Yes, well, I think that's quite enough about Coke floats for the time being.

My apologies for not writing last night: my excuse being that I was responsible for arranging last night's entertainment for the boys, which was billed in the calendar, as you will have seen, 'An Evening with George Stiles and Anthony Drewe'. They write musicals - successful ones - and ones that many of the boys have either seen or performed in. Their most recent is 'Betty Blue Eyes', and they have many, many others on the go at the moment, too.

I have known George Stiles for over 30 years. He was a gapper when I was a very young master at Papplewick School, and he decided then that he wanted to write musicals for a living. To cut a long story very short, he has achieved his ambition, and when I tell you that one of their musicals managed to beat 'The Lion King' for an award, you can see that things are going well. Only the night before last, George and Anthony were dining with Stephen Fry, discussing other possibilities. They were with Julie Andrews, not so many weeks ago, too.

But if you'd like to learn more about this amazing duo, have a look at their website, which is http://www.stilesanddrewe.com/ and see what you think. And if you get a chance to go and see any of their shows, do take it, because you won't be disappointed. Their music has won many international awards, too.

After the show, Tom C and his girlfriend, Christine, and George, Anthony and I went out to dine at Xi'an, that splendid Chinese restaurant in Summertown and we were able to reminisce, talk about the future, all accompanied by a great deal of laughter!

Anyway, the presentation they gave to the boys was fantastic, and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was a great personal privilege for me, too, to join with George in an improvised piano duet: we haven't done that for 30 years, but we discovered that we could still do it, and the boys and staff were duly appreciative of our efforts .... !

My dear wife very nobly elected to look after Newton, with Miss Alex, and all was well. They're a remarkable duo - and all the more so, when I know I can simply hand over the reins with total confidence.

Have a lovely weekend, as always, thanks for reading.

Bon weekend.