘bikini diet’ to prepare themselves for their summer holidays. It usually starts when the clocks go forward only to be rudely interrupted when Easter pops up and they’ve just got to gorge themselves on the chocolate eggs and accompanying individual chocolates not to mention those fondant filled eggs that shall remain nameless.
So what should we get for those people who we know desperately want to look svelte in their swimsuit and not bulgy in a bikini? Nothing fits the bill better than a bouquet of flowers and especially at Easter when spring flowers abound and if you want to go for the traditional, you can send white lilies signifying purity and new birth. As always I find the best flowers come from Cosmea Gardens.  Feel free to use coupon “savethiseaster” on checkout and save 10% with a minimum order of 50Eur excluding shipping. It expires the 16th of April. I’ve never had cause to complain about the quality and condition of the blooms they’ve delivered and their flowers last for weeks; a benefit of them using only the freshest cut flowers in their arrangements. They might be a little more expensive than some but when a gift is important for the message it sends, a couple of euros extra is well worth it for the quality. So this Easter, if you need to send a gift to a horizontally challenged friend or relative, be a thoughtful person and send them flowers that will add considerably to their impressions of you and not their waistline!

March 18th is Mother’s Day across most of the world and despite the commercialism that has taken it over along with Valentine’s Day and Father’s Day, it’s a day when we should do something that shows appreciation of our mothers.
Think of the pain they went through to bring us into the world, women often joke that if men had to endure the pain of childbirth, the human population would have died out long ago. Then there’s the sacrifices made to be there for us, bringing us up, working to feed and clothe us, going without to make sure that we didn’t.
For my mother, the pain and sacrifice was all too real with her developing a condition during pregnancy that was to affect her for the rest of her life and still does today. On many occasions she’s had to suffer painful operations, been confined to bed or a wheelchair for weeks or months and had her life limited by the restrictions placed upon her. I’m sure that if we were to delve more deeply into the lives of our parents we’d find similar, possibly less obvious sacrifices, but sacrifices all the same.
In my last post I told you about the sad event that had overtaken one of the children I teach and my heart will be going out to her this Mother’s Day when the flowers she gave her mum each Mother’s Day during her lifetime will now be placed onto a cold grave. It’s times like this that I realise I’m lucky to still have my mother and it makes me determined to show her whilst I still can, just what she means to me.
So how will your mum be celebrating Mother’s Day?
Many will be alone with sons and daughters far away, the lucky ones will receive a phone call or a gift whilst others may hear nothing and feel forgotten, unappreciated and unloved. I sincerely hope your mother isn’t going to be one of those. If you’re lucky to be spending Mother’s Day with your mum, then don’t think that just being there is enough. Take time to find her a gift she’ll really appreciate as being the way you show how much she means to you but don’t just stop there. Flowers are a wonderful gift but they’re often used as a ‘catch-all’ when the giver can’t think of anything else. On Mother’s Day, flowers should be an additional gift because they don’t last long and weeks after the event has passed, all your mum will have is the very nice memory. For the best flowers, you have got to trust Cosmea Gardens who, for decades, have been sending love and happy thoughts across the miles through the language of flowers. Last year I used them for Mother’s Day and the beautiful flowers they delivered lasted for nearly three weeks.
I’m in Cyprus this year whilst my mum’s in the UK but on the day, she’ll receive a gift that she’s worthy of as well as the customary flowers. Skype will bring us together and let me tell her just how grateful I am for all she’s done for me.

I had to return to the UK recently and was shocked at the attitude of several people I met whilst there.

My first encounter was on a train when a young woman was sat underneath a sign asking passengers to be considerate to other people by not playing loud music on MP3 players and to keep their feet off the seats. You’ve guessed it, she was ignoring both pleas.

Next, I saw a petite young woman struggling to heave a large suitcase on the train and position it safely. When it came to her stop I asked if she needed help getting it off the train and found she was unsure whether accepting help would put her in any danger and so refused.

On my return to Cyprus I found someone’s boarding pass they’d dropped on the way to the gate and imagined what they would feel once they realised, probably too late, that they’d lost it and wouldn’t be able to take their flight. I immediately handed it in to an airline desk who said they’d find the person. I was disgusted though by a youth next to me who said he would have gone to the gate and laughed whilst watching the person’s growing panic as they realised their loss.

I know these are only isolated cases and people can’t be generalised about but to me it seemed sad in this season of goodwill to all, that this could happen.

Still there are those that make up for the shortcomings of the human race. We had friends around on Sunday and afterwards received a very thoughtful text from them telling how much they’d enjoyed the day. The text was followed up by a bouquet of flowers from Cosmea Gardens as an apology from the husband for drinking all the wine he had brought with him as a gift!

I don’t know if you’re like me or not but at this time of year it’s always hard to think of what to get for Great Aunt Bertha or cousin Tilly for a Christmas present. Did you know that last year 34% of presents received were classified as ‘unwanted’ generally meaning that the good idea to get Uncle Eric that rotary soup maker wasn’t such a good idea.

Some people go for gift vouchers or cash but that seems too impersonal or shows a lack of thought, so what’s the alternative?

It’s a bit unusual, and personally I’ve thought it a bit unseasonal to do so, but why not send flowers. They last for a good while at this time of year, brighten up drab days and the everlasting message that flowers are sent with love fits in nicely with the season. Last year I sent my aunt a bouquet from Cosmea Gardens; red carnations and gold sprayed bracken and it looked beautiful. The carnations had a slight scent that pervaded the rooms of her house and the colours were in keeping with the season. Each time I spoke to her in the year she brought up that gift. So it shows that if you’re stuck for ideas, give flowers!

Although the weather is noticeably cooler, I can’t believe it’s nearly Christmas, so it’s time for some tips on how to make your home look effortlessly festive.

I love poinsettia plants and although there’s a myriad of colours to choose from these days, I still love the ones with the red bracts. You can spice them up by putting them in a festive looking container or simply get a terracotta pot, paint it green and then when dry, daub some wood glue in patterns such as bells, snowflakes or Christmas trees around it and press on some contrasting glitter. Don’t forget to bung up the drainage hole before putting the plant in it or you’ll have a soggy mess on your table!

If you want to keep the pot plain, then a quick squirt of spray-on glue over the leaves, followed by a dusting of silver glitter gives an instant effect.

If you can get hold of any evergreen foliage, it doesn’t have to be holly or ivy, make up a wreath by intertwining the stems and tie in red or gold ribbon in bows, add small Christmas decorations or small sprayed pine cones – there are hundreds in Cyprus at the moment – then hang it on your door or over a fireplace.

Finally, if you can’t afford one of the really expensive real Christmas trees this year which, to be honest, won’t survive long in the Cypriot climate, buy an Araucaria, otherwise known as a Norfolk Island Pine, which looks exotically similar and which will grace your garden afterwards. A 1.2 metre specimen in a pot can be bought for around 20 euros, less than half the equivalent for a Norwegian Spruce. Check out Cosmea Gardens for their range of festive plants and have a Plant-astic Christmas this year.

I was feeling a bit low for a week or so and I think it’s because it’s autumn, even in Cyprus, and the days are getting shorter, the weather’s unsettled and the temperatures have dropped considerably – but should I really be that depressed about it all?

We’ve got plenty of friends back in the UK who’ve said that the constant rain, gale force winds and even darker days are making them miserable and when I look out of the window, I now feel a little ashamed. For here in Cyprus, now is the time when you can get out and see the island without being exhausted by the heat or dripping with perspiration. There are still many sunny days and warm evenings and if it does rain, it’s all over in minutes and the sun shines again.

My guilt came out in talking to my parents who hadn’t been out of their flat in days because the weather was so bad. They’d decided to live off the food in their freezer and sit in and watch TV, shutting the world and the weather out. It would be cruel to describe our sunny, warm but very windy day to them and so I decided to send them a bit of sunshine in a bouquet of flowers from Cosmea Gardens.

I’m a great believer that flowers lift even the darkest of moods and they really appreciated the thought, only I then got to thinking – wasn’t I the one that was feeling low? Again, part of the joy of sending flowers is in the giving and seeing the look on the faces of those receiving them, and after all, I’ve still got sunshine so perhaps I should count my blessings!

Aren’t friends great?

We’re lucky (??) in that by living in Cyprus we have a steady flow of friends who want to come and stay with us. OK, it means several trips to the airport each month but we can keep in touch with home and have someone to share the trials and tribulations of life abroad with.

Our most recent guests have just returned to the UK and after dropping them off very early at the airport we returned home. I doubt we were in the apartment for more than half an hour when there was a ring on the doorbell.

We joked that it was our friends returned from the airport having missed their flight but upon opening the door we found it was a courier who was delivering an amazing bouquet of flowers.

My wife undid the small envelope and read that it was a thank you from our friends. What was more surprising is that it was a bouquet prepared by Cosmea Gardens. I guess the friends must have seen me working on one of my posts and picked up on the name. We’ve phoned them to thank them for their thoughtfulness but I had cause to think that although the bouquet was welcome, we had already received our thanks from the warm smiles on their faces as we showed them the true Cyprus that these days is too often hidden behind the consumerism.

I’ve just spent over a month in the UK experiencing what you might call the English summer which, with its usual washout had left gardens and parks looking dull and bedraggled. All it did was to make me wish for the sunnier climate of Cyprus so last Wednesday we grabbed the easyJet flight out of Gatwick and headed for the sun. Before leaving, I texted a friend to ask them to open up the windows so it wouldn’t be too oppressive in the apartment.

We arrived late in the evening and struggled with our bags up the stairs and flung open the door, glad to be home. I wasn’t prepared though for the surprise that greeted us when we went into the dining room for they had organised a bouquet of all my favourite flowers that brighten the island so even though it was dark when we arrived we immediately had a taste of what we’d missed back in the UK. There were the roses that bloom through the most intense heat set against white bougainvillea that in the garden looks like fresh snow in the wintry sun backed with rolled banana leaves. What an amazing creation I thought and looked at the label that accompanied them – Selected and hand-tied especially for you by Cosmea Gardens I should have known!

So it goes to show that if you want something really special or just to say something as simple as ‘Welcome home’ Cosmea Gardens are the ones to help.

It’s under a week now until Father’s Day and I’d like to thank my father for all he’s done for me: 47 years of care, advice, understanding and some chiding, but above all, love. I’ve yet to become a father so I don’t know the sacrifices that are to be made to give the unconditional love that father’s give but I see in my father all that I hope one day to see in me. You often hear the cliche, ‘If I was half the man….I’d have done well’ and I could easily apply that to my father.

He’d be happy on Father’s Day to see me and to hear the words from me but I’m in Cyprus and he’s in England so the only way I can express my feelings are with a card – already posted, and, remembering the fondness he had for growing flowers in his greenhouse, a floral arrangement. It may not appear too masculine to receive flowers but I know that by sending an arrangement of the flowers he used to grow, he’ll know that I remember the times we shared. I always choose Cosmea Gardens for my flowers and for Father’s Day they have a special offer. You can save 7% off bouquets and arrangements over 50 euros, just quote WELOVEYOUDAD at the checkout. The offer ends on the 20th June so you can even get the discount if you don’t quite make it for the day! Go on, tell him how much he means to you.