3rd June 2025
Hello my lovelies,
How are you doing?
Great!
I am really well thank you. It’s taking me a while to adjust to my new flat, but I absolutely love it here. I love the fact that when I go to my volunteering role at Dorchester Library and Learning Centre and Rock Choir they are fifteen minutes away, instead of forty-five. It’s fabulous!
I go back to Swanage to see my family but it’s lovely when they come to visit me.
Recently I turned 26! I can’t believe it either and I had an amazing birthday meal at Zizzi’s.
Left to Right
Bernie, Mo, Bethan, Dad, Me, Mum and Jess
I got some amazing presents, including:
Harry Potter Wizards of Baking: Cookbook – I can’t wait to take it to the Cerebral Pantry!
Harry Potter Monopoly
A card shuffler
Some lovely new clothes
A few new flat ornaments
A stationary pot with a magnet on and so much more!
Here is a picture of me on the day.
My gifts and me
One of my brand new outfits
This is honestly one of the most comfy outfits I have ever worn. Normally I can’t wear trousers but I love these, they are so light. Thank you Jess for finding these on Vinted and thank you Bernie for giving me the idea!
Thank you everyone for a wonderful birthday. I did have a scrumptious cake and I would like to give you the recipe, so keep an eye on the Cerebral Pantry and we will see what happens…
Now, with some of my Amazon vouchers I got for my birthday, I managed to get myself a book for reviewing the books I blog. Shall we see what I thought of the first short story from the exceptional Outlander series?
(Just a heads up I love the books and the TV series so much that we will be visiting the Outlander universe many times.)
Dedications
The first people I would like to dedicate this chat to is my wonderful dad and my amazing PA Bernie, who both introduced me to the time travelling, historical drama. We now all watch the TV series as a family. I was completely hooked from there in. it’s lovely to go back to Swanage and watch Outlander together. Then, when I found out from Aunty Barbara that there wasn’t just a TV series, IT WAS BOOKS AS WELL!!! my mind was blown. Thanks Barbara.
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Novella Title: Outlander (0.5) Virgins
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Imprint: Century Books
Virgins was originally published in a book on it’s own on 17th November 2016 and then added to a collection of short stories from the Outlander universe called Seven Stones to Stand or Fall, also by Gabaldon. It can also be found in another set of stories called Dangerous Women. I read it in it’s own book..
Review
Dictionary Nook
Je suis prest (French) – I am ready.
Mercenaries – soldiers who are hired by a foreign country to fight for pay.
Ways of reading: Audiobook/Hardcover
Started: 22nd March 2025
Finished: 23rd March 2025
Read rating *****
Number of pages: 256
Originally published language: English
Ease of reading: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5
Genres: History/Romance
Jamie Fraser and Ian Murray) Sam Heughan and Steven Cree)
This is where it all began for the hero of Outlander, Jamie Fraser, as he and his trusted friend and right hand in battle, Ian Murray travel through France in 1740. They carry out orders for their captain as Jamie deals with the grief of losing his father and the hideous wounds inflicted by Jonathon Randall. He has lots of things to run from including his beloved Scotland. He and Ian are still Virgins. However, when they are hired by a Jewish doctor to escort his granddaughter and her maid to an arranged marriage in Paris things become yet more dangerous and complex.
It’s great to see where young Jamie started before he met his Sassenach, Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser.
There’s just something about the way Diana Gabaldon that places her readers right at the heart of her world. You are there with the characters in the 18th century. Then when it’s brought to life on television it feels even more real. This is a world I never want to leave. Never stop writing Diana!
My favourite quote from Virgins is ‘Our [the Fraser] clan motto’s in French, Jamie said with a small sense of pride. “Je suis prest.”’ I am ready.
The Fraser clan motto is something I want to live by as my life begins its new chapter.
Outlander is a series of books that is really helping fight my own pain battles as it allows me to escape my subluxation happening in my right hip. When I open these books or watch the program I forget my pain. I think it also might have something to do with the astounding acting from Sam Heughan and Catiriona Balfe as Jamie and Claire. I can’t wait to show you my review for Outlander (Book 1)….
I promise you I have read things in between Outlander books. They are huge but somehow I never notice the size. It’s also partly why I borrow them from the Library, so I don’t read them too fast. There’s always a long waiting list for the books. Next time I see you in the Reading Corner we will meet Claire in 1945…. Wait a minute, how did we get there? All will become clear! The next few chats will be in the Reading Corner, so saddle up! If you’re not really into Outlander, it is okay. you can just skip these once they are published. I have three in the pipeline.
I do have a recipe waiting in the wings too but it’s not quite ready to come out of the oven yet!
Thanks for reading.
See you soon!
Love
Hatts
Xxx
Hatty’s Reading Corner 
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