2008 is nearly over...let's laugh lots in 2009

Wishing you ALL a very very Happy New Year...thought I would end this year with a blog that will make you laugh out loud or at least smile!! Hugs, Esther.

Minnesota Wildflowers

The outside is covered with snow right now but that doesn't stop me from enjoying flowers!
We are blessed with many beautiful wildflowers that grow in our state. Since I got my digital camera I have had a blast taking pictures of some of them (I didn't take many nature photos previously because of the expense of film). As I am sharing about MN (okay, so I was sharing about MN but this post took a long time which rather slowed up my state reporting), I didn't think it would be complete without a section on Wildflowers. I am going to attempt to make this a usable resource. I will list each one alphabetically and add other information that I know about them.

Blue Flag Iris

Iris versicolor

It is in the Iris family. It blooms in Spring and summer.

Habitat is wet, sun or shade, edges of woodlands, lakes and rivers.

This is my original favorite flower and still the one I will name if anyone asks me what my favorite is. These do work well as a cut flower but don't really last that long. However there are many buds on one stem so when one closes another will usually open.

Canada Goldenrod

Solidago canadensis

It is in the Aster family. It blooms in the summer and fall.

Habitat is dry, sun, open fields and prairies.

Goldenrod works well in flower arrangements. It is commonly blamed for allergies but generally unjustly so.

Columbine

Aquilegie canadensis

It is in the Buttercup family. It blooms in the Spring and summer.

Habitat is dry, rocky places, open deciduous woods, shade.

It works well as a cut flower, though as with many wildflowers it needs to be treated gently. I grew up calling this honeysuckle because there are little bags of "honey" at the end of each of the tubes. My children love to collect these flowers and bite off the ends as a treat.

Common Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

It is in the Aster family. In blooms in spring, summer and fall.

Habitat is dry, sun, lawns, fields and about anywhere! :-)

This does not work well as a cut flower but go ahead and pick as many as you would like! I think nothing is sweeter that a handful of dandelions from a smiling child.

Common Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

It is in the Aster family. It blooms in Summer and Fall.

Habitat is dry, sun, deciduous woods, fields and prairies.

It does work as a cut flower. This is a medicinal herb and can be used to make tea. I have heard good reports for using it on wounds as well.

Creeping Bellflower

Campanula rapunculoides

It is in the Bellflower family. It blooms in summer and fall.

Habitat is dry, sun, fields and old homesteads.

As I recall it works fine as a cut flower but I don't think it lasts real long. It is another of my favorites! :-)

Giant Blue Hyssop

Agastache foeniculum

It is in the Mint family. It blooms in the summer. By the way, sorry the picture is not very good. I will try to get a better on next summer.

Habitat is dry, sun or shade, deciduous woods and prairies.

It works well as a cut flower. The leaves smell like black licorice and you can use it to make tea.

Harebell

Campanula rotundifolia

It is in the Bellflower family. It blooms in the summer.

Habitat is wet, sun, rocky outcroppings along rivers, meadows and prairies.

This is one of the most dainty and beautiful flowers you will find. It does work as a cut flower but has a very fragile stem.

Hepatica

It is in the Buttercup family. It blooms in the Spring. We grew up calling them Mayflowers and we loved looking for them in late April and early May.

Habitat is dry, shade, deciduous woods.
These last pretty well as a cut flower. You need pretty small vases to put them in though. :-) They are incredibly sweet flowers and they come in shades ranging from white to a deep lavender.

Hoary AlyssumBerteroa incana

It is in the Mustard family. It blooms in summer and fall.

Habitat is dry, sun, open fields, along roads and disturbed sites.
This works fine as a cut flowers. It is a common flower. It is a host plant for Cabbage butterfly catipillars.

Hoary PuccoonLithosperum canescens

It is in the Borage Family. It blooms in the Spring.

Habitat is dry, sun, rocky soils, prairies and along roads.
It is a very sweet little flower and it works fine as a cut flower.

Large-flowered BellwortUvularia grandiflora

It is in the Lily family. It blooms in the Spring.

Habitat is wet, shade, deciduous woods.
This isn't the greatest cut flower.

Large-Leaved Aster

Aster macrophyllus

It is in the Aster family. It blooms in summer and fall.

Habitat is dry, shade, deciduous woods.

It work as a cut flower.

Ox-Eye Daisy

Chrysanthemum leucanthemum

It is in the Aster family. It blooms in spring and summer.

Habitat is wet or dry, sun, fields, along roads and pastures.
It lasts well as a cut flower. There is something so very cheerful about seeing a feild of daisies!!

Purple Fringed Orchid

Habenaria psycodes

It is in the Orchid family. It blooms in the summer.

Habitat is wet, sun, grassy marshes, damp woodland borders, prairies.

It has not been cultivated and thus won't grow in a garden. It should never be picked or transplanted.

Red Clover
Trifolium pratense

They are in the Pea or Bean Family. They bloom in Spring, Summer and Fall.

Habitat is wet or dry, sun, old fields and pastures.

They work fine as a cut flower. (To put in vases.)

Spotted Knapweed

Centaurea maculosa

It is in the aster family. It blooms in summer and fall.

Habitat is dry, sun, fields, along roads.

It does not work that well as a cut flower. It is considered a noxious weed but that doesn't stop it from still being pretty.

Spreading DogbaneApocynum androsaemifolium

It is in the Dogbane family. It blooms in the summer.

Habitat is dry, sun, along roads and edges of deciduous woods.

This is a close relative of the milk weed and also has a milky substance in it's stem.

Trillium, Large flowered

Trillium grandiflorum

They are in the Lily family. They bloom in the spring. They are incredibly beautiful!!

Habitat is rich moist woodlands, deciduous woods.

They last forever as a cut flower, but I shouldn't know. I found out afterwards that they are protected as they have a hard time coming back if they have been picked.

Violet

Viola

It is in the violet family. It blooms in Spring and Summer.

Habitat is wet, cool shade, rich deciduous woods.

This is a beautiful little flower that lasts nicely and looks so sweet in a little vase.

Wild Bergamot

Monarda fistulosa

This is part of the mint family. It blooms in the summer.

Habitat is dry, sun, fields, prairies, deciduous sunny woods, along roads.

This lasts well as a cut flower. It also has a neat scent. When reading I found out that this mint's oil is an essential ingredient in Earl Grey tea.

Wild Rose
Rosa spp.

Wood Anemone

Anemone quinquefolia

It is in the Buttercup famly. It blooms in the spring.

Habitat is dry, shade, openings and edges of deciduous woods.

This is a very common flower that is fun to see blooming all over in the spring. It does well in a little vase.

Creeping Charlie

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These flowers below are ones I am not sure about. If you know I would love to have you tell me!

This is part of the Rosa family. (In fact the various roses do a lot of interbreeding so who knows exactly what species it is.) It starts blooming around June and blooms some throughout the summer.
It grows in sandy soil on the edges of woods.

It is a good cut flower. The rose hips are edible and a great source of vitamin C.

A little bit of stockinette any one?

Asalam Alaikum,
Here is an update pic of the FIL's vest-

I am trying not to take too many pics. Because of the plain stockinette it doesn't seem to be moving very quickly, and i don't want to bore anybody.

This is what is distracting me-


It is Fetching, I got a little bit of pattern envy when Lindsaywas working on this one. The first one worked up in a couple of hours, but I am trying to get the never-ending vest done, so the second is going a bit slowly.

This is just for cuteness-

Puff Pancake

This is a recipe that we have enjoyed so I thought I would share it here. It is a pretty easy breakfast recipe but it does have to bake for 25-30 minutes so it isn't an instant breakfast.

2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs

Generously grease the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie pan. In a mixing bowl combine flour, milk and eggs. Beat well. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or till puffed and golden. The picture below shows how it looks when it is puffed up but after you remove it from the oven it quickly falls down again.

To serve the pancake I made a warm raspberry sauce. It would also be good with warmed blueberry pie filling, sliced peaches or nectarines, sliced strawberries or whatever sounds good to you. Cut with a table knife. It makes 6 servings.

Exciting happenings at church

This Sunday was our first time to meet in our new building. This is happening after many years of prayer, dreaming and planning and it is an answer to our prayer. The building is not done but it has plumbing now and the pews were in place and it was warm and worked just fine! Also we had to be out of our old building because it sold. (Which is a very big praise, especially considering the market right now!)

Obviously it is not the building that is the church, it is the people, and the building doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things but we believe that God can use this building as a tool to reach more people for Him. One of the thing that really excites us about the new building is that it is handicap accessible which makes it much easier for our elderly. Also it is bigger with better class areas which allows for more activities. It is also more comfortable for fellowship times which we think is quite important. I am very eager to see how God will use this building for His Kingdom.

Some of the faces on Sunday were Keren and Tomisha.....
...Ed with a communion talk (notice, no carpet on the stage yet.)

and Irindee and Opal.

Since I had flowers coming last week for a wedding anyway I ordered some extras in order to decorate at the church building. It was a lot of fun to make it look very special for the first Sunday there.

On Saturday the old church building had to be cleaned. I went over to help after delivering my wedding flowers but they were done and getting ready to go, so instead I took pictures of my little (? no, younger) siblings doing something that wasn't really approved of for the last time.
Oh the excitement of sliding down the banister! We have no banister at the new church building.

There were some guests at church on Sunday and we plan on really using this opportunity to invite many to join us. I am excited to see what might happen.

Monday..NO SNOW

Monday morning...back to reality...going to work today and tomorrow at Safeway at Fort&FoulBay Rd..doing a store demo handing out Safeway Select Trail Mix.... come on over and say hi and 'sample' the product..it looks yummy.
Stayed home yesterday...it was a ' not going to get dressed' day for me. We all need those days every once in awhile.
Am about 1/2 way thru knitting myself a sweater...I know...you can't believe it's not a blanket I'm working on!! wonders never cease. ....but there is a blanket in the making as well but just not with the same gusto as pre Christmas.
Just looked outside...NO SNOW...YAY!! Enjoy YOUR Monday too!

Picture taken from Janis' kitchen window...and clock collage'

Not quite finished putting in the pictures that go around this clock Janis gave me for Xmas....

Xmas Morning at Janis and Colin's home....BEAUTIFUL!!