Turned out nice again

I'm enjoying a break from work, which means having time at last to do fun things.

Today I visited the autumn exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy here in Bristol - a collection of paintings, photography and sculpture in a wide range of styles.

It was a bit of a mixed bag - as these shows usually are - but I was able to immerse myself in plenty of the better pieces.

The other thing of note today was an email from a dear old school pal, Alan, who tipped me off about another old mate, Andy, from our Hyde Grammar School (Manchester) days.

Andy, it seems, appeared on the Frank Skinner programme about George Formby on BBC4 this week. Fortunately, it was still available on iPlayer, so I watched the show and there he was, giving Frank and lots of Formby fans lessons in a ukulele improvers' class.

It's years since I last saw Andy, but he has hardly changed - in fact, he looked in tip-top shape - and it was great to see him having such a fun time with dozens of ukulele players.

The programme, by the way, was a real treat - very informative, funny and moving at the same time.

* The wonky pic was taken with my iPhone and I was tempted to straighten it, but rather liked the effect... so I kept it!