We're busy searching for a new lounge suite. At least I'm searching, my husband is still convinced that we can have the old one re-covered. I think he's turning into a Liverpool footballer. First he wanted shocking pink leather in the dining room and now he says he'd quite like cream leather in the lounge - it'll be leopard skins on the floor next.

The London son seems to have survived all the activity on the Innocent blog and we're looking forward to seeing him at the weekend. His brother has been milking the blogging situation for all it's worth and finds the whole thing extremely amusing.

A couple of website visitors have asked me how the diet's going. I can report that I have lost six pounds this month - but what hard work it's been - much much harder than putting it on, and much less enjoyable. And my scales say that I am now 43.3% fat, which is more than before I lost the weight. Just another 22 lbs to go ..... hey, ho.

Hello to everyone who's coming here from the Innocent blog - I've never had so many visitors! I wish I could offer you all a slice of cake and a cup of tea - or should that be a smoothie. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your time here and you might like to visit www.craigatkinson.co.uk while you're browsing.

Received a very nice letter from the BBC today - telling us that we're not going to be on the Antiques Roadshow programme when it's broadcast next month. My husband's delighted because he was dreading it! Anyway, it was interesting being behind the scenes but what a lot of time and trouble they go to - I wonder what it cost them in man hours to collect our painting, return it and film us etc. I hope they don't ask for their money back.

We were all watching Watchdog  on Tuesday night.  One of the Innocent Drinks founders was being grilled about exploding smoothies. Actually, he wasn't really given a hard time and kept getting the point across that the smoothies contain nothing - but nothing - but fruit. And I'm so pleased because a ridiculous article in the Daily Mail left some readers with the impression that a carton of Innocent contained 22 teaspoons of sugar - but that's the Daily Mail for you.

Innocent is where the London son works and we're off to visit him very soon. We haven't even see where he's living, so will try to fit a flat-visit in too.

The next thing on our social calendar is The Merry Wives of Windsor with Judi Dench and Simon Callow in Stratford - can't wait.

Last weekend I went with our daughter to see Will Young in Vortex in Manchester. Our seats were at the top of some scaffolding (good job her height-phobia dad wasn't with us) and the actual chairs were so high off the floor that I had to haul our 5ft daughter onto hers. The play was very entertaining but very emotional, with people screaming, screeching and weeping, not to be recommended for the depressed.

But what I'm really looking forward to is Ricky Gervais in Fame, followed by the X Factor and then Keane - I guess I'm just not very cultured.

The London son sent some photos of snow yesterday. They made me think of the beautiful snowy scenes he used to email from Cambridge - I can feel a visit coming on.

We had a Christmas dinner on Sunday - seven of us, with crackers, the lot. It's funny how you can enjoy it more when it's just a normal day with the pressure of "the perfect Christmas" removed.

Onwards and upwards to bigger and better things. Last Sunday the artist son had two illustrations in the New York Times magazine. One a full page and the other a quarter page. I don't suppose I'll find any of those in station platform bins so I'll just have to hope that some nice person reading this in America has one to spare (I'll pay the postage!)

I spent part of this week rifling through bins. The artist son sent a text one morning telling me that there was a big article about him in the free metro newspaper. When I was up and about I went to every local station and every copy had gone. Later that day we got the train to Liverpool, and there in a bin was a copy of the Metro. My husband tried to restrain me - to no avail. I had my copy - hurray! And then I found another on a seat in the train - two hurrays!

Having gained two stone since our son's July wedding, I decided the time had come to seriously do something about it. I bought some fancy new Tanita scales in TK Maxx which measure fat and water as well as weight. I now know that I'm 42% fat and 40% water, which doesn't leave a lot of room for brains, or anything else cometo that. My diet started yesterday and I'm now 2lbs lighter - just 26 more to go.

The London son has now returned to the capital - it took him seven hours on Virgin Rail. I'm just working up to a letter of complaint about the impending ticket prices, but since it won't make a jot of difference, I might not bother - I avoid dirty smelly germ-ridden trains like the plague anyway.

We take our daughter back to lovely Loughborough today - full of yet another cold. We'd normally stop off for a bar snack or a home-made butcher's pie at Sudbury but those 26 pounds look like a bit of a steep hill from where I'm standing and bar snacks will have to be avoided at all costs.

Anyway, back to normality and hurray, the dusty decoarations will all be back in the loft by lunchtime tomorrow.