Life has been busy away from Integra Towers with the combination of family, music and football dominating.
I am definitely one of the luckiest guys alive with two great kids and five wonderful grandchildren whose total love and sense of fun is simply infectious.
In April, youngest grandson James and his older sister Tia were christened at Chalfont St Giles Parish Church. It was a lovely day and Rachael at the White Hart did us proud afterwards (just a few weeks before she took the decision to close the pub as the economic viability of running a “wet” pub with too many layers of “ownership” became untenable).
The FD and I had a short break in France and Switzerland in February and took in three Wishbone Ash gigs as part of a fabulous trip. We followed this in April by attending another three Wishbone Ash gigs in France. These road trips are wonderful, combining sightseeing with great music. At every venue we attended we met people we know from the UK and across Europe. Wishbone Ash really is an extended family.
Music remains a key part of my life and I have recently invested in some new studio equipment including a Mac based recording system. Now all I need is to find the time to record that debut CD!
I have attended gigs by Katie Bradley and Chris Corcoran, Soul Intention, the Paul Cox band, the Good Old Boys, Laurence Jones, Black Circles and Bad Influence and have a number of great gigs lined up in the coming weeks including the beer and blues festival in Wallingford in June where Laurence Jones will be headlining and many other great bands will be playing. In July the FD and myself will be seeing Walter Trout and we are also already organising our tickets for gigs on Wishbone Ash’s autumn tour.
The Wishbone Ash autumn tour will culminate at The Grand in Clitheroe in November with Ashcon and I shall, once again, be playing with my Wishclone Ish compatriots on the Friday night at the Rose and Crown in Clitheroe High Street.
A couple of weeks ago, I enjoyed playing a solo support set to the band Marshall Law which boasts Peter Everett, a regional director within Hamptons estate agents, in its line-up. It was good to dust down the vocal chords and guitar and sing live in public again.
The FD and myself will also be joining Cat and Julian O’Dell at their CatFest event in August. Julian has lined up an interesting selection of artists including his favourites Fred’s House, Danni Nicholls and Max Milligan and Balsamo Deighton. The event is raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, a charity very close to Julian and Cat’s hearts as she bravely fights this terrible disease.
The FD and myself also enjoyed a weekend up North combining business with pleasure, staying at the Blackpool FC Hotel one night and with Owen Oyston at his fabulous home near Lancaster on another. This trip provided an opportunity to take my new Jaguar F type for an extended run.
Talking cars, I have scored some brownie points with the FD with the arrival of her new range Rover Evoque. I must admit this is a great car and perfect for the somewhat unfriendly road surfaces in South Buckinghamshire.
The Premiership season has just ended and Watford comfortably retained the position they earned last season with promotion. We also reached the FA Cup semi-final where a totally inept display saw us lose 2-1 to Crystal Palace.
The club have just parted company with manager Quique Sanchez Flores and I wish him well. To outsiders this seems like a ludicrous decision but to the majority of Watford fans the decision is less cut and dried. Yes, he achieved our primary aim of retaining our position in the Premier League and he did a fantastic job in the first half of the season by organising the defence and grinding out results that saw us virtually safe by New Year. Unfortunately since then the story is somewhat different with a poor run of results that, if they had not followed such an exceptional first half of the season would have seen us relegated. Poor results are bad enough but the style of play, lack of plan B, persistence in playing players out of position and lack of development in the squad, were simply unacceptable to many of us and, in particular, the Pozzo family owners.
The summer will be interesting as I expect many comings and goings in the playing squad as well as the appointment of a new head coach.
I am looking forward to a few weeks away from football (except for the Euros of course!) and we will start all over again in August. Leicester City have shown what can be achieved and perhaps if we dream hard enough, we can emulate some of their success.
Finally, I just want to use this column to say a few words about my Mum and Dad. As I write, my Dad is in hospital having been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and is currently in great pain.
I have been fortunate to reach the age of fifty seven and still have both of my parents with me, supporting all of my family and business endeavours and offering the unwavering love that only a parent can.
As a family unit we have come to terms with my father’s imminent passing but that does not make this dreadful time any less painful. I am trying to be as supportive as possible to both of them and my brother, who lives in California, is making a special journey over from America this week to add his unquestioned support and say what is likely to be his last goodbye.
My Mum has been at Dad’s side for over sixty years and, whilst appearing strong on the outside, is, understandably, hurting deeply inside.
All of us just want Dad’s remaining time with us to be peaceful and pain free.
Mum and Dad - I love you both, more than words can say.
Michael Day 16/5/16