I share your pain with my own parents.

Howabout a nice sweater/fleece etc? LLBean in the US do some nice gear.

Yes, a jumper or shirt is on the cards for either the birthday or Xmas. So I'm still missing one gift idea.

After Oink's suggestion of tourist tat, now I'm mulling over whether I could get away with sending a funny t-shirt. My favourite is the one with a picture of a big boat on it, the slogan reads...."The Titanic. It was fine when it left us."

Or maybe not.

I bought my father-in-law a couple for his birthday that read:

"I may have Altzheimers but at least i don't have Altzheimers"

and

"Midgets, i've had 'em up to here" - with a line marked near where the shirt sits just about his waist.

Really, I thought that stuff was what really posh people used when they were being really posh.

How about a visit? Where you could give him the best gift that money can't buy, a warm hug from his daughter.

Oh good, I'm glad he has clothes. Last thing you want is your old man walking about with his meat and two veg hanging out.

Excuse me for not reading the whole thread and seeing if this has been suggested, but Moonpig.com is pretty cool for last minute gift ideas. They also ship within the UK by good old fashioned Royal Mail. Last week I ordered my step-dad a collection of ales with my own custom made beer bottle labels. You can also custom create cards and stuff too.

I generally order my mother a gift hamper from JL/Waitrose. Usually something arrives broken. She complains. As she is old and they are JL they apologise, refund and compensate while letting her keep the hamper. Works great for us both.

JL had a nightmare with Mothers Day this year (some warehouse fridge failed and all their flowers died). We ended up with two bouquets of flowers, a full refund and £25 in gift certs towards this years Xmas gift.

I'm careful, that's all.