"QUEEN MARY'S GARDEN" © 2019 - Blocks 32, 33, 34 and ROW 3

While Queen Mary was away in France, a real stew was beginning to boil over in Scotland.  Her step-brother (older, illegitimate) had been acting the King during the latter period of Marie de Guise's Regency.  Mary's mother had counsel, and interference, from her de Guise brothers, powerful men in the French court.

Also, England was trying to weedle the Protestant faith into Scotland.  There were some Scots, especially around Edenborough, that were fine with this choice.  France and Scotland were both Catholic nations and allies against the English.

England's previous king, Henry VIII, had been Catholic until he wanted to divorce his wife.

Mary made the dangerous journey home, not encountering the British, feeling confident that she could gain control and fulfill her destiny to be the rightful ruler.  She wanted a strong, independent Scotland.  Some wanted Scotland to be Catholic and some were open to John Knox and the Protestant movement from England.

Mary might have been open to both religions, just as long as she herself could practice Catholicism. 

There was also opposing political pressure for Mary, a widow, to marry again.

Let's finish the THIRD ROW!

Blue Diamond

Barlowe Scuppernong

Lumos Posie

Dianthus Carnation was blogged on 05/11/20.

Country Rose was blogged on 02/26/20.

Baby Blue Eye was blogged on 03/22/20.

Concorde Pear was blogged on 03/22/20.

There has been some cozy quilting weather here in NW Alabama...very chilly.  This has made for the perfect time to be inside stitching and decorating Christmas trees.

Next time I am going to share my initial thoughts on the border.  I have come up with several ideas, but I am now leaning toward an unusual border actually seen on another tapestry in the collection.

In Stitches,

Teresa   :o)

On another thread...

Am I the last person on the planet to have discovered the "Outlander" series of books by Diana Gabaldon???  The first book of the series was published in 1991.  I think I must have been under a rock or something.  I was too busy reading Dr. Seuss, "Little Bear," and "Good Night Gorilla" aloud to my daughter...followed by all the Harry Potter books, etc.

There are eight of the planned ten books available now, with number nine hopefully coming out in early 2021.  Gabaldon has certainly been slow about dribbling them out...her impatient fans call themselves "draught-landers," LOL.  She has done a lot of time-consuming historic research for these books, which gives a realistic frame to the unusual storyline.

I started listening to the books on Audible almost a year ago.  These books are of the historical fiction genre.  There's a GREAT storyline and the characters are AWESOME (some are hot, hot, hot, hot, hot).  Settings are from Scottish history from the mid-1700s, English WWI history from the mid-1900s, French history from before the Revolution, and American history, both from colonization thru the Revolutionary War and the late 1960s/early 1970s.  Wowza!

Don't worry if you aren't a history buff...references aren't like a lecture and do more to shape the story.

Davina Porter, my favorite reader on Audible, does a great job performing the variety of voice dialects and foreign accents needed for this great adventure.  She really makes Gabaldon's great characters come alive and sound just like you would think they should.

WELL, I kept telling my husband that I thought these books would make GREAT television.  He found out that season one (basically book one) came out in 2014 as a Starz network original series.

Yahoo!  Binge watching session...

As soon as COVID-19 calms down, season six is ready to shoot (they shoot in Scotland, even for the "American" story bits.  Seasons 1-3 of the five seasons are available are Netflix (#4 on DVD and #5 on Starz).

I am glad I had read the books first.  Seasons 1-3 are fairly close to books, but don't contain some of the side characters (no time...too much fabulous content in these books).

From the books, I had very definite pictures in my brain of what Jamie and Claire looked like.  I was afraid that I would be disappointed when seeing the actors chosen for the show.

Nope.

All this Mary Queen of Scots nonsense has made me really interested in all things Scottish.  Outlander is anchored in the mid-1700s, around the time of the final Rising (against England, hoping for Scottish independence).

It's fun to think about men in kilts with dirty knees, boots, and a broad sword.