1) The Musketeers. This absolutely had to be number 1 on the list, in fact I practically made the list just so I could talk about it. You know when you watch a film or TV show or read a book which is just so amazing it starts to feel like that's real life and your actual life is just a dream? (or maybe you actually have a life, and have no idea what I'm talking about...if so, well done you.) That is literally been my life experience for about 2 weeks now, with Musketeers. I have been becoming steadily more obsessed with this show since series 2 started in January, to the point that before the final episode I stopped measuring time by the days of the week and started referring to times by how far they were from 9pm on Friday night. I think my housemates were just as glad to get to T-1 day as I was by the end of the week! To my eyes, this show has everything you could want from a Friday night series; it's fast-paced, gripping, full of action and with storylines that really keep you on the edge of your seat, yet also has developed, likeable characters (as well as some truly brilliant villains) and real emotion. Add to that the amazing sets and costumes, great acting, incredible fight sequences and some GENIUS one-liners, and you're on to a winner. I'm now re-watching the episodes from series 1 (some for the third or fourth time) and have just ordered series 2 from Amazon, because despite the ridiculously high newly-released price, I just can't wait any longer to re-watch them.
2) cooking, and in particular Rachel Khoo's recipe for tartelettes. Since I've been at uni and now have to fend for myself, I have developed a real love for cooking, which is made worse in the holidays when I have more time/a bigger kitchen/someone else to pay for the ingredients. So far I have made lasagne (which I have attempted before at uni but it didn't go too well, so my Mum showed me how to do it properly!) for my family, and then last week I made butternut squash soup, which was not too difficult but still delicious, and really healthy! I used a Mary Berry recipe...I do love Mary. However my greatest discovery of this holiday has been raspberry and almond tartelettes, from Rachel Khoo's book My Little Paris Kitchen. I halved the recipe and made 4 tarts instead of 6, and added a bit of almond essence on my Mum's advice, but other than that these tarts are really scrummy. Sweet pastry, with an almondy, slightly caramelised filling and raspberries on top; what more could you want in a dessert?
3) writing with a quill and ink. I went to the Jane Austen house museum in Alton last week with my family - I would highly recommend it, the house and gardens have been so well-restored and there's the cutest little tea room opposite it, which has a great menu and a gorgeous little outside seating area - and bought myself a blue quill and a little pot of ink. Well actually I bought the ink from Hobbycraft on the way home because the gift shop didn't have any black, but that's beside the point. Although I must admit it's not as easy as writing with a biro, it's so much more fun and makes your handwriting look AMAZING, and I've been surprised at how long the ink lasts before you need to dip the quill in again. I'm now using it to make my revision notes, which, it's true, is making my mindmaps look a bit 19th Century, but is so far succeeding in encouraging me to actually sit down and do some work, so I'm going to carry on for now.
4) sitting outside with summery drinks. Now that the weather in Britain has finally realised it's springtime (it's April, and for me that means spring...it shouldn't be raining again until September at least) I can actually sit in the garden even in the shade and not be cold, which is so nice after what feels like a winter longer than the one in Narnia (which lasted 100 years for any of you non-Narnia fans, shame on you). Now that I'm at home and it is my Mum's card in use instead of mine after a trip to Sainsbury's, I am also really getting in to summer drinks. My current favourites are anything lemony, so Hooch, 'a sparkling alcoholic brew made with real lemons and natural lemon flavours' and Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Sparkling Sicilian Lemonade. Failing that, I'll just have plain lemon squash, which I make a bit more classy by using the picnic-stye glass bottle my Mum got me. Other classics are Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Sparkling English Elderflower Pressé (the names just get longer and longer) or a fruit cider like Kopparberg, to remind me of my second home in the West Country.
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