abbey

I always thought that Claire might have picked up some of her knowledge on plants and their curative (or harmful) properties during her travels with Uncle Lamb. They would have spent a fair amount of time in rather isolated locations where proper medical care was not readily available. So some of the care would have required local healers to use the available plants. Presumably she learned from the local healers.

as far as the servants overhearing Jamie and Claire's discussions, this was addressed by Diana Gabaldon over on the compu-serve forum she frequents. She says that there has been a whole lot of jacobite gossip going on for years and it truly wouldn't be of interest to the servants. Personal gossip would be of interest (i.e. suzette mentioning to Murtagh that there was no sex happening between Jamie and Claire). But political gossip would not be of interest so they wouldn't be paying attention. In addition it was mentioned in a previous episode that they were loyal to Jarod, so presumably that loyalty would extend to his relatives.

Thanks Laurie for the explanation. Wow....that is scary that a writer could have come up with that scenario and that they were actually considering it. I don't mind some changes from the book but the thought of that scene being filmed is terrifying to me. So far out of left field and would have totally skewed the whole BJR/Jamie story line. Thank goodness they listened to Diana!

I did not read what was originally intended for Black Jack and Jamie in episode 15 Grashka. Could you share what was originally planned (and what Diana argued against? Thanks.

I have the same hope Petunia! I had the same hope for book 6 of Harry Potter (the Half Blood Prince) which I thought had the best opening chapter ever I was most disappointed when they didn't use it (and I still think it would have been a better opening lol). I will take some consolation if they open season 2 the way Grashka said (don't know how to do spoiler tags) because that will still be a bit of a surprise for the show only fans, but I would prefer it to be exactly as written.

I would love to see Kate back. But how on earth could they handle that? She was shot and we last saw her on a slab in autopsy. I hope they bring her back if only to see how they would explain her reappearance.

As a Catholic I have met Christians who didn't think I was truly a Christian because they believed Catholics worship Mary and pray to statues. This seems to be a common belief among the more fervent fundamentalists. I don't know if Jill and Derek hold this opinion but I would not be surprised.

This show fascinates me, what with all the remote safe houses they are finding along with the tunnels that seem to be everywhere they look. I agree that it appears Hitler did truly did in Berlin. So what is the take on all of this supposed evidence they discovered? They have gone to Spain, the Canary Islands, Argentina. Is all this evidence just of other nazis who sped off after the war ended? I know these kind of shows amp up the drama of all their discoveries, but it does appear something was going on what with all the tunnels and their discoveries on the Canary Islands. I am wondering if anyone has any theories on this?

I love your imagination Dust Bunny. An ending like that would be even more angst inducing than the ending where we see Jamie in the window about to rescue Claire from the hands of BJR only to have to wait months to see how said rescue went. I had read the books multiple times so I knew pretty much how it would go but it still had me on the edge of my seat.

As far as Kim eating her placenta I heard somewhere (maybe on the View?) that she will have it made into pills and consume it that way.

I enjoy this show at least partly because I enjoy the lengths the narrator goes to try and convince us that the latest dig, scuba diver, etc. is going to discover something BIG! My skepticism meter is on high at all times but I can still enjoy it for the lenthgs they are going to in order to find something. So far the Holy Grail has supposed to have been there, the Knights templar have stopped by, now there are Portoguese sailors stopping by? Or do I have that confused with Hunting Hitler. Either way I keep on watching without any high expectations.

Loved Murtagh standing up to Dougal in that deleted wedding scene. I haven't bought the DVD's yet but I think i better get on it so I can watch some of those deleted scenes. Sure wish they had kept that part of the scene with Jamie, Murtagh,Douglal and Ned in.

next to the print shop scene we must have Marsalis's and Fergus's wedding in Voyager season 3. That scene (and Father Fogden) is priceless lol. I agree that some of those wild adventures on the seas, Margaret Campbell's scenes could be condensed or even eliminated. But keeping my fingers crossed that Fergus and Marsalis's wedding can be included. The print shop scene is a given of course.

I read on facebook that the red dress in the trailer isn't "THE red dress" Supposedly they are still keeping that under wraps for now. I, for one, would prefer to wait and see it for the first time in the actual episode.

I just saw an announcement on facebook (from Jill and Derick's blog) that Jill is now a certified professional midwife. Apparently she passed whatever test she needed to pass. Derick says she is now Jill Dillard CPM. Heaven help us.

I love the Lord John books also. You might like the Scottish Prisoner if you haven't already read it. That stars both Lord John and Jamie.

Actually the Catholic church did not get rid of Purgatory. You don't hear it mentioned much unless you go to a really conservative Catholic church, but it is still a belief in the Catholic Church. The Act of Contrition before Holy Communion is only sufficient if you have no mortal sin on your soul. If you have a mortal sin (cheating on your spouse for example) you must go to confession before receiving Holy Communion as you aren't in a state of grace.

I watched the story about the 1100 pound woman previously and just today saw an interview with her. She had the surgery and is now down to 250 lbs. She looks great. Dr. Now would like her down around 180 lbs and she is working on it.

In defense of the show's depiction of a breech birth, I was a breech baby born naturally, no c-section. Granted I was a small baby, but breech babies can be born without without any major issues and without a c-section.

I just watched it on Demand, and I also had the closed captioning on. Closed captioning showed he said Laoghaire when asked by Claire who would have put the ill wish under their bed. I too did not find the strapping scene comedic. I had read on line that some at Paley fest found it comedic, and that bothered me. I was happy to see it treated seriously. I was surprised that Colum apparently was planning to make Jamie his successor? Not sure why they thought that change was necessary but perhaps we will find out more in future episodes.

Just want to add my congratulations wanderwoman and mention that I was born weighing just a little over 3 lbs back in 1951. No fancy nicu's, just an incubator, a lot of good care, and prayers. I did just fine. Slight speech impediment solved with therapy, and an strong aversion to math :-) Will keep Maisie and you in my prayers.

I just read her blog (well at least part of it) and it turns out for a least a while she was teaching English as a second language in Korea. It was apparently right after she graduated from college, so it was a while ago, but she did do something with herself besides dance.

Apparently my knee surgery is wreaking havoc with my few remaining brain cells! Thank you Ava for the clarification :-)

Sorry! I forgot Dragon Fly in Amber started out in the 1940's and then went back to Claire and Jamie, Culloden etc. Yes it wouldn't mess up the timeline of the books and might make for an interesting and intriguing ending for those who don't know what happened next.

Having the first season end up with Claire back with Frank and a baby would seriously mess with the timelne of the first two books. Hopefully they will find another way to do a cliff hanger ending. They did rather well with the episode 8 cliff hanger. Let's hope they are equally good with episode 16.