Two posts in one day! Oh my, dear reader, I am spoiling you! Ha ha.

Without further ado, here's how I got on with my 2010 ones:

1. Be less busy

Overall, I would say I was slightly less busy in 2010 than in 2009. I'd guess we reduced our weekend commitments by 15% or so. I tried really hard to avoid filling every possible second of my free time. I managed to keep occasional free weekends between going away and having visitors. They usually got consumed with cleaning/washing/chores rather than reading the paper and putting my feet up; nevertheless this was an improvement. We also did not move house in 2010 (thankfully - we'd moved the last three years in a row) which helped. So I think I'll count that as a success.

2. Learn to put on eye makeup properly

I watched a few YouTube tutorials and spent lots of money on make-up. Does that count?

3. Make every recipe in Phil Vickery's 'A Passion For Puddings'

I made all but two of the recipes, because they sounded horrible (Rice pudding and Ginger sponge with orange syrup). The discipline of having to keep a resolution for the whole year, rather than losing heart after a few months, was definitely a challenge! The below photo is in date order and you can see it larger by clicking on it:



(L-R) Top row: Champagne and raisin syllabub; Citrus drizzle pancakes; Lemon drench cake; Cherry & ginger fudge; Hot chocolate fondant puddings; Blueberry mallow rocky road; Banana fudge and cinnamon ice cream; Yorkshire rhubarb fool.

Second row: Mango and banana trifles with mint; Lime & bitter chocolate cheesecake; Chocolate banoffee pie; Cherry berry fruit bars; Banana, rum & walnut tea loaf; Vanilla blancmange with saffron syrup; Coffee creme brulee; Caramel cakes.

Third row: Summer strawberry, mascarpone & coconut cheesecake; Pecan pie; Tropical meringue with lemon cream; Rose petal Eton mess; Peach custard tart with hazelnut brittle; Sticky toffee & raisin rice squares; Strawberry & coconut pancakes; Highland raspberries and yoghurt pots.

Bottom row: Warm raspberries with Savoy sponge fingers; Bitter chocolate & orange truffles; Decadent chocolate & raspberry torte; Caramel parfait; Fudgy chocolate croissant pudding; Marzipan creams; Hazelnut & chocolate crunch cookies; Christmas cake and brandy parfait.


NB: I also made the Lemon & blackberry custards but to my great annoyance, forgot to photograph them. Nevermind. It wouldn't have fitted into my beautiful collage!

I can highly recommend the book and I view this resolution as a success, even if I did fall slightly short (again!)

4. Regularly take photos on my favourite dog walk

I totally nailed this one. I took over 700 pictures this year. Here's my favourites (click to see larger):



I also chose my favourite pics from each month and had them made into a calendar:



5. Get my two new Wizard101 characters (balance and death schools) to level 50

Done. I abandoned the Death character early on and made a Storm character instead, but all three of my characters made it to 50 this year:



I'm now completely bored with Wizard101 (although the same can't be said for the rest of the family)!

So, all in all, a pretty good year for the old resolutions. I'd say I got at least 4 out of 5, not bad. Next year's are looking like they might be slightly more challenging however!