This Year's Good Resolutions , One Week Further On .

Sonata:

Jinksy , in napple notes , asked in her entry Are They Fading Already ? , what had happened to our New Year's Resolutions .

Well , I had deliberately chosen two easy-peasy ones and one almost impossible one so , to my surprise , one week later , I've done it !

The first one , Always to eat off a pretty plate , was certainly the easiest , given a cupboard full of jumble sale finds . Though today there was a slight hiatus , given a sudden change of plan which resulted in lunch being a banana sliced into a crunchy wholemeal roll , no plate available ... or , in fact , needed . But yesterday , for instance , even that Scottish staple , red lentil soup

looked slightly more refined in Swedish pottery .

As for the second , Exercise more ? As you can see the armstretching and bending is a great success

In fact , I've discovered that , in the right company , it can rapidly segue into a rousing rendition of "Head , Shoulders , Knees and Toes " which warms one up wonderfully and has to be good for one .

And the third , Buy a dress ? I've cracked it ! On a trip to Delft on Saturday , totally unexpectedly , I found THE dress ! It's not too tailored , nor is it alarmingly floral and it should take me to almost any social event 2011 can throw at me

The fact that it's hanging on the wall of a museum , Het Prinsenhof , is a mere detail . Now all I need to do is persuade H&M to make up this little number from the painter Anthonie Palamedesz 's "Elegant Company In An Interior " in my size for the Spring .

In fact , the whole day in Delft was a surprise and a delight . I hadn't expected it to be so pretty and , on an admittedly blustery January day , so devoid of tourists .

Yes , there were tiles and blue and white pottery .... even a blue and white caravan

But not all the tiles were blue and white anyway . I really wanted this parrot for my kitchen

but sadly it was firmly attached to yet another wall , this time in in the Lambert van Meerten museum .

The town is small , cosy and very pretty , is full of lovely museums housed in stunning buildings , and has one of the nicest greengrocers I've ever been into . " Of course you can buy one apple , mevrouw , which one one would you like? And a mandarin ? Certainly." I didn't ask if they had a pretty plate to put them on or they would no doubt have leapt to oblige . I must go back again , soon .

So what should I resolve for the 51 weeks left of 2011 ?