The Ruby Slippers

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you've finished chapter 23 in DRUMS OF AUTUMN.

I MUST make a prediction here. When Claire's horse threw her and she ended up spending the night under the uprooted tree... are we to assume the Indian took her shoes? I noticed that right away. She got up when the rain stopped - almost at dusk - and went up to the burning tree to get warm. And before she left, she reached around for her shoes but couldn't find them. Then when she got back from the burning tree, she reached around again - this time in the pitch black-  and found the skull, along with the opal. And then the Indian came along - watched her - and left. And then when Jamie and Ian found her, they had that CRAZY-ASSED story about hearing noises outside the window and finding her shoes on the doorstep. Um, is it me or is this ALL SORTS OF BLAIR WITCH people???????  I was TOTALLY freaked out by that story - and yet Claire seemed to "get gooseflesh" and then move on to raping Jamie and having a little grub along with her 19th swig of whiskey. (Friggin HILARIOUS scene, by the way. I loved it. And I've NEVER done anything like that. No siree. Not me.)

I suppose at this point I predict it was the Indian who took Claire's shoes - wore them to her house - and left them there - but why? So they'd find her? Was he being nice? Sounded like he was scary with his Mohawk. Then again - the Mohawks are supposedly friendly with the Indians from Anna Ooka?

Marsali Who?

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read chapter 23 in DRUMS OF AUTUMN.

I am going to start cutting and pasting email because I'm trying to read read read... and I dinna have time to type twice. I email my Outlander Mentor, Tracey quite a bit - and I need to just BLOG rather than email - so she can comment in answer. OK here is the email I sent about Marsali:


Months and years of her story are just mentioned in passing by Claire.. over the course of a few paragraphs while she's thinking back. It's hilarious. She'll go on and on about a stupid argument between Jamie and Duncan - paragraphs and paragraphs.... but then Marsali's return and CHILD are thrown in as an afterthought.

Honestly, I don't really care, as I've never formed any kind of attachment to Marsali. As much as I accepted her in Voyager, she's still the Wee Ho's daughter. Enough said.

A New Banner

Check out this new banner I whipped up (with all my amazing graphic design skills; NOT! I know I suck.) I got the original photo from my friend, Hugh, who happens be from Scotland, y'all. Born and raised. The photo is below - he sees this view from his house near Glasgow. (He calls these mountains in the background "hills" by the way.) Let me tell you something about Hugh: He's got a thick Scots accent and if he wants to mess with your head, he's tremendous at it. Ye willna understand most of the shite coming from his mouth if he lays the Scots on thick. Or worse - if he starts throwing the Gaelic around. He used to fool the wee lassies in college and speak to them in Gaelic - and the dopey girls would just bat their eyelashes at him and say "oh really?" having no clue he wasn't speaking English. It was truly comical.

Jamie Fraser Playlist Nirvana

Holy shite, Sassenachs. I've been making a few additions to the playlist tonight and I am SPEECHLESS at just how much musical goodness I found this evening. It's not in order yet; just head down to the bottom and listen to the new stuff. And make sure you read these LYRICS whilst doing so. "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) is SO Roger. I dinna think I can keep a dry eye at some of the other songs. It's like Jamie is speaking from the grave. Where that grave is, I canna be sure...

Big Country - "Look Away"

This time we run
this time we hide
This time we draw on all the fire we have inside.
We need some time to find a place
Where I can wipe away the madness from your face.
Our name is out
our name is known
Our name is everywhere
but who knows where we're flown.
I never meant to kill a man
But I will show you how to live like no one can.
So look away
look away
Hide your eyes from the land where I lie cold.
Look away
look away from the lies in the stories that were told.
Look away
look away from the love that I hide way down deep in my soul.
I met you wild in a snowed up town
When I was waiting tied and bound to be sent down.
Then I broke loose
you weren't around
So I raised banks and trains until I tracked you down.
Now look away
look away
. . .
You followed me why I said no
You lay with me when there was nowhere safe to go.
We made some friends
but now it's done
I always knew that we would never find the sun.
So look away
look away

Simple Minds - "Home"

God gave me travelling shoes, God gave me the wanderer's eye,
God gave me a few gold coins to help me to the other side.
Looked around and said: be careful how small things grow,
God gave me travelling shoes and I knew that it was time to go.

Sent in the ship at night to take me to the hidden port.
Found me the key at last to open up the prison door.
Brought down the blackbird's wings, gifted me with beggar's eyes.
Sent in the jackals to tell me I should say bye, bye, bye.

I'm home, home,
Home, home, home
And I'm home, home,
home, home, home
But I'm miles and miles and miles and miles and miles away
Where can I hide?

God gave me one last chance, gave me one last reprieve.
Jah gave me hunger, gave me the air to breathe.
Gave me one suitcase, gave me one last goodbye
Gave me travelling shoes, without them I would surely die, die, die

Home, home
Home, home, home (2x)

Miles and miles and miles and miles and miles away
Where can i go?
Where can I hide?

Susan Boyle performing "I Dreamed a Dream"

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

Steve Harley - Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)

You've done it all, you've broken every code
And pulled the rebel to the floor
You spoilt the game, no matter what you say
For only metal - what a bore!
Blue eyes, blue eyes, how come you tell so many lies?

Come up and see me, make me smile
Or do what you want, run on wild

There's nothing left, all gone and run away
Maybe you'll tarry for a while
It's just a test, a game for us to play
Win or lose, it's hard to smile
Resist, resist, it's from yourself you have to hide

Come up and see me, make me smile
Or do what you want, run on wild

There ain't no more, you've taken everything
From my believe in Mother Earth
How can you ignore my faith in everything
When I know what Faith is and what it's worth
Away, away, and don't say maybe you'll try

Come up and see me, make me smile
Or do what you want, run on wild

Buy a Castle in Scotland

Y'all... if I had $4 million smackeroos burning a hole in my pocket, you'd better BELIEVE this is the first thing I'd do with it.

Make Baltersan YOUR Scottish castle

COULD you be the next Laird of Baltersan?
The castle is for sale. If you have the vision and the passion to breathe new life into this fine Renaissance castle, now is your chance to become its keeper - and claim a grant for around 25% of the reconstruction bill.
The right buyer (individual or consortium) will be able to raise around 75% of the cost of the restoration.
A government subsidy worth nearly £500,000 (approx. $1million) has already been offered by Historic Scotland to cover the remainder.
Buying Baltersan is not an undertaking for the faint-hearted.
But much of the hard work has already been done notably:

• Historic Scotland grant offer
• Full planning consent
• Site clearance - 1,000 tonnes of soil and rubble cleared ready for final archæology, artefacts catalogued, and reusable masonry sorted and stored
• Architectural and historical research
• Exhaustive interior design sketches and architects' plans
• Possible option to purchase additional land

Click here to download Sales Brochure PDF

Jamie and the Savages: Takes One to Know One

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read chapter 15 in DRUMS OF AUTUMN.

OK Sassenachs... I am starting to get a little nervous as to the direction this book is taking. Not so much this book, but the whole series. I have mentioned my Outlander mentor, Tracey, who has told me that halfway through Drums, I'll start to see where the series is headed.  I had a hard time once they started talking about settling in the US - down south no less. (You Southerners know I love ya - but I told ya; I'm a Yank. It's in our blood to roll our eyes when hearing Jamie and Claire are going to settle anywhere south of Newark, Delaware.)

OK so anyway... cue Waltons music now, Peeps. Will Claire and Jamie be settling on Fraser Mountain, perhaps?? Na na na na na naaaaaa... "Goodnight Sassenach"... "Goodnight Scottish Bastard".

And now allow me to change gears, if you will. When I realized we were going to start having run-ins with "the savages", I sortof changed my tune about what direction this series might be taking.  Let's just say that I just stumbled on a (verra cool) site - lallybroch.com - and looked at readers' renditions of Jamie Fraser - and happened upon a picture of a fellow in some sort of suede ensem with arrows strapped to his back. At that point I closed the webpage and thought "Was that supposed to be Jamie? Or was it some random "savage"???

And that's when Kevin Costner reared his aging head in my imagination and I thought "Oh no. Oh please, God, please no."  Please dinna tell me Jamie and Claire will be running around, selling furs for wampum and coming up with names for each other like "Leaf Lover With Large Bosom" and "Red Warrior Who Canna Be Gentle About It".

And then I started pondering what will happen if Jamie and Claire settle in the garden of earthly delights... and make a home for themselves as regular old Jamie-the-former-Highlander and Claire-the-surgeon... and then the Red Coats come-a-callin and stir up trouble at their happy home. And I started having visions of Jamie having dinner with John and Abigail.... and holding the kite for Benjamin...and telling Cornwallis to kiss his not-so-wee arse... and it all became crystal clear:

:

:

:

:

:

V

                     THIS:                           is verra much like                         THIS:

 

Now run along and think on that, Sassenachs. I've got to get back to my book. Ian's still with the "savages", and something tells me it's not going to be as easy as Jamie thinks to meet him with old Mr. Third Ball in 10 days...

River Run and Bree's Great Auntie Jacosta

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have started chapter 10 in DRUMS OF AUTUMN.  

Lord I'm a sucker for familial relationships. I think this may be my first cry of Drums and thus, I feel compelled to write about it. I never expected to feel so emotional when Claire met Jacosta for the first time. But... wow. It hadn't clicked beforehand that she's Bree's blood relation. When Claire said her handshake felt like Bree's, that was it for me. My eyes got all watery and I couldn't even see the words on the page. (Reminds me a little of Bella in New Moon when she was crying and couldn't see Edward clearly. She referred to the process as "insanity". But I digress.)

This book has been absolutely beautiful so far. It truly has. When I spoke with Jenn M. at school pickup this afternoon, I said it feels like Drums is Diana's gift to us; the gift of Jamie Fraser. So far there hasn't been too much of that roller coaster feeling... (love the highs, not always crazy about the lows)... just a constant warm feeling of Jamie and Claire goodness. We all giggle about how much we love the sex scenes in all the books... but so far it's been mostly sweet remarks and loving glances. (I know, I sound like a sap, but I canna help it when we're talkin' about James Alexander Malcom Mackenzie Fraser, Sassenachs.)

OK that's it for now. I. Must. Read!!! Jenn and Shannon are pages and pages ahead of me. Someone get me away from this computer!!