Father's Day Gift Ideas

My attempt at a Father's Day blog post comes far too late, this is due to the fact I thought Father's Day wasn't until June 25th!!! And I checked the calendar, would you believe? Epic fail. Anyway... if, like me, you are now desperately running around looking for a gift, because you are a last minute shopper and only work under pressure (yikes!!), here are some ideas:

1. Take you dad to his favourite restaurant. Have you ever heard them say you can get a man by his stomach? It's true. Chances are, this is going to cost you some money, but the old boy deserves it. If you don't know what is your old man's favourite eating spot or it's not in Lancashire, click here for ideas of where to take him.

2. Buy him a bottle of his favourite wine or favourite spirit. Something he can enjoy while reading, while relaxing. The key here is the idea of indulgence, this may also cost you some pennies, but it will be less than the restaurant meal. Going the bookish route, give him a book that includes that particular wine or spirit or a list of the best makers.

3. If he is a gardener, buy him a new gardening toy. Boys like their toys and if you are feeling generous, throw in something like a luxury handwash to hydrate his hands after a tough day in the garden. This will also make your mum happy. :) With this one, you can spend as much or little as you want. A new pair of secateurs (gardening/trimming scissors), knee pads, a new pair of gardening gloves can all be bought at a reasonable price even in supermarket chains. For a bookish tie in, buy him a book on landscaping. Arabella Lennox-Boyd's Designing Gardens would be my favourite.

4. Does your dad like to reminisce about the good old days? Why not have a look and put together a collection of his favourite childhood sweets? There are plenty of traditional sweet shops that still sell them or sell something similar. But warning, most likely, your dad's teeth are not what they used to be, so do hard sweets in moderation. You don't want to have to take him to the dentist with a broken tooth later! Also, in the UK, Waterstones in every town (in London, every respective area of the city) has a section of that town's history with books written by local historians or authors. If your dad grew up locally, get him one full of old pictures to trigger memories and then indulge him by letting him tell you all about it.

5. Is your dad mad about a particular subject? Sports, history, science, art, etc...?

• If he is sporty, why not give him the autobiography of his favourite athlete or a book about the history of the sport and/or buy him tickets for a game? Footy mad? The Urbis in Manchester hosts the National Football Museum and it's free!! 
• An art lover would appreciate a book about art collection or how to spot and buy good art, they also appreciate attending an exhibition and there are a lot of free exhibitions going on all around the country, the Manchester Art Gallery is one of them. 
• A history fan? Museum trip and book about whatever they are interested in.

So now you get the picture. The old boy will be chuffed you made an effort anyway, so rather than just dropping off a gift, spend some time with him, doing something he enjoys. You can make this a really fun day out as well as good read for your oldie. And trust me, I lost my dad when I was 15, it's the memories of these moments that count the most.