This is in response to "Christmas gifts that made you go HMMMM"
What is a gift (or more than 1) you received that you were really excited about?
I have 2. I'd always wanted a carousel animal. I'd found a carousel rooster at an antique store that I really wanted to buy (it wasn't that expensive) and my husband said no. This had to be the early 70s. Several years later, for Christmas, I received a box with holes in it with a model horse in it. When I looked at him questioningly (is that a word), he said the horse had to breathe
Then he explained he'd found someone with a small carousel and she was selling several of the individual horses. We could go & I could choose which one I wanted. I was so excited. We had the horse stripped & repainted; I still have it.
The 2nd was a fully equipped darkroom that he built in our basement. I was working on my BA in photography & spent a lot of time at school. While I was gone, he was converting an unused room in the front of our basement to a darkroom for me. It was wonderful
--stainless steel sink, counter with enlarger mounted in it, all the equipment I needed to develop film, trays for developing the prints, bottles for the chemicals needed, print dryer, lots of storage space. It was wonderful. The surprising thing I found out later was that my family and most of our friends knew about it & no one leaked a word.
He always came up with very thoughtful gifts for me.