Whew… What a trip! I’m back, safe and sound on Canadian soil, and back to reality…
And part of that reality is that Father’s Day is now only eight shopping days away. Gah.
A few weeks back (before that little sidetrip to Sweden and Denmark) I’d taken a look at what PC Home had to offer in terms of Father’s Day giftware, and it got me channeling my inner lumberjack (inasmuch as shopping for masculine, wood-grain-motif gifts is something a lumberjack does).
A little more refined, but just as “woodsy” as that barbeque cover, is this little gem.
This mahogany and sonokeling wood stunner is actually a compass!
As you can see, the protective cover pivots away to reveal the mechanism inside, making it both handsome and practical (the two qualifiers for a great father’s day gift)! And it’s well-priced, to boot.
Areaware mahogany and sonokeling wood compass, $24 USD
See Areaware for your closest retailer
I take comfort in the certainties in life. All kittens are cute. In every Martha Stewart Halloween special, she’s bound to say the word “ghoulish” 500 times. And the fact that Father’s Day is hands-down, the most difficult gift-buying occasion in the calendar year.
Dads are just so hard to buy for. Everything my dad wants, he goes out and buys for himself, leaving my sister and I the unenviable task of divining what he doesn’t know he wants. (Does that even make sense?)
That’s why I’m bucking the trend of a lifetime, and am scoping out Father’s Day gift ideas a month in advance.
This actually caught my eye at the Real Canadian Superstore the other day…
PC Home medium-size grill cover, $40
Sure, it’s tightroping the fine line between kitsch and cute, but since it’s a barbeque cover, I’m gonna cut it some slack. Barbequeing is meant to be fun! It’s totally cottage-casual, and as my dad is no stranger to splitting firewood, he’ll get a kick out of the forestry motif.
I’ll consider it option #1. More to come. 
Oh, Dad… Perennially, the hardest person to shop for at Christmas. Let’s think about the criteria involved: it’s got to be a tool, it’s got to be affordable (lest you get a lecture on how you shouldn’t have spent so much…), and if it makes an onerous job easier on the bod, that’s the icing on the cake. How about this fantastic multitasker from Garant? The innovative Twinter works double-time as a car snowbrush and an outdoor broom: a two-in-one timesaver that makes cleaning steps, around doors and balconies as well as car roofs and windshields a scratch-free cinch! If this winter’s anything like last year’s, I’d act soon on this one — it’s sure to sell out as quickly as sidewalk salt!
Garant’s Twinter Snow Broom
Price: From $20
Available at: Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, Home Hardware, RONA
