A new year just begun......

And so it's that time of year again: time to take stock, stand back, hunker down, batten down the hatches, step away from the fridge and keep your hands where you can see them....not up to your elbows in cold roast potatoes, an unfinished Stilton or the Quality Street tin....the purple ones have long gone anyway. All over this cold and soggy land the turkey-stuffed, wine-soaked, cake-crumbed masses are heaving themselves along to their nearest pilates class, yoga centre, thai-chi, kick-boxing, aerobic, weightlifting, flab slaying temple of muscular strain, ache and pain, in a vain attempt to clean up their act, get fit, slim down and tone up because this is going to be the year: the year when they lose that 10 pounds, give up smoking and stop lying on the sofa in crusty make-up and jim-jams sticky with the honey drips of morning toast, crumpled and coffee-stained, watching last night's telly on SkyPlus.

No, this will be the year of the doer. Actions will prove the naysayers wrong. This year will be another year. A different year.......until about January 22nd. At which point the stark realisation that we haven't even started February yet will kick in. The sky will turn the colour of sour milk and the damp, cold weather will seep beneath the tightest door and battened window; it will be too cold to go to pilates/yoga/kick-boxing, the meditation class will pass un-thought of and the salad will turn to slime, rotting odorously. The tooth defying toffees in the bottom of the chocolate box will get eaten while you wonder what you can eat...... and the thought of another day of detox tea in lieu of a robust red will gnaw away at your resolve and finally........ the game is up.

Personally I've given up giving up, better to embrace new things and add to life rather than take away from it.....especially at this late stage. Besides, I was given a bottle of homemade sloe vodka, the rose blush of which goes very well with the baby-pink, cashmere socks I also received from Santa ........ I hope the pair will see me through the northern months.

Top tip: take yourself off to Africa, read Out Of Shadows by Jason Wallace, winner of Costa's children's book of the year but a brilliant read at any age, oh yes and he's my cousin...... www.outofshadows.co.uk