There can be few things more pleasurable in life than floating gently down the Ardèche river on a hot August day. A whole group of us rented kayaks and spent the day negotiating tiny rapids as though we were negotiating Niagara Falls in barrels. Although the river was full of other boaters, there were several stretches where we were totally alone in the shadow of magnificent rock walls that towered above us. The last time I'd done this descent, it was a sunny September day in 2001 when we returned to our house after a long day on the river only to turn on the television and see the second plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Centre. I remember wondering just what kind of world had we brought our little daughter Parker into.

Having begun to digest the first batch of DLC for Skyrim, I felt a slight sense of transformation come over me. Hair began to fall out, and my skin grew paler. I even began to appreciate the music of Annie Lennox. My teeth suddenly became sore and sharp, and I was no longer able to indulge in garlic-based meals.

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Now is the season, it seems, of live-album stocking-fillers, the most flamboyant of which – and, it must be noted, the most winsome filler of those stockings – is this 2-CD/DVD package of Kylie's Aphrodite Les Folies stage show, recorded at the O2 Arena.

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I loathe London and visit it as little as I can. But on the the other hand, I find it hard to resist the sight of a self-deceiving tool making a spectacle of themselves. So I really do mean to make a special effort to visit the forthcoming V&A exhibition, "The House of Annie Lennox", which runs from next month until the end of February and to which admission is absolutely free. In such cash-strapped times, I foresee many a middle-class Mumsnetter using this outing in lieu of the traditional panto. It will certainly provide the usual prompts for audience debate and participation: "Annie Lennox is a hypocritical cow to criticise Rihanna for prancing around in her scanties when she regularly used to take her top off onstage back in the day!" "O no, she's not!" – "O yes, she is!" – and so on.

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Pop's 56-year-old Diva sings less and less these days, but she's eager to take to the stage for a rash of feminist activities this week. Susie Mesure meets Annie Lennox

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