WELL, it seems I am not the only person in Ely who loves shoes! Several people, including a man who owns 15 pairs of the same make of trainers, have emailed to say they suffer from the same footwear affliction as I do. My inbox is rapidly developing into

WELL, it seems I am not the only person in Ely who loves shoes! Several people, including a man who owns 15 pairs of the same make of trainers, have emailed to say they suffer from the same footwear affliction as I do.

My inbox is rapidly developing into a confessional for shoe lovers! I am, however, feeling reasonably smug this week as I have resisted all temptation to buy shoes and bags...but not books.

I have to be honest as the whole book-buying experience was pretty uncomfortable. I found myself furtively looking around the shop in case there was anyone who might recognise me and as I stood in the queue for the till I came to the conclusion that I should have worn a hat or driven to Cambridge to make my purchase to avoid the shame.

All I can say to defend myself is that the books were on special offer - two for �5 - and as any self respecting woman knows, buying items in sales or buy-one-get-on free promotions suspends all normal purchasing rules. I feel so much better now that I have got that off my chest and confessed.

Anyone who knows me is well aware that I hate being cold. Being cold makes me grumpy and I'm not generally a grumpy person. Grown men go dizzy and weak at the knees in my presence and it has to be said that these days it is usually because I have the heating up full blast.

Anyway, on Sunday I am going to submerge myself in a freezing cold lake to raise money for charity. CLIC Sargent has organised a Mother's Day Dip at the Mepal Outdoor Centre and I have volunteered to dip in and out again, despite my fear of the cold.

My parents and my sister are accompanying me for moral support and dad is very excited as he is going to test out his new video camera and film me dipping (surely there must be an upper age limit for children at which their parents are forced to stop embarrassing them).

There are some rules for the Mother's Day Dip; you have to get in the water to at least knee-height, which as I sit here in my nice warm office I think is a bit of a cop-out. I reckon it's got to be all the way, or nothing. If you would like to join me, email: annie.thomas@clicsargent.org.uk and let her have your details. Registration is �10 and the charity is asking people to raise a minimum of �50.

I will post the video on the website next week and I hope my charity stunt will go some way to earning forgiveness for my broken Lent pledge. If there is no column next week you'll know I have hypothermia and am tucked up in bed with my new books!