I have won awards! Oh yes. For crafting blog excellence. Thank you Kate and Becky for your recent displays of excellent taste!

I'm passing these on to Germgirl at That Ruddy Blog, because she is a crafting goddess and she does make me laugh.

I have not been blogging much lately cos I have not been doing much making stuff lately and I have not been doing much making stuff lately cos I have done my back in. Big time. There is much talk of "compressed disc jelly" by my osteopath. I can't decide whether that makes me go Eww! or Mmm...

Anyway, my osteo (who just happens to be a twenty-something, 6,2 lean, bronzed goddess - where are all the overweight, sweaty, bad-breathed health workers when you need to be scrutinised in your greying underwear? She's very nice but the air of pity when she surveys my sagging carcass is almost unbearable) told me I need to take up pilates to firm up my *cough* "relaxed" muscle tone. So never one to miss out on a purchasing opportunity I have invested in this little beauty - a pilates performer machine!!!!!!!!

Here I am just doing a few preliminary warm ups. I bet I will be able to do that balancing on just my finger and toe nails after a few goes on it.

I have done four sessions on it so far. The DVD and manual make a big thing about it being a serene and dancerly form of exercise. I have to be honest and say that there was a certain amount of heaving, grunting and thrashing going on when I was doing it, which I didn't see represented in the video, but I think generally we're all singing from the same hymn sheet. Anyway, I bet I will be scrawnier than Madonna by Christmas and cracking the festive nut assortment with just my bare buttocks.