Away from business I lead a busy life largely based around family, music and football!
The first quarter of the year saw a flurry of birthdays with grandchildren numbers 1, 3, 4 and 5 all celebrating. Gorgeous grandaughter Georgia became a teenager in January, equally gorgeous grandaughter Tia was seven on Valentine’s Day, handsome grandsons James and Jack were four and six respectively in February and March.
Everyone had a wonderful time celebrating but it did leave the FD and myself wondering how they all are growing up so fast!
With Mother’s Day last weekend, the FD and I enjoyed a great evening and dinner at my daughter Carrie and son-in-law Ian’s house on the Saturday and we then took Sue’s mum and my mum out for lunch at Biggles in Denham on the Sunday. A lovely time was had by one and all.
On the music front, I have attended a number of gigs and scheduled many more for later in the year.
I attended gigs by Catfish (twice), Xander & the Peace Pirates, Bad Influence, the Ali Mac band, the Maas Moody band, Papa George & Micky Moody, the Malone Siburn band and Cherry Lee Mewis.
Lots of gigs have been booked for the weeks and months ahead. April will see the FD and myself attend the HRH Blues Festival in Sheffield where a number of favourite artists including Aynsley Lister, Savoy Brown, Clare Free, John Verity, Southbound, Chantel McGregor, Xander & the Peace Pirates, Sam Kelly’s Station House, Erja Lyttinen and many others are playing.
Tickets are also booked for Bernie Marsden at Stowe in October and for eight Wishbone Ash gigs on the 50th anniversary tour in October and November. Not having managed to fit in any Wishbone Ash gigs in Europe early in 2019, we are venturing as far as Aberdeen in November! A gig in Carlisle and Edinburgh will also form part of that trip along with a stopover on the way back in Whitby.
Of course, the main Wishbone Ash gig will be Ashcon in Leicester at the end of the tour and I am busy organising the Wishclone Ish fan’s night at the Barley Mow in Leicester for Friday 15th November. There will be a full evening of music from various fan “incarnations” including myself, plus an appearance from a special guest on the evening. I am already working on my set list for the weekend.
Other gigs lined up in the coming weeks include: Sam Kelly’s Station House, Nigel Bagge, The Good Old Boys, The Mentulls and Geoff Aitchison.
I recently enjoyed a photoshoot with local photographer Paul Upward and took the opportunity to have some guitarist shots done (in readiness for my debut album!). I was very pleased with the outcome – now I’ve just got to learn to play!
Finally – football – wow what a season! The mighty Hornets are currently tenth in the Premier League (with a game in hand) and homing in on 7th place and a possible Europa League place and, as I write, I am still "recovering" from a fabulous day out at Wembley and a sensational 3-2 semi final win over Wolves in the FA Cup. Two nil down with twenty minutes to go, the "never say die" attitude coupled with some incredible skill by Duelofeu saw the Hornets win through.
Three generations of the Day family were present - myself, Tom and Jack plus I wore my father's signet ring and so a fourth generation in spirit at least.
I am old enough to have gone to FA Cup Final in 1984 and to do so again will be fantastic and testament to the incredible work Head Coach Javie Gracia and team have done and the quality and depth of the squad.
A couple of weekends back, my son Tom and I attended another Tales from the Vicarage evening at the Palace Theatre in Watford. Adam Leventhal chaired a fun evening with ex Watford players Andy Hessenthaler, Nigel Callaghan, John Eustace and Micah Hyde. Some great stories and reminiscences.
Finally, the FD and myself are getting away for a short holiday at the end of April, beginning of May. We are heading for Croatia and will be undertaking a cruise around the Dalmatian islands in a small 13 cabin boat. Sue and I did this two years ago and this trip takes in the islands not included in our previous trip. Our friends Andy and Marianne are joining us and it should be great fun.