ALEXANDRA SHULMAN’S NOTEBOOK: A fantastic New Year’s idea has just popped into my head!

New Year's resolutions have always struck me as an extremely unappealing way to start a new year. What's the point of drawing up a list of resolutions that are doomed to failure, if not immediately, then quite soon afterwards?

Of course, there are many things I would like to improve: my handwriting, my lack of knowledge of a foreign language, my tendency to have “just one more.” But just the thought of setting self-improvement goals puts me off the whole idea of ​​tackling them.

Other people are often driven by goals. The glittering mirage of achievement spurs them on to success. Such people know that they can do anything if they put their minds to it. Strange people.

For 2024, I've decided to try some sort of pop-up system.

Since there are so many pop-up businesses these days, why not use the same concept for New Year's resolutions?

I'm not sure how it will work, but it's kind of a part-time solution, motivated by the idea that a little self-improvement is better than nothing. And hopefully, if I'm successful in that during the surfacing period, I might be inclined to continue. In a month or so I'll let you know how it works.

The festive film with a message

One of the great joys of Twixmas (not convinced of the portmanteau word) is that he feels obliged to spend hours in front of the television. During the break I watched for the first time the film Paddington, which David, my sofa companion, considered one of the best films ever made. Considering that our other viewings include Casablanca, North By Northwest and The Wizard Of Oz, that might be considered a radical opinion, but Paddington should certainly be mandatory viewing for those at the Home Office who deal with immigration issues.

Where would we be if Paddington had been sent to Rwanda after braving his dangerous boat journey from South America in search of a new home? He certainly didn't have the necessary documentation, just a marmalade sandwich.

What a loss for our cultural heritage that would have been, but also a very poor reflection on British hospitality for travelers who have made an amazing journey to the land of their imagination, an island where people from other countries feel unwelcome.

And you thought foxes were a threat

On Thursday I listened to singer Ellie Goulding guest edit Radio 4's Today programme, which featured an item about the rewilding of our countryside. Later I finished Ben Goldsmith's book God Is An Octopus, part love letter to his daughter Iris, who died at the age of 15 in a terrible, random accident on his land, and part reflection on spirituality, grief and the power from nature. Ben is a passionate advocate of the rewilding movement.

His book is extremely moving and he brilliantly combines the issues of trying to come to terms with what happened to Iris, with the importance of the health and conservation of the greater natural world. Even I, a relative nature agnostic, was intrigued by his plans to remove man-made encroachments on the landscape, clear hedgerows, encourage rampant wildlife and let pools and streams run their own course on his estate.

But Ben completely lost me when he wanted to reintroduce wandering wolves and bears to our countryside. Frankly, it's enough for us in North West London to have to deal with the pesky foxes in our garden that prowl around freely every night, one of which gave me fox scabies, the most painful skin infection I've ever experienced.

The great escape from the family

As a junior at Tatler magazine in the 1980s, I worked with the charismatic cartoonist Mark Boxer. Just before we parted for Christmas, he urged us to order a series of articles from outside contributors to be submitted before New Year's. We were shocked. Didn't we say that no one would want to write pieces for Tatler if they could have a good time at home with their family during this festive period? 'Nonsense!' would be his short answer. “They will all be grateful that they have a reason to escape.”

At the time I thought it was a harsh and unsentimental attitude towards the Christmas holidays. But now, all these years later, I realize he was probably right. There's only so much television and family anyone can take with them.

Wine in a tumbler? That's just sacrilege!

Setting the table for Christmas lunch is always filled with small but nonetheless pressing dilemmas. Do you clog the space with crackers for the entire meal? Should there be some kind of leaf decoration in addition to candles? All those tablescape images on Instagram have a lot to explain.

However, I still think it's proper to place wine glasses next to water glasses – a convention that is becoming increasingly rare among many people I know.

The wine glass, let alone the different sizes for red and white, has become an endangered species now that so many people choose not to drink alcohol. Instead, multi-purpose cups seem to have become the glass of choice, making them much easier to fit in the dishwasher and also suitable for non-wine drinkers.

This is sacrilege for anyone who cherishes the vine. Chateauneuf-du-Pape in a Duralex cup? Destroy the thought.

Charles' style is nothing to sneeze at

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN: Gosh, how impeccable King Charles looks day and night, always with a handy handkerchief peeking out that matches, but doesn't, his tie

I had always thought that men who wore handkerchiefs in the breast pocket of their jackets were a bit flashy, like bow ties during the day.

But I changed my mind after examining King Charles' wardrobe in the TV documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year. Wow, does that man look impeccable day and night, always with a handy handkerchief peeking out that matches, but doesn't, his tie.

Handkerchiefs have gone out of fashion, but maybe it's time for them to come back. When I was a child, my father always asked for handkerchiefs for Christmas, which seemed like the most boring gift possible – apart from a pack of Biros, the alternative – and he wore them every day. But in these environmentally conscious times, cloth tissues are probably better for the planet than paper tissues, especially those in small packets wrapped in plastic.

And worn a la King Charles, they also look much more graceful.