Teaser Tuesday - The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon

(Spoiler alert! You may not want to read anything other than the book quotes for The Scottish Prisoner if you are still reading the first three books in Diana Gabaldon's wildly popular Outlander series: Outlander , Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager.)

It is 1760. At Helwater in England's Lake District, James Fraser, a paroled Jacobite prisoner of war, spends his days in relative peace working with horses on the Dunsany estate. He is content to be able to be close to a small son that he can not acknowledge and grieve for his wife from whom he was separated just before the battle of Culloden. Then the Irishman Tom Quinn comes to Helwater and tries to involve him in a scheme to resurrect the lost Jacobite Cause.

Meanwhile in London, Lord John Grey is enlisted by his brother Hal, Earl of Pardloe, to recover a corrupt army officer from Ireland and bring him back for court martial in London. The only problem is that the documents detailing this crime are written in "Erse", the language of the Scottish Highlanders. The one person who can help them is the Scottish prisoner, James Fraser. Will he do it in light of the complicated relationship (prisoner-jailer-friend) Fraser has with Lord John Grey?

Teaser Tuesday is described by its host, Miz B over at Should Be Reading ,as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may by your meme. To play, just click on Miz B's link above for the simple rules.


" He is still at Helwater, is he not? Will you go and ask him about Siverly?" Hal said mildly.
"No."
"No?"
"I would not piss on him was he burning in the flames of hell," Grey said politely.
One of Hal's brows flicked upward. . . "Just so," he said dryly. "The question, though, is whether Fraser might be inclined to perform a similar service for you."
"Only if he thought I might drown, " Grey said. p 22

Book description: This book is one of several off shoot stories that Gabaldon writes to expand the characters and plots of the seven books in the Outlander series. She calls it a Lord John Grey novel because it is set in the time when there was the most interaction between Lord John and Fraser. We also get more of stories of other characters, such as Fraser's young son William, who will be in all the upcoming novels. Fans of Gabaldon love all her characters and enjoy reading about them, in addition to the Jamie and Claire love story around which all the novels are written. In addition, these novels between the main Outlander books, give fans a "fix" while waiting for the next one (3-4 years) to come out!

(Photo credit: Ashness Farm, English Lake District, http://outlandishobservations.blogspot.com )

Cross & Flame

This is the steeple of the United Methodist Church in my neighborhood. I enjoy seeing this symbol of--to me--religious tolerance and inclusion in these times when faith is more of a competition. Right way, wrong way, my Jesus is better than your Jesus. The simple Protestant cross and double flame is an apt symbol of the Methodist teachings and practices. I've been on "sabbatical" from formal religion for many years. If-or when-I return to a church, this will be the one I return to.

Just for fun I played around with some Photoshop special effects. Here's steeple fresco:
Here's steeple colored pencil:

First of the Month - Mistletoe Skies

Now that most of the leaves have fallen in my neighborhood, I noticed that, in addition to the usual squirrels' nests, some trees also have bunches of mistletoe clinging to their bare branches. How timely for the December edition of Kentucky Skies monthly photos!

All year long I've been scanning the sky, camera in hand, in order to participate in a monthly photography meme that attracts aspiring photographers from all over. The idea is that we look at our surroundings and record the changes from month to month. The host for this meme is Jan at Murrieta 365 . Here's how it works: "The goal is to capture one thing repeatedly on the first day of each month. It can be a landscape, a person, an animal, a project; whatever your focus is fine. It can be a record of where you are each first day of the month." So, just in time for the holidays, here's "mistletoe skies":

I had intended to learn how to do photo mosaics before December so that I could share a year of Kentucky Skies. That's still on the to do list, so I'll just post them the old fashioned way. It's quite fun to see what was photo worthy from month to month:

November - Leaf Peeping
October - Pastel Sun Flare








September - Norwegian Skies
August - Sun Flare








July - Rocket's Red Glare
June - Great Balls of Fire







May-KY Derby Balloon Race

April - Spring Greening







March-Sycamore Sky

February- Winter Skies

January - KY Sunset

Happy Holidays to all you First of the Monthers and readers! I hope you get caught under the mistletoe some time during the season!

Watery Wednesday - More of the Leafy Creek

I'm getting a lot of photo mileage out of the small creek in the park near my home. During late October and November it has been covered with multi-colored fall leaves. Until the recent rains, the water barely flowed over the rocks in the creek bed. In this photo I liked the "marbley" reflections in the shallow water.

Want to see some more "watery" photography? Click here for the players.

A Good Old Dog

Hi guys, Willie here. I haven't been around on the Internet much in November, you may have noticed. Early in the month the Housemate and I spent a grand day at Bernheim Forest hiking and taking photos. I especially liked walking out over the tops of the trees on the observation walkway. Then on November 8 we did our civic duty and voted for a new governor. We decided to keep the old one, which was a good thing. Neither of the three running were much to brag about though.

Frankly I haven't been feeling that great lately. My hip is killing me and it gets harder and harder to get up off the floor. And there's other problems that I've forbidden the Housemate to discuss on this blog or Facebook. The worst problem is that I can no longer get up on the bed at night. And if you've never slept on the floor, you wouldn't understand how tough this is. Some nights I just wandered through the house clicking my toenails on the floor so people would know I'm not happy sleeping on a pallet by the Housemate's bed. Then yesterday look what she brought home--because I am a Good Old Dog, after all!

Man o Man! I could tell this was going to be great. Once I got used to the slight wobble, just settled in for some serious sleeping--and snoring. Best night's sleep I've had in a long time. I highly recommend one of these orthopedic beds to any of you who have Good Old Dogs.

Friday Fences - Old Codgers

Here you have the two old codgers, Willie and Cooper the yellow lab, taking part in a daily ritual. Willie is 15 + and Cooper is probably 13 years old. Every day on our walks through the park they look for each other. When Cooper spies us even from far across the park he runs to his back fence and waits for us. They run up and down the fence together, pausing to chat or have a little leg-lifting contest. I have no idea what they have to talk about. Maybe their golf game, politics, or their prostate? Whatever, they look forward to these visits and I love to watch them.

Now, even though Janis ,our host for Friday Fences, is in charge of the Day 2 Thanksgiving feast, she's still ready to see some new fences. When you've done your Black Friday shopping and had some leftovers from yesterday's Thanksgiving dinner, be sure and stop by her place for the list of players. She may even offer you a piece of pie!

Giving Thanks

A lot to be thankful for today-health, home, nature's beauty,and good friends. Happy Thanksgiving to all my blog friends. I appreciate and enjoy you so much.