Gifts

It seems to happen every year, Father’s Day has snuck up upon us once again and discussion here at Turtle Towers has turned to “what gift should I get my dad?”.

It may not be the same for you (you lucky things), but over the years I have pleaded with, pestered and cajoled my inscrutable father to reveal what he would like most to mark the day, all to no avail! I have however developed a secret weapon to get round this pernickety-ness (some might say obstinacy), and it’s covered by one word…sport!

Well not just any sport, football and tennis to be more precise and for once timing could not be more perfect with the World Cup upon us and Wimbledon just around the corner. I can picture my dad reclining on the sofa and smiling with glee as England do battle in the qualifiers or as Murray strikes another winning return (mum meanwhile has suddenly found something very interesting to do in the garden). I know without fail a gift along these lines will illicit a similar response – job done.

My grandfather however is a different story, he makes taciturn an art-form, so it came as little surprise when my father ended our telephone chat last week with the immortal words “what gift should I get my dad?”  Oh, how the worm has turned!

I will admit I pondered whether to answer as enigmatically and frustatingly as he always does but the truth is I had the perfect present in mind. My granddad, you see, has his own magic word…trains!

No sooner said then are two Flying Scotsman Turtle Mats winging (sorry I couldn’t help myself) their way to my granddad to adorn his loft. Not the normal place for a Turtle Mat you might think but then my grandfather’s attic is anything but normal – it is in fact a giant model railway set, resplendent with stations and shrubbery, passengers and platforms, tunnels and the obligatory sheep on the hillside….ever the rail enthusiast.

The moral of this somewhat rambling tale is that the magic word isn’t always please. Sometimes, just sometimes, it’s planes, trains or World Cup fever.

Up until Father’s Day (20^th June 2010) we will be offering the Flying Scotsman mats at £34.97, a discount of 30% – order by Sunday so you don’t get left on the platform!