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• QOTD for Monday, 2/20/23 -- Betsy BFS, Sun, February 19 2023, 18:20:45
  Howdy do, Lally Wonders!
  
  When I was eleven, (I think....maybe twelve,) I asked my Gram if old people still had sex. She was in her mid to late sixties at the time, and although the Victorian era was long-gone, my father's side of the family still clung to the last vestiges of those proper, well-defined social proprieties. But of all of my father's family, my Gram was the most unflappable, I think. She paused only a second or two and replied, "Yes. But it's a bit different." I didn't ask her elaborate, but have always wondered just what she meant. Why I wanted to know, I haven't a clue.
  
  During the summers, I work at a summer camp as the health care coordinator and am usually "it" for the medical staff. Most of our staff is late teens to late twenties. I'm considerably beyond that age. Most of the staff looks at me as their mom/grammie/counsellor/shrink/old-lady friend/ and one lovely young woman last year told me I was her Woman of Great Wisdom. I burst out laughing at that one and told her pedestals are dangerous things. Too much pain for everyone involved when the perched person falls off.
  
  Last year, one of the younger staff members asked me if old people still had sex. After a slight pause for a nod at the irony of the question, I said yes, but often the monkey bars and trapeze ropes get put into a box in the closet. Hopefully, the box "gets lost" before the old lady and old man get too demented to remember that it's traumatic when the kids find the box when they're cleaning out your house.
  
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  The following quote is from 'The Fiery Cross,' by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 40, "Duncan's Secret." Copyright 2001, by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.
  
  
  "Goodness,," I said, rather crossly. "Is anyone here talking of anything else? Minds like sewers, the lot of you."
  
  Campbell laughed, then truned aside, distracted by the urgencies of a small grandson.
  
  "Don't tell me ye weren't wondering the same thing." Jamie nudged me gently.
  
  "Indeed I was not," I said primly. I wasn't-- but only because I already knew.
  
  "Oh, indeed," he said, one corner of his mouth curling up. "And you wi' lechery as plain on your face as whiskers on a cat."
  

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  • You probably asked your granny because you were at the age when the hormones started raging and the idea of it was becoming a more real future probability 😉. Did you really give that whole answer? Monkey bars and all ? There must be so many cool camp stories about you spread all over Maine! I do like the way Diana celebrates Claire’s sexuality and let’s us know about it in these great phrases, “And you wi’ LECHERY as plain on your face as whiskers on a cat.” 😂😂😂😂💥❤️ (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, February 20 2023, 3:51:04
    • Monkey bars and all..... And I also enjoy the view of Claire aging, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and sexually. Sometimes, it seems to me, that Diana paints a rather rosy picture of Claire's aging process, but when you're the author, you can paint any picture you want. (NT) -- Betsy BFS, Tue, February 21 2023, 7:57:14
  • I enjoyed the lead-up to the wedding, really got a sense of the level of extravagance. Sex is definitely a bit different or completely lacking depending on several factors. Fortunately for us, Jamie is still a vigorous man as he approaches old age. By the standards of the times he must appear nearly immortal. (NT) -- kgp, Mon, February 20 2023, 6:00:57
    • I agree. Jamie, even by today's standards, seems like a superman. I should have counted out their ages at the time of the Voyage, (and I probably have at earlier times, but have forgotten,) so maybe his physical stamina isn't that far off. (NT) -- Betsy BFS, Tue, February 21 2023, 8:01:16
  • As I am quickly approaching 60, and DH skidded by it 6 years ago, we occasionally wake up a little sore or creaky. It's much more amusing to say, "That trapeze fun isn't as easy as it used to be," than "I must have slept weird, and now I walk crooked." (NT) -- DianaH, Tue, February 21 2023, 13:32:20
    • Stretch before you get out of bed.... Advise from my massage therapist. Sometimes it helps. I find that laughter is the best medicine, even in the "walking crooked" circumstances. I've pushed past 70 now, and need the laughs. (NT) -- Betsy BFS, Tue, February 21 2023, 20:23:32
  
  

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• QOTD for Saturday, February 18, 2023 -- CindyG, Fri, February 17 2023, 19:02:40
  The following quote is from Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 52, “A Wedding Takes Place.” Copyright 1994 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
  
  “So she had done it. One fifteen-year-old girl, with nothing but stubbornness as a weapon. ‘I want him,’ she had said. And kept saying it, through her mother’s objections and Jamie’s arguments, through Fergus’s scruples and her own fears, through three thousand miles of homesickness, hardship, ocean storm, and shipwreck.
  She raised her face, shining, and found her mirror in Fergus’s eyes. I saw them look at each other, and felt the tears prickle behind my lids.”
  

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  • Marsali is a force of nature, never to be underestimated! Love this quote (NT) -- Janet, Sat, February 18 2023, 10:32:58
  • Another strong woman - guess Leghair did okay raising her daughters. (NT) -- kgp, Sat, February 18 2023, 12:12:20
  • I love this quote too. It really speaks to me about the inherent strength of women. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, February 20 2023, 3:52:36
  
  

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• QOTD for Sunday, 2/19/23 -- Betsy Barefootspinner, Sun, February 19 2023, 8:10:38
  Good morning, afternoon, evening, and night, Lallylanders,
  
  It's been a bit since I have done QOTD, so bear with me, please.
  
  Reading Cindy's quotes from last week, some of my all-time-favorite quotes in the whole series, set my mind to thinking. Yes, the setting was rather different than most brides wish for, and the priest was less sober than one would hope. The entire wedding is laugh-out-loud funny to me, even though I've read it a couple dozen times or more (probably more,) all of a sudden, the scene zones in on the importance of the whole hysterical setup. I think it was Kathy ??? maybe who noted that the end of the chapter changed the mood quickly to spotlight what a wedding is really all about. The absolute committment of two people who won't imagine their lives apart; so much so, that they climb hills, defy everyone who thinks otherwise, sail and walk through shipwreck, end up standing in front of a drunk priest, motley crew in attendance, and promise in front of witnesses and to God that they will stand side by side through life, always having each other's back, and vow to remain a team, the two of them together in the promise, until the end of their time. It makes Claire and Jamie ponder about their own unconventional vows and the unbreakable promises they have carried forth, and I suspect I'm not the only one who is transported back to our own weddings or commitments to our partners. It certainly gives me pause to reflect.
  
  When David and I first became an exclusive couple, he had said to me that we were bound for all time, but he would never get legally married. We already were, as far as he saw it. David has never been one to stand on tradition. Still isn't. I couldn't have cared less if we were legally bound. "There were the two of us," and that worked just fine.
  
  I still didn't care after we had baby one. And baby two. Then reality set in. Tax breaks, medical representations, all that stuff that constitutes rational adulthood. I began to feel differently. Every time I brought it up (I didn't get too far into the thought process,) David said "You changed your mind. I haven't. I'm already committed." That was true. I tried about every six months, and the conversation ended the same way each time.
  
  Skip through lots and lots of life-stuff, and two more kids. Life had become much more complicated. One day, my wonderful (read that any way you want,) David said "Well, I think we should get married. We should figure out when." That was a Tuesday night. I replied Friday night. So we did. With a bunch of helium balloons for a bouquet, carried by child one and child two, David's sister and brother-in-law as witnesses, and my parents in attendance, I walked out of the bathroom (child three had to poop,) instead of down the isle, met my beloved somewhere in the vicinity of an altar of sorts, and surrounded by that menagerie of characters, we looked at each other, and it was just the two of us. For about a minute, but that was long enough. My father had been put in charge of child four, an eight month old boy, and forgot he couldn't walk yet, put him down in the middle of the pews, and he face-planted into a hard wood pew.
  
  We were married amid three squealing children, who had let go of their balloons so the ceiling of the church was festooned with colorful balloon ribbons, a bleeding child who was accessorizing my light blue blouse with copious ammounts of blood, and witnesses who I think didn't even crack a smile. My parents were happy. My in-laws still, after ten years, still didn't know at all how to respond to me and were silently hoping I'd drop dead of a heart attack right there so the entire Robbins' crew could stop trying to figure out where I was coming from.....Mars or Jupiter, or perhaps a galaxy far, far away.
  
  David did have two hands, and all the appropriate working parts, and despite looking like a survivor of the Battle of Bull run, and I think I still smelled like two year old child poop, we were married in what could never-be-improved-apon wedding of two rather "out there" lovers.
  
  
  
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  The following quote is taken from 'The "Fiery Cross,' chapter 40, "Duncan's Secret," by Diana Gabaldon. Copyright 2001, by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.
  
  
  Jamie had just said something humorous, for Campbell made the low, creaking noise that passed with him for humor, nodding to me in greeting.
  
  "I shall leave ye to the practice of your own affairs, then," he said to Jamie, recovering his composure. "Call me, though, at need." He shaded his eyes, looking up toward the terrace.
  
  ""Ah, the prodigal returns. In shillings, sir, or bottles of brandy?"
  
  I turned to look as well, in time to see Duncan crossing the terrace, nodding and smiling as he passed. I must have looked bewildered, for Mr. Campbell nodded to me, dry mouth crooked with amusement.
  
  "I've laid your husband a small wager, ma'am "
  
  "Five to one on Duncan, the night," Jamie explained. "That he and my aunt will share a bed, I mean"
  

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  • Poor Duncan - getting kicked in the bits by a horse and breaking off an engagement, losing an arm and his country in the '45, years of imprisonment, life as a beggar, a smuggler, embarrassing constipation at sea, then having to confess to impotence on the day of his wedding. The man deserves comfort in his elder years even if as a convenience to Jocasta. (NT) -- kgp, Sun, February 19 2023, 8:42:01
    • I was glad to read he got that comfort from Phaedra for awhile. Betsy, it sounds like you had a mother in law who taught you how to be a good one! Lol. Wink, wink. Me too. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, February 20 2023, 3:45:05
  
  

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• QOTD Thursday, February 16, 2023 -- CindyG, Wed, February 15 2023, 20:37:19
  The following quote is from Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 52, “A Wedding Takes Place.” Copyright 1994 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
  
  “‘Him? You’re sure? He hasn’t a hand,’ Father Fogden said doubtfully. ‘Won’t she mind?’
  ‘I will not!’ Marsali, imperious in one of Ermenegilda’s gowns, blue silk encrusted with gold embroidery along the low, square neckline and puffed sleeves, stood beside Fergus. She looked lovely, with her hair clean and bright as fresh straw, brushed to a gloss and floating loose round her shoulders, as became a maiden. She also looked angry.
  ‘Go on!’ She stamped her foot, which made no noise on the sand, but seemed to startle the priest.
  ‘Oh, yes,’ he said nervously, taking one step back. ‘Well, I don’t suppose it’s an impt—impeddy—impediment, after all. Not as though he’d lost his cock, I mean. He hasn’t, has he?’ the priest inquired anxiously, as the possibility occurred to him. ‘I can’t marry you if he has. It’s not allowed.’
  Marsali’s face was already bathed in red by torchlight. The expression on it at this point reminded me strongly of how her mother had looked upon finding me at Lallybroch. A visible tremor ran through Fergus’s shoulders, whether of rage or laughter, I couldn’t tell.
  Jamie quelled the incipient riot by striding firmly into the middle of the wedding and placing a hand on the shoulders of Fergus and Marsali.
  ‘This man,’ he said, with a nod toward Fergus, ‘and this woman,’ with another toward Marsali. ‘Marry them, Father. Now. Please,’ he added, as an obvious afterthought, and stood back a pace, restoring order among the audience by dint of dark glances from side to side.”
  

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  • Does anyone know if it’s true that a man who can’t impregnate a woman isn’t allowed to marry in any faith? Thanks for revisiting this unusual marriage, Cindy! (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, February 16 2023, 3:27:07
    • Any faith? It certainly isn't an impediment at my protestant church. (NT) -- Susannah, Thu, February 16 2023, 5:25:44
    • In Christianity I think it's only Catholicism that has issue with it, maybe some of the fundamental sects as well. It came up for Duncan and Jocasta as well as Duncan thought he was incapable and that had prevented his marriage at a younger age. (NT) -- kgp, Fri, February 17 2023, 12:09:32
  • I love when this scene is brought up again in the other books. I think Marsali mentions it before Ian & Rachel, Dottie & Denzel get married? It surely has to be one of those inside "family jokes" that would be a hysterical one-liner by those in the know. (NT) -- DianaH, Thu, February 16 2023, 11:45:47
  
  

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• QOTD for Friday, February 17, 2023 -- CindyG, Thu, February 16 2023, 22:37:14
  The following quote is from Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 52, “A Wedding Takes Place.” Copyright 1994 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
  
  “‘You have a name, too? And a cock?’
  ‘Yes,’ said Fergus, wisely choosing not to be more specific. ‘Fergus.’
  The priest frowned slightly at this. ‘Fergus?’he said. ‘Fergus. Fergus. Yes, Fergus, got that. That’s all? No more name? Need more names, surely.’
  ‘Fergus,’ Fergus repeated, with a note of strain in his voice. Fergus was the only name he had ever had—bar his original French name of Claudel. Jamie had given him the name Fergus in Paris, when they had met, twenty years before. But naturally a brothel-born bastard would have no last name to give a wife. ‘Fraser,’ said a deep, sure voice beside me. Fergus and Marsali both glanced back in surprise, and Jamie nodded. His eyes met Fergus’s, and he smiled faintly.
  ‘Fergus Claudel Fraser,’ he said, slowly and clearly. One eyebrow lifted as he looked at Fergus.
  Fergus himself looked transfixed. His mouth hung open, eyes wide black pools in the dim light. Then he nodded slightly, and a glow rose in his face, as though he contained a candle that had just been lit.
  ‘Fraser,’ he said to the priest. His voice was husky, and he cleared his throat. ‘Fergus Claudel Fraser.’”
  

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  • Aaahhhhh ❤️ Big smile and sigh. Officially Fergus Fraser, “Son of the House” (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, February 17 2023, 5:14:55
  • Jamie gave Fergus the most precious gift - his name. (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, February 17 2023, 9:14:59
  • Fergus was so loyal to Jamie through everything. It made me so happy but I wish he had been given that sense of being actual family long ago. (NT) -- kgp, Fri, February 17 2023, 10:17:29
  
  

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• QOTD for Wednesday, February 15, 2023 -- CindyG, Tue, February 14 2023, 20:16:18
  The following quote is from Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 52, “A Wedding Takes Place.” Copyright 1994 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
  
  “Several torches were lit, bound to stakes pounded into the sand, and the flames streamed seaward in tails of red and orange, bright against the black velvet night. The brilliant stars of the Caribbean shone overhead like the lights of heaven. While it was not a church, few brides had had a more beautiful setting for their nuptials.
  I didn’t know what prodigies of persuasion had been required on Lawrence’s part, but Father Fogden was there, frail and insubstantial as a ghost, the blue sparks of his eyes the only real signs of life. His skin was gray as his robe, and his hands trembled on the worn leather of his prayer book.
  Jamie glanced sharply at him, and appeared to be about to say something, but then merely muttered under his breath in Gaelic and pressed his lips tightly together. The spicy scent of sangria wafted from Father Fogden’s vicinity, but at least he had reached the beach under his own power. He stood swaying between two torches, laboriously trying to turn the pages of his book as the light offshore wind jerked them fluttering from his fingers.
  At last he gave up, and dropped the book on the sand with a little plop!
  ‘Um,’ he said, and belched. He looked about and gave us a small, saint-like smile. ‘Dearly beloved of God.’”
  

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  • It was nice to read the first part of your quote slowly and set that picture in my mind. Father Fogged In (we’ve laughed about that often) made me think harder about what actually makes a marriage. It’s the two people - all the trappings maybe make it more dignified or fun but the true “rite” is the couple uniting. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, February 16 2023, 3:20:51
  
  

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• QOTD for Tuesday, February 14, 2023 -- CindyG, Mon, February 13 2023, 20:14:09
  The following quote is from Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 52, “A Wedding Takes Place.” Copyright 1994 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
  
  “It was one of the more unusual weddings I had attended.“
  
  
  Really short quote today, but what an understatement!
  

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  • To say the least! It was such a beautiful pause in the story. (NT) -- kgp, Tue, February 14 2023, 7:25:39
  • This could be for Ian and Rachel’s & Denzel and Dorothea’s too. Their’s was lovely but very unusual to everyone but her and Denzel. That double wedding was beautiful ❤️ (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, February 14 2023, 7:42:13
  • Have any of the weddings we've "attended" in the Books been usual? Discounting the ones that took place off page, like Jamie & Loaghaire's or Ian & Jenny's, most have had a comical bit to the ceremony and/or the wedding night. The exception would be Mary Hawkins & BJR's which was purely tragic circumstances. (NT) -- DianaH, Tue, February 14 2023, 9:59:26
  
  

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• QOTD for Monday, February 13, 2023 -- CindyG, Sun, February 12 2023, 20:57:50
  The following quote is from Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 52, “A Wedding Takes Place.” Copyright 1994 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
  
  “A thought struck me, and I turned to Jamie. ‘She should have a nice dress to be married in,’ I said.
  ‘Sassenach,’ he said, with obviously waning patience, ‘we havena—‘
  ‘No, but the priest does,’ I interrupted. ‘Tell Lawrence to ask Father Fogden whether we might borrow one of his gowns; Ermenegilda’s, I mean. I think they’re almost the right size.’
  Jamie’s face went blank with surprise above his beard.
  ‘Ermenegilda?’ he said. ‘Arabella? Gowns?’ He narrowed his eyes at me. ‘What sort of priest is this man, Sassenach?’
  I paused in the doorway, Marsali hovering impatiently in the passage beyond.
  ‘Well,’ I said, ‘he drinks a bit. And he’s rather fond of sheep. But he might remember the words to the wedding ceremony.’”
  

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  • I love that Claire wanted Marsali to have a nice dress, reminiscent of Jamie insisting that Claire have a proper dress for their wedding. I also love that Claire is not too concerned about Father Fogden's moral character, just that he can get the job done. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, February 13 2023, 10:15:40
    • Jamie is much more concerned about the “right” priest than Claire. You’re so right about the dress; Claire is a good MIL right off the bat. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, February 14 2023, 6:56:31
  
  

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• QOTD for Sunday, February 12, 2023 -- CindyG, Sat, February 11 2023, 21:44:25
  The following quote is from Voyager by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 52, “A Wedding Takes Place.” Copyright 1994 by Diana Gabaldon, all rights reserved.
  
  “‘I require ye to keep your promise,’ she said.
  ‘Aye?’ Jamie looked wary.
  ‘Your promise to let me and Fergus be married, so soon as we came to the Indies.’ A small wrinkle appeared between her fair eyebrows. ‘Hispaniola is in the Indies, no? The Jew said so.’
  Jamie scratched at his beard, looking reluctant.
  ‘It is,’ he said. ‘And aye, I suppose if I … well, aye. I did promise. But—you’re still sure of yourselves, the two of ye?’ She lifted her chin higher, jaw set firmly.
  ‘We are.’
  Jamie lifted one eyebrow.
  ‘Where’s Fergus?’
  ‘Helping stow the cargo. I kent we’d be under way soon, so I thought I’d best come and ask now.’
  ‘Aye. Well.’ Jamie frowned, then sighed with resignation. ‘Aye, I said. But I did say as ye must be blessed by a priest, did I no? There’s no priest closer than Bayamo, and that’s three days’ ride. But perhaps in Jamaica …’
  Nay, you’re forgetting!’ Marsali said triumphantly. ‘We’ve a priest right here. Father Fogden can marry us.’”
  

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  • My initial reaction was unfavorable just because she was Leghoire’s daughter. But stuff like this and her ongoing part of the lovely made me love her. She’s part of my triad of warrior queens: Claire, Jenny, Marsali. Just realized it should be a quartet, add Rachel. ❤️ (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, February 12 2023, 5:55:07
    • “part of the story”. I should proofread. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, February 12 2023, 5:56:53
    • I admire her determination but wasn't she only 15? I feel a bit sorry for Leghair, losing her daughter, knowing she'd likely never see her again. (NT) -- kgp, Sun, February 12 2023, 18:19:33
    • Warrior queens - I like that! So many good, strong women in the Books, but these are the best. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, February 13 2023, 10:11:26
      • Bree too! (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, February 13 2023, 10:12:21
        • Yes, of course!! I wonder if that’s a large part of the draw of these books. Diana gets it. She’s one. And whether I can do it or not, reading these over the years has helped me be that. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, February 14 2023, 6:52:29
  
  

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• QOTD for Friday, February 10, 2023 -- kgp, Thu, February 09 2023, 16:35:50
  The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 120 A Crackling of Thorns
  
  
  “What? What is it?” Jenny was struggling out of the quilts on her pallet in the corner.
  
  “We’re on fire!” I shouted. “Hurry - help me!”
  
  I heard a cracking noise from the kitchen and a scream from Marsali. I didn’t know what had happened, but in desperation I grabbed Félicité bodily out of bed, still shouting at Joan to wake up, for God’s sake!
  
  I felt the vibration of the ladder against the loft and Jamie was there, snatching Joan up out of the bed.
  
  “The lads, where are the lads?” he asked urgently. In the frantic need to wake the girls, I’d forgotten Germain and Henri-Christian. I looked round in an urgent daze; there was a thin mattress on the floor, flattened and dented by bodies, but no sign of the boys.
  

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  • This is one of the most heartbreaking parts for me . Sweet Henri Christian, brave way beyond his years Germaine - this was horrible. I learned about the literary tool of “thirds” and it made me wonder about terrible fires in the books; this one, the big house, was there another one? (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, February 11 2023, 7:51:35
    • There was the print shop in Edinburgh, back in Voyager (NT) -- kgp, Sat, February 11 2023, 9:25:15
      • Thank you! (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, February 12 2023, 5:49:16
  
  

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• QOTD for Wednesday, February 8, 2023 -- kgp, Wed, February 08 2023, 11:52:07
  The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 118 The Second Law of Thermodynamics
  
  
  “Do you ever - well, no. I know you do.”
  
  “Likely,” he said, smiling a little. “What do I do?”
  
  “See the . . . void. The abyss.” Speaking the words reopened the rent in my soul, and the cold wind came through. A shudder ran through me, in spite of the warmth of the air and Jamie’s body. “I mean - it’s always there, always yawning at your feet, but most people manage to ignore it, not think about it. I’ve mostly been able to. You have to, to do medicine.” I wiped my nose on my sleeve, having dropped my handkerchief. Jamie pulled a crumpled hankie out of his sleeve and handed it to me.
  
  “Ye dinna mean only death?” he asked. “Because I’ve seen that often enough. It hasna really scairt me since I was ten or so, though.” He glanced down at me and smiled. “And I doubt ye’re afraid of it, either. I’ve seen ye face it down a thousand times and more.”
  

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  • I’m one of those people who tries to ignore the abyss. Not really afraid of death by itself, but do worry about a “bad one.” That was a new term and thought for me from Outlander. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, February 09 2023, 8:24:22
    • I've stared into now and then. If not for anti- depressants I might have checked out a while ago. (NT) -- kgp, Sat, February 11 2023, 9:27:05
  
  

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• QOTD for Thursday, February 9, 2023 -- kgp, Wed, February 08 2023, 16:21:27
  The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 119 “Alas, Poor Yorick!”
  
  
  William fought back an insane urge to laugh and felt gently over the dead features. The nose was broad and stubby, not Ben’s sharp beak - but no doubt the process of decay . . . He slid his fingers over the temple, thinking to see if a presentable lock of hair might - and stopped dead, not breathing.
  
  The corpse was missing an ear. Bloody hell, it was missing both ears. He felt again, both sides, unable to believe it. But it was true - and the ears had been missing for some time; even with the nasty slack feeling of the decaying flesh, the ridges of scar tissue were distinct. A thief.
  
  William sat back on his heels and tilted up his head, letting out a huge breath. He felt dizzy, and the stars made little pinwheels in his vision.
  

  Last edited by author: Thu, February 09 2023, 16:36:09   Edited 1 time.
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  • I’m glad it wasn’t Ben, but eeewwwew 🤢 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, February 09 2023, 8:25:33
    • Not a fan of the whole Ben story line, but without it we wouldn't be anxiously awaiting Book 10! (NT) -- Janet, Thu, February 09 2023, 10:48:44
      • I could deal with Ben turning his coat and facing Hal about it. It's the Amaranthus part I could skip. There's a week of quotes there, sorting that mess. Who was keeping her and the baby captive and why? Did they ever get charged with anything? Why was she playing the merry widow at first? Why the heck is she fixated on William? So many questions! (NT) -- kgp, Thu, February 09 2023, 16:38:49
  
  

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• GoFundMe for Linda Tyndall and family -- Judie, Mon, February 06 2023, 16:21:22
  .
  .
  Some of you may not be aware that Linda has been in the hospital for about 3 weeks and mostly sedated so she was unconscious. She has had many medical issues. Anyway, a GoFundMe has been set up for them. The medical costs are going to be insane, I’m sure. Linda and Becca, with Robert’s assistance, do so many things for people. A list as long as your arm. So we’d like to help with our support.
  
  Anyone who can help out, here is the link:
  
  https://gofund.me/24b472b2
  
  Thank you so much.
  
  Judie
  

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  • Thank you, Judy. This has been very stressful for all of them. (NT) -- kgp, Mon, February 06 2023, 17:10:19
  • Thank you Judy. Linda was on our Outlandish Voices group too and always had fun, thoughtful cryptic answers. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, February 08 2023, 5:49:47
    • Sorry, autocorrect always incorrects your name 🙄 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, February 08 2023, 5:51:55
      • Hi, Kathy. No problem. I used to spell it that way for years as a kid - then decided I wanted a bit longer name - hahahahaha. :D (NT) -- Judie, Wed, February 08 2023, 21:37:00
  
  

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• Hi - it's my turn this week. Our wifi is down due to a windstorm Friday night. It's a bit difficult to do on my phone. Meanwhile, here's a quote from a few years ago that I had emailed to myself so I could do this while on vacation. -- kgp, Sun, February 05 2023, 16:30:00
  "QOTD for Thursday, September 1, 2011 The following quotation is from An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon. Chapter 18, Pulling Teeth. Copyright 2009. All rights Reserved. " 'You're looking for someone? A Frenchman?' I lifted the bowl of bloodstained teeth andbegan to pick through it, affecting non-chalance.'A man named Claudel. He was born in Paris - in a brothel,' he added, with a faint air of apology for using such an indelicate term in my presence. 'He would be in his early forties now - forty-one or -two, perhaps.' "
  

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  • Hope no other damage from the wind! I love this Claudel plot...it's rife with possibilities. (NT) -- Janet, Mon, February 06 2023, 10:24:09
    • I want to follow it through but that's another week. Percy is an interesting character. (NT) -- kgp, Mon, February 06 2023, 13:01:15
      • That would be great! His is a sad story, he was basically sex trafficked but his education and room and board made it acceptable. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, February 08 2023, 7:44:01
    • A tree fell on our power lines Friday night. We froze on Saturday until the linemen got to our house. No cable until this afternoon. (NT) -- kgp, Mon, February 06 2023, 13:02:15
      • Oh no! Glad they got your power back. Sometimes it takes days and days when there’s so much damage. We’ve been so lucky in the northeast part of PA this year. As I knock on wood - two short very cold days but no snow to speak of at. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, February 08 2023, 7:47:17
  
  

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• QOTD for Monday, February 6, 2023 -- kgp, Mon, February 06 2023, 13:02:46
  The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 116 A-Hunting We Will Go
  
  
  The deer shuddered violently, shoving its antlers into his chest, bunched its legs convulsively as though about to make one final leap, and died.
  
  He held it for a few moments, the shredded velvet still on the antlers like rough suede under his sweating palm, the weight of the coarse-haired shoulders growing heavy on his knee.
  
  “Thank you,” he whispered, and let go. He remembered that it had been Mac the groom who’d told him that you always thanked a creature that gave you its life - and that it had been James Fraser, some years later, who had killed a huge wapiti in front of him and spoken what he said was a “gralloch prayer” in Gaelic before butchering the beast. But with deer’s blood on his skin and the breeze moving in the wood around him, for once he didn’t push those memories away.
  

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  • Mac the Groom was such a big influence on young Willie. I look forward to seeing their relationship develop further. I especially like the growing bond between him and Bree. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, February 06 2023, 13:35:48
    • I do, too. I think he likes having a sister. I think he's growing used to Jamie but John will always be Papa. (NT) -- kgp, Mon, February 06 2023, 15:33:55
      • Me too, Bri will definitely break through that “British reserve.” (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, February 08 2023, 7:40:45
  
  

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• QOTD for Tuesday, February 7, 2023 -- kgp, Mon, February 06 2023, 17:09:38
  The following quotation is from Written In my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014. Chapter 117 Into The Briar Patch
  
  
  Sweat was running into my eyes; I had to dash it away with my bared fore-arm; my hands were bloody to the wrist.
  
  “Saw,” I said, and no one moved. Had I spoken aloud? ”Saw,” I said, much louder, and Jamie’s head twisted toward the implements on the table. Leaning heavily on Tench’s leg with one hand, he stretched to grab the saw from the table with the other.
  
  Where was Peggy? On the floor. I saw the bloom of her skirt from the corner of my eye and felt vaguely through the floorboards the steps of a servant coming to haul her out of the way.
  
  I groped for another suture, blind, and the jar of brandy in which I’d stowed them tipped, spilling on the sheet and adding its sweet stickiness to the atmosphere. I heard Jamie gag, but he didn’t move; his fingers squeezed the thigh hard above the tourniquet.
  

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  • The sheer brutally basic/primitive conditions that Claire works in always amazes me. My Mom was an OR nurse in the 70s - early 90s, and I volunteered there my senior year of high school, so I saw a lot of different types of surgery. It was all relatively clean, with the patient's body draped except where the actual incision was, not to mention sanitary, with sterilized instruments, gloves, gowns, caps, etc. (NT) -- DianaH, Tue, February 07 2023, 9:48:15
    • Me too. She is ruthless in her calling to heal and Diana describes these times so well I get a physical reaction. And we always see the heart behind her healing though. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, February 08 2023, 5:46:07
  
  

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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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  • Oh what weird karma that I just ranted about him. And talk about looks being deceiving?!?! (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, January 22 2023, 12:21:51
  • For Claire to see BJR when they meet, so much like Frank.... then to return to Frank and see BJR! How difficult that must have been! (NT) -- Kel, Thu, February 02 2023, 12:31:31
  
  

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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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  • This is my Murtagh, not the geriatric cover boy they had on the show. I was disappointed they let him live after season 2. (NT) -- kgp, Tue, January 24 2023, 8:16:48
    • Me too. I can’t remember the actor, but he was on Hill St Blues and looked like a grizzled little monkey, and he’s always been my Murtaugh. I’ve always loved Murtaugh and think we all need one. 😉 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, January 24 2023, 13:50:49
      • I know which one you mean - he talked to his mother on the phone every episode. (NT) -- kgp, Wed, January 25 2023, 12:21:21
      • Bruce Weitz - Mick Belker? He often played an undercover cop who looked like he had just crawled out of an alley. I could see him as Murtagh! (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, January 25 2023, 14:02:56
        • Yes!! Thank you all. As soon as I met Murtagh I pictured him. Even his personality 😉 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, January 26 2023, 4:22:20
  • Great quote! I think of this description, then the beautiful boar tusk bracelets! (NT) -- Kel, Thu, February 02 2023, 12:29:12
  
  

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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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  • I always felt bad that Colum was so physically limited. It was an interesting detail for Diana to choose. Is that a heritible condition? Is it something that might show up in Jem or Wee Davy? (NT) -- kgp, Thu, January 26 2023, 12:49:47
    • I Googled it. It is caused by a recessive gene, which means you have to get the gene from each of your parents. Since Brianna and Roger do have some genetics in common, it is possible but highly unlikely. The combinations of genes brought in over the centuries would really limit the chances. Hopefully this doesn't give Diana any ideas........ (NT) -- Janet, Fri, January 27 2023, 10:36:08
  • Imagine who different the story might have been if Colum had his full body strength, AND all his cunning! Sort of Jamie without the same heart/ conscience! Altho, I do like Colum as well. (NT) -- Kel, Thu, February 02 2023, 12:26:47
  
  

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• QOTD for 01/28/2023 -- Janet, Sat, January 28 2023, 4:26:57
  Quote of the Day for Saturday, January 28, 2023 from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Chapter 26, The Laird’s Return. Copyright 1991, all rights reserved.
  
  She was smaller than I had expected. With a brother like Jamie, I had imagined her at least my height, or even taller, but the woman by the fire barely reached five feet. Her back was to us as she reached for something on the shelf of the china cabinet, and the ends of her dress sash dipped close to the floor.
  Jamie froze when he saw her.
  “Jenny,” he said.
  …….
  The faces were much alike; the same oddly slanted dark blue eyes and broad cheekbones. The same thin, blade-bridged nose, just a trifle too long. But she was dark where Jamie was fair, with cascades of black curly hair, bound back with green ribbon.
  She was beautiful, with clear-drawn features and alabaster skin. She was also clearly in a state of advanced pregnancy.
  
  I hope you’ve enjoyed these introductions!
  

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  • I’ve loved them, thank you ❤️. Jenny, sometimes I’ve loved her, sometimes I’ve hated her but I’ve always admired her backbone. I was thrilled when she came to the ridge. Looking forward to the ongoing relationship with Rachel, who has just as much backbone but presents so differently. Her quiet grace and strength are so impressive. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, January 28 2023, 5:13:11
  • I've always been a Jenny fan, though I really disliked when she brought Laoghaire down to Lallybroch when Jamie and Claire returned in Voyager. I, too, like having her on the Ridge. It adds to the storyline in a way I enjoy. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, January 30 2023, 7:49:14
  • I really enjoyed the introductions as well! It's fun seeing them as introduced, then getting to know them, and finding who they really are! (NT) -- Kel, Thu, February 02 2023, 12:23:55
  
  

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• 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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  • For sure. I thought, oh how nice for Claire. Another woman who seems to have some spirit, maybe she’ll be able to help. Was I ever wrong! (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, January 28 2023, 5:08:17
    • I had the same thought about Geillis, Kathy in PA. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, January 30 2023, 7:26:28
  
  

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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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  • I need a mistress Fitzgibbons in my house. (NT) -- kgp, Wed, January 25 2023, 12:22:26
    • Wouldn't that be awesome? Or a Mrs. Bug, minus the murder, thievery, etc. LOL! (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, January 25 2023, 14:04:19
      • Burst out laughing at the last sentence, Diana. Yes……..that WOULD be better. 😂 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, January 26 2023, 4:24:03
  • Janet, this is a blast. Isn’t it amazing that after all these years we can revisit each meeting with such enjoyment (except BJR of course); the books never get old. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, January 26 2023, 4:26:06
  
  

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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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  • Jamie seemed so young compared to the others at this point. That changed quickly. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, January 24 2023, 14:04:21
  
  

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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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  • I’m just not invested in the Ben/Amaranth story yet. Just starting to warm to William but then he seems to possibly be getting involved in that too! (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, January 20 2023, 11:40:42
    • I agree. It's interesting in that Ben turned his coat, son against father, but her? not feeling it. What happened to the woman who was keeping her locked up? Why? WTH was that about? (NT) -- kgp, Sat, January 21 2023, 7:47:23
      • I forget about him turning coat and I think that will be a big part of the next book. I really want the Greys to become Americans. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, January 22 2023, 12:23:43
  
  

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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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  • This is one of the quotes that makes BJR the worst monster. We’ve discussed Bonnett vs BJR for many years. Bonnett is evil, no doubt, and doesn’t hide it. BJR “seems” to be a British OFFICER AND GENTLEMAN but he’s not only evil, he enjoys it. The more he breaks his victim the greater his pleasure. I do not have any sympathy for the idea his other brother created that monster. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, January 22 2023, 3:52:26
  
  

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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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  • Great quote! This time when I read it, Jenny’s comment “the lad kens his job” struck me . Today I realized it’s because she saw Rachel’s eyes keep following him. Diana’s subtle writing and our discussions of it over the years, really has me impatient and not reading a lot of other authors. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, January 20 2023, 4:24:15
    • I understand. Bad writing makes me crazy - I have no patience for it. I had to read Bridgerton for a book club and wanted to scream. (NT) -- kgp, Fri, January 20 2023, 10:37:34
  • Love this. I can do next week if no one is signed up. (NT) -- Janet, Fri, January 20 2023, 10:37:54
    • That’s great, Janet! Thank you ❤️. I love our quotes and comments. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, January 20 2023, 11:42:12
    • Thank you! Very much appreciated 💜 (NT) -- kgp, Sat, January 21 2023, 8:11:08
  
  

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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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  • I’m so glad for our QOTD for reminding me of stuff in the later books. I didn’t remember who this was until the last sentence. And then, duh - of course. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, January 19 2023, 4:55:45
    • The same for me, Kathy in PA. I've read the first 4 numerous times, but the subsequent ones, esp. Fiery Cross, far fewer. Thanks for bringing us all back, kgp. (NT) -- DianaH, Thu, January 19 2023, 9:25:01
  
  

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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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  • I really enjoyed Henri-Christian’s parts of the stories, until the end of course. We really got to know how precarious it was to be different back then and how a loving family literally saved and/or protected them from society. It felt like Fergus’ horror at what his life might turn out to be makes his death bearable. For me, another subtle reference to Diana’s faith, better off in heaven. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, January 19 2023, 5:01:01
  
  

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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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  • Eerie scene. (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, January 18 2023, 11:50:03
  • This is the one that makes me wonder. Is Roger imagining what happened or could happen? Is that blue glow Buck - if he impregnated his mother? The time travel thing of not existing at the same time; like when Roger got bounced back? (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, January 19 2023, 4:53:37
  
  

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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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  • Mess or not, you picked a pretty hot quote, kgp! (NT) -- DianaH, Tue, January 17 2023, 8:22:36
    • Oh yes! I forgot this one. For so long Roger and Bri were strained, it’s so nice to see them trusting, connecting and in love. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, January 19 2023, 4:50:51
  
  

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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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  • Just like everything else, Diana writes it realistically. Unless it’s a c section most babies don’t come out Gerber Baby cute. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, January 13 2023, 5:43:32
    • You are absolutely right! After going through the "Play Doh Fun Factory," it takes a bit of time until they start to look like appealing. (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, January 13 2023, 10:08:50
      • OMG Play Doh factory. 🤣🤣🤣 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, January 14 2023, 15:29:59
  
  

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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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  • This still gives me goosebumps 😊 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, January 14 2023, 15:28:36
  
  

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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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  • “buttocks clenched with determined zeal”. Lol. The line I quote from this scene. I think of it when someone mentions a leaky roof. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, January 12 2023, 4:21:59
  • I often scolded my DH for doing things he shouldn't, like adding chlorine to the pool, while wearing a good clothes. He never stripped down to spite me though! LOL! (NT) -- DianaH, Thu, January 12 2023, 10:34:27
    • And how many white polka dotted clothes does he have? 🤣 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, January 13 2023, 5:41:42
      • Too many!!! (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, January 13 2023, 9:56:39
  
  

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• Happy Birthday, Diana!!! -- Judie, Wed, January 11 2023, 13:23:29
  .
  .
  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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  • I swear I can recite these by heart. I reread the first four books at least 4 times each; but from then on I don’t remember as well. Might just be my age too. Lol. I’ve been reading them since 1999. I’m loving your week, Cindy. ❤️👍 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, January 11 2023, 4:15:57
    • Kathy in PA, same with me! I've read the first 4 many times. I struggled with FC. (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, January 11 2023, 10:00:57
  
  

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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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  • I've always loved this bit. Is you theme penises and the trouble they get into??? (NT) -- Janet, Mon, January 09 2023, 10:14:35
    • Wouldn't that be an awesome chapter title - "The Trouble with Penises." ROFL! (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, January 09 2023, 10:36:06
      • That’s hysterical Diana!! It is a great title 🤣🤣🤣. And couldn’t we all add a bit. Lol (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, January 10 2023, 13:11:07
    • No, but it would be a fun theme! I’ve been listening to Drums and just choosing some random quotes. (NT) -- CindyG, Mon, January 09 2023, 19:00:11
  
  

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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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  • Thanks for doing the quotes, Cindy!! Drums is right up at the top for my favorite and these quotes are the best. I’ve thought of each of them SO many times over the years when life would remind me of them. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, January 10 2023, 13:09:23
  
  

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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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  • An inducement to harlots, and most of us here at the Broch! LOL (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, January 09 2023, 10:34:45
  
  

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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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  • No worries. Life happens. We'll survive! Here's hoping your stress fades away and life returns to an even keel! (NT) -- Janet, Sat, January 07 2023, 10:45:50
  
  

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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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  • I did, I did, I did love your QOTDs. And feel an affinity to the moon even though my tides no longer rise. I think of that second paragraph often when I’m looking at the moon. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, December 24 2022, 11:42:38
  
  

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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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  • It’s just coming in here now. From 50 last night to zero by morning. Not a lot of snow or ice though, thank goodness. This was a sweet ending to Outlander but I was able to go directly to DIA. I was dumbstruck when that opened with Claire and 20 year old Brianna knocking on the manse door. I almost threw the book. Lol. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, December 23 2022, 15:43:18
    • I started "the books" when there was just Outlander, and thought the story ended here..... (NT) -- Janet, Sat, December 24 2022, 4:51:36
      • It really could have but I’m so glad it didn’t. I found them when Fiery Cross came out so I read 5 without waiting. It was heaven. But that first shock of how she jumps back and forth almost killed me. Stay warm and cuddle up wherever you are ❤️ 😊 LOL!! for us not laughing out loud. We really do rule. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, December 24 2022, 11:38:56
  
  

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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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  • I love the animals in the books. Even they are written with such personalities that I think of them. Sue W’s Lally Ornament this year is Blue, the lumpkin’s dog that Jamie rescued after his owner “ahem,……died.” I wish we could post pictures because she captured him perfectly. Even though he’s a minor character he means something. Not to even mention Rollo! The white sow, the various horses, Jenny and the Swedish lady’s goats. It’s obvious Diana is an animal lover. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, December 22 2022, 4:20:01
    • That's interesting. I've never done lallyornaments. I have no crafting skill other than simple knitting. SueW is so talented! Blue coming to the Ridge is strange. Did he follow Jamie? Is it a sign of forgiveness? Is it Frances' need of a companion that called him? (NT) -- kgp, Thu, December 22 2022, 19:09:06
  
  

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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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  • Sweet. A lovely hump day quote - I kind of forgot about that. A nice tradition to revive. 💥 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, December 22 2022, 4:13:26
  
  

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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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  • There's little more special than receiving a gift that shows the giver truly knows you. (NT) -- DianaH, Tue, December 20 2022, 10:40:09
  
  

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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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  • No matter the circumstance, Tom takes his duties very, very seriously. I think I need a Tom Lol (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, December 18 2022, 2:16:25
    • Me too, Kathy in PA! Tom is ready for anything. (NT) -- DianaH, Tue, December 20 2022, 10:37:35
  
  

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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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  • Is your theme wedding gifts? I wish they had used this in the TV show. (NT) -- kgp, Mon, December 19 2022, 10:00:48
    • Not exactly wedding gifts, just gifts in general. At this time of year, many people are planning, making, purchasing, wrapping, etc. and it seemed like fun to do a gifts theme. (NT) -- Janet, Mon, December 19 2022, 10:03:17
      • Nice theme, Janet. Gifts come in so many different ways. My other group, Outlandish Voices, got permission from Diana and commissioned a ring to be like Claire’s. I’ve been wearing mine for years, it’s about worn smooth, but it’s a very precious Outlander touchstone. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, December 19 2022, 18:23:35
  • Great theme! I’m listening to Fiery Cross and just finished where Jamie gives Claire the posy and Adso. (NT) -- CindyG, Mon, December 19 2022, 21:57:34
  
  

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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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  • Munroe was such an interesting character. (NT) -- kgp, Mon, December 19 2022, 9:59:38
  • I learned about gaberlunzies from Munro. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, December 19 2022, 18:24:57
  
  

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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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  • It is funny to remember, but I’m SURE I’d have an apoplexy on the spot if I saw a mama spider and a slew of babies run out of my bananas. 😵 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, December 16 2022, 5:14:11
    • Both of my kids (32 & 28) would undoubtedly set their houses on fire if this happened to them! (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, December 16 2022, 9:33:46
  • I'll do next week if no one else has it...got a theme in mid! (NT) -- Janet, Fri, December 16 2022, 10:59:53
    • Thank you! Looking forward to that. (NT) -- kgp, Fri, December 16 2022, 14:02:11
    • Great! They’re fun to try to figure out. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, December 16 2022, 18:57:18
  
  

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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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  • I love Tom. I think he's the charm. (NT) -- kgp, Thu, December 15 2022, 8:32:14
    • Like “the angels among us”. I think you’re right! (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, December 16 2022, 5:11:24
  
  

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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
    • It does! Thank you, I knew just where to come. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, December 13 2022, 18:20:07
      • I found cups at the dollar store that have holly and red ribbon picture on them and sat “Blessings”. A dollar each and I’m going to put (free) pine and holly in them. Im (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, December 14 2022, 18:32:49
  
  

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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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  • Love these bits of comic relief! Can't you just picture it happening??? (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, December 14 2022, 12:34:19
    • Yes! Last night a wobbly spider dropped down on the island right as we were eating. He couldn’t seem to go back up his thread so we put him in a plant. I don’t like spiders because they run so fast, but I respect them and don’t kill them. Love, love, love Tom and John. Great week, Cindy!! ❤️ (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, December 14 2022, 18:29:54
  
  

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• 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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  • Poor Tom. He's certainly had adventures he never would have if he'd stayed on as a boot boy. He's very brave and devoted. (NT) -- kgp, Tue, December 13 2022, 7:00:29
    • And he’s like a son to LJ. First he’s a little irritated at him but then realizes Tom is acting out of deep concern and practical care. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, December 13 2022, 8:13:50
  
  

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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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  • How fascinating it must have been to encounter "a red Indian!" (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, December 12 2022, 13:22:59
    • Yes! Tom is so innocently fascinated with the things and people he meets with Lord John. In a couple words, he was eyeing Grey in particular with intent consideration, Diana let me know the gaydar is alive and well. Manoke was an enjoyable “mushroom.” (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, December 12 2022, 17:16:37
  
  

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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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  • As this all came to a head I was so glad but still very confused how it all managed to work out. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, December 11 2022, 3:22:30
  • The relief, the joy, in seeing Jem come running! (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, December 12 2022, 13:23:40
  
  

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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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  • I never get tired of the Tom and John parts - of the stories! - as I read that I realized Diana’s “parts” are often of the private nature. Lol. But don’t you just love the conversations and caring? (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, December 11 2022, 3:26:05
  • LJG and Tom are such a great pair. I wonder about the electric eel party. What would that have felt like? (NT) -- kgp, Sun, December 11 2022, 4:36:01
  
  

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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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  • It’s amazing how Diana can show utterly impossible relations develop. Buck got Roger hanged! And they’ve become allies! This implausible turn of events is totally believable and totally heart rending. Taking Buck out of my 21st C mindset, he was a good guy, not a jealous angry man. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, December 09 2022, 4:03:09
    • Excellent points, Kathy in PA. (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, December 09 2022, 7:24:29
  
  

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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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  • I think we’re building up to Mandy and Jem being “super” travelers because of two TT genes. She sure has her grandma’s nerve and confidence too. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, December 09 2022, 4:05:25
    • Master Raymond and the Compte seem to be super travelers. Makes me wonder if either of them is going to pop up. (NT) -- kgp, Fri, December 09 2022, 4:33:51
  
  

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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 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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  • Nearly a man at 14, how times have changed. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, December 07 2022, 4:10:12
    • I know - ready to hold a man's job, possibly a family. (NT) -- kgp, Wed, December 07 2022, 7:09:08
  • It's interesting that Jamie always thought the child would be a boy. He & Claire discuss this during their reunion in Voyager. "Nearly a man" at 14 in those times. (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, December 07 2022, 9:42:39
  
  

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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   Edited 1 time.
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  • This was so weird. Am I wrong in thinking Buck slept with Geillis? Obviously he doesn’t know she’s his mum, but does she? The Dr. McEwen story is puzzling to me too. I’m so glad he helped Roger but where is he? Thanks for the quotes! (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, December 07 2022, 4:09:16
    • I don't think he did, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a close call. She initiated it and he stopped when she put his hand in a moist place. (NT) -- kgp, Wed, December 07 2022, 7:08:20
  
  

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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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  • “What news from the underworld, Persephone?” I laugh at this one every time too! My grandparents had an outhouse and I always thought it was kind of neat - you know “roughing it”. Lol. I wonder if Ian and William ever recall this moment. They started out bonded by this awful mess, but really are like circling dogs now, Cait and Janet. That’s a great image for me. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, November 27 2022, 3:48:01
    • This whole section had me in stitches! I particularly like Ian's face going blank.... (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, November 28 2022, 13:45:15
      • Just like his uncle! I wish I had that talent. Ian has been keeping his cool for a long time. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, November 29 2022, 9:10:35
  
  

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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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  • I've had the dog image with these two in the beginning as well haha, but yes, their relationship is unique and wonderful in it's way. (NT) -- Cait, Fri, November 25 2022, 17:38:10
  
  

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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
  
  

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• 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
  
  

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• 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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  • Thank you for jumping in - very much appreciated. My heart broke for Ian here. How horrible for him. (NT) -- kgp, Tue, November 22 2022, 14:56:44
  • I’ve been given that advice a lot lately in a yoga class and a book I’m reading. And of course then it gets tied in with Outlander somehow to reinforce it - lol “what would Claire do?” Just keep breathing, slow and steady, through whatever gets thrown at you. I totally second kgb’s thanks for jumping in! (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, November 23 2022, 2:51:10
  
  

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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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  • I would love to know if we'll see Lionel again. He was truly a Godsend for Bree and the kids. I wonder if he knows about TT. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, November 21 2022, 11:17:19
    • I’d like to! But I wonder who would go forward for that t happen? Jem and or Mandy seem most likely, that would be ironic. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, November 23 2022, 2:45:19
  
  

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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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  • Eerie, but kind if cool. I sincerely hope Diana is done hurting Jamie. (NT) -- kgp, Sat, November 19 2022, 4:59:24
    • kgp, I agree! Our man has suffered enough. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, November 21 2022, 11:13:24
  • I believe these auras exist and the “sixth sense” that some people have but I don’t think everyone is open to sensing or seeing it. Claire has the healing glow for sure and I like to read about Claire’s. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, November 19 2022, 9:07:46
  
  

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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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  • Now I just read today’s QOTD after answering yesterday. Thank you for pulling out these scenes, Cindy. As Diana said about the gem connections, the story has gotten so long I’ve forgotten parts and love savoring these daily snippets. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, November 18 2022, 4:56:38
  • Interesting - it seems she almost borrows the strength from Young Ian. (NT) -- kgp, Fri, November 18 2022, 8:10:22
    • Ian’s been through so much too but sure he has enough strength to help anybody anytime - like his fathers. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, November 19 2022, 9:15:24
  
  

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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   Edited 1 time.
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  • Done! (NT) -- PiperMom, Fri, November 18 2022, 12:44:27
  
  

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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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  • Diana writes about Claire’s powers of healing and her sense of being and oneness with the body so well. I’ve been encouraged to read “The Power of Now” and some parts about getting in (simple) touch with yourself remind me of Claire. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, November 18 2022, 4:52:55
  
  

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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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  • CindyG, great week of Claire's amulet and healing powers. You're clever to pull these together for us. (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, November 16 2022, 9:37:42
  
  

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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
  
  

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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 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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  • Can’t even imagine Roger’s emotions here. Talking to your parent when they are younger than you. Knowing what’s coming and having to keep it in. Wanting to just hug and laugh and feel joy and tell Jerry everything, but knowing it’s totally impossible (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, November 12 2022, 4:28:19
    • Such an amazing range of emotions. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, November 14 2022, 11:04:31
  
  

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• 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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  • I love sapphires. I don't think it makes me fearless. (NT) -- kgp, Sun, November 13 2022, 15:24:37
  • Sapphires are beautiful! I have white hair, not totally yet, but understand what Nayawene is saying now more than when DOA came out. I do feel older and a little more wiser/empathetic now; in a good way. So far menopause is great 😉 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, November 14 2022, 4:17:03
  
  

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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 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
    • Me too! Joe had me at “The Impetuous Pirate.” Lol (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, November 12 2022, 4:29:29
  
  

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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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  • I’m always in awe how most of our characters keep their wits about them in situations that are very unexpected. Stay calm, don’t blurt out an answer, show confidence, don’t get defensive - you know - mental survival skills. I, on the other hand, am like a deer in the headlights. Wide eyed and frozen. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, November 12 2022, 4:25:14
  
  

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• 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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  • That horrible feeling when your guts turn to water. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, November 09 2022, 19:18:21
    • But now I want a puppy to name Eevis. (NT) -- kgp, Thu, November 10 2022, 5:44:37
  
  

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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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  • Food, friends, and safety were just what Bree needed. Thank God for the Abernathys! (NT) -- DianaH, Tue, November 08 2022, 10:24:36
  
  

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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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  • Reminds me of Jamie calling up Claire in those cold lonely times. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, November 06 2022, 11:03:16
  
  

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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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  • I’m so glad you did the follow up meetings because I was dreading reading the first one between them. What a horrible, horrible set of misunderstandings. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, November 06 2022, 11:01:21
  
  

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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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  • Oooo, Kel, you're a Clever Lass for lining up these different meetings! I hadn't thought about Roger being in and connections in three different time periods. I do enjoy him seeing bits of his own family in Brian. (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, November 04 2022, 12:23:11
  • What a great week. I love how you pulled these critical meetings and put them together. I do agree that RR isn’t my Roger, the dark haired pirate at the music festival is ❤️ ) but he does bring him to life. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sat, November 05 2022, 10:41:05
  
  

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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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  • I had a small eye surgery so I can’t read or write well yet. Kel, love your quotes and that you’re doing QOTD. I’m usually more chatty- thanks 😊 ❤️ (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, November 04 2022, 12:00:13
  • Chocolate is the answer, even when I don't know what the question is!!! Loving these "meeting" quotes, Kel. I'm glad you didn't split these up. It's so much better to see them together. (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, November 04 2022, 12:18:12
  
  

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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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  • I had forgotten about this meeting, Kel, thanks for posting it! As for "clever lad," I've like that expression since I first read it, and frequently use it while riding or schooling my horse, (though not in terms of potty training him!) (NT) -- DianaH, Thu, November 03 2022, 7:13:59
  
  

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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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  • Claire and ROger meet, part 2 -- Kel, Tue, November 01 2022, 17:07:05
  • Aaaahhhh Roger - my favourite character ever! *swoon* (NT) -- MariaM, Wed, November 02 2022, 9:50:15
  
  

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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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  • Kel, what a great theme! My favorite part of this scene is Roger wondering when he has last changed his shirt! (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, November 02 2022, 7:24:37
  
  

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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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  • um, make that TUESDAY Nov 1. I'm new at this LOL! (NT) -- Kel, Tue, November 01 2022, 17:43:23
  • With that description of Roger, I wouldn't want him to stop either! (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, November 02 2022, 7:23:05
  
  

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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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  • Betsy, I LOVE your stories. This whole scenario must have been hysterical. Your grandson and his friends have NO idea who they were messing with. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, October 31 2022, 10:05:31
    • I love them too! I was just laughing hysterically in my car when I got to the jumping out of the sleeping bag part. 🤣. Before that I was reading along, nodding my head and smiling - it does seem amazing sometimes that we survived those “daze!” Love your quotes too, but you could come and just tell stories any day. This story totally skewed my view of Hal. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Tue, November 01 2022, 13:15:11
  
  

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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.
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  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
    • We had a couple of Come to Jesus moments here. Once when our youngest was feeling his 15 year-old oats, and bumped me in the chest because I told him to take out the trash. He did not notice his father standing behind him, watching the whole thing. BIG TIME Come-to-Jesus. He took off, so did his father, and dad won. Kids. Love 'em or kill 'em..... or take up drinking. (NT) -- Betsy BFS, Fri, October 28 2022, 13:29:03
      • Oh Betsy, this is SO spot on - Love 'em or kill 'em or take up drinking. Sometimes all 3 are required!!! And I absolutely LOVE your handling of your grandson. (NT) -- DianaH, Mon, October 31 2022, 10:01:46
  
  

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• 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.
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
  
  
  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
    • I love that DG writes so many strong women. No swooning ladies, but the real, get-it-done-whatever-it-takes females that we recognize and/or inspire us. (NT) -- DianaH, Thu, October 27 2022, 10:03:52
  • Betsy, still waiting to hear the grandson's tale and your creative language. LOL (NT) -- DianaH, Thu, October 27 2022, 10:05:04
  
  

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• 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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  • The girls remind me of my own kids, who gave half a story, and then all would nod in agreement. It wasn't hard to figure out. They all looked like smiley-dolls, waxen faces and big, innocent eyes. (NT) -- Betsy BFS, Wed, October 26 2022, 10:47:13
    • Yup, sounds like me and my sibs growing up. When we knew we had done something that would likely land us in trouble, we'd decide on the version of the story that we'd admit to and stick to it. Of course my Mom would say, "Sure, one lies and the other two swear to it." My DS & DD did this also, LOL! (NT) -- DianaH, Thu, October 27 2022, 10:00:33
  
  

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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.
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  "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
  
  

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• 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.
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  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
  
  

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• 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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  • "Hark, the morning trump doth sound! 🤣 (NT) -- kgp, Sun, October 16 2022, 20:06:44
    • OMG - hysterical 🤣😂. Didn’t see this before I posted. And couldn’t help thinking of Jamie’s morning trumpet rising in a different way. 😉 (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, October 17 2022, 5:39:04
  • Starts out so sweetly and then gets totally real! But said with love and years of knowing each other through and through, even that’s sweet. Lol (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, October 17 2022, 5:36:19
  
  

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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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  • Despite the worries of what might come, what an incredible feeling it must have been to have them back! Such joy. (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, October 14 2022, 8:22:19
  • It’s nice to see Jamie just having some joy. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Fri, October 14 2022, 8:50:33
  
  

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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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  • Would someone remind me who Claire is examining here that she hasn't seen in a while? She certainly is never hesitant when it comes to poking, prodding, or peering! (NT) -- DianaH, Thu, October 13 2022, 8:59:15
    • Roger (NT) -- CindyG, Thu, October 13 2022, 9:44:28
      • Thanks CindyG, I should have known as it says throat. (NT) -- DianaH, Fri, October 14 2022, 8:20:45
  • She and Roger have a very special loving, respectful relationship. Imagine Claire as your MIL?!? I don’t know who’d be worse - she or Jenny - neither one minces words or opinions. Lol (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, October 13 2022, 12:06:11
  
  

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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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  • This reunion was just perfect. I've always loved Bree and Ian's relationship, mostly sibling-like with a little extra zing. I laughed when they then left Jamie to his own devices and went off hunting together. (NT) -- DianaH, Wed, October 12 2022, 9:42:34
    • Yes!!! Ian’s love for Bri helped me see a more lovable side to her. And just wait until she, Ian and William get together 😳. Hopefully it will be joyous for William too. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Wed, October 12 2022, 14:29:40
  
  

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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
      • Especially the last letter in an unfamiliar hand, possibly Young Ian? What does it say? (NT) -- kgp, Tue, October 11 2022, 13:51:33
    • 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've listened to it several times now. Roger and Jamie talk before Roger sees Jenny again and it's heart breaking when he tells Jamie the he and Bri know everything about Wentworth Prison. Jamie talks to Jenny first and then she meets Roger, again. (NT) -- kgp, Wed, October 12 2022, 8:02:22
  • 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
  
  

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• 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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  • Having children adds a whole new dimension to love and fear. (NT) -- Kathy bin PA, Mon, October 10 2022, 14:35:16
  • I remember in V after Claire finds Jamie and chaos ensues. He says he had forgotten what it was like to be afraid. (NT) -- kgp, Mon, October 10 2022, 15:35:16
  
  

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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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  • Oh, this was the BEST!!!! So happy that they’re all together again. And so many things brewing. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Sun, October 09 2022, 9:24:57
  
  

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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 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
    • I'm glad to see them shouldering some of the responsibilities that Jamie would normally assume. (NT) -- kgp, Fri, October 07 2022, 16:21:12
  
  

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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 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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  • I love the Ian and Rachel branch of the story. They know themselves and one another so well, like the two halves of a coin. (NT) -- Janet, Wed, October 05 2022, 11:44:34
  • “When he drew breath again, it tasted of peace.” Such a beautiful way to express total relief. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, October 06 2022, 3:04:27
  
  

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• 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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  • Great way to start the day - laughing at 6am - because Hal’s not circumcised. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Thu, October 06 2022, 3:02:49
  
  

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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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  • Is this Jenny? Rachel really is so endearing- I can understand his feelings. But I’m REALLY glad she loves Ian! ❤️ (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, October 03 2022, 13:51:46
    • It's Ian talking to William. A bit awkward but nice to see the cousins getting along. Some what. (NT) -- kgp, Mon, October 03 2022, 17:00:45
  
  

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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 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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  • Poor William. He reacts too quickly sometimes. It still strikes me as odd when they refer to left handedness as a bad thing. It’s intriguing to me who is left handed. (NT) -- Kathy in PA, Mon, October 03 2022, 13:50:03
  
  

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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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  • John describes him as brutally honest. Sometimes I think a bit too much so. (NT) -- kgp, Sat, October 01 2022, 16:53:46
  
  

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