- QOTD for 01/27/2023 -- Janet, Fri, January 27 2023, 10:27:53
Quote of the Day for Friday, 1/27/2023, from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 9, The Gathering. Copyright 1991, all rights reserved.
……The voices of the women picking fruit grew fainter as I worked my way toward the edge of the orchard, stooping or dropping on hands and knees to gather the fragile stalks.
“Those kind are poison,” said a voice from behind me. I straightened up from the patch of Ascaria I had been bending over, thumping my head smartly on a branch of the pine they were growing under.
As my vision cleared, I could see that the peals of laughter were coming from a tall young woman, perhaps a few years older than myself, fair of hair and skin, with the loveliest green eyes I had ever seen.
Quite the innocuous introduction to Geilllis!
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- QOTD for Thursday, 01/26/2023 -- Janet, Thu, January 26 2023, 12:00:50
Quote of the Day for Thursday, 01/26/2023 is from Outlander by Diana Gaaldon, Chapter 5, The MacKenzie. Copyright 1991, all rights reserved.
“Busy wee things, are they no?” A deep, pleasant voice spoke from behind me, and I turned with a smile that froze on my face.
Colum MacKenzie shared the broad planes and high forehead of his brother Dougal, though the vital force that gave Dougal an air of intimidation was here mellowed into something more welcoming, though no less vibrant. Darker, with dove-grey rather than hazel eyes, Colum gave that same impression of intensity, of standing just slightly closer to you than was quite comfortable. At the moment, though, my discomfort arose from the fact that the beautifully modeled head and long torso ended in shockingly bowed and stumpy legs. The man who should have topped six feet came barely to my shoulder
Sorry this is so late today...Dr. appt. in AM threw me off my schedule. Nothing wrong, just a routine check up!
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- QOTD for Wednesday, 01/25/2023 -- Janet, Wed, January 25 2023, 4:02:21
Quote of the Day for Wednesday, 01/25/2023 is from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter, 4, I Come to the Castle. Copright 1991. All rights reserved.
The rest of us dismounted and stood steaming in the wet courtyard for another ten minutes before Mrs. Fitz, whoever she might be, consented to show herself. A cluster of curious children gathered around us, speculating on my possible origins and function. The bolder ones had just begun to get up enough courage to pluck at my skirt when a large, stout lady in dark brown linen and homespun bustled out and shooed them away.
. . . . . .
Mistress FitzGibbons closed her mouth and looked me up and down with an air of shrewd evaluation. Apparently she decided that I looked harmless enough, despite my odd and scandalous appearance, for she smiled—kindly, despite several missing teeth---and took me by the arm.
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- QOTD for Tuesday, 01/24/2023 -- Janet, Tue, January 24 2023, 4:33:56
Quote of the day for Tuesday, January 24, 2023, taken from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 3, The Man in the Wood. Copyright 1991, all rights reserved.
The first glimpse of Jamie
I shrank back into the shadows near the fireplace, hoping to avoid notice. The man called Murtagh had untied my hands before leading me in here. Perhaps I could slip away while they were busy elsewhere. The men’s attention had shifted to a young man crouched on a stool in the corner. He had barely looked up through my appearance and interrogation, but kept his head bent, hand clutching the opposite shoulder, rocking slightly back and forth in pain.
. . . . . . . . .
Dougal grunted. “Mmph. Out o’ joint, poor bugger. The young man looked up for the first time. Through drawn with pain and stubbled with red beard, it was a strong, good-humored face.
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- QOTD for Monday, 01/23/2023 -- Janet, Mon, January 23 2023, 3:45:44
Quote of the day for Monday, January 23, 2023 is taken from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 3, The Man in the Wood, Copyright 1991. All rights reserved.
We meet Murtagh:
I found myself staring into a pair of sharp black eyes. The sinewy hand that had temporarily distracted the Captain’s unwelcome attentions was attached like a limpet to my to my forearm.
“And who the hell are you? “ I said in astonishment. My rescuer, if I cared to call him that, was some inches shorter than I and sparely built, but the bare arms protruding from the ragged shirt were knotted with muscle and his whole frame gave the impression of being made of some resilient material such as bedsprings. No beauty, either, with a pockmarked skin, low brow, and narrow jaw.
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- QOTD for Sunday, 01/22/2023 -- Janet, Sun, January 22 2023, 9:18:48
Quote of the day for Sunday, January 22, 2023, is Taken from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 3, The Man in the Wood, Copyright 1991. All Rights Reserved.
I thought since it was the first month of the year, we might explore meeting new people. First up, Jack Randall
Whatever this man’s cousin looked like, the man himself might have been Frank’s brother. There was the same lithe, spare build and fine-drawn bones, the same chiseled lines of the face, the level brows and wide hazel eyes; the same dark hair, curved smooth across the brow.
But this man’s hair was long, tied back from his face with a leather thong. And the gypsy skin showed the deep-baked tan of months, no, years, of exposure to the weather, not the light golden color Frank’s had attained during our Scottish holiday.
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- QOTD for Saturday, January 21, 2023 --
kgp, Sat, January 21 2023, 7:46:08
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 115 The Raveled Sleeve Of Care
I knew better than to try and wake him suddenly. Not in a small space with a lot of clutter and a steep drop ten feet away.
My own heart was pounding, and I knew his ws. I eased myself carefully down beside him, facing his back. I needed to touch him, to bring him slowly to himself - or to enough of himself that he could recover alone. This wasn't the sort of night,are eased by talking. Or, sometimes, even by waking.
“God, no,” he said, in a heartbroken whisper. “God, no!”
I mustn’t grab or shake him. I clenched my teeth and ran my hand lightly from the slope of his shoulder down to his elbow, and his skin shivered like a horse ridding itself of flies. That was all right, then. I did it again, paused, and again. He took a deep, horrible gasp, choked with fear . . . but the violent shivering eased a little.
Last edited by author: Sat, January 21 2023, 8:10:00
Edited 2 times.
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- QOTD for Friday, January 20, 2023 -- kgp, Fri, January 20 2023, 10:36:17
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 114 Belief Is A Wise Wager
“A child? Ben has a baby?”
“Well, the woman who claims to be his wife has a son, or so she says - and she did say that Ben is the father of her offspring.” Seeing that there was little alternative, he apprised her of the letter from Amaranthus Cowden that Hal had received in Philadelphia, and its contents.
“Now, as Ben didn’t happen to mention this woman to Hal, one of the duties I’m to carry out for your father is the determination as to whether she’s telling the truth. And if she is, then of course I will bring her back with me, and the family will take care of her and the child.”
“What if she’s not telling the truth?” Dottie’s distress was rapidly being subsumed by a combination of hope and curiosity.
“God knows.” Grey said frankly. “Would you like to go and ask Marks to see about breakfast for us, Dottie? I may be out of bed, but I’m in no way equipped to conduct hypothetical conversations before I’ve had a cup of tea.”
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- QOTD for Thursday, January 19, 2023 -- kgp, Thu, January 19 2023, 12:35:26
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 113 Thanks For All The Fish
“D’ye think our wee Quaker lass is wi’ child yet?” she murmured to me. Rachel was across the room, chatting with the younger children and very easy with them - though her eyes kept turning to Ian, who was looking at something Fergus had taken out of a drawer in the sideboard.
“They’ve been married barely a month,” I whispered back, though I looked carefully at Rachel.
“It doesna take that long,” Jenny said. “And plainly the lad kens his job. Look at her.” Her shoulders quivered slightly with a suppressed laugh.
“A fine thing for a mother to be thinking about her son,” I said under my breath, though I could not keep the amusement out of my own voice nor day she was wrong.
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- QOTD for Wednesday, January 18, 2023 -- kgp, Wed, January 18 2023, 13:17:57
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 112 Daylight Haunting
I found Henri-Christian in the first place I looked: down the street, playing with the two smallest Phillips girls. The Phillipses had ten children, and even Henri-Christian could blend into their household without causing much notice.
Some parents kept their children from coming anywhere near Henri-Christian - whether from fear that dwarfishness was catching, I supposed, or from the common superstition that his appearance was the result of his mother having fornicated with the devil. I’d heard that one now and then, though everyone in the neighborhood knew better than to say it anywhere in the hearing of Jamie, Fergus, Ian, or Germain.
The Phillipses were Jewish, though, and apparently felt some kinship with a person whose differences set him apart. Henri-Christian was always welcome at their house.
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- For Tuesday - it is Tuesday? -- kgp, Tue, January 17 2023, 8:35:51
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 111 A Distant Massacre
“Aye, that’s the rub,” she said frankly. “I’d go, and happy, but ye ken how it was for him when we stayed on the Ridge.”
I did, and grimaced slightly, stretching the heel of the stocking over the darning egg.
“It’s been dangerous in the city, this last year,” she said, and swallowed at the memory. “Couldna tell ye how many times the soldiers came to arrest him; they broke up th eshop, more than once, when they couldna find him. And the Loyalists would come and paint slogans on the front wall sometimes. But the danger didna trouble him - so long as it didna threaten me and the bairns.”
“And sometimes even if it does,” I muttered. “And I don’t mean just Fergus. Bloody men.”
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- QOTD for Monday -- kgp, Tue, January 17 2023, 8:26:56
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 110 The Sounds That Make Up Silence
Cranesmuir slept, and mist lay in her streets. The cobbles beneath gleaming with wet in the half-light of a drowning moon. On the far side of the square, though, a light showed in the attic window of Arthur Duncan’s house.
And in the shadow of the square below, a small movement betrayed the presence of a man. Waiting.
Roger closed his eyes, cold rising from his bare feet up his body, seeing in his mind the sudden vision of a green-eyed woman, lazy in the arms of a fair-haired lover . . . and a look of surprise and then horror on her face as the man vanished from her side. And an invisible blue glow rose in her womb.
With his eyes shut tight, he put a hand on the icy windowpane, and said a prayer to be going on with.
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- QOTD for January 17, 2023 -- kgp, Tue, January 17 2023, 8:18:33
Sorry! Sorry! I'm a mess these days. Far too much going on.
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 109 Frottage
Roger had kissed her the moment he saw her on the ground in the fort, grabbing her and lifting her into an embrace that crushed her ribs and nearly bruised her lips. She’d had no objections whatever. But now his mouth was soft and tender and the scruff of his beard light on her skin.
“Fast?” he murmured against her mouth. “Slow?”
“Horizontal,” she murmured back, clutching his bottom. “Speed irrelevant.” She was standing on one leg, the bad foot elegantly - she hoped - extended behind her.
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- QOTD for Saturday, January 14, 2023 -- CindyG, Fri, January 13 2023, 20:44:57
The following quote is from Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 71, “Circle’s Close.” Copyright 1997 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘I see she’s chosen, then,’ Jamie said softly.
Brianna smiled, her eyes on Roger’s face, and leaned to kiss him. Then she stood up, brushing sand from her skirts and bent to pick up a brand from the campfire. She turned and held it out to him, speaking in a voice loud enough to carry to us where we sat across the fire.
‘Go down,’ she said, ‘and tell them the MacKenzies are here.’”
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- QOTD for Friday, January 13, 2023 -- CindyG, Thu, January 12 2023, 20:57:11
The following quote is from Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 64, “Bottom of the Ninth.” Copyright 1997 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“I pushed back the edge of the shift, and with the next push the ring stretched to impossible size, and a head like a Chinese gargoyle popped out, with a flood of amniotic fluid and blood.
I found myself nose to nose with a waxy-white head with a face like a fist, that grimaced at me in utter fury.
‘What is it? Is it a boy?’ Jamie’s hoarse question cut through my startlement.
‘I hope so,’ I said, hastily thumbing mucus from nose and mouth. ‘It’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen; God help it if it’s a girl.’
Brianna made a noise that might have started as a laugh, and turned into an enormous grunt of effort. I barely had time to get my fingers in and turn the wide shoulders slightly to help. There was an audible pop, and a long, wet form slithered out onto the soggy quilt, wriggling like a landed trout.”
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- QOTD for Thursday, January 12, 2023 -- CindyG, Wed, January 11 2023, 21:02:56
The following quote is from Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 16, “The First Law of Thermodynamics.” Copyright 1997 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘Get up and knock at the spot where the split is, Ian. I’ll deal with it on the outside.’ Seizing a fresh shingle, a hammer, a hatchet, and a bag of nails, he headed for the door.
‘Don’t you go up on the roof in that!’ I exclaimed, sitting up abruptly. ‘That’s your good woolen shirt!’
He halted by the door, glared briefly at me, then, with the rebuking expression of an early Christian martyr, laid down his tools, stripped off the shirt, dropped it on the floor, picked up the tools, and strode majestically out to deal with the leak, buttocks clenched with determined zeal.”
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- Happy Birthday, Diana!!! -- Judie, Wed, January 11 2023, 13:23:29
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Thank you for years of enjoyment with all your wonderful characters. Especially Jamie. 😂😂😂
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- QOTD for Wednesday, January 11, 2023 -- CindyG, Tue, January 10 2023, 21:36:31
The following quote is from Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 16, “The First Law of Thermodynamics.” Copyright 1997 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘So long as my body lives, and yours—we are one flesh,’ he whispered. His fingers touched me, hair and chin and neck and breast, and I breathed his breath and felt him solid under my hand. Then I lay with my head on his shoulder, the strength of him supporting me, the words deep and soft in his chest.
‘And when my body shall cease, my soul will still be yours. Claire—I swear by my hope of heaven, I will not be parted from you.’
The wind stirred the leaves of the chestnut trees nearby, and the scents of late summer rose up rich around us; pine and grass and strawberries, sunwarmed stone and cool water, and the sharp, musky smell of his body next to mine.
‘Nothing is lost, Sassenach; only changed.’
‘That’s the first law of thermodynamics,’ I said, wiping my nose.
‘No,’ he said. ‘That’s faith.’”
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- QOTD for Tuesday, January 10, 2023 -- CindyG, Mon, January 09 2023, 19:06:33
The following quote is from Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 16, “The First Law of Thermodynamics.” Copyright 1997 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘D’ye believe in signs at all, Sassenach?’
‘What sorts of signs?’ I asked guardedly.
In answer, he bent, plucked a sprig from the ground, and dropped it into my hand—the dark green leaves like small round Chinese fans, a pure white flower on a slender stem, and on another a half-ripe berry, its shoulders pale with shade, blushing crimson at the tip.
‘This. It’s ours, d’ye see?’ he said.
‘Ours?’
‘The Frasers’, I mean,’ he explained. One large, blunt finger gently prodded the berry. ‘Strawberries ha’ always been the emblem of the clan—it’s what the name meant, to start with, when a Monsieur Fréselière came across from France wi’ King William that was—and took hold of land in the Scottish mountains for his trouble.’”
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- QOTD for Monday, January 9, 2023 -- CindyG, Sun, January 08 2023, 21:29:52
The following quote is from Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 12, “The Return of John Quincy Myers.” Copyright 1997 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“Myers’s penis, embarrassed by the attention, had already retreated, peeping shyly out of the bushes. With the patient’s long legs raised and spread, Ulysses himself delicately cupping the baggy scrotum away, the hernia was clearly revealed, a smooth swelling the size of a hen’s egg, its curve a deep purple where it pressed against the taut inguinal skin.
‘Jesus, Lord!’ said one of the drivers, eyes bulging at the sight. ‘It’s true—he’s got three balls!’
A collective gasp and giggle ensued from the spectators, but I was too busy to correct misapprehensions. I swabbed the perineum thoroughly with pure alcohol, dipped my scalpel in the liquid, passed the blade back and forth through the flame of a candle by way of final sterilization, and made a swift cut.”
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- QOTD for Sunday, January 8, 2023 -- CindyG, Sat, January 07 2023, 20:13:35
The following quote is from Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 1, “A Hanging in Eden.” Copyright 1997 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“I glanced at the slightly bulging front of his breeches, and then up at him. Broad-shouldered and tall, with bold, clean features and a Highlander’s proud carriage, he drew the glance of every woman he passed, even with his bright hair covered by a sober blue tricorne. The breeches, which were borrowed, were substantially too tight, and did nothing whatever to detract from the general effect—an effect enhanced by the fact that he himself was totally ignorant of it.
‘You’re a walking inducement to harlots,’ I said. ‘Stick by me; I’ll protect you.’”
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- I know this was my week. It's been a stress-filled and I've messed up. I will take the week after Cindy. Sorry 😞 -- kgp, Fri, January 06 2023, 10:41:23
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- Happy New Year, Lallybrochers!! -- kgp, Sat, December 31 2022, 16:51:00
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- QOTD for Saturday, 12/24/2022 -- Janet, Sat, December 24 2022, 4:54:28
Quote of the Day for Saturday, December 24, 2022 from Outlander, Chapter 41, From the Womb of the Earth by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 1991, all rights reserved.
The moon above was a Christmas moon, so large as almost to fill the empty window. It seemed no wonder that the tides of the sea and woman should be subject to the pull of that stately orb, so close and so commanding.
But my own tides moved no longer to that chaste and sterile summons, and the knowledge of my freedom raced like danger through my blood.
“I have a gift for you too,” I said suddenly to Jamie. He turned toward me and his hand slid, large and sure over the plane of my still-flat stomach.
“Have you, now?” he said.
And the world was all around us, new with possibility.
I hope you enjoyed the week of presents! There are so many great lines in the books. May you all have a Merry Christmas (if you celebrate) and definitely a Happy New Year with Family, Friends, Health, and Warmth.
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- QOTD for Friday, 12/23/2022 -- Janet, Fri, December 23 2022, 3:12:29
Quote of the Day for December 23, 2022 from Outlander, Chapter 41, From the Womb of the Earth by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 1991, all rights reserved.
“I’m sorry I haven’t got anything to give you, I said, watching as he stood up and began to dig through the tumbled bedclothes. Probably looking for a handkerchief, I thought, sniffing some more.
“Aside from such minor gifts as my life, my manhood, and my right hand?” he asked dryly. They’ll do nicely, mo duinne.” He straightened up with a novice’s robe in one hand. “Undress.”
I live just outside Detroit, MI, and we've had Winter Storm Warnings in place for a day or so. It doesn't look bad outside, but I just took the trash out....blowing snow, high wind, below zero wind chill. For all my Lallypals affected by this weather, stay in, stay warm, and if you have to go out, be careful!
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- QOTD for Thursday, 12/22/2022 -- Janet, Thu, December 22 2022, 3:41:04
Quote of the Day for December 22, 2022 from The Fiery Cross, Chapter 18, No Place Like Home, by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2001, all rights reserved.
I waited, with some impatience. Within a minute, he made a grab, evidently catching whatever it was, for he gave a small exclamation of satisfaction. He stood up, smiling, a gray, furry shape clutched by the nape, dangling like a tiny purse from his fingers.
“Here’s your wee ratten, Sassenach,” he said, and gently depositied a ball of gray fur on the coverlet. Huge eyes of pale celadon green stared up at me, unblinking.
“Well, goodness, I said. “Wherever did you come from?” I extended a finger, very slowly. The kitten didn’t move. I touched the edge of a tiny gray-silk jaw, and the green eyes disappeared, going to slits as it rubbed against my finger. A surprisingly deep purr rumbled through its miniature frame.
“That,” Jamie said, with immense satisfaction, “is the present I meant to give ye, Sassenach. He’ll keep the vermin from your surgery.”
Later on we learn that the cat’s name is Adso, after the Monk, Adso of Melk
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- AOTD for Wednesday, 12/21/2022 -- Janet, Wed, December 21 2022, 3:13:44
Quote of the Day for Wednesday, December 21, 2022 from Outlander, Chapter16, One Fine Day. By Diana Gabaldon, Copyright 1991.
I tried to find an appropriate passage of presents for Hump Day; I think this is it!
He pressed my head against his shoulder, stroking my hair and smoothing the leaping curls around my ears.
“I do not know if it will help,” he said, quietly, “but I will tell you this: it is a gift and a wonder to me, to know that I can please you—that your body can rouse to mine. I hadna thought of such a thing—beforehand.”
I drew a long breath before replying. “Yes,” I said. “It helps. I think.”
We were silent again for what seemed a long time. At last Jamie drew away and looked down at me, smiling.
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- QOTD for Tuesday, 12/20/2022 -- Janet, Tue, December 20 2022, 4:57:38
Quote of the Day for Tuesday, December 20, 2022 from Drums of Autumn, Chapter 8, Man of Worth, By Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 1997 by Diana Gabaldon, All Rights Reserved.
"What's this?" I ran my hand curiously over the box.
"Oh, only a wee present." He didn't look at me, but the tis of his ears were pink. "Open it, hm?"
It was a heavy box, both wide and deep. Carved of dense, fine grained wood, it bore the marks of heavy use--nicks and dents that had seasoned but not impaired its polished beauty. It was hasped for a lock, but there was none, the lid rose easily on oiled brass hinges, and a whiff of camphor floated out, vaporous as a jinn.
The instruments gleamed under the smoky sun, bright despite a hazing of disuse. Each had its own pocket, carefully fitted and lined in green velvet.
A small, heavy-toothed saw, scissors, three scalpels--round bladed, straight bladed, scoop bladed, the silver blade of a tongue depressor, a tenaculum....
"Jamie!" Delighted, I lifted out a short ebony rod, to the end of which was affixed a ball of worsted, wrapped in rather moth eaten velvet. I'd seen one before, at Versailles, the eightenteenth century version of a reflex hammer. "Oh Jamie! How wonderful!"
He wiggled his feet, pleased.
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- QOTD for Monday, December 19, 2022 -- Janet, Mon, December 19 2022, 3:41:35
Quote of the day for Monday, December 19, 2022 from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 23, Return to Leoch, Copyright 1991. All Rights Reserved.
"And what did you want to buy so much?" I asked suspiciously.
He sighed and hesitated for a moment, then tossed the small package lightly into my lap.
"A wedding ring, Sassenach," he said. "I got it from Ewen the armorer; he makes such things in his own time."
"Oh," I said in a small voice.
"Go ahead," he said, a moment later. "Open it. It's yours."
The outline of the little package blurred under my fingers. I blinked and sniffed, but made no move to open it. "I'm sorry," I said.
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- QOTD for Sunday, December 18, 2022 -- Janet, Sun, December 18 2022, 9:35:06
The Quote of the Day is from Outlander, We meet a Beggar. Copyright 2004 By Diana Gabaldon, All rights reserved.
"How nice," I said politely. "It looks as though they'll eat well, at least." I motioned to the rabbits hanging from his belt.
Munro at once unfastened one of the corpses and handed it to me, with such an expression of beaming goodwill that I felt obliged to accept it, smiling back and hoping privately that it didn't harbor fleas.
"A wedding gift," said Jamie. "And most welcome, Munro. Ye must allow us to return the favor." With which he extracted one of the bottles of ale from its mossy bed and handed it across.
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- QOTD for Saturday, December 17, 2022 -- CindyG, Fri, December 16 2022, 22:16:08
The following quote is from “Besieged,” in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2017 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘Well, my lord, the thing is, I have to bring you into Havana Harbor; it’s the only real anchorage on that coast. I mean, there are fishing villages and the like, but was I to land you in one of those places, you’d have to make your way overland to Havana, and it might take longer than you’ve got.’
‘I see…’ said John, in a tone indicating quite the opposite. Mr. Rimes noticed this and smiled reassuringly.
‘So, I’ll bring you in under colors—they won’t shell a cutter, I don’t think, not until they see what’s what—and deliver you as an official visitor of some sort. The general thought perhaps you might be bringing some message to the English consul there, but of course you’ll know best about that.’
‘Oh, indeed.’ It couldn’t be patricide, could it? he thought. Strangling a stepfather, particularly under the circumstances…
‘It’s all right, me lord,’ Tom put in helpfully. ‘I’ve brought your full-dress uniform. Just in case you might need it.’”
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- QOTD for Friday, December 16, 2022 -- CindyG, Thu, December 15 2022, 21:08:00
The following quote is from “Besieged,” in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2017 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘No, me lord. Azeel says sweet oil draws spiders. They come and lick it off your skin whilst you’re asleep.’
Lord John and his valet shuddered simultaneously, recollecting last week’s experience with a banana spider—a creature with a leg span the size of a child’s hand—that had burst unexpectedly out of a ripe banana, followed by what appeared at the time to be several hundred small offspring, at a garden party given by Grey to mark his departure from the island and to welcome the Honorable Mr. Houghton Braythwaite, his successor as governor.
‘I thought he’d have an apoplexy on the spot,’ Grey said, lips twitching.
‘Likely wishes he had.’
Grey looked at Tom, Tom at Grey, and they burst into suffocated snorts of laughter at the memory of the Honorable Mr. Braythwaite’s face on this occasion.”
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- QOTD for Thursday, December 15, 2022 -- CindyG, Wed, December 14 2022, 19:21:15
The following quote is from “A Plague of Zombies,” in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2011 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“Tom sighed and shook his head but reached into his shirt and drew out a small cross, woven of wheat stalks and somewhat battered, suspended on a bit of leather string.
‘All right, me lord. But you’ll wear this, at least.’
‘What is it?’
‘A charm, me lord. Ilsa gave it to me, in Germany. She said it would protect me against evil—and so it has.’
‘Oh, no, Tom—surely you must keep—‘
Mouth set in an expression of obstinacy that Grey knew well, Tom leaned forward and put the leather string over Grey’s head. The mouth relaxed.
‘There, me lord. Now I can sleep, at least.’”
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- QOTD for Wednesday, December 14, 2022 -- CindyG, Tue, December 13 2022, 21:59:24
The following quote is from “A Plague of Zombies,” in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2011 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“Tom laid out all his implements neatly on the dressing table, from a pair of silver hairbrushes to a box of powder and a pair of curling tongs, with the care and attention of a surgeon arraying his knives and saws. Selecting a hairbrush, he leaned closer, peering at Grey’s head, then gasped. ‘Me lord! There’s a big huge spider—walking right up your temple!’
Grey smacked his temple by reflex, and the spider in question—a clearly visible brown thing nearly a half inch long—shot off into the air, striking the looking glass with an audible tap before dropping to the surface of the dressing table and racing for its life.
Tom and the black servant uttered identical cries of horror and lunged for the creature, colliding in front of the dressing table and falling over in a thrashing heap. Grey, strangling an almost irresistible urge to laugh, stepped over them and dispatched the fleeing spider neatly with the back of his other hairbrush.“
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- Remember the Polls & Survey Board? I need some Lally advice. -- Kathy in PA, Tue, December 13 2022, 8:26:25
The pastor where I work is retiring and we’re having a surprise going away party Sunday. I’m not sure what to put on the cake. She’s very upbeat and may continue a part time job so it’s not total retirement. Should it be a bit Holy? Blessings and congratulations? Any ideas?
And any ideas for cheap seasonal centerpieces? I need 6 and have no budget for it but am going to do something.
Thanks!!! And it is so wonderful to have the Ornaments and Card exchanges ❤️❤️❤️
I got my ornament package yesterday- fabulous as always- and my first card last week. Thank you Lisa for the beautiful moon card ( I feel very connected to the moon - btw a Geminid meteor shower early tonite between dusk and midnight ) so I loved the messages and pictures.
And the Angel cards that are sad but let us show love and support to each other.
Lallyhugs to all.
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- For the centerpieces, either a few candles, tapers or columns, whatever you or a member of the church have, with evergreen boughs...also from someone's yard. (buying greens right now is steep! If you were near MI, you could come to my yard for the greens) Or wrap some empty boxes in paper, Christmas or plain colors, with some greenery. If anyone has nice clear glass plates or bowls, put gold or silver ornaments in them, then add a small strand of battery powered Christmas lights or an battery powered tea light (check Dollar General for these.) As for the cake, "Enjoy this New Phase of Life" or "Blessings on Your New Beginning", or something similar. Hope this helps. (NT) -- Janet, Tue, December 13 2022, 10:19:51
- QOTD for Tuesday, December 13, 2022 -- CindyG, Mon, December 12 2022, 20:18:35
The following quote is from “The Custom of the Army,” in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2010 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘Me lord?’
The voice at his elbow nearly made him swallow his tongue. He turned with an attempt at calmness, ready to reproach Tom for venturing out into the chaos, but before he could summon words, his young valet stooped at his feet, holding something.
‘I’ve brought your breeches, me lord,’ Tom said, voice trembling. ‘Thought you might need ’em, if there was fighting.’
‘Very thoughtful of you, Tom,’ he assured his valet, fighting an urge to laugh. He stepped into the breeches and pulled them up, tucking in his shirt.”
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- QOTD for Monday, December 12, 2022 -- CindyG, Sun, December 11 2022, 21:02:28
The following quote is from “The Custom of the Army,” in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2010 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“Beside him, Tom was fairly vibrating with excitement, his eyes out on stalks, not to miss anything.
‘Cor, is that a red Indian?’ he whispered, leaning close to Grey in the boat.
‘I don’t suppose he can be anything else,’ Grey replied, as the gentleman loitering by the landing was naked save for a breechclout, a striped blanket slung over one shoulder, and a coating of what—from the shimmer of his limbs—appeared to be grease of some kind.
‘I thought they’d be redder,’ Tom said, echoing Grey’s own thought. The Indian’s skin was considerably darker than Grey’s own, to be sure, but a rather pleasant soft brown in color, something like dried oak leaves. The Indian appeared to find them nearly as interesting as they had found him; he was eyeing Grey in particular with intent consideration.”
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- QOTD for Sunday, December 11, 2022 -- CindyG, Sat, December 10 2022, 21:30:06
The following quote is from “The Custom of the Army,” in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2010 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘Yes, me lord. His Grace said as he wants to speak to you about “the events of last night.”’ Tom had crossed to the window and was looking censoriously at the remnants of Grey’s shirt and breeches, these stained with grass, mud, blood, and powder stains, and flung carelessly over the back of the chair. He turned a reproachful eye on Grey, who closed his own, trying to recall exactly what the events of last night had been.”
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- QOTD for Saturday, December 10, 2022 -- kgp, Sat, December 10 2022, 9:42:10
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 108 Reality Is That Which, When You Stop Believing In It Doesn’t Go Away
The gulls cried high overhead, still wheeling, and he looked up. Sure enough: he could just make out the low ruins on the Iron Age hill fort up there, the ruins he’d rebuilt - would rebuild? What if he never got back to – Jesus, don’t even think about it, man, it’ll drive you crazier than you are already.
He nudged the horse and it reluctantly accelerated a bit. It accelerated a lot faster in the next moment, when a crashing noise came from the hillside just above.
“Whoa! Whoa, you eedjit! Whoa, I said!” These adjurations, along with a heave of the reins to bring the horse’s head around, had an effect, and they ended facing back the way they’d come, to see a young boy standing, panting, n the middle of the road, his red hair all on end, nearly brown in the muted light.
“Daddy,” he said, and his face lit as though touched by a sudden sun. “Daddy!”
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- QOTD for Friday, December 9, 2022 -- kgp, Fri, December 09 2022, 4:30:38
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 107 The Burying Ground
There were strangers here now, too, although her own blood. What if . . . She swallowed. If Roger had found Jerry MacKenzie, his father would be only in his early twenties - much younger than Roger himself. And if her own da was here now –
“He can’t be,” she whispered to herself, and wasn’t sure if that was reassurance or regret. She’d met him for the first time in North Carolina, pissing against a tree. He’d been in his forties, she twenty-two.
You couldn’t enter your own lifeline, couldn’t exist in the same time twice. They thought they knew that for sure. But what if you entered someone else’s life twice, at different times?
That was what was turning her blood to ice and making her curled fists tremble. What happened? Did one or the other of your appearances change things, perhaps cancel out the other? Would it not happen that way, would she not meet Jamie Fraser in North Carolina if she met him now?
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- QOTD for Thursday, December 8, 2022 -- kgp, Thu, December 08 2022, 6:47:22
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 106 A Brother Of The Lodge
But Mandy, little fist clutching her emerald, had turned toward the biggest of the standing stones. Her mouth dropped open for a moment, and then suddenly her face brightened as though someone had lit a candle inside her.
”Daddy!” she shrieked, and, yanking her hand out of Brianna’s, raced directly toward the cleft stone - and into it.
“Jesus!” Brianna barely heard Menzie’s shocked exclamation. She ran toward the stone, tripped over Esmeralda, and fell full length in the grass, knocking out her wind.
“Mama!” Jem paused for a moment beside her, glancing wildly back and forth between her and the stone where his little sister had just vanished.
“I’m . . . okay,” she managed, and with that assurance, Jem charged across the clearing, calling back, “I’ll get her, Mam!”
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- QOTD for Wednesday, December 7, 2022 -- kgp, Wed, December 07 2022, 7:07:17
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 105 No A Very Good Person
“It’s not that,” Roger said, clearing his throat. “It’s only - I can’t leave while Jem might be here. Not when I don’t know for sure that I could come back if I left and he . . . wasn’t at the other end.” He made a helpless gesture. :Go, and know I was maybe abandoning him forever?”
Buck nodded, looking down. Roger saw the man’s throat move, too, and was struck by a pang of realization.
“Your Jem,” Roger said softly. “You do know where he is, at least. When, I mean." The question was clear: if Buck was willing to risk the stones again, why would he not do it in search of his own family, rather than to carry a message to Bree?
“Ye’re all mine, aren’t ye?” Buck said gruffly. “My blood. My . . . sons.”
Last edited by author: Fri, December 09 2022, 4:32:46
Edited 1 time.
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- QOTD for Tuesday, December 6, 2022 -- kgp, Tue, December 06 2022, 7:20:52
Sorry I missed yesterday. Holiday Head.
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 104 The Succubus of Cranesmuir
Geillis Duncan was maybe not a classic beauty, but that didn’t matter. She certainly was good-looking, with creamy-blond hair put up under a lace cap, and - of course - the eyes. Eyes that made him want to close his own and poke Buck in the back to make him do the same, because surely she or McEwan would notice. . . .
McEwan had noticed something, all right, but it wasn’t the eyes. He was eyeing Buck with a small frown of displeasure, as Buck took a long stride forward, seized the woman’s hand, and boldly kissed it.
“Mrs. Duncan,” he said, straightening up and smiling right into those clear green eyes. “Your most humble and obedient servant, ma’am.”
She smiled back, one blond brow raised, with an amused look that met Buck’s implied challenge - and raised it. Even from where he was standing, Roger felt the snap of attraction between them, sharp as a spark of static electricity. So had McEwan.
Last edited by author: Wed, December 07 2022, 18:01:42
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- Qotd for Sunday, December 4, 2022 -- kgp, Sun, December 04 2022, 9:55:58
The following quotation is from The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon.Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved. Chapter 6 Summoning
How old would his first child be now? He swallowed and thickness in his throat but continued doggedly in his train of thought. Claire had been two months gone with child when she’d stepped through the stones and back to Frank.
“God bless you, ye bloody English bastard,” he said through his teeth. It was his customary prayer when Frank Randall came to his mind - something he tried to avoid happening, but now and then . . . “Mind them well!”
Two months gone, and that had been April the 16th, Anno Domini 1746. Now it was April again, and 1760. If time went on in a normal fashion - and he saw no reason why it should not - then the child would be almost fourteen.
“Christ, he’s nearly a man,” he whispered, and his hand closed tight on the fence rail, so tight he felt the grain of the wood.
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- QOTD for Saturday, November 26, 2022 -- Janet, Sat, November 26 2022, 3:20:57
Quote of the Day for Saturday, November 26, 2002. Drums of Autumn, Chapter 25, Enter a Serpent by Diana Gabaldon, Copyright 1997, all rights reserved.
So yesterday's quote reminded me of when Ian and Willie first meet.....
"It was my fault," he said nobly squaring his shoulders, the better to accept blame. "I said as how I'd thought to shoot it earlier, but we didna want to waste the powder. And so his Lordship said as how he would fetch his papa's pistol from the saddlebag and deal with the thing at once. And so---"
"Ian," said Jamie between his teeth. "Stop blethering this instant and tell me straight what ye've done wi' the lad. Ye've not shot him by mistake, I hope?"
Ian looked offended at this slur upon his marksmanship.
"Of course not!" he said.
Lord John coughed politely, forestalling further recriminations.
"Perhaps you would be good enough to tell me the whereabouts of my son at this moment?"
Ian took a deep breath and visibly commended his soul to God.
"He's in the bottom of the privy," he said. "Have ye got a bit o' rope, Uncle Jamie?"
And then this bit: A pair of slanted eyes looked blue murder out of the mask of filth obscuring his Lordship's features. It was a thoroughly Fraser expression, and I felt a qualm go through me at the sight. By my side, Ian gave a sudden start. He glanced quickly from the Earl to Jamie and back, then he caught my eye and his own face went perfectly and unnaturally blank.
I laugh out loud every time I read this and think about the privy at my grandparents house.....
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- QOTD for Friday, November 25, 2033 -- Janet, Fri, November 25 2022, 11:34:56
Quote of the Day for Friday, November 25, 2022 from An Echo In the Bone, Chapter 60, Deserter Game, Round II. By Diana Gabaldon, Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved
Sorry this is late today. Today is Black Friday in the US, When lots of folks go to the stores for special deals on Christmas presents.....
"Hush!" he said by reflex, not knowing whether he was talking to Denny or the tall soldier who had stepped out of the wood behind him.
"What the devil--" the soldier began, sounding startled. He didn't finish the question, but took three paces fast and grabbed Ian by the wrist.
"Who are you, and what are you---Good God, where did you come from?" William the soldier started into Ian's face, and Ian thanked God briefly for the fact that his other wrist was immobilized by Denny's chain, for otherwise William would be already dead. And he didn't want to have to tell Uncle Jamie that.
I love the relationship between William and Ian, something like two male dogs circling each other, then joining together to help one another. And Ian's thought that the only reason he would regret killing William is having to tell Jamie.....
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- QOTD for Thursday, 11/24/2022 -- Janet, Wed, November 23 2022, 11:06:51
Quote of the Day for Thursday, November 24, 2022. Drums of Autumn, Chapter 12, The Return of John Quincy Myers, by Diana Gabaldon, Copyright 1997. All Rights Reserved.
Posting early. Thursday, November 24l, 2022, is the US Thanksgiving Day, and I may be too busy to post. I tried to find a suitable "feast" quote describing the food, but I was having trouble. Then I found this and just got a smile on my face, and I couldn't resist!!!
I had operated under odd conditions before, I thought, rinsing my hands hastily in vinegar brought from the kitchen, but none odder than this.
Relieved of his nether garb, Myers lay tastefully displayed on the mahogany table, boneless as a roasted pheasant, and nearly as ornamental. In lieu of platter, he lay upon a stable blanket, a gaudy centerpiece in his quilled shirt and bear's claw necklace, surrounded by a garnish of bottles, rags, and bandages.
Hope my American friends have a great Thanksgiving, and my friends around the world have a great day. I am thankful for this community!
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- Me too, Janet. I don’t always get here on the right day but I never miss a QOTD and am so grateful for the other parts like the card and ornament exchange and the angels. As soon as I started to read your quote I smiled because Diana painted such a hilarious scene and made it seem perfectly normal for Claire to carry on, as she always does. Lol. It also reminded me of Jamie’s quote about Claire that makes men drop the drawers within minutes of meeting her when John Quincy eagerly showed her his hernia. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, November 25 2022, 3:52:09
- Love this! *G* Such a picture she paints, wonderful, thank you and belated happy Thanksgiving! (NT) -- Cait, Fri, November 25 2022, 17:36:33
- QOTD for Wednesday, November 23, 2022 -- Janet, Wed, November 23 2022, 3:33:31
Quote of the Day from A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Chapter 45, A taint in the Blood. By Diana Gabaldon, Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved
Just a bit on daily life on the Mountain.
I glanced up at the sun; still above the chestnut trees. Time enough then before supper for a last chore or two. I stood up and surveyed my small kingdom, debating where best to spend my remaining time. Rooting up the catmint and lemon balm that threatened to engulf the far corner of the garden? Carting baskets of nicely rotted manure up from the heap behind the barn? No, that was man's work.
Herbs? My three French lavender bushes stood knee-high, thick with deep blue swabs on slender stalks and the yarrow was well in bloom, with lacy umbels of white and pink and yellow. I rubbed a finger under my itching nose, trying to recall whether this was the proper phase of the moon in which to cut yarrow. Lavender and rosemary should be cut in the morning, though, when the volatile oils had risen with the sun; it wasn't as potent if taken later in the day.
Down with the mint, then.
Amazing how Diana takes the most mundane activity and makes you feel like you're there!
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- Yes!! Especially the nature things, the smells like today or when she’s in the woods - I feel like I’m there. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, November 23 2022, 8:18:00
- P.S. Today is Brianna’s birthday, Nov 23, 1948 🎂. Also my son-in-law and his older sister. My Aunt’s birthday is Oct 20, same as Claire’s. Do you have any co birthdays? (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, November 23 2022, 8:20:15
- QOTD for Tuesday, November 22,2022 -- Janet, Tue, November 22 2022, 3:28:45
The following quote is from An Echo in the Bone, Chapter 3, Life for a Life. by Diana Gabaldon, Copyright 2009, All rights reserved.
This takes place just after the Buggs are caught stealing the gold from the White Sows "home".
"And then, he said, ye live with it," he said softly.
He rubbed a hand across his face.
"But I dinna think I can." It was a simple statement of fact, and scared me badly. I had no more tears, but felt as though I looked into a black, bottomless hole---and couldn't look away.
I drew a deep breath, trying to think of something to say, then pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and gave it to him.
"Are you breathing, Ian?"
His mouth twitched a little.
"Aye, I think so."
"That's all you have to do , for now." I got up, brushed hay from my skirts, and held out a hand to him. "Come along. We need to go back to the abin before we're snowed in her."
Such simple advice, in a time of great sorrow...just keep breathing.
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- QOTD for Monday, November 21, 2022 -- Janet, Mon, November 21 2022, 4:49:16
Quote of the Day for Monday, November 21, 2022 taken from Written in My Own Hearts Blood, Chapter 106, A Brother of the Lodge, by Diana Gabaldon, Copyright 2014. All Rights Reserved
Jumping in with a quote. No theme, but I do love how people help the Mackenzie and Frazier Families!
"Curl up your fist, wee lassie," he said, almost gently. "Aye, that's it. And Jem---here, put out your hand." Brianna was close enough now to see that it was a small glittering thing he put in Jem's palm---and that Mandy's fist was curled around a large ring, rather battered, with a Masonic emblem carved into its onyx---and the twin of Jem's small diamond winking beside it, an empty socket on the other side.
"Lionel," she said, and he reached out and touched her check.
"Go now," he said. "I can't leave until ye go. Once you're gone, though, I'll run for it."
.....
"Mandy, she said, and could barely hear her own voice. "Let's find Daddy. Don't let go."
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- QOTD for Saturday, November 19, 2022 -- CindyG, Fri, November 18 2022, 20:07:47
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 150, “And What of Lazarus?” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“I normally brushed my hair by feel, but was still looking into the glass as I raised the brush—and stopped.
‘Well, bloody hell,’ I said. My hair was white. Jamie had told me my hair was the color of moonlight, once, but then it was no more than streaks of white around my face. It was not entirely white now; the mass of curls that foamed around my shoulders was still a mix of brown and blond and silver—but the newer growth above my ears was a pure and simple white that shimmered in the morning sun.
I set down the brush and looked at my hand, turning it back and forth. It looked quite as usual: thin and long-fingered, with strongly marked tendons and blue veins visible…
I remembered Nayawenne then, and what she’d said to me: ‘When your hair is white…that is when you will find your full power.’ I hadn’t thought of it in some time and felt a tingle down my spine now. The memory of holding Jamie’s soul on that mountaintop, calling him back to his body…Roger had said to me, quietly, when no one was nearby to hear, that he thought he had seen a faint blue light come and go in my hands as I touched Jamie, flickering like swamp fire.
‘Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ,’ I said, very quietly.”
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- QOTD for Friday, November 18, 2022 -- CindyG, Fri, November 18 2022, 0:19:20
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 147, “A Lot of Blood.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“There. A solid shape with no form, glowing with a fractured light; Ian was hurt, but not badly, I could feel his strength pulse and fade, pulse and fade…
I felt the pulse of it through my flesh. For an instant, I was disoriented, couldn’t find the limits of my own body. I felt Jamie’s slow surrender in my belly and veins, Ian’s strong pulse in my heart and arteries.
Where am I?
I concluded, dimly, that it didn’t matter.
Help me, I said silently, and yielded my own boundaries.”
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- QOTD for Thursday, November 17, 2022 -- CindyG, Wed, November 16 2022, 21:39:12
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 147, “A Lot of Blood.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“I WOULDN’T LET GO. I couldn’t speak anymore, I hadn’t strength for it. But I wouldn’t let go and I wouldn’t move.
Ian spoke to me now and then. Other voices came and went. Alarm, concern, anger, helplessness. Ian and Roger. I didn’t listen.
BLUE.
So beautiful.
It’s not empty.”
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- QOTD for Wednesday, November 16, 2022 -- CindyG, Tue, November 15 2022, 20:42:08
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 131, “Thunderstorms on the Ridge.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘This is High John the Conqueror,’ he said. ‘My great-grandmama gives him to me, and says to me it is man’s medicine and will heal me if I am hurt or sick. You put this into your moco before you put your hands on me, please.’
It was a dried nodular root, so dark a brown as to be almost black, but a very peculiar one. I could see why his great-grandmother said it was man’s medicine, though: it looked exactly like a tiny pair of testicles. ‘Thank you,’ I said, rubbing my thumb over the object. It felt like a well-polished bit of hard root, but I wasn’t feeling any particular sense of anything from it. ‘Your great-grandmother is a…hoodoo? Would that be a sort of healer?’
He nodded, though his mouth shifted sideways, slightly dubious.
‘Mos’ly, madam.’
Jamie cleared his throat in a meaningful sort of way. He was standing near the fire, and small wisps of steam were rising from his hair and clothes.
‘Well, then.’ I tucked the bit of root into my amulet, cleared my throat, and picked up the mask again. ‘Lie down, Mr. Jackson. This won’t take a moment.’”
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- Lally Card Exchange -- Judie, Tue, November 15 2022, 20:30:30
.
.
Posting for LisaW:
Hello! Just a quick note to let those who want to participate in the Lally Card Exchange know that it is still on this year!
I have been a bit absent but I am really looking forward to all the Lally Love.
Please let me know if you are interested in participating, I will send the whole list to whoever email’s me. You can decide how much or little you want to send out!
Contact me by December 2nd!
lallycards @ gmail . com [please join together]
Lally Love!
Lisa
Last edited by author: Tue, November 15 2022, 20:31:20
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- QOTD for Tuesday, November 15, 2022 -- CindyG, Mon, November 14 2022, 19:38:44
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 131, “Thunderstorms on the Ridge.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“He made a sudden, urgent sound and, reaching up, took hold of the dangling small leather bag that had slipped out from its place between my breasts when I bent over him.
‘What is this?’ he demanded, pushing the wicker mask aside with his other hand. He looked shocked. ‘What is in it?’
‘Ahh…to be honest, I don’t know, exactly,’ I said, and took it gingerly from his fingers. ‘It’s a…um…I suppose you’d call it a medicine bag—a sort of…amulet? An Indian healer gave it to me, some years ago, and once in a long while, I add something to it—a stone, perhaps, or a bit of herb. But…it didn’t seem right to pour out what she’d put in.’
His look of shock had faded into one of intense interest, tinged with what looked like respect. He put out a tentative forefinger and, raising one brow to ask my permission, touched the worn leather. And I felt it. A faint pulse that throbbed once, against the palm of my hand.
He saw me feel it and his face changed. It was still gray with pain and cold and blood loss, but he was no longer scared—of me, Jamie, or anything else.
‘It is your moco,’ he said softly and nodded, certain.”
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- QOTD for Monday, November 14, 2022 -- CindyG, Sun, November 13 2022, 20:54:05
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 22, “Ashes, Ashes. . .” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“I was rubbing a handful of damp leaves between my hands to clean them when I realized that there was a pebble among the leaves.
I tossed it away, but caught a glimpse of vivid color as it flew through the air, and grabbed it up again.
It was a raw emerald, a long rectangular crystal of cloudy green in a matrix of rough rock.
I looked at it for several moments, rubbing my thumb gently over the surface.
‘You never know when it might come in handy, do you?’ I said, under my breath, and tucked it into my bag.”
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- That’s for sure. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, November 14 2022, 4:18:48
- For the TT folks, you absolutely might find it to be useful! (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, November 14 2022, 11:29:59
- I should pay more attention to pebbles. How do they keep finding raw gems? (NT) -- kgp, Tue, November 15 2022, 4:10:03
- QOTD for Sunday, November 13, 2022 -- CindyG, Sat, November 12 2022, 19:09:50
The following quote is from Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 20, “The White Raven.” Copyright 1997 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“Nayawenne drew out a small, lumpy object, and dropped it into my hand. It was a pebble; rough, but undeniably a gemstone. Bits of stony matrix clung to it, but the heart of the rock was a deep, soft blue.
‘My goodness—it’s a sapphire, isn’t it?’
‘Sapphire?’ Gabrielle turned the word over in her mouth, tasting it. ‘We call it …’ She hesitated, looking for the proper French translation. ‘… pierre sans peur.’
‘Pierre sans peur?’ A fearless stone?
Nayawenne nodded, talking again. Berthe butted in with the translation, before her mother could speak.
‘My father’s grandmother says a stone like this, it keeps people from being afraid, and so it makes their spirit strong, so they will be healed more easily. Already, this stone has healed two people of fever, and cured a soreness of the eyes that my younger brother had.’
‘My husband’s grandmother wishes to thank you for this gift.’ Gabrielle neatly took back the conversation.
‘Ah … do tell her she’s quite welcome.’ I nodded cordially at the old lady, and gave her back the blue stone. She popped it into the bag and drew the string tight about its neck. Then she peered closely at me, and reaching out, drew down a curl of my hair, talking as she rubbed the lock between her fingers.
‘My husband’s grandmother says that you have medicine now, but you will have more. When your hair is white like hers, that is when you will find your full power.’”
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- QOTD for Saturday, November 12, 2022 -- kgp, Sat, November 12 2022, 5:52:41
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights reserved. Chapter 102 Postpartum
After a bit, Buck got up abruptly and went off into the dark. He stayed gone for some time, during which time Roger sat gazing into the fire, replaying every moment he’d spent with Jerry MacKenzie in his mind, trying to fix it all. He wished passionately that it had been daylight, that he’d been able to see more of his father’s face than the brief glimpses he’d had in the beam of the dark lantern.
Whatever his regrets, though, and the cold knowledge that Jerry wouldn’t make it back - or back to where he started from, at least (God, what if he ended up lost in yet another strange time? Was that possible?) - there was the one small, warm thing. He’d said it. And wherever his father had gone, he’d carry that with him.
He wrapped himself in his cloak, lay down by the embers of the fire, and carried it with him into sleep.
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- QOTD for Friday, November 11, 2022 -- kgp, Fri, November 11 2022, 8:10:08
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights reserved. Chapter 101 Just One Chance
The door swung open as Buck set down the bar, and light shot out of the lantern’s open slide. A slightly built young man with flyaway fair hair - the same color as Buck’s. Roger thought - blinked at them, dazzled by the light, then closed his eyes against it.
Roger and Buck glanced at each other for an instant, then, with one accord, stepped into the byre.
He is, Roger thought. It’s him. I know it’s him. God, he’s so young! Barely more than a boy. Oddly, he felt no dizzying burst of excitement. It was a feeling of calm certainty, as though the world had suddenly righted itself and everything had fallen into place. He reached out and touched the man gently on the shoulder.
“What’s your name, mate?” he said softly, in English.
“MacKenzie, J. W.,” the young man said, shoulders straightening as he drew himself up, sharp chin jutting.
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- QOTD for Thursday, November 10, 2022 -- kgp, Thu, November 10 2022, 5:42:12
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights reserved. Chapter 100 Be Those Thy Beasts?
“Can ye hear them?” Buck muttered under his breath, his own eyes fixed on the stones.
“No,” Roger muttered back. “Can you?”
“I hope not.” But Buck shuddered suddenly, as though something had walked across his grave.
“Be those thy Be-asts?” the boy asked, grinning at Roger. He pointed at the stones, explaining - Roger thought - the local legend that the stones were in fact faery cattle, frozen in place when their drover had too much drink betaken and fell into the lake.
“Sooth,” the boy assured them solemnly, making a cross over his heart. “Mester Hacffurthe found es whip!”
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- QOTD for Wednesday, November 9, 2022 -- kgp, Wed, November 09 2022, 7:06:36
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights reserved. Chapter 99 Radar
“The only people I know I can trust are right here,” she said simply. And lifted her wine glass to them. Joe looked away and cleared his throat. Then he glanced at Gail, who nodded at him.
“We’ll go with you,” he said firmly, turning back to Bree. “Gail can mind the kids, and I can make sure nobody bothers you ‘til you’re set to go.”
She bit her lip to quell the rising tears.
“No,” she said, then cleared her own throat hard, to kill the quaver in her voice - caused as much by the vision of the two Drs. Abernathy strolling the streets of Inverness as by gratitude. It wasn’t that there were no black people in the Highlands of Scotland, but they were sufficiently infrequent as to cause notice.
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- Our town is like that. One black student in my graduating class and maybe 6 since then, 50 years ago. We are a suburb of a smallish city whose schools probably have 30 % black students, but the numbers are still small. I love the Abernathy! And that Diana made a possible connection to the 1700s believable. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, November 09 2022, 19:17:07
- We had two black families in my elementary school. Very happy that our town is now much more diverse. I love that the Abernathy's were willing to go with her without more than a glance between them. (NT) -- kgp, Thu, November 10 2022, 5:44:06
- I love that Bree always has the Abernathys at her back. Joe & Gail are among my favorite "minor" characters. (NT) -- DianaH, Thu, November 10 2022, 10:23:49
- QOTD for Tuesday, November 8, 2022 -- kgp, Tue, November 08 2022, 3:07:31
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights reserved. Chapter 98 The Wall
“Do we want to wait for Eevis to turn up?” Buck said, shifting uneasily. “He may not be friendly.”
“Yes, we do,” Roger said firmly. The blood was high in his chest and face, and he flexed his hands nervously. Close. They were so close - and yet . . . his spirits went from exhilaration to plunging fear and back again within seconds. It hadn’t escaped him that there was a strong possibility that Jerry MacKenzie had been killed for that jacket - a possibility that seemed much more likely in view of their interlocutor’s precipitate flight.
The man had disappeared into a windbreak of small trees, beyond which some sheds were visible. Perhaps Eevis was a stockman or dairyman?
Then the barking started.
Buck turned to look at Roger.
“Eevis, ye think?”
“Jesus Christ!”
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- QOTD for Monday, November 7, 2022 -- kgp, Tue, November 08 2022, 2:56:40
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights reserved. Chapter 97 A Man to do a Man’s Job
Gail Abernathy provided a quick but solid supper of spaghetti and meatballs, salad, garlic bread and - after a quick, penetrating look at Bree - a bottle of wine, despite Brianna’s protests. “You’re spending the night here,” Gail said, in a tone brooking no opposition, and pointed at the bottle. “And you’re drinking that. I don’t know what you’ve been doing to yourself, girl, and you don’t need to tell me - but you need to stop doing it.”
“I wish I could.” But her heart had risen the moment she walked through the familiar door, and her sense of agitation did subside - though it was far from disappearing. The wine helped, though.
The Abernathy’s helped more. Just the sense of being with friends, of not being alone with the kids and the fear and uncertainty. She went from wanting to cry to wanting to laugh and back again in the space of seconds, and felt that if Gail and Joe had not been there, she might have had no choice but to go into the bathroom, turn on the shower, and scream into a folded towel - her only safety valve in the last few days.
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- QOTD for Sunday, November 6, 2022 -- kgp, Sun, November 06 2022, 6:30:21
First off, my apologies for being AWOL for the last couple of weeks. Life got in the way . . .
Secondly, Thank you, Kel - for taking on a week! Good Job. I like how things are woven together.
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights reserved. Chapter 96 Nae Great Shortage of Hair in Scotland
Roger Drew his knees up and tucked in the ends of the bed sack. The rain made a gentle pattering on the canvas, and in the fatigue of exhaustion and cold, but with the comfort of a full stomach, he allowed himself the further comfort of imagining Bree. He did this only at night but looked forward to it with a greater anticipation than he did supper.
He envisioned her in his arms, sitting between his knees, her head lying back on his shoulder, snug under the canvas with him and her soft hair spangled with raindrops that caught the light of the fire. Warm, solid, breathing against his chest, his heart slowing to beat with hers . . .
Last edited by author: Sun, November 06 2022, 6:31:27
Edited 1 time.
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- Quote of the day for Saturday, November 5. Taken from Drums of Autumn, Chapter 46, Comes a Stranger, kindle p 643, Copyright Diana Gabaldon -- Kel, Sat, November 05 2022, 10:43:19
Quote of the day for Saturday, November 5. Taken from Drums of Autumn, Chapter 46, Comes a Stranger, kindle p 643, Copyright Diana Gabaldon
Of course, what “Someone meets Roger” would be complete without Himself!
Even through the beating and being sold off, the time missed with Bree, and all the pain caused, through no fault of his own, Roger comes to develop a deep relationship with Jamie. That takes a very good man, and just one more reason Roger is my favorite.
Thanks for indulging me in some Roger love.
~~~~~~
Jamie meets Roger
It was one thing to have been told that Jamie Frazier resembled his daughter. It was another to see Brianna’s bold features transmuted into power by the stamp of years, and fronting a personality not only thoroughly masculine, but fierce in aspect…..
“You’ll be Mr. MacKenzie,” the man said. It wasn’t a question. The voice was deep but not loud, barely lifted above the sound of the rustling leaves, but Roger had no difficulty hearing him.
“I am,” he said, taking a step forward.
“And you’ll be …ah…Jamie Fraser?” He stretched out a hand, but quickly let it drop. Two pairs of eyes rested coldly on him.
“I am,” said the red-haired man. “You’ll know me?” The tone of the question was distinctly unfriendly.
~~~~~~~
"Oh, Jamie, you shouldn’t have acted so brashly!" I shouted, “why don’t you people TALK to each other!!”
Drums of Autumn p 694-695 Chapter 50 In Which All is Revealed, copyright Diana Gabaldon
“Mr. Wakefield,” he said carefully to Brianna. “Has he by any chance… another name?”
“Yes,” Brianna and I said in unison….. MacKenzie was his own family name,”… “Why? You haven’t heard of a Roger MacKenzie, have you?”
~~~~~~
The Father-in-law gives approval….
The Fiery Cross, Chapter 1, p47 kindle, Copyright Diana Gabaldon
“She’d marry the lad if he were a Hottentot,” Jamie interrupted. “Anyone can see that. And I canna say I’d object overmuch to wee Roger if he were a Hottentot,” he added, rather to my surprise.
“You wouldn’t?”
Jamie shrugged, and stepped over the tiny creek to my side, wiping wet hands on the end of his plaid.
“He’s a braw lad, and he’s kind. He’s taken the wean as his own and said no word to the lass about it. It’s no more than a man should do – but not every man would.
~~~~~~
Son of My House
The Fiery Cross, Chapter 15, p 278 kindle, copyright Diana Gabaldon
Seas rim o lamh, Roger an t’oranaiche, mac Jeremiah MacChoinneich!” Stand by my hand Roger the singer, son of Jeremiah MacKenzie. Roger stood stock-still for a moment, eyes dark on Jamie, them moved toward him, like one sleepwalking. The crowd was still excited, but the shouting had died down, and people craned to hear what was said.
“Stand by me in battle,” he said in Gaelic, his eyes fixed on Roger, left hand extended. He spoke slowly and clearly, to be sure of understanding. “Be a shield for my family – and for yours, son of my house.
~~~~~
And then the snake bite, and Jamie entrusts everything he loves and cares about to Roger, knowing that however inexperienced Roger is, he will do everything in his power to protect those Jamie loves.
The Fiery Cross, Chapter 90, p1342-45 kindle, copyright Diana Gabaldon
Fraser shifted, and groaned with the movement. Roger laid a hand on his shoulder, and he stilled.
Don’t go, he thought, the unspoken words balled tight in his throat. Stay with us. Stay with me…..
…“MacKenzie?” It was no more than a murmur, but he bent at once…..
“I dinna ken yet if ye’re right or you’re wrong,” Fraser said. His voice was soft and hoarse, but distinct. “Bur if you’re wrong, wee Roger, and I’m dying, there are things I must say to ye. I dinna want to leave it too late.” …
… If the welfare of the Ridge – of Brianna and Jemmy, of Claire – were to be left in Roger’s inexperienced hands, he must take heed of every scrap of information that Fraser could give him…..
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- Quote of the day for Friday, November 4. Taken from Written in My Heart’s Own Blood, p. 177, 178,183, 189, 207-208, Copyright Diana Gabaldon -- Kel, Fri, November 04 2022, 10:10:52
Quote of the day for Friday, November 4. Taken from Written in My Heart’s Own Blood, p. 177, 178,183, 189, 207-208, Copyright Diana Gabaldon
Roger has met main characters from three different time periods! He’s met Joe and Frank, in his own time; Jamie, Ian, Jr., William, and John in another. And in earliest time, even met Brian, Ian Sr.’s Dad John, Dougal, and BJR. Even Claire never met (yet, at least!) Brian or Ian’s father John Murry. While Bree sees Brian, their encounter isn’t the same, as Brian thinks Bree is Ellen.
He’s been with Claire and Jenny in two time periods, and Geillis, Buck, and Bree and the children in three!
~~~~~~~~~
Roger meets Brian
What fascinates me with his encounters with Brian is Roger’s searching for glimpses of Jamie, Bree, Jem and Mandy, as well as how what he knows could greatly shift his own very personal history.
p 177
“Hauld your wheesht, dog,” a tall, dark man said in a tolerant tone.
“Come here sir, and dinna be minding him. He wouldna eat you; he’s had his dinner.”….
…. “Welcome, sir. Ye’ll sup wi’ us? The lass has it nearly ready.”
“Aye, I will, and thanks to ye,” Roger bowed slightly, groping for his eighteenth century manners. “I – my name is Roger MacKenzie. Of Kyle of Lochalsh…..”
…“Brian Fraser of Lallybroch, your servant, sir”….
p 179
He picked up the glass again, and took another sip, glancing as casually as he might at Fraser’s face, searching for a resemblance. It was there but subtle, mostly in the cock of the head, the set of the shoulders – and the eyes. The face was quite different, square in the jaw, broader of brow, and Brian Fraser’s eyes were a dark hazel, not blue, but the slanted shape of the, the wide mouth - that was Jamie.
p 183
I can’t stop it, he thought. I can’t tell them what’s coming.
p189
His mouth quirked at the corner, and Roger again felt the tiny plop! of a stone tossed into his depths, the ripples of recognition spreading through him. Jamie did that. Brianna didn’t. Jem did.
p 207-208
Fraser glanced at him again, and something in the man’s face eased at whatever he saw in his own. Brian picked up the bottle and poured another inch into Roger’s glass.
“We’ll find him, man,” he said softly, in Gaelic, before turning to serve Captain Buncombe in turn.”
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- Quote of the day for Thursday, November 3. Taken from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall, A Leaf on the Wind of all Hallows, p 231; 253 -257; 261, 262 kindle, Copyright Diana Gabaldon -- Kel, Thu, November 03 2022, 10:37:53
Quote of the day for Thursday, November 3. Taken from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall, A Leaf on the Wind of all Hallows, p 231; 253 -257; 261, 262 kindle, Copyright Diana Gabaldon
I know QotD is supposed to be short, and I debated over splitting this into three parts versus doing the seven I wanted for the week. Back and forth I went, until chocolate was the only remedy. I hope you will indulge me in this look at Roger with his father.
~~~~~~~~~
p 231 – kindle
Jerry meets Roger
At least he’d got to see Roger. Hold his little boy – and have said little boy sick up milk all down the back of his shirt. Jerry’d yelped in surprise, but hadn’t let her take Roger back; he’d held his son and petted him util the wee mannie fell asleep, only then laying him down in his basket and stripping off the stained shirt before coming to her.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry (re)meets grown Roger and Buck
p 253 -257 kindle
Biggish buggers, both of them, taller and broader than he was. One fair, one black haired as Lucifer. They didn’t look much alike, and yet he had the feeling that they might be related – some fleeting glimpse of bone, a similarity of expression, maybe. “What’s your name, mate?’ said the dark chap, softly…..
… He took a hesitant step toward the stones. Another. One more. Then nearly bit his tongue off as a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He whirled, fist up, but the dark man’s other hand seized his wrist.
“I love you,” the dark man said, his voice fierce. Then he was gone again, with the shoof-shoof sounds of boots in dry grass, leaving Jerry with his mouth agape.
“Why did ye tell him a daft thing like that?”
And the dark one’s reply, soft spoken, in a tone that terrified him more than anything else so far.
“Because he isn’t going to make it back. It’s the only chance I’ll ever have. Come on”
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry saves Roger is subway station
p 261, 262 kindle
The boy struck in high in the chest like a lump of concrete, little head smashing painfully into Jerry’s face, knocking his head back…
….The little boy was still as death, but he wasn’t dead; Jerry could feel his heartbeat, thumping fast against his own chest. It was all he could feel. Poor little bugger must have had his wind knocked out.
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- Quote of the day for Wednesday, November 2. Taken from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall, A Leaf on the Wind of all Hallows, p 246-48 kindle, Copyright Diana Gabaldon -- Kel, Wed, November 02 2022, 10:24:29
Quote of the day for Wednesday, November 2. Taken from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall, A Leaf on the Wind of all Hallows, p 246-48 kindle, Copyright Diana Gabaldon
Frank meets Roger. This fascinates me, as Frank met Roger as a child, then later as a boy at the Reverend’s home. Frank and Claire talk about adoption, and Frank mentions Roger when saying no to adoption. He knows the mystery of Jerry’s death, at least that it is a mystery. And seeing the man Roger grew up to be, he probably would have been pretty happy that this is his son-in-law, a well-respected professor. Of course, I had to include “clever lad” as we later find out that is used in potty training (remember Roger is still in diapers here)! Wonder if this is where the usage came from!!
Seven Stones to Stand or Fall, A Leaf on the Wind of all Hallows, p 246-48 kindle
Did he have children of his own? Mum asked.
“No” he said, with what might have been a wistful look at wee Roger. “Not yet. I haven’t seen my wife in two years.” …
…Roger was paying no attention, struggling to get down. His gran set him reluctantly on the floor and he lurched over to Captain Randall, taking a firm grip on the Captain’s freshly creased trousers with both hands – hands greasy, she saw, with sardine oil and toast crumbs. The Captain’s lips twitched, but he didn’t try to detach Roger, just patted his head.
“Who’s a good boy, then?” he asked...
The Captain laughed out loud, and pulling out a handkerchief, carefully wiped the spittle off Roger’s face, causally going on to wipe the grubby paws as well…
“Of course it’s a fish,” he assured Roger. “You’re a clever lad, And a big help to your mummy, I’m sure.”
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- Quote of the day for Monday November 1 -- Kel, Tue, November 01 2022, 17:11:35
Brianna's friend Gayle meets Roger
I love this description of Roger. It made me picture Roger as a cross of (a young) Hugh Jackman and (a young) Colin Farrell. Much as I like RR as Roger, I still picture Roger like this. YUM!!
Quote of the day for Monday November 1. Taken from Dragonfly in Amber Chapter 3, The Ministers Cat, Copyright Diana Gabaldon
At this awkward moment, Roger Wakefield appeared. He wore a white shirt and scruffy jeans, and Brianna must have stiffened at the sight of him. Gayle’s head whipped round to see where Brianna was looking.
“Ooh,” she said in delight. “Is that him? He looks like a pirate!”
He did, and Brianna felt the bottom of her stomach drop another inch or two. Roger was what her mother called a Black Celt, with clear olive skin and black hair, and “eyes put in with a sooty thumb” – thick black lashes round eyes you expected to be blue but were instead a surprising deep green. With his hair worn ling enough to brush his collar, disheveled and beard-stubbled, he looked not only rakish but mildly dangerous…..
He met her halfway and swept her almost off her feet, hugging her hard enough to crack her ribs. He kissed her, stopped, and kissed her again, the stubble of his beard scraping her face. He smelled of soap and sweat and he tasted like Scotch whisky and she didn’t want him to stop.
Then he did and let go, both of them half breathless.
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- Quote of the day for Monday, Oct. 31 -- Kel, Tue, November 01 2022, 17:05:28
I enjoy the QotD very much, and appreciate those who post, even when I don't comment. I've been following here for maybe 20 years, altho lurking much of the time. So, catching up for the week with another Roger post!
Quote of the day for Monday October 31. Taken from Dragonfly in Amber chapter 1 Copyright Diana Gabaldon
Roger and Brianna meet
“Oh, I forgot,” said Claire, half turning to the girl who had stood out of sight in the corner of the porch. “Roger Wakefield – my daughter, Brianna.”
Brianna Randall stepped forward, a shy smile on her face. Roger stared for a moment, then remembered his manners. He stepped back and swung the door open wide, momentarily wonder just when he has last changed his shirt….
He waved the two women down the hall toward the Reverend’s study, noting that as well as being moderately attractive, the daughter was one of the tallest girls he’d ever seen close0to. She had to be easily six feet, he thought, seeing her head even with the top of the hall stand as she passed. He unconsciously straightened himself as he followed, drawing up to his full six feet three.
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- Quote of the day for Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022 -- Kel, Tue, November 01 2022, 17:00:53
It looks like we don't have quotes for this week, so here goes... Roger is my favorite character, for lots of reasons. I thought it might be fun to see how he meets others in the books for the first time.
Quote of the day for Sunday, October 30. Taken from Outlander Chapter 2 Copyright Diana Gabaldon 1991
Claire meets Roger
Amused, I agreed that I would not reveal his deadly secret, and looked about for a comfortable chair in which to receive the latest revelations from the eighteenth century. The wing chair nearest the windows looked suitable, but as I reached to turn it toward the desk, I discovered it was already occupied. The inhabitant, a small boy with a shock of glossy black hair, was curled up in the depths of the chair, sound asleep.
“Roger!” The vicar, coming to assist me, was as surprised as I. The boy, startled out of sleep, shot bolt upright, wide eyes the color of moss.
“Now what are you up to in here, you young scamp?” The vicar was scolding affectionately. “Oh, fell asleep reading the comic papers again?” He scooped up the brightly colored pages and handed them to the lad. “Run along now, Roger, I have business with the Randalls. Oh, wait, I’ve forgotten to introduce you – Mrs. Randall, this is my son, Roger.”
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- QOTD for Saturday, 10/29/22 -- Betsy BFS, Peace out..., Fri, October 28 2022, 21:42:40
MORE BETSY BEHAVING BADLY. SKIP IF HAPPY HIPPY LIFE SHOCKS YOU.
At one point of my illustrious life of bad decisions, during my Much Younger years, I lived in Florida on Siesta Key, in a small cottage with a few friends. There was only one bedroom, and Judy and Tom took it as they had the most predicably active sex life. I had a bed in the living area. Except for the one bedroom, it was really one big room, and my bed was against the front wall, directly under one of the windows that boarded the long porch on the other side. It was actually rather nice. The cottage was right on the Gulf, and the sound of surf was wonderful for sleeping.
This was the early 70's, so mostly it was a smokey, psychedelic, alcohol-smelling room. When spring break rolled around, we had 15 friends visit from the college we had all quit. Some camped out in the back yard, some in the front, but most slept in sleeping bags on the porch.
The first night was a huge party and ended up on the beach. It was NOT a great place to swim as the local shark population was so abundant there was a huge shark study lab a mile up the road. I think there were two bottles of Boone's Farm Apple wine involved, and a whole lot of pot, and a hallucinogenic of some sort, but I had a spiritual experience, which assured me I was psychically attuned to the local shark population. Somehow, so they told me, I ran into the water and began swimming around to find my spirit friends, the sharks.
Someone, I don't remember who, but someone who hadn't hung out with quite as much Boone's Farm, pot, and a drug of choice, thought better of the idea and hauled me out.
Segue to later that night. I was always the very last person to stop tripping. I was in my bed, under the porch window, and all others had crashed and were asleep. I was wide awake. I began to hear some rustling on the other side of the window, which increased, and soon it was clear that I wasn't the only one awake. It was plain that two of my friends had thought they were the only ones awake and were beginning to have sex. I honestly wasn't sure if I should make some noise to let them know I was still awake, or just politely keep quiet and never say a word. They were in full throttle, so I just remained quiet. Then all of a sudden, I hear, "Oh, shit!!! What the hell? What is this??" Well, Andy and Geordy had brought their Irish setter puppy with them and the dog had snuggled down into their double sleeping bag and pooped. A lot. They were standing there, having rolled in puppy poop, stripping and trying to brush poop off of them. Then, there was a giggle. And another giggle, and another and another. Apparently, we were ALL awake, all wonderiing the same thing...to make noise so they knew someone was still a bit awake, or be quiet and keep our mouths shut. Poor Andy and Geordie were hopping around, rolling the sleeping bag into a big ball of poop, and trying to find the outdoor water hose for themselves. We were all hysterical for a long long time.I don't recall where they ended up sleeping. Maybe in their car, with the puppy.
Lordy, I have no idea how I survived, but it does explain some of my parenting ideas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following quote is from 'Seven Stones to Stand or Fall,' by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter, "The Fugitive Green." Copyright © 2017, by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.
The bell over the door tinged briskly, and she looked up, surprised. The virtuous Protestants of Amsterdam would never think of going anywhere on Sundau but to church. The man standing in the doorway, though, was neither Dutch or virtuous. He WAS wearing a British uniform.
"Your... Grace?" she asked stupidly.
"Hal," he said. "My name's Hal." Then he caught full sight of her and turned as white as the spillled sugar on the counter. "Jesus Christ."
"It's not..." she began, sliding out from behind the counter, "what you think..." she ended faintly.
It didn't matter. He took an enormous breath and strode toward her. She dimly heard her father coming up the stairs but saw nothing but that bone-white face, caught between shock and determination.
He reached for her, bent his knees, and picked her up.
"Jesus Christ," he said again, this time in response to her weight, which was considerable. Clenching his teeth, he clutched her tightly and wove his way across the shop, staggering only slightly. He smelled wonderfully of bay leaves and leather.
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- QOTD for Friday, 10/28/22 -- Betsy's gone wild, Thu, October 27 2022, 21:26:19
Just for you, DianaH.
SKIP THIS LONG DIATRIBE ABOUT GUMMY (that's me) BEHAVING BADLY UNLESS YOU'RE REALLY INTERESTED IN READING ABOUT MY TAKE ON TWELVE YEAR OLD BOYS.
This summer, I flew to the west coast to visit 2 daughters and 5 grandkids. One thing I learned was 10 days visiting with one family is 7 days too much. Mostly for me. All went well, but it gets exhausting trying to stay out of the way of the day-to-day activities. And keep my mouth shut. Parenting styles and priorities are just different, and it's easy to look back and see all the things I would have done differently.
My eldest daughter has a 12 year old son who is a full-blown obnoxious, foul mouthed, snotty, 6' 2", blond blue-eyed, really good looking ass. Now, I love this child beyond measure. When the family lived here in Maine, I home-schooled my two grandsons, cared for them when their parents were working, and generally smooshed all over my two little boys. We've always been close.
Well.....well.... something has happened to my funny, smart, sweet little boy. He had been home-schooled until last January, when he asked if he could go to public school. It's been down-hill ever since. It's not public school; it's his first foray into a swimming pool full of girls (who stick to him like flypaper) and being free from direct supervision by adults, and puberty blasting through the boy and his friends.
Now, I didn't use any profanity when my kids were home. My daughter and my son-in-law don't use profanity at all. But this kid is something else. Every sentence uses the F word at least 5 times, and his attitude is horrid. I finally said (on day two) that I didn't want to hear all the F-bombs. It was very obnoxious. His reply: "That's because you're so old, Gummy. This is how kids talk today. You're just way too old."
Very very wrong thing to say. I told him I knew more words than he did, probably words he didn't understand, and no, I'm not too old to use them. I would, if he kept it up. He did, and I did. Every time he and his friends said anything nasty, I said something worse. He and his friends kept it up, and so did I. I hope none of his friends went home and told their parents that Abram's grandmother was so gross, but I think at least his friends were pretty amazed that a little old lady, usually sweet and mild, had a mouth like a pirate, and then some.
Only once did it almost get very real. My sweet 12 year old twit announced at the dinner table that he was a bigot and could use the N word anytime he wanted to. and he was a homaphobe, too. Wrong. That's when I got real. I said "Now it's personal. (I have a biracial grand daughter, who he was raised with and they were like frick and frack when they were little,) a bother who is gay, a daughter married to a woman and another daughter who is bi-sexual. Using the N word was the last step. I asked him if he had ever seen me jump over a table? Because I would do just that and take him down in the blink of an eye. He opened his mouth and I climbed onto my chair, and he shut up. We did the eyeball to eyeball thing, and I asked him if he really wanted to taken down by his "old-lady grandmother," because I would gladly oblige him. I don't know if he really thought I could have jumped the table, but it did make him pause.
Then Abram and friends decided to try to embarrass me by asking personal questions. I said I'd tell them the complete truth, whatever they asked, so they might want to think about the questions and if they REALLY wanted to know the answers. Think hard, boys, just how much they wanted to know about my experiences in my "old" life. Complete transparency. I got asked a few questions, they got the idea, and I THINK they figured out that a short, sweet "old" grannie had a bit more than cookies and milk in her history. By the end of my visit, Abram had toned down the worst of his behavior, and I went back to making blackberry crisp, like a good grannie should do. The boys will probably all need a few years of therapy now, but they got the idea.
Abram's birthday is in a couple of weeks and I will be sending him my usual check, plus another one, to be cashed if he can go 24 hours without using any profanity. He's on the honor system, and I suspect his report might not contain
total accuracy, but we'll see.
I DO NOT condone flinging horrid language around to grandchildren, but it served the purpose, I'm not quite as old as he thought I was, he's got some good stories to tell, and we both love each other more than ever.
PS. I never did this with my kids. They never actually did much cursing, at least at home. Don't judge me.
PPS. We share a birthday. We're both Scorpios and neither of us loses well.
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The following quote is from 'Dragonfly in Amber,' by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 11, "Useful Occupations." Copyright© 1992, by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.
The little man squinted accusingly at Jamie, then stuck his fork once more and held it out invitingly.
"Once more," he coaxed. "Just listen to it, and let the same sound come out."
Patient as ever, Jamie listened carefully to the "A" of the fork, and sang again, producing a sound wedged somewhere in the crack between E-flat and D-sharp.
"Not possible," said the little man, looking thoroughly disillusioned . "No one could be that dissonant, even on purpose."
"I can," said Jamie cheerfully, and bowed politely to the little man. We had by now begun to collect a small cloud of interested onlookers. Louise de Rohan was a great hostess, and her salons attracted the cream of Parisian society.
"Yes, he can," I assured our visitor. "He's tone-deaf, you see."
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- Your stories are the best, Betsy!!!! (NT) -- Judie, Fri, October 28 2022, 6:19:51
- Puberty and public school...what a combination. I think you handled the situation well, much better than I would have! Your grandson and I would have had the proverbial "Come to Jesus" meeting. I'm from the South, and that is a meeting you do not want to have! I had one once when I ran away when called in, then kicked my father after he found me...............and once was all it took! (NT) -- Janet, Fri, October 28 2022, 10:58:09
- QOTD for Thurs., 10/27/22 -- Hunt and peck Betsy BFS, Wed, October 26 2022, 20:19:13
Hellloooo the House!
I love knowing we are all over the world, reading the same things, loving and nurturing each other, and in many cases, never meeting in the flesh. I remember vividly when we first got the internet and how it opened a world of Wonder for me. I could barely wrap my brain around the connection with the rest of the world. I've always said, it felt like my backyard fence had grown to encompass the whole earth.
I still feel that way. I hope I never lose the feeling of magic that happens each time I get online.
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The following quote is from 'The Fiery Cross,' by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 2, "Loaves and Fishes." Copyright 2001 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.
"I'm sure Jamie will be able to...er...do something," I said, privately hoping that the something wouldn't involve too much violence. The unwelcome thought occured to me that the diminutive thief-taker would fit tidily in one of the empty food hampers.
"Gut." Uta McGillivray nodded slowly, still watching. "Better that do not kill him." Her eyes turned suddenly back to me, light blue and very bright."But I vill do it, if I must."
I believed her.
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- I love Uta McGillivray. The no-nonscence, determined mother who is like a helicopter- mom. She has plans for everyone, and heaven help anyone who gets in the way. Her nonchalance about killing someone who is harming one of her family members, fascinates me. Grind him into sausage, discussing how she can and can't dispose of him.... she's just quite a character. When she goes berserk at Claire, she's terrifying, because we KNOW she's capable of just about anything when irate. Enough of Ute. I'll post something else tomorrow. (NT) -- Betsy BFS, Wed, October 26 2022, 20:30:51
- Betsy, still waiting to hear the grandson's tale and your creative language. LOL (NT) -- DianaH, Thu, October 27 2022, 10:05:04
- QOTD for Wed., 10/26/22 -- Betsy BFS, Wed, October 26 2022, 10:42:49
Sorry for the late posting. The board was hacked so I waited.
The following quote is from 'The Fiery Cross,' by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 2, 'Loves and Fishes." Copyright 2001, by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.
"Now, then," Jamie said firmly. "Myers, bring the gentleman, if ye will, Rob, Fergus, come along with ye. Bitte, Madame?" He bowed to Mrs. McGillivary, who blinked at him, but then nodded in slow acquisecsnce. Jamie rolled an eye at me, then, holding Manfred by the neck, he marched the male contingent oftoward the creek, leaving me in charge of the ladies.
"Your Mann-- he will save my son?" Ute turned to me, fair brows knitted in concern.
"He'll try." I glanced at the girls, who were huggled together behind their mother. "Do you know if your brother WAS at Hillsborough?"
The girls looked at one another, and silently elected Inga to speak.
"Well, ja, he was then," she said, a little defiantly. "But he wasna rioting, not a bit of it. He'd only gone for to have a bit of harness mended, and was caught up in the mob."
I caught a quick glance exchanged between Hilda and Senga, and deduced that this was perhaps not the entire story. Still, it wasn't my place to judge, thank goodness.
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- QOTD 10/25/22 -- Betsy BFS, Mon, October 24 2022, 17:51:42
The following quote is from 'The Fiery Cross,' by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 2, "Loaves and Fishes." Copyright © 2001, by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.
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"Gern geschehen," he said. "Euer ergebener Diener, Frau Ute."
She beamed at him, composure restored, as he turned to say something in parting to Rob.
"Such a fine, big Mann," she murmured, shaking her head slightly as she looked him up and down. Then she turned, caught my glance from Jamie to Rob-- for as the gunsmith was a handsome man, with close-clipped, dark curly hair and a chiseled face, he was also fine-boned as a sparrow, and some inches shorter than his wife, reaching approximately to the level of her brawny shoulder. I couldn't help wondering, given her apparent admiration of large men...
"Oh, vell," she said, and shrugged apologizingly. "Luff, you know." She sounded as though love were an unfortunate but unavoidable condition.
I glanced at Jamie, who was carefully swaddling his sausage before tucking it back into his sporran. "Well, yes," I said. "I do."
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- Love the comment, "Well, luff, you know". Those of us who are lucky know exactly what she means! (NT) -- Janet, Tue, October 25 2022, 10:36:02
- Ha, ha, ha, I would like to volunteer to help Jamie "swaddle his sausage." BBS, I also like kilt smut! (NT) -- DianaH, Tue, October 25 2022, 11:23:56
- Hi Betsy! I haven’t been here in a week, I’m answering for three days…. I so agree with your Sunday thoughts and can’t wait to hear what grandson did. I’m sorry about your friend, did that happen when she was young. Ute was sure a force, wasn’t she? I’m glad Lizzie didn’t end up with them. Diana, you cracked me up because my mind went right there too when Jamie talked about swaddling a sausage. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, October 26 2022, 9:59:16
- QOTD 10/24/22 -- Betsy BFS, Sun, October 23 2022, 20:10:49
Hallooooo to Lallylanders!
It's Monday. If we all wake up and our feet hit the ground, we're ahead of the game.
It's been a very long day, so I'll explain the swearing thing tomorrow. The child is still alive and I won. That's the very abreaviated version.
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The following quote is from 'The Fiery Cross,' by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter two, "Loaves and Fishes." Copyright © 2001, by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.
Just beyond was a small open space, not really big enough to be called a clearing, tufted with dead grass and studded with pine saplings. As Fergus and I ducked under the creeper after Jamie, a large woman in homespun whirled toward us, shoulders hunching as she raised as she raised the broken tree limb she clutched in one hand. She saw McGillivray, though, and relaxed fractionally.
"Wer ist das?" she asked suspiciously, eyeing us. Then John Quincy appeared from under the creeper, and she lowered the club, her solidly handsome features relaxing further.
"Ha. Myers! You brung me den Jamie, oder?" She cast me a curious look, but was too busy glancing between Fergus and Jamie to inspect me closely.
"Aye, love, this is Jamie Roy-- Sheumais Mac Dubh." McGillivray hastened to take credit for Jamie's appearance, putting a respectful hand on his sleeve. "My wife, Uta, Mac Dhub. And Mac Dubh's son," he added, waving vaguely at Fergus.
Ute McGillivray looked like a Valkyrie on a starchy diet; tall, very blond, and broadly powerful.
"Your servant, ma'am," Jamie said, bowing.
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- "Looked like a Valkyrie on a starchy diet." Who but DG would come up with that description??? LOL (NT) -- DianaH, Tue, October 25 2022, 11:21:44
- This could describe my best friend from college. She was 6' tall, strong, bright blue eyes, brilliant (honestly brilliant) and a determined, non- stop physical therapist. Also, very very Scandinavian. She did look like a Valkyrie. She wasn't too bloodthirsty, though. Heartbreakingly, she died in her sleep of a blood clot to her lungs. I am still mourning her, and will forever. (NT) -- Betsy BFS, Wed, October 26 2022, 9:23:37
- QOTD for Sunday, 10/23. 2022 -- Betsy BFS, recently returned from witness protection, Sat, October 22 2022, 21:03:48
Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening (take your pick,) to all Lallylanders. Holy Roly Bloomers! It's been a very long time since I have done QOTD! It was before I set off for the summer of camp fun and frolic, that I know. So a HUGE hug to you All and wishes for a great week-that-is-to-be.
I have three confessions to make:
1. I haven't completed Bees yet. (Stop the boo-hissing...there's a reason. I'll explain later.
2. I swore at my 12 year old grandson for 10 solid days. Put the phone down, you don't need to call DHS. There is a reason for that one, too.
3. While attempting to purge my closets/book cases/table tops/ and a huge supply, REALLY huge supply, of cards I have amassed over the years that I knew for sure I would use at some point, (two of the cards I bought with you in mind, kgp. I've never sent them to you, but they're there!) I found all the Holiday Cards I had written last December, stamped and ready to mail. Note the Ready to mail. Not actually Sent. How and why? I have no idea.
I started Bees, read almost half, and just couldn't read another word. I had to stop listening to the news, reading anything online, beyond a few comments here and there, and stopped answering the phone unless it was someone I knew, and who wouldn't mention anything about:
A. Politics
B. Religion
C. the money market
I'm not sure why the money market thing got to me. We don't have any money to worry about. It's the principle of the thing, and reminds me of People I Wish I Didn't Know.
I made an executive decision to read only no-thought-process-needed, happily ever after books.... ie. Scottish historical fiction, or Kilt-smut if you ask my husband. I just needed a break from the world, even the stress of wondering what might be on the next page. I think I may read the rest of Bees now. And I want to vote, so I'm watching the news a bit. My emotional tantrum may be over. We'll see.
About the swearing thing. I'll tell you tomorrow.
My quotes this week are random, things that made me laugh or go awwww. I'm still on the fringes of denial so it's only feel-good stuff from me this week.
The following quote is taken from 'Seven Stones to Stand or Fall,' by Diana Gabaldon. "Virgins." Copyright © 2017, by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.
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He woke to find a priest kneeling over him, intoning the Lord's Prayer in Latin. Not stopping, the priest took up a little bottle and poured oil into the palm of one hand, then dipped his thumb into the puddle and made a swift sign of the cross on Jamie's forehead.
"I'm no dead, aye?" Jamie said, then repeated this information in French. The priest leaned closer, squinting nearsightedly.
"Dying?" he asked.
"Not that, either."
The priest made a small discusted sound but went ahead and made crosses on the palms of Jamie's hands, his eyelids, and his lips. "Ego te absolve,", he said, making a final quick sign of the cross over Jamie's supine form. "Just in case you've killed anyone." Then he rose swiftly to his feet and disappeared behind the wagon in a flurry of dark robes.
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- QOTD for Saturday, October 15, 2022 -- CindyG, Fri, October 14 2022, 19:31:50
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 6, “Home is the Hunter, Home from the Hill.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘I know what you mean, though. I had a visit with Roger this morning and asked him to let me examine his throat. I felt just like doubting Thomas. It was so strange to have him right there in front of me, touch him—and at the same time, it didn’t seem strange at all.’
I rubbed the back of his hand lightly with my thumb, feeling the knobs of his knuckles and the faint roughness of the scar that ran down from where his fourth finger had been.
‘I feel like that all the time, Sassenach,’ he said, his voice a little husky. His fingers curled over mine. ‘When I wake sometimes in the early morning, and I see ye there beside me. I doubt you’re real. Until I touch ye—or until ye fart.’”
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- QOTD for Friday, October 14, 2022 -- CindyG, Thu, October 13 2022, 19:22:35
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 6, “Home is the Hunter, Home from the Hill.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘What I want ye to do, Sassenach, is sit wi’ me here for a moment—and tell me I’m no dreaming. She’s really here? She and the bairns and Roger Mac?’
I squeezed his hand and felt the same bubbling joy I could see in his face.
‘It’s real. They’re here. Right there, in fact.’”
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- QOTD for Thursday, October 13, 2022 -- CindyG, Thu, October 13 2022, 8:48:57
I’m sorry, I wasn’t feeling well last night and forgot to post.
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 3, “Rustic, Rural, and Very Romantic.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘Sometimes it’s hard to know what to say, how to talk to each other, when you haven’t seen a person in a long time—especially when it’s a person who’s important to you. It takes a bit of time to feel comfortable again; easier if there’s a job at hand. Let me look at your throat, will you?’
‘You don’t feel comfortable talking to me yet?’ he asked lightly.
‘Oh, yes,’ I assured him. ‘Doctors never have trouble in talking to people. You start by telling them to take off their clothes, and that breaks the ice. By the time you’ve done poking them and peering into their orifices, the conversation is usually fairly animated, if not necessarily relaxed.’”
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- QOTD for Wednesday, October 12, 2022 -- CindyG, Tue, October 11 2022, 20:10:23
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 2, “A Blue Wine Day.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘Blessed Michael defend us,’ said her father in Gaelic, crossing himself. He peered down into the thrashing brush below—Jesus, whatever it was, it was still alive—then up.
‘Weh!’ said an impassioned male voice from above. She didn’t recognize the word, but she did know the voice, and joy burst over her.
‘Ian!’ she called. There was total silence from above, save for the ravens, who were getting steadily more upset.
‘Blessed Michael defend us,’ said a startled voice in Gaelic, and an instant later her cousin Ian had dropped onto their narrow ledge, where he balanced with no apparent difficulty.
‘It is you!’ she said. ‘Oh, Ian!’
‘A charaid!’ He grabbed her and squeezed tight, laughing in disbelief. ‘God, it’s you!’ He drew back for an instant for a good look to confirm it, laughed again in delight, kissed her solidly, and resqueezed.”
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- QOTD for Tuesday, October 11, 2022 -- CindyG, Mon, October 10 2022, 20:39:53
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 2, “A Blue Wine Day.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘We never thought we should see ye again,’ he whispered into her hair, his own voice choked. ‘Never, a leannan. I was afraid—so afraid ye hadna reached safety, that…ye’d died, all of ye, lost in—in there. And we’d never know.’
‘We couldn’t tell you.’ She lifted her head from his shoulder and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. ‘But you could tell us. Those letters…knowing you were alive. I mean…’ She stopped suddenly and, blinking away the last of the tears, saw Jamie look away, blinking back his own.
‘But we weren’t,’ he said softly. ‘We were dead. When ye read those letters.’
‘No, you weren’t,’ she said fiercely, gripping his hand. ‘I wouldn’t read the letters all at once. I spaced them out—because as long as there were still unopened letters…you were still alive.’
‘None of it matters, lass,’ he said at last, very softly. He raised her hand and kissed her knuckles, his breath warm and light on her skin. ‘Ye’re here. So are we. Nothing else matters at all.’”
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- I don't think I could have waited to read all the letters. But once Jem was missing they read them all. So now they know bits about the immediate future that J and C don't? Awkward! (NT) -- kgp, Tue, October 11 2022, 7:36:54
- I know, but it doesn’t come up in Bees, does it? Wonder if it ever will. (NT) -- CindyG, Tue, October 11 2022, 12:24:42
- I thought the same - they did read all of the letters. What do they know from them, and what might change because they have gone back? I'd expect that the last tells when one or the other (maybe both) die, and how.>>>> -- Kel, Tue, October 11 2022, 17:01:31
- I can’t keep a lot of it straight now, there’s SO much depth of the story and characters. But I never get tired of it. I love QOTD because it helps me recall all these special moments. Up until Fiery Cross I almost memorized dialogue- lol - but after that I get forgetful. Kel, you make a lot of good points, it’s so enjoyable to me to discuss these books. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, October 12 2022, 9:04:58
- QOTD for Monday, October 10, 2022 -- CindyG, Sun, October 09 2022, 20:27:50
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 1, “The MacKenzies Are Here.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘Aye,’ he said again after a long moment. ‘I ken what ye’re saying, Sassenach. I thought my heart would burst when I saw Brianna and kent it was really her, and the bairns…but for all the joy of it…see, I missed them cruelly, but I could take comfort in thinking they were safe. Now—‘
He stopped and I felt his heart beating against me, slow and steady. He took a deep breath, and the fire popped suddenly, a pocket of pitch exploding in sparks that disappeared into the night. A small reminder of the war that was rising, slowly, all around us.
‘I look at them,’ he said, ‘and my heart is suddenly filled with…’
‘Terror,’ I whispered, holding tight to him. ‘Sheer terror.’
‘Aye,’ he said. ‘That.’”
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- QOTD for Sunday, October 9, 2022 -- CindyG, Sat, October 08 2022, 18:52:35
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 1, “The MacKenzies Are Here.” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘I just asked Daddy if he remembered a Gathering we went to, years ago. The clans were all called at a big bonfire and I handed Daddy a burning branch and told him to go down to the fire and say the MacKenzies were there.’
‘Oh.’ Jem blinked once, then twice, looked at the fire blazing in front of us, and a slight frown formed between his soft red brows. ‘Where are we now?’
‘Home,’ Roger said firmly, and his eyes met mine, then passed to Jamie. ‘For good.’
Jamie let out the same breath I’d been holding since the afternoon, when those four figures had appeared suddenly in the clearing below, and we had flown down the hill to meet them. There had been one moment of joyous, wordless explosion as we all flung ourselves at one another, and then the explosion had widened as Amy Higgins came out of her cabin, summoned by the noise, to be followed by Bobby, then Aidan—who had whooped at sight of Jem and tackled him, knocking him flat—with Orrie and little Rob.”
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- Calling all ornamenters! Are you a crafty person? Do you like making Christmas ornaments? The 2022 LallyOrnament swap is happening! Over the years we’ve had a group of crafters on the VoyGroups board who have made and swapped Outlander-based Christmas ornaments. Here's the link of past ornaments so you can get an idea of what we've been doing through the years: http://lallyornaments.blogspot.com/. You will be swapping between 6-10 ornaments. If you’re interested in joining the swap this year please contact me at my gmail address of mcvay(dot)aldous, and I will get you added to the LallyOrnament group. Please respond by Saturday October 15th! I’ll be sending deadline and mailing instructions to the group soon. I don’t know what kind of response I’ll be getting so I’m going to limit participation to the first 20 responders. We hope you decide to join the fun! -- DebraMc, Sat, October 08 2022, 12:36:39
n/a
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- QOTD for Saturday, October 8, 2022 -- kgp, Fri, October 07 2022, 16:19:19
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 95 The Body Electric
Still, her mind wouldn’t let go of the matter. Electromagnetism . . . Bodied had electric fields of their own, she knew that much. Was that maybe why you didn’t just disintegrate when you traveled? Did your own field keep you together, just long enough to pop out again? She supposed that might explain the gemstone thing: you could travel on the strength of your own field, if you were lucky, but the energy released from the molecular bonds in a crystal might well add to that field, so perhaps . . . ?
“Bugger,” she said, her overworked mental processes creaking to a halt. She glanced guiltily at the hallway that led to the kid’s room. They both knew that word, but they oughtn’t to think their mother did.
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- QOTD for Friday, October 7, 2022 -- kgp, Fri, October 07 2022, 9:46:00
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 94 The Sense Of The Meeting
“You are being married in . . . that?” Hal said, eyeing Dottie’s Sunday-best gown of soft gray muslin with a white fichu and a bow at the back of the waist. Dottie raised one smooth blond brow at him.
“Ha,” she said. “Mummy told me what she wore when you married her in a tavern in Amsterdam. and what your first wedding was like. Diamonds and white lace and St. James Church didn’t help all that much, did they?”
“Dorothea,” Denzell said mildly. “Don’t savage thy father. He has enough to bear.”
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- I love all the interesting situations Hal, Dottie, and Denzel find themselves in. Yet another love that shouldn't be, yet thrives. (NT) -- Janet, Fri, October 07 2022, 10:36:15
- kgp, just catching up on this week's QOTD today, but thank you. I lover these scenes from MOBY about our younger generation of the family! (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, October 07 2022, 11:38:10
- QOTD for Thursday, October 6, 2022 -- kgp, Wed, October 05 2022, 18:50:54
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 93 The House On Chestnut Street
“Mrs. Figg, you are a marvel.” Grey clasped her hands in his, an attention that flustered her to the point of speechlessness. Seeing this, he let go, though this allowed Dottie to swoop in and kiss the housekeeper, exclaiming gratitude. That was all right, but when Hal took Mrs. Figg by the hand and kissed it, the poor lady was reduced nearly to the point of suffocation and, snatching back her hand, retreated in haste, muttering disjointedly about tea and narrowly avoiding tripping on a marrow.
“Is it all right to be married in a church?” Hal asked Dottie, once Mrs. Figg had retired to a safe distance. “It’s not like Jews, is it? We needn’t be circumcised in order to attend? Because if so, I think your guest list may be substantially reduced.”
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- QOTD for Wednesday, October 5, 2022 -- kgp, Tue, October 04 2022, 17:10:31
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 92 I Will Not Have Thee Be Alone
Finally a shiver went over Rachel, as though she shook herself awake, and she put a hand on his forehead, smoothing back his hair as she looked into his eyes, her own now soft and fathomless.Her thumb came down and traced the tattooed line across his cheekbones, very slowly.
“I think we can’t wait any longer to be married, Ian,” she said softly. “I will not have thee face such things alone. These are bad times, and we must be together.”
He closed his eyes and all the air went out of him. When he drew breath again, it tasted of peace.
“When?” he whispered.
“As soon as thee can walk without help,” she said, and kissed him, lightly as a falling leaf.
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- QOTD for Tuesday, October 4, 2022 -- kgp, Mon, October 03 2022, 16:58:44
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 91 Keeping Score
There was a handsome bay mule in the dooryard, with a half-naked body laid over the saddle. I gasped - and immediately doubled in pain, but didn’t let go the sill. I bit my lip hard, not to call out. The body was wearing buckskins, and his long brown hair sported a couple of bedraggled turkey feathers.
“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ,” I breathed, through gritted teeth. “Please, God, don’t let him be - “ But the prayer was answered before I’d finished speaking it; the door below opened, and in the next moment William and Lieutenant Macken walked out and lifted Ian off the mule, put his arms about their shoulders, and carried him into the house.
I turned, instinctively reaching for my medical bag - and nearly fell.
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- QOTD for Monday, October 3, 2022 -- kgp, Sun, October 02 2022, 16:34:04
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 90 It’s a Wise Child Who knows His Father
“I maybe dinna ken ye that well, but Rachel does.”
That was undeniably true and gave William an oddly mixed sense of shame, pride, and anger. Rachel and her brother did know him well; they’d saved his life and nursed him back to health, had traveled with him for weeks and shared both food and danger.
“She says ye’re a good man.”
William’s heart squeezed a little.
“I’m obliged for her good opinion,” he said.
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- QOTD for Sunday, October 2, 2022 -- kgp, Sat, October 01 2022, 16:52:41
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 89
“Bloody hell,” he said, too hot and tired even to make it an exclamation. “Colenso, you left-handed little bugger,” And barely containing his exasperation - with himself as much as with his groom - he set off grimly to find Colenso Baragwanath.
Because Colenso was a left-handed little bugger. William had noticed that immediately, as he suffered from the same affliction himself. Unlike Colenso, though, William could tell the difference between his right hand and his left - and had a sense of direction. Colenso . . . didn’t, and William wanted to kick himself for not remembering that.
“You bloody idiot,” he muttered, wiping a sleeve across his sweating, dusty face. “Why didn’t you think of that?”
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- QOTD for Saturday, October 1, 2022 -- Janet, Sat, October 01 2022, 3:23:53
The following quote is taken from A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter Chapter 21, We Have Ignition. Copywrite 2005 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
Prior to this quote, Claire and Jamie are talking about his relationship with Tom Christy.
He stopped, his eyes clear and unguarded, a few inches from mine. He lifted a hand and cupped the side of my face, his palm warm on my skin.
"There are only two people in this world to whom I would never lie, Sassenach," he said softly. "Ye're one of them. And I'm the other."
He kissed me gently on the forehead, then leaned past me and blew out the lamp.
"mind," his voice came from the darkness, and I saw his tall form silhouetted against the faint oblong of light from the doorway as he straightened up, "I can be fooled. But I wouldna be doing it on purpose."
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- QOTD for Friday, September 30, 2022 -- Janet, Fri, September 30 2022, 11:00:03
The following quote is from A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 40, The Venom of the North Wind. Copywrite 2005 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
Brianna retrieved her spade and Jamie's shirt from the creekbank, and caught the boys up on the trail to the Big House. A breeze had begun to breathe through the trees, chilly in the damp cloth of her shift, but the heat of walking was enough to keep her from being cold.
Germain was singing softly to himself, still hand in hand with his grandfather, his small blond head tilting back and forth like a metronome.
Jemmy sighed in exhausted bliss, legs wrapped round Jamie's middle, arms about his neck, and leaned his sun-reddened check against the scarred back. Then he thought of something, for he raised his head and kissed his grandfather with a loud smacking noise, between the shoulder blades.
Her father jerked, nearly dropping Jem, and made a high-pitched noise that made her laugh.
"Is that make it better?" Jim inquired seriously, pulling himself up and trying to look over Jamie's shoulder into his face.
"Oh. Aye, lad," his grandfather assured him, face twitching. "Much better."
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- QOTD for Thursday, September 29, 2022 -- Janet, Thu, September 29 2022, 11:03:20
The following quote is from A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 6, Ambush, Copywrite 2005 by Diana Gabaldon, All rights reserved
(Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays are late days for me.)
"Jem!" Brianna made to go after him but was hampered by an oncoming crowd headed for the table.
"Ah, dinna fash yourself about him," Lizzie assured her. "Everyone kens who he is, he'll come to nay harm."
She might still have gone after him, save that she saw a small blond head pop up beside Jem's. Germain, Jem's bosom friend. Germain was two years older, and had a great deal more worldly knowledge that the average five-year-old, thanks in great part to his father's tutelage. She did hope he wasn't picking pockets in the crowd, and made a mental note to frisk him for contraband, later.
I love how Diana can get so much description in such a few words!
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- QOTD for Wednesday, September 28, 2022 -- Janet, Wed, September 28 2022, 4:17:49
The following quote is from Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Chapter 146, And You Know That. Copywrite 2014 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
Love this quote which shows enduring love....even if it isn't "humping"!
"A good wife is prized above rubies," he said, smiling. "Come to me, mo nighean dunn." He reached out a long arm and drew me in, holding me close against him. I put my arms around him and felt the quiver of his muscles, exhausted, and the sheer hard strength still in him, that would hold him up, no matter how tired he might be. We stood quite still for some time, my check against his chest and his face against my hair, drawing strength from each other for whatever might come. Being married.
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- QOTD for Tuesday, September 27, 2022 -- Janet, Tue, September 27 2022, 4:49:17
The following quote is from An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 11, Transverse Lie. Copywrite 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.
I felt weirdly disembodied, caught between past and future, nothing visible save the whirling white silence that surrounded me. And yet I felt calmer than I had in many days. I felt the weight of Jamie's hand on my head with its whispered blessing. "O blessed Michael of the Red Domain..."
It was a blessing given to a warrior going out to battle. I had given it to him, more than once. He'd never done such a thing before, and I had no idea what made him do it now---but the words glowed in my heart, a small shield against the dangers ahead.
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- QOTD for Monday, September 26, 2022 -- Janet, Mon, September 26 2022, 4:41:45
The following quote is from Written in My Own Heart's Blood, Chapter 132, Will-O'-The Wisp by Diana Gabaldon, Copywrite 2014, all rights reserved.
I love how Diana can paint a beautiful picture with her words so so that you think you are there, then coat it with suspense.
Beyond the laundresses, the ground was choppy, the boggy spots interspersed with the higher bits of ground, these crowned with stunted trees and low bushes---and quite obviously providing a footing, so to speak, for the whores to ply their own trade.
He gave these a somewhat wider berth and consequently found himself squelching through something that was not quite a bog, but not far off, either. It was remarkably beautiful, though, in a chiaroscuro sort of way; the fading light somehow made each barren twig stand out in stark contrast to the air, the swollen buds still sleeping but rounded, balanced on the edge between winter's death and the life of spring. He wished for a moment that he could draw, or paint, or write poetry, but as it was, he could only pause for a few seconds to admire it.
As he did so, though, he felt a permanence form in his heart, a quiet sense that even though he had only these few seconds, he would have them forever, could come back to this place, this time, in his mind.
He was right, though not entirely for the reasons he supposed.
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- QOTD for Sunday, September 25, 2022 -- Janet, Sun, September 25 2022, 10:12:22
The following quote is from Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 19, Hearth Blessing, Copyright 1997, all rights reserved.
Just opened a book to a random page....jumping in to provide a quote.
We had virtually nothing with us in the way of tools or supplies, save a felling ax, a couple of knives, a camp kettle and girdle, and my smaller medicine box. What is something happened, if Ian or Jamie fell ill or was hurt in an accident? If we starved or froze? And while Jamie was sure that our Indian acquaintances had no objection to our intent, I wasn't so sanguine about any others who might happen along.
Yes, I bloody well would be afraid. On the other hand, I'd lived long enough to realize that fear wasn't usually fatal--or at least not by itself. Add in the odd bear or savage, and I wasn't saying, mind.
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- I would bloody well be afraid also!! Anything could happen! Thank you for the quote. I'm on next week. (NT) -- kgp, Sun, September 25 2022, 14:19:35
- "Fear wasn't usually fatal," good point. However, with so few supplies to hand, and so many things that could happen, is certainly NOT for the faint of heart! (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, September 28 2022, 7:51:08
- QOTD -- Betsy Barefoodspinner, Tue, September 20 2022, 14:31:59
I have returned to Earth for a bit. I can do QOTD.
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- QOTD for Saturday, September 17, 2022 -- CindyG, Fri, September 16 2022, 20:22:13
The following quote is from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon, “A Fugitive Green,” chapter 18, “Taking Flight.” Copyright 2017 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘You are willing to marry dis man?’ he asked. ‘I see he is rich, but maybe better to take a poor man who will treat you well.’
‘Ze is zes maanden zwanger, idioot,’ said the minister’s wife. ‘She’s six months gone with child.’ ‘Is dit die schurk die je zwanger heeft gemaakt?’ She removed the pipe from the corner of her mouth and gestured from the door to Minnie’s belly: ‘He’s the no-good who got you pregnant?’ A hefty kick from the occupant made Minnie grunt and double over.
‘Ja, is die schurk,’ she assured the woman, glancing over her shoulder to the door, where Hal’s shadow in the window was visible, a larger shadow that must be Harry behind him.”
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- QOTD for Friday, September 16, 2022 -- CindyG, Thu, September 15 2022, 20:43:25
The following quote is from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon, “A Fugitive Green,” chapter 15, “Burglary and Other Diversions.” Copyright 2017 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“Three seconds later he was alarmingly hot and terrifyingly immediate and—
‘Jesus Christ!’ he said, and froze, looking down at her, his eyes huge with shock.
It hurt shockingly and she froze as well, taking shallow breaths. She felt his weight shift, knew he was about to leave her, and gripped his bottom to stop him. It was tight and solid and warm, an anchor against pain and terror.
‘I said I’d prove it,’ she whispered, and pulled him in with all her strength, arching her back. She let out a stifled shriek as he came the rest of the way, and he grabbed her and held her, keeping her from moving.
They lay face-to-face, staring at each other and gulping air like a pair of stranded fish. His heart was hammering so hard that she could feel it under the hand she had on his back.
He swallowed.
‘You’ve proved it,’ he said at last. ‘Whatever it…What was it you wanted to prove again?’
Between the tightness of her stays and his weight, she hadn’t enough breath to laugh, but she managed a small smile. “
‘That I didn’t want to hurt you.’”
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- This was such a surprise to see Hal so taken aback. I pictured him as the consummate British soldier, stiff upper lip and all that. I looked at him differently when he showed such passion. And what a match for him Minnie turned out to be! Looking forward to seeing her some more. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, September 16 2022, 3:06:49
- Ironically, she didn't want to hurt him, and, of course, he hurts her by taking her virginity. (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, September 16 2022, 7:34:22
- QOTD for Thursday, September 15, 2022 -- CindyG, Wed, September 14 2022, 20:28:05
The following quote is from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon, “A Fugitive Green,” chapter 14, “Notorious Bores.” Copyright 2017 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘Of course you must go,’ Lady Buford said, having downed half a glassful at one gulp.
‘Really?’ Minnie was experiencing that sudden visceral emptiness that attends excitement, anticipation, and panic.
‘Yes,’ Lady Buford said, with determination, and downed the rest, setting her glass down with a thump. ‘Almost all of your choicest prospects will be there, and there is nothing like competition to make a gentleman declare himself.’
Now the sensation was one of unalloyed panic. What with one thing and another, Minnie had quite forgotten that she was meant to be husband-hunting. Just last week, she’d had two proposals, though luckily from fairly undistinguished suitors, and Lady Buford hadn’t objected to her refusing them.
She finished her own Madeira and poured another for them both.
‘All right,’ she said, feeling a slight spinning sensation. ‘What do you think I should wear?’
‘Your very best, my dear.’ Lady Buford raised her refilled glass in a sort of toast. ‘Lord Fairbairn is a widower.’”
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- QOTD for Wednesday, September 14, 2022 -- CindyG, Tue, September 13 2022, 20:17:14
The following quote is from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon, “A Fugitive Green,” chapter 10, “Down to Business.” Copyright 2017 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“She was pleased, therefore, to be able to combine Colonel Quarry’s commission with Lady Buford’s husband-hunting. Rather to Minnie’s surprise, the latter involved a great deal of socializing with females.
‘To be desirable, it is necessary to be talked about, my dear,’ Lady Buford told her over a glass of iced negus at Largier’s tea shop (Madame Largier was French and thought tea itself a distinctly second-class beverage). ‘But you must be talked about in the right way. You must not suggest any hint of scandal, and—just as important—you must not cause jealousy. Be sweet and unassuming, always admire your companions’ frocks and dismiss your own, and do not bat your eyes at their sons or brothers, should such be present.’
‘I’ve never batted my eyes at anyone in my life!’ Minnie said indignantly.
‘It isn’t a difficult technique to master,’ Lady Buford said dryly. ‘But I trust you take my point.’
Minnie did, and as she had no intention whatever of attracting a potential husband, she was extremely popular with the young women of society. Which turned out to be an unexpectedly good thing, because most young women had no discretion whatever, very little judgment, and would tell you the most unspeakable things without batting a single one of their own eyes.”
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- QOTD for Tuesday, September 13, 2022 -- CindyG, Mon, September 12 2022, 20:03:45
The following quote is from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon, “A Fugitive Green,” chapter 5, “Strategy and Tactics.” Copyright 2017 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“Half an hour, two pots of China tea, and a dozen tea cakes (with cream) later, she made her way out into the street, a scribbled list of engagements in her hand and her head spinning with tippets, panniers, mantuas, swags, fans—she had a nice fan, luckily—and other items necessary to the pursuit and bagging of a wealthy and influential husband.
‘A gun would be simpler,’ she muttered, thrusting the list into her pocket. ‘And certainly less expensive.’
‘What kind of gun?’said Mick O’Higgins with interest, appearing out of a nearby doorway.
‘Never mind,’ she said. ‘We’re going to a milliner’s.’
‘Oh, a milliner’s, is it?’ He bowed and offered her his arm. ‘Nay bother, then. Sure, the bird’ll be dead before they put it on your hat.’”
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- QOTD for Monday, September 12, 2022 -- CindyG, Sun, September 11 2022, 19:37:27
The following quote is from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon, “A Fugitive Green,” chapter 5, “Strategy and Tactics.” Copyright 2017 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“If he actually meant it…the cynical part of her mind put in. But he likely did. It would be just like him. He’d see it as killing two birds with one stone: getting her access to likely sources of salable information and simultaneously marrying her off to one of them, with Lady Buford as his unwitting accomplice.
And he had, to be fair, told her that he wanted an Englishman for her. She just hadn’t thought he’d meant now. Really, she had to admire her father’s twisted genius; who but a marriage procuress would know more—and have less hesitation in revealing what she knew—about the intimate familial and financial details of wealthy men?”
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- QOTD for Sunday, September 11, 2022 -- CindyG, Sat, September 10 2022, 20:11:42
The following quote is from Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon, “A Fugitive Green,” chapter 1, “Survival.” Copyright 2017 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘Don’t you think of it, my girl.’ Her father was watching her over his own glass, not unkindly. ‘After you’re married, you do what you like. But you need to keep your virginity until we’ve got you settled. The English are notorious bores about virginity, and I have my heart set on an Englishman for you.’”
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- QOTD for Friday, September 9, 2022 -- kgp, Fri, September 09 2022, 6:48:19
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 88 A Whiff Of Roquefort
“If that’s the case,” I said, “then presumably he’ll come back, once he’s either found them or given up looking for them. Wouldn’t he? Would he go AWOL over them - er . . . absent without leave, I mean?”
“He wouldn’t have to risk that,” Hal said. “He’s been relieved of duty.”
“What?” John exclaimed, rounding on his brother. “WHat the devil for?”
Hal sighed, exasperated. “Leaving camp when he was ordered to stay there in the middle of a battle, what else? Getting into a fight with another officer, ending up in the bottom of a ravine with a dent in his skull through being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and in general being a bloody nuisance.”
“You’re right, he is your son,” I said to Jamie, amused. He snorted, but didn’t look altogether displeased.
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- QOTD for Thursday, September 8, 2022 -- kgp, Wed, September 07 2022, 18:23:59
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 87 Moonrise
Perhaps this was purgatory, he thought, and gave a wan smile at memory of himself, waking on Culloden Moor so many years ago, his eyelids sealed with blood, thinking himself dead and grateful for it, even if his immediate prospect was a spell in purgatory - that being a vague, unknown circumstance, probably unpleasant but not one he feared.
He feared the one that might be imminent.
He had come to the conclusion that he couldn’t kill himself, even if she died. Even could he bring himself to commit a sin of that magnitude, there were people who needed him, and to abandon them would be a greater sin even than the willful destruction of God’s gift of life. But to live without her - he watched her breathe, obsessively, counting ten breaths before he would believe she hadn’t stopped - that would certainly be his purgatory.
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- A very late QOTD for Wednesday, September 7, 2022. I got involved in a project and forgot about this. -- kgp, Wed, September 07 2022, 12:20:35
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 86 In Which Rosy-Fingered Dawn Shows Up Mob Handed
“Did you actually tell me that Ben is dead?” he blurted at once. Hal’s face contracted a bit, but his jaw was set.
“No,” Hal said evenly. “I told you that I’d had news of Ben, and they said he was dead. I don’t believe it.” He gave John a stare defying him to contradict this belief.
“Oh. Good,” Grey said mildly. “Then I don’t believe it either. Who told you, though?”
“That’s why I don’t believe it,” Hal replied, turning to lift the tent flap and peer out - evidently to be sure of not being overheard, and the thought made Grey’s belly flutter a little. “It was Ezekiel Richardson who brought me the news, and I wouldn’t trust that fellow if he told me I had a hole in the seat of my breeches, let alone something like that.”
The flutter in Grey’s belly became a full-blown beating of wings.
“Your instincts haven’t led you amiss there,” he said. “Sit down and have a piece of toast. I have a few things to tell you.”
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- QOTD for Tuesday, September 6, 2022 -- kgp, Tue, September 06 2022, 4:49:15
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 85 Long Road Home
He could still hear the sound when the tomahawk caved in the Abenaki’s skull. He could still feel it, too, in the bones of his arms, in the bursting pain of his wound.
Dimly, he realized that his feet were no longer keeping to the road; he was stumbling over clumps of grass, stubbing his moccasin-clad toes on rocks. He looked back to find his path - he saw it, plain, a wavering line of black . . . Why was it wavering?
He didn’t want silence, after all. He wanted Rachel’s voice, no matter what she might say to him.
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- QOTD for Monday, September 5, 2022 -- kgp, Mon, September 05 2022, 8:02:58
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 84 Nightfall
“If you and I have things to say to each other, Willie - and of course we do - let it wait until tomorrow. Please. I’m not , , , “ He made a vague, wavering gesturing gesture that ended nowhere.
The lump in William’s throat was sudden and painful. He nodded, hands clenched tight on the bedding. His father nodded, too, drew a deep breath and turned toward the tent flap - where, William saw, Uncle Hal was hovering, eyes fixed on his brother and brows drawn in worry.
William’s heart seized, in a lump more painful than the one in his throat.
“Papa!” His father stopped abruptly, turning to look over his shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re not dead,” William blurted.
A smile blossomed slowly on his father’s battered face.
“Me, too,” he said.
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- QOTD for Sunday, September 4, 2022 -- kgp, Sun, September 04 2022, 7:15:50
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 83 Sundown
“Better now, a nighean?” he whispered,and I nodded - or thought I did. Mrs. Macken murmured some question to Dottie, received an answer, and went out. The pain was still there but distant now, a small, flickering fire that I could shut out by closing my eyes. The thud of my heartbeat was more immediate, and I was beginning to experience . . . not hallucinations, quite.
Disconnected images, though - the faces of strangers that faded in and out behind my eyes. Some were looking at me, others seemed oblivious; they smiled and sneered and grimaced but had nothing, really, to do with me.
“Again, Sassenach,” Jamie whispered, lifting my head and putting the spoon to my lips, sticky with sherry and the bitter taste of opium. “One more.” I swallowed and lay back. If I died, would I see my mother again? I wondered, and experienced an urgent longing for her, shocking in its intensity.
Last edited by author: Mon, September 05 2022, 8:03:27
Edited 1 time.
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- QOTD for Saturday, September 3, 2022 -- kgp, Sat, September 03 2022, 5:13:57
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 82 Even People Who Want To Go TO Heaven Don’t Want To Die To Get There
Voices . . . I heard words, disjointed, coming out of the fog like bullets, striking randomly.
“ . . . find Denzell Hunter!”
“General - “
“No!”
“ - but you’re needed at - “
“No!”
“ - orders - “
“NO!”
And another voice, this one stiff with fear.
“ . . . could be shot for treason and desertion, sir!”
That focused my wandering attention and I heard the reply, clearly.
“Then they’ll shoot me where I stand, sir, for I will not leave her side!”
Good, I thought, and, comforted, lapsed into the spinning void again.
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- This was really bad. I’m praying Come on, Claire - you’re strong, hang on!!! Then, Diana please don’t let her die! Thank goodness, prayers were answered. 😊 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, September 03 2022, 11:06:53
- I couldn't read this part fast enough to make sure Claire didn't die! (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, September 07 2022, 7:12:52
- QOTD for Friday, September 2, 2022 -- kgp, Fri, September 02 2022, 7:49:15
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 81 Among The Tombstones
Only a few men had loaded weapons, but sometimes it took only one. A shot rang out from behind him, and the British officer who was shouting stopped shouting and staggered. He clutched himself, curling up and falling to his knees, and someone shot him again. He jerked backward, then fell over sideways.
There was a roar from the British line, which dissolved at once into a rush, some men pausing long enough to fix their bayonets, others wielding their guns like clubs. The Americans met them, mindless and shrieking, with guns and fists.One militiaman reached the fallen officer, seized him by the legs, and began to drag him away toward the church, perhaps with the notion to take him prisoner, perhaps to get him help . . .
A British soldier threw himself upon the American, who stumbled backward and fell, loosing his hold on the officer. Jamie was running, shouting, trying to gather the men, but it was no use; they’d lost their wits altogether in the madness of fighting, and whatever their original intent in seizing the officer, they’d lost that, too.
Leaderless, so had the British soldiers, some of whom were now engaged in a grotesque tug-of-war with two Americans, each grasping the limbs of the dead - for surely he must be now, if he hadn’t been killed outright - British officer.
Last edited by author: Fri, September 02 2022, 9:42:28
Edited 1 time.
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- QOTD for September 1, 2022 rabbit rabbit -- kgp, Thu, September 01 2022, 9:26:42
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 80 Pater Noster
“You want me to . . . sing?” he managed.
“Well, perhaps not right this minute,” the duke said. He sat back on his stool and began to whistle a tune. “Recognize that, do you?” he asked, breaking off.
“ ‘Lillibulero,’ “ William said, beginning to feel rather cross. “Why, for God’s sake?”
“Knew a chap once who was hit on the head with an ax and lost his ability to make out music. Couldn’t tell one note from another.” Hal leaned forward, holding up two fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Two. Stick them up your nose,” William advised him. “Go away, will you? I’m going to be sick.”
“Told you not to drink too fast.” But his uncle had a basin under his face and a strong hand on his head, bracing him while he heaved and coughed and shot water out of his nose.
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- QOTD for Wednesday, August 31, 2022 -- kgp, Wed, August 31 2022, 14:00:10
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 79 High Noon
“Are ye bad hurt, a bhalaich?” Jamie asked, stepping back and looking for blood. There was some, but nothing dreadful. The lad wasn’t clutching himself as though wounded in the vitals . . .
“No. No, it’s - “ Ian worked his mouth, trying to get up the spit to make words, and Jamie thrust his canteen into Ian’s hand. There was pitifully little water left in it, but some, enough, and Ian gulped it.
“William,” Ian gasped, lowering the empty canteen. “Your - “
“What about him?” Jamie interrupted. There were more men coming down the road, some of them half-running looking back. ”What?” he repeated, grasping Ian’s arm.
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- Cue “The Flight of the Valkyrie’s” and Ian to the rescue - again. Without even meaning to, in my opinion, Ian keeps coming out the better man in encounters with William. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, September 01 2022, 2:51:49
- He's a bit older and vastly more experienced. William was 12 when John brought him to the Ridge, Ian was 16 or 17? Had been kidnapped, molested, rescued, sprayed by skunk, traveled with whatshisname and the slave woman to the Indian village, farmed, hunted, and been coached by Jamie and Claire. Shoot! names are escaping me. Tall mountain man with a mended hernia and a very round slave woman accused of aborting a fetus. (NT) -- kgp, Thu, September 01 2022, 9:33:30
- QOTD for August 30, 2022 -- kgp, Tue, August 30 2022, 10:25:17
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 78 In The Wrong Place At The Wrong Time
Suddenly two more were there, between him and the bridge. Was ist hier los?” he demanded sharply. Was macht Ihr da?” What is this? What are you doing?
A burly fellow pulled an apologetic face.
Verzeihung. Ihr seid hier falsch.”
I’m in the wrong place? Before William could say anything more, they closed on him. He elbowed, punched, kicked, and butted wildly, but it didn’t last more than a few seconds. Hands pulled his arms behind him, and the burly fellow said once more, “Verzeihung,” and, still looking apologetic, bashed him in the head with a rock.
He didn’t lose consciousness altogether until he hit the bottom of the ravine.
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- QOTD for Saturday, August 20, 2022 -- CindyG, Fri, August 19 2022, 20:30:35
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 20, “I Bet You Think This Song is About You. . .” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘He’s—it’s—‘ He shook his head, looking for words. ‘He’s talking to me,’ he repeated doggedly. ‘He kens who I am—who I am,’ he said with emphasis and looked at me, his eyes dark blue. ‘He kens it’s the Scotsman that took his wife from him and he’s talkin’ directly to me. I can feel him, as if he stood behind me, whispering in my ear.’ I flinched, violently, and he blinked, startled.
‘That sounds…unpleasant,’ I said. The tiny hairs prickled along my jaw.
The corner of his mouth turned up. He stopped what he was doing and took my hand, and I felt better.
‘Well, it’s a mite unsettling, Sassenach. I dinna mind it, exactly—I mean, surely to God he has the right to say things to me if he likes. It’s only…why?’”
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- QOTD for Friday, August 19, 2022 -- CindyG, Thu, August 18 2022, 20:32:11
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 20, “I Bet You Think This Song is About You. . .” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘You’ve read the book, then?’ I asked after a moment, and he nodded, not looking at me. ‘What do you think of it?’
He made another Scottish noise, shook the last of the peanuts clinking into the bowl, and sat down on the grass beside me.
‘I think the bastard wrote it for me, is what I think,’ he said bluntly.
I was startled. ‘For you?’
‘Aye. He’s talking to me.’ He raised one shoulder, self-conscious. ‘Or at least I think he is. Between the lines. I mean…it might only be as I’m losin’ my mind. That’s maybe more likely. But…’
‘Talking to you…as in, the, um, text seems personally relevant?’ I asked carefully. ‘It couldn’t help but be, could it? Given where and when we are just now, I mean.’”
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- QOTD for Thursday, August 18, 2022 -- CindyG, Wed, August 17 2022, 22:54:01
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 20, “I Bet You Think This Song is About You. . .” Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“Jamie was in his study, enjoying his own solitude. I’d passed by, carrying my big basin of peanuts outside, and seen him leaning back in his chair, spectacles on his nose, deeply absorbed in Green Eggs and Ham.
I smiled at the thought, and pulled off the ribbon to loosen my hair so the cool breeze could blow through it.
We’d lost nearly all of our books in the fire that consumed the Big House, but were beginning to build up our tiny library again. Brianna’s contributions had nearly doubled it. Aside from the books she’d brought—and thought of my precious Merck Manual still gave me a small thrill of possession—we had Jamie’s small green Bible, a Latin grammar, The Complete Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (lacking a cover, but retaining most of its vivid illustrations), and Jonathan Swift’s Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, plus the odd novel in French or English.”
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- QOTD for Wednesday, August 17, 2022 -- CindyG, Tue, August 16 2022, 19:55:05
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 17, Reading by Firelight. Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“It wasn’t only the writer that disturbed him. Hearing bits of what was to come from Claire and Bree and Roger Mac frequently alarmed him, but their physical presence was reassuring; whatever horrible events were to happen, many folk had survived them. Still, he kent well enough that while none of his family would ever lie to him, they did often temper what they said to him. Frank Randall was another thing: an historian, whose account of what was going to happen in the next few years would be…
Well, he didn’t ken exactly what it might be. Frightening, perhaps. Upsetting, maybe. Maybe reassuring…in spots.
Frank Randall wasn’t smiling, but he looked pleasant enough. Lines in his face that cut deep. Well, the man had been through a war.
‘To say nothing of bein’ married to Claire,’ he said aloud, and was surprised at the sound of his voice. He picked up his wineglass and took a mouthful, holding it for a moment, but then swallowed and turned the book over.
‘Well, I dinna ken if I forgive ye or not, Englishman,’ he murmured, opening the cover and taking a cleansing breath of cedar. ‘Or you me, but let’s see what ye have to say to me, then.’”
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- QOTD for Tuesday, August 16, 2022 -- CindyG, Mon, August 15 2022, 20:53:36
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 17, Reading by Firelight. Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“Nay doubt it was the thought of reluctant forgiveness that made him pick up the book Brianna had brought for herself—Frank Randall’s book. The Soul of a Rebel.
‘Mmphm,’ he said, and drew it out of the stack, turning it over in his hands. It felt strange; a good weight and size, sound binding, but the paper cover was printed with a very peculiar tartan background in pink and green, on which there was a square of pale green with a decent wee painting of the basket hilt of a Scottish broadsword and a bit of the blade. Below the square, the subtitle, The Scottish Roots of the American Revolution. What made it feel odd, though, was the fact that it was wrapped in a transparent sheet of something that wasn’t paper, slick under his touch. Plastic, Brianna had told him when he asked. He kent the word, all right, but not with this meaning. He turned the book over to look at the photograph—he was becoming halfway accustomed to photographs, but it still took him back a bit to see the man looking out at him like that.
He pressed his thumb firmly over Frank Randall’s nose, then lifted it. He tilted the book from side to side, letting light from the fire play over the plastic covering. He’d made a very faint smudge, not visible if you were looking straight at it.
Suddenly ashamed of this childishness, he erased the mark with his shirtsleeve and set the book on his knee. The photograph looked calmly up at him through dark-rimmed spectacles.”
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- This was so enjoyable to read! I didn’t remember it. Jamie gets the meaning of plastic that I find hard to grasp and what a hoot to kind of “thumb his nose” at Frank 🤣. Typical Jamie, he can’t be that petty and, after all, he got both girls. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, August 16 2022, 12:18:12
- That is such a normal reaction! Usually Jamie is 'the bigger man', it's fun to see that Frank brings out the petty. (NT) -- kgp, Tue, August 16 2022, 18:14:36
- QOTD for Monday, August 15, 2022 -- CindyG, Sun, August 14 2022, 20:10:37
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 17, Reading by Firelight. Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“The house’s entire library stood in two modest piles on the table beside his wineglass. A small Bible bound in green cloth, very much the worse for wear. He touched it gently, as he did every time he saw it; it was an old companion—a friend that had seen him through many bad times. A coverless copy of Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress…he’d best take that one up to the bedroom; Jem hadn’t shown any interest in it yet, but the lad could certainly read well enough to make out what it was about if he did.
A not-bad copy of Mr. Pope’s translation of The Odyssey—maybe he’d read a bit of that with Jem; he’d likely find the ships and monsters interesting, and it would be an excuse to cram a bit of Latin into the lad’s head while they were about it. Joseph Andrews…a waste of paper, that one; he’d maybe trade it to Hugh Grant, who liked silliness. Manon Lescaut, in French and a fine morocco binding. He frowned briefly at that one; he’d not opened it. John Grey had sent it to him, before…”
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- QOTD for Sunday, August 14, 2022 -- CindyG, Sat, August 13 2022, 20:03:07
The following quote is from Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 9, Animal Nursery Tales. Copyright 2021 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
“‘Concerning Hobbits. This book is largely concerned with Hobbits, and from its pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history.’
‘That’s just the Prologue,’ I assured him. ‘You could skip that, if you like.’
He shook his head, eyes fixed on the page, smiling.
‘If the author thought it was worth his writing it down, then it’s worth my reading it. I dinna mean to miss a single word.’
A sharp pang struck me then, seeing the reverential way in which he handled the book, turning over pages with a delicate forefinger. A book—any book—had a meaning well beyond its contents for a man who’d lived years at a time with little or no access to the printed word, and only the memory of stories to provide him and his companions escape from desperate circumstances.”
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- I always skipped over the prologues of books - thought they were just like a Cliff note start out. Until Outlander. Now I savor and dissect every word with you and Outlandish Voices. I am embarrassed to admit how I abuse books when I read how Jamie cherishes them. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, August 14 2022, 13:16:56
- I usually read prologues because it's usually back story. In the Tolkien books I used to skip over the poetry and songs, Yada Yada Yada get on with the story. But now I read them. (NT) -- kgp, Sun, August 14 2022, 17:06:19
- I usually always read the prologues, feeling much as Jamie does, that it may be important to the story. I imagine that with books being a rare treat, one would read every bit. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, August 15 2022, 12:10:46
- QOTD for Saturday, August 13, 2022 -- kgp, Fri, August 12 2022, 17:33:43
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 77 The Price of Burnt Sienna
“Why didn’t you kill them?” he asked Grey abruptly, and jerked his head at the Craddocks. “If you got past them, you could have made it.”
One fair brow arched above the handkerchief binding Grey’s eye.
“You’d forgive me for Claire - but not for killing your . . . men.” He glanced at the two Craddocks, spotty as a pair of raisin puddings and - Grey’s look implied - likely no brighter.
For a split second, the urge to punch him again surged up from Jamie’s bowels, and for the same split second, the knowledge of it showed on John’s Grey’s face. He didn’t flinch, and his good eye widened in a pale-blue stare. This time, he’d fight back.
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- QOTD for Friday, August 12, 2022 - sorry, I overslept -- kgp, Fri, August 12 2022, 7:01:49
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 76 The Dangers of Surrender
Where’s William most likely to be? Unarmed and unable to fight, chances are that he was with Clinton. That’s where he should be. But he knew his son.
“Unfortunately,” he muttered. He would, without hesitation, lay down both life and honor for William. That didn’t mean he was pleased at the prospect of having to do so.
Granted, the current circumstance was not William’s fault. Head to admit - reluctantly - that it was at least in part his own. He’d allowed William to undertake intelligence work for Ezekiel Richardson. He should have looked much more closely into Richardson.
The thought of having been gulled by the man was almost as upsetting as what Percy had told him.
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- QOTD for Thursday, August 11, 2022 -- kgp, Thu, August 11 2022, 5:49:39
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 75 The Cider Orchard
“Shouldn’t we . . . bury Mr. Craddock?” a timid voice suggested behind him.
“He’s not dead, lackbrain!”
Jamie glanced down. He wasn’t - but it wouldn’t be more than a few seconds longer.
“Go with God, man,” he said quietly. Craddock didn’t blink; his eyes were fixed on the sky, not yet dull but sightless.
“Go wi’ your fellows,” he said to the two lingerers, then saw that they were Craddock’s two sons, maybe thirteen and fourteen, white-faced and staring as sheep. “Say farewell to him,” he said abruptly. “He’ll still hear ye. Then . . . go.” He thought for a moment to send them to La Fayette, but they’d be no safer there. “Run!”
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- It’s that time 🎄 😊. Lallyornaments!!! -- Kathy in PA, Wed, August 10 2022, 14:11:21
It’s time to start planning your Lally Ornament for 2022.
I don’t have the rule page ready but all of a sudden it hit me that we usually get the notice in August.
It’s so much fun to get that package right after Thanksgiving and be able to open a box of Outlander treasures. The ornaments range from beautifully simple to amazingly crafted.
I haven’t been able to load the last two year’s pictures but go to:
http://lallyornaments.blogspot.com
And you can see a whole bunch of ornaments from past years.
The only basic rule is that it has to have something to do with anything Outlander and we make 10 each to share.
More info to follow.
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- I'm not at all crafty so I've never done this. You'd all get glitter covered pinecones. :) (NT) -- kgp, Thu, August 11 2022, 5:51:21
- Jump in and you'll surprise yourself with an Outlander inspired ornament. There are so many images from the Books - birds, insects, pigs and people, snakes in the outhouse! Use cross stitch, quilting, paint or paper, clay or craft items assembled, knitted or crocheted, and more! Make a practice one and see where it leads you. I randomly opened the Books and read about a kingfisher and then learned a new technique of felting to create the baby kingfisher. It was fun! (NT) -- TeriB waving from the monsoon desert of Nevada, Thu, August 11 2022, 6:33:06
- There are woods in EVERY book and I love glitter 😊. I’ve done some that were pretty complicated for me but one year I just bought little hedgehogs, put a plaid bow on and quoted the “How do hedgehogs make love?” quote because my husband was in the hospital for weeks but I didn’t want to miss a year. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, August 11 2022, 12:01:34
- I'm planning on participating again this year. (NT) -- Colly, Thu, August 25 2022, 19:48:30
- Where are we at with this? I haven't heard any more. (NT) -- Colly, Sat, October 01 2022, 13:53:53
- QOTD for Wednesday, August 10, 2022 -- kgp, Wed, August 10 2022, 6:14:36
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 74 The Sort of Thing That Will Make a Man Sweat and Tremble
In fact, almost everyone in this time had a very matter-of-fact acceptance of mortality; death was a constant presence at everyone’s elbow, though they regarded that presence in a variety of ways. “But they - those men - what they do is something different, I think. It’s more an acceptance of what they think God made them.”
“Really?” He seemed slightly startled by that, and his brows drew together in consideration. “What does thee mean by that? That they believe God has created them deliberately to - “
“To be responsible for other people,” I said. “I couldn’t say whether it’s the notion of noblesse oblige - Jamie was a laird, you know, in Scotland - or just the idea that , , , that’s what a man does,” I ended, rather lamely. Because “that” was plainly not what Denzell Hunter thought a man should do. Though I did wonder a bit. Plainly the question troubled him a little.
As well it might, given his position. I could see that the prospect of battle excited him and the fact that it did troubled him a great deal.
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- QOTD for Tuesday, August 9, 2022 -- kgp, Tue, August 09 2022, 6:47:50
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 73 Peculiar Behavior Of A Tent
Suddenly he grasped Percy’s arm, squeezing hard.
“And where do you come into this?” he said, voice level and cold. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Percy drew breath, but didn’t jerk away. He returned Grey’s stare, brown eyes clear and direct.
“Where I come into it doesn’t matter,” he said. “And there isn’t time. You need to find your son quickly. As to why I tell you . . . “
John saw it coming and didn’t pull away. Percy smelled of bergamot and petitgrain and the red wine on his breath. John’s grip on Percy’s arm loosened.
”Pour vos beaux yeux,” Percy had whispered against his lips - and laughed, damn him.
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- QOTD for Monday, August 8, 2022 -- kgp, Sun, August 07 2022, 17:48:15
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 72 Morasses and Imbroglios
Ian felt them before he saw them. The sense of a hunting animal, lying concealed in the wood, waiting for prey to come down to drink. He turned his horse sharply and rode along the creek bank, watching the trees on the other side.
Movement, a horse’s head tossing against flies. A glimpse of a face - faces - painted, like his own.
A thrill of alarm shot up his spine and instinct flattened him against the horse’s neck, as the arrow whizzed over his head. It stuck, quivering, in a nearby sycamore.
He straightened, his own bow in his hand, nocked an arrow in the same movement, and sent it back, aiming blind for the spot where he’d seen them. The arrow shredded leaves as it went but struck nothing - he hadn’t expected it to.
“Mohawk!” came a derisory shout from the other side, and a few words in a language he didn’t understand but whose intended meaning was clear enough. He made a very Scottish gesture, whose meaning was also clear, and left them laughing.
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- QOTD for Sunday, August 7, 2022 -- kgp, Sat, August 06 2022, 17:23:47
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 701 Folie A Trois
But Germain, out of what might have been either loyalty to John or fear of finding himself alone with Jamie - who had rather plainly meant what he said regarding the future of Germain’s arse - wanted to stay in the tent.
“I’ll be fine,” John assured him. “Go with your father.” He was still pale and sweating, but his jaw and hands had relaxed; he wasn’t in severe pain.
“Yes, he will be fine,” I said to Germain, but nodded to Fergus, who went out without further comment. “Fetch me some fresh lint, will you? Then you can come and help me while his lordship rests. As for you - “ I turned to John. “You lie flat, keep your eye closed, and bloody stay out of trouble, if such a thing is possible.”
He swiveled his good eye in my direction, wincing slightly as the movement pulled on the bad one.
“Are you accusing me of causing the imbroglio that resulted in my injury, madam? Because I distinctly recall your playing some minor role in its origins.” He sounded rather cross.
“I had nothing whatever with your ending up here,” I said firmly, though I could feel my cheeks flush.
Last edited by author: Sun, August 07 2022, 7:35:51
Edited 1 time.
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- And with 6 perfect words, Diana let us know Claire is remembering a certain night 💥 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, August 06 2022, 18:51:14
- "Minor role" indeed. I wouldn't mind such a role. It's been over long . . . (NT) -- kgp, Sat, August 06 2022, 19:25:53
- Oh my, a minor role for sure, but John, WHAT were you thinking when you confessed that to Jamie in such a manor??? (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, August 08 2022, 11:01:31
- Quote of the Day, Saturday, 8/06/2022. Voyager, Chapter 48, Moment of Grace. Copyright 1994, All rights reserved. -- Janet, Sat, August 06 2022, 3:43:50
It had happened many times before, but it always took me by surprise. Always in the midst of great stress, wading waist-deep in trouble and sorrow, as doctors do, I would glance out a window, open a door, look into a face, and there it would be, unexpected and unmistakable. A moment of peace.
The light spread from the sky to the ship, and the great horizon was no longer a blank threat of emptiness, but the habitation of joy. For a moment, I lived in the center of the sun, warmed and cleansed, and the smell and sight of sickness fell away; the bitterness lifted from my heart.
I never looked for it, gave it no name; yet I knew it always when the gift of peace came. I stood quite still for the moment that lasted, thinking it strange and not strange that grace should find me here, too.
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- This was the first time in "the books" that I was aware of these moments; when I did a re-read before Bees, I noticed them throughout, especially in Fiery Cross. These quotes were chose because, if we strive and are open, we, too, can find these moments of peace, no matter how fraught our lives are. (NT) -- Janet, Sat, August 06 2022, 3:47:15
- It's supposed to be chosen! (NT) -- Janet, Sat, August 06 2022, 3:48:15
- We know! I always read it right and don’t notice until the author points it out. I have loved your week, Janet. I haven’t been broadcasting it but you are my friends for the last 15 years of isolation so I’m finally ready to say after 6 months, that I left an abusive relationship after 47 years of marriage. FINALLY realized nothing I could do would fix it. Still have panic attacks and cry (as I’m doing now) but only when I look back. My days now are so full of moments of grace I feel glowing. I talk to people, I go to my church of 67 years, I’m a cemetery caretaker again, I’m happy. Still a lot to work through, but I have my wonderful daughter and her family’s full, loving support. So thank you all for being more of a friend than you realize. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, August 06 2022, 12:02:52
- My gosh, Kathy! What a relief to be out of an abusive marriage. I'm excited for you to get your life back. I wish you many moments of peace, grace, and joy! (NT) -- kgp, Sat, August 06 2022, 15:13:32
- Lallybroch has been an amazing source of friends for me. So many lovely and generous women and a few men. Not only friends to me, but to my family. (NT) -- kgp, Sat, August 06 2022, 20:00:05
- Kathy in PA, sending you love and support for this courageous action. I wish you joy, contentment, and peace. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, August 08 2022, 10:57:49
- Kathy, so glad we talked, sending you healing light as you find a new way to happiness, everyday joy, that moment of recognizable peace. (NT) -- TeriB, Thu, August 11 2022, 6:48:20
- Janet, thank you for a lovely set of quotes. I wasn't able to be here every day last week, but have certainly enjoyed catching up today. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, August 08 2022, 10:59:32
- Bird spam is gone. Geez, look away for a couple of days . . . -- kgp, Fri, August 05 2022, 13:47:05
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- Quote of the Day, Friday, 08/05/2022. The Fiery Cross, Chapter 62, Strangers and other suspected persons, Copyright 2001, all rights reserved -- Janet, Fri, August 05 2022, 6:56:39
Late today...Life!
Nothing happened. The voices still called outside, but they seemed of no more importance now than the calling of birds. the air in the room was still, but cool and lively, as though a draft played somewhere in the cornors, not touching them where they stood in the center of the floor. Roger felt his own breath ease, his heart slow its beat still more.
....
Roger stood without moving, wondering at the beauty of what he saw. The notion of Husband as a stocky man of middle age and indeterminate feature had no meaning; what he saw now was a heartbreaking singularity, a thing unique and wonderful; irreplaceable.
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- Quote of the Day, Thursday, 08/04/2022. The Fiery Cross, Chapter 35, Hogmanay/ Copyright 2001, All rights reserved -- Janet, Thu, August 04 2022, 3:29:24
I could feel the whole house in movement, throbbing around me, and light flowed under the door from the hall. Just here, though, it was quiet. In the silence I felt the weight of the little idol in my pocket and pressed it, hard and lumpy against my leg.
There is nothing special about January the first, save the meaning we give to it. The ancients celebrated the new year at Imbolc, at the beginning of February, when the winter slackens and the light begins to come back---or the date of the spring equinox, when the world lies in balance between the powers of dark and light. And yet, I stood there in the dark, listening to the sound of the cat chewing and slobbering in the cuupboard and felt the power of the earth shift and stir beneath my feet as the year---or something---prepared to change. There was noise and the sense of a crowd nearby, and yet I stood alone, while the feeling rose through me, hummed in my blood.
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- Wednesday, 08/03/2022 Quote of the Day, Chapter 41, From the Womb of the Earth, Outlander, Copywrite 2004, all rights reserved -- Janet, Wed, August 03 2022, 5:07:45
The walls of the cave were of smooth, dark volcanic rock, almost like black glass, slick with the moisture of the spring. The whole chamber looked like a gigantic bubble, half-filled with that curiously alive but sterile water. I felt as though we were cradled in the womblike center of the earth, and that if I pressed my ear to the rock, I would hear the infinitely slow beat of a great heart nearby.
We were quiet for a long time then, half-floating, half-dreaming, brushing now and then against each other as we drifted in the unseen currents of the cave.
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- QOTD Tuesday, 8/02/2022 The Fiery Cross, Copyright 2001, Chapter 18 No Place Like Home -- Janet, Tue, August 02 2022, 4:20:37
He felt a peace come over him at the sight, breathed deep, his body relzxing.
Gideon relaxed, too, all the feistiness draining slowly out of him like water from a leaky bucket. Slowly, Jamie let his hands drop lightly on the horse's neck, and the horse stayed still, ears forward. Ah, he thought, and the realization stole over him that this was a Place.
He thought of such places in a way that had no words, only recognizing one when he came to it. He might have called it holy, save that the feel of such a place had nothing to do with church or saint. It was simply a place he belonged to be, and that was sufficient, though he preferred to be alone when he found one. He let the reins go slack across the horse's neck. Not even a thrawn minded creature like Gideon would give trouble here, he thought.
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- Monday, 8/1/2022, The Fiery Cross, Copyright 2001, Chapter 1, Happy the Bride the Sun Shines On (jumping in, my first post) -- Janet, Mon, August 01 2022, 10:58:07
The wood around us was still, in the way of woods. No bird, no beast, just the sough of leaves above and the rush of water underfoot. Constant movement, constant sound---and at the center of it all, perfect peace. There were a good many people on the mountain, and most of them not far away---yet just here, just now, we might have been alone on Jupiter.
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- QOTD for Saturday, July 30, 2022 -- kgp, Fri, July 29 2022, 18:37:04
The following quotation is from An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon. Chapter 31, A Guided Tour Through The Chambers Of The Heart. Copyright 2009. All rights Reserved. "
'Revenge, then, is it?' Stebbings asked after a bit. His restless feet stilled. His dirty stockings drooped and his voice was tired.
Jamie's shoulders moved, slowly, as he sighed, and his own voice was nearly as tired as Stebbing's.'No,' he said, very softly. 'Call it payment of a debt.'
A debt? I thought. To whom? To the Lord Melton who had declined to kill him, out of honor, who had instead sent him home from Culloden, hidden in a wagon filled with hay? To his sister, who had refused to let him die, who had dragged him back to life by sheer strength of will? Or to those who had died
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- QOTD for Friday, July 29, 2022 -- kgp, Fri, July 29 2022, 15:19:45
The following quotation is from The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2001. All Rights Reserved. Chapter 45. If It Quacks . . .
“Mrs. Fraser!” Dr. Fentiman glared at me in irritation, his wig fallen half askew over one ear. “Do you go, please, and cease interfering! I am greatly occupied, and have no time to indulge your fancies. You, sir – remove her!” He waved a hand at Ulysses and turned back to the bed, shoving his wig into place as he did so.
“Why, you little –” I choked off the intended epithet, seeing Ulysses take an uncertain step toward me. He clearly hesitated to remove me bodily, but it was just as clear that he would obey the Doctor’s orders in preference to mine.
Trembling with fury, I swept around and left the room.
Jamie was waiting for me at the foot of the stair. Seeing my face as I descended, he took my arm at once and led me out into the yard.
“That – that –” Words failed me.
“Officious worm?” he supplied helpfully. “Unsonsie sharg?”
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- QOTD for Thursday, July 28, 2022 -- kgp, Wed, July 27 2022, 16:16:48
The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2014. All Rights Reserved. Chapter20. A Crackling of Thorns
Henri-Christian, dizzy from smoke, had fallen against the doorframe and was clinging to it. He was too frightened to move; I could see him shaking his head as Germain pulled at him.
“Throw him, Germain! Throw your brother!” Fergus was shouting as loudly as he could, his voice cracking with the strain, and several other voices joined in. “Throw him!”
I saw Germain’s jaw set hard, and he yanked Henri-Christian loose, picked him up, and clutched him with one arm, wrapping the rope around the other.
“No!” Jamie bellowed, seeing it. “Germain, don’t!”
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- QOTD for Wednesday, July 27, 2022 -- kgp, Wed, July 27 2022, 6:15:39
The following quotation is from An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved. Chapter 19 Ae Fond Kiss
“Listen to me,” he said, low and fierce. “I have loved three women. One was a witch and a whore, the second only a whore. Ye may well be a witch yourself, but it makes nay whit o’ difference. The love of you has led to my salvation, and to what I thought was my peace, once I thought ye dead,”
He stared at me and shook his head slowly, his mouth going tight for a moment in the seam of his beard.
“And here you are.”
“Er … yes.” I felt once more as though I should apologize for not being dead, but didn’t.
He drew a deep breath and let it out in a sigh.
“I shall have no peace while ye live, woman.”
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- QOTD for Tuesday, July 26, 2022 -- kgp, Mon, July 25 2022, 19:39:12
The following quotation is from A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2005 All Rights Reserved. Chapter 114 Amanda
“What’s P-H-A-L-L-U-S?” Jemmy was asking his father.
“Another word for prick,” Roger said briefly. “Don’t bloody use it. Listen - can ye hear anything when ye listen to that stone?” He indicated Jamie’s ring lying on the table. Jem’s face lighted at the sight of it.
“Sure,” he said.
“What, from here?” Brianna said, incredulous. Jem looked around the circle of parents and grandparents, surprised at their interest. “Sure,” he repeated. “It sings.”
“Do ye think wee Mandy can hear it sing, too?” Jamie asked carefully. His heart was beating heavily, afraid to know, either way.
Jemmy picked up the ring and leaned over Mandy’s basket, holding it directly over her face. She kicked energetically and made noises - but whether because of the ring, or merely at the sight of her brother . . .
“She can hear it,” Jem said, smiling into his sister’s face.
“How do you know?” Claire asked, curious. Jem looked up at her, surprised.
“She says so.”
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- The bond between these two is amazing! And if were all of the adults I'd be dumbstruck. (NT) -- Cait, Tue, July 26 2022, 15:21:58
- It reminds of twins bond. I’ve always been fascinated by that and like how Mandy and Jem can communicate like this, even before she can talk! He is so protective of her already, just like he’s seen the men in his life with their women. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, July 27 2022, 7:55:54
- Their bond is amazing! This section kind of gave me goosebumps, but in the fascinated way, not creepy. I hope we see more and more of the kids' abilities as they age. (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, July 27 2022, 8:50:21
- QOTD for Monday, July 25, 2022 -- kgp, Sun, July 24 2022, 17:16:49
The following quotation is from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved. Chapter 21 –Cowardice
“It was the woman,” he said, resigned to complete humiliation. “He threatened her. And I – idiot that I was – spoke, in order to save her.”
“Well, what else could you do?” Percy said, his tone so reasonable that Grey opened his eyes and stared at him. Percy smiled a little.
“Of course you would protect that woman,” he said. “You protect everyone, John – I don’t suppose you can help it.”
Astonished, Grey opened his mouth to contest this absurd statement, but was forestalled when Percy leaned forward and kissed him softly.
Last edited by author: Sun, July 24 2022, 17:18:19
Edited 1 time.
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- QOTD for Sunday, July 23, 2022 -- kgp, Sat, July 23 2022, 18:44:56
The following quotation is from The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2001. All rights reserved. Chapter 89. The Moons of Jupiter
Experience had been a hard teacher, but the urgings of the flesh were louder than the voice of reason. He put out a stealthy hand and gently grasped the buttock nearest. It was cool and smooth and round as a gourd.
She made a small noise deep in her throat and stretched luxuriously. She arched her back, pushing he backside up in a way that convinced Roger that the course of wisdom was to fling back the quilt, roll on top of her, and achieve his goal in the ten seconds flat it was likely to take.
He got as far as flinging back the quilt. As he raised his head from the pillow, a round, pale object rose slowly into view over the rim of the cradle, like one of the moons of Jupiter. A pair of blue eyes regarded him with clinical dispassion.
Last edited by author: Sat, July 23 2022, 23:19:49
Edited 1 time.
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- I love this one!!! I have a 42 1/2 year old picture of my daughter doing exactly that. Lol. We had made a cradle out of pine boards so you didn’t really see her until that sweet, bald head with the big, blue, wise eyes slowly rose over the edge. It makes me laugh every time I read this. Back to Outlander, Roger and Bri struggle with so many things, I’m glad we’re to the point where they “get” each other better and actually have some fun. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, July 24 2022, 9:32:41
- This happened to DH and me when our DS was little. We were staying in a nice B&B for a weekend and had a lovely 4 poster bed. We set up DS's porta-crib at the foot. Early the first morning, DH and I thought we might have a quick and silent "mmph" before the little guy woke up. But before things got interesting, a little blonde head popped up, blue eyes peering over the footboard. He then ducked down, grabbed his bear, and grinning, waved it happily, as if to say, "Look, Snuggle, Mom and Dad are RIGHT THERE! How great is THIS???" Of course, boy and bear joined us in the big comfy bed, no shenanigans for us. (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, July 27 2022, 8:39:42
- QOTD for Saturday, July 23, 2022 from “Drums of Autumn” by Diana Gabaldon -- Kathy in PA, Sat, July 23 2022, 9:30:35
Chapter 1
A Hanging in Eden
Charleston, June 1767
It was a hot day, even for Charleston in June. The best places were on the sea wall, where the air moved; here below, it was like being toasted alive. My shift was soaked through, and the cotton-bodice clung between my breasts. I wiped my face for the tenth time in as many minutes and lifted the heavy coil of my hair, hoping vainly for a cooling breeze upon my neck.
Whenever we get weather like we’re having now, I think of this passage - and thank God all I have to wear is underpants, shorts, a sleeveless top and crocs.
😊 ☀️
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