Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Milk Thistle

Back into the archives for two of the three photos posted this morning. There are so many places I am longing to get back to, but just too busy still. Eventually, this should ease - at least I hope so. With all the camera problems I am/have been having, I now discovered that my phone has stopped working. Yesterday morning, I tried and tried to get through to someone and then when I tried to phone my daughter in the afternoon, the same thing happened. Guess I will have to do a bit of Googling to see which one to buy, and then out to a store. By the way, two updates on my cameras: the Panasonic FZ1000 that has had Playback issues from the very start and has been in "repair" twice, is now being replaced. I had been told that the spare part needed would not be back till too late, so I said to send the camera back to me "unrepaired", as I needed it. However, they kept it because they said the part was going to arrive soonerI Now, the part won't be arriving till May and I am without the camera. Result - a new camera, which I sure hope works OK. I sent a very detailed description of my Nikon B700 problem about image shifting to Nikon Support. Reply said that "the jumping in the viewfinder would be the result of the prism in the viewfinder out of place." The replacement camera does it to a much lesser extent if I use the zoom lever on the side of the camera instead of the one on top. The flower in this photo is, I believe (but am not 100% sure), a Milk Thistle. On 21 September 2016, I left home in sunshine, but by the time I reached my destination south of the city, at the Saskatoon Farm, it was overcast and dreary. This interesting place is maybe a 20-minute drive SE from the southern edge of Calgary. You can collect your own Saskatoon berries in season, look around their outside green houses, and their inside gift shop full of unusual things, and buy special baking, jams, teas and so on. They also have a restaurant that offers great food - I had a delicious meal of quiche and sweet potato fries. www.saskatoonfarm.com/

On the Internet, I saw a couple of photos of flowers just like this one, that were identified as Purple Star Thistle, Centaurea calcitrapa, but lots of photos of a different plant that had this name. So, I don't think I do have the right name. Could it be Silybum marianum? Yes, I think that is what it probably is - also called Milk Thistle. Anyway, I thought it was a beautiful plant, though the purple flower was on its last legs. Taken on 28 September 2013, when I spent a most enjoyable few hours at the Saskatoon Farm with my youngest daughter and two members of the photography group that she leads. It's a fascinating place to visit, maybe 20 minutes' drive south from the southern edge of Calgary, with all sorts of things to photograph, a gift shop, a food shop, and a restaurant that offers delicious food! I love their quiche. So nice to just wander at leisure and have lunch together. This was the very first time that I had driven there, though I had been with various friends maybe three or so times before. So, that's one more place I can now drive to, which feels good. "Silybum marianum (milk thistle) is an annual or biannual plant of the Asteraceae family. This fairly typical thistle has red to purple flowers and shiny pale green leaves with white veins. Originally a native of Southern Europe through to Asia, it is now found throughout the world. The medicinal parts of the plant are the ripe seeds. Other common names for this species include blessed milk thistle, Marian Thistle, Mary Thistle, Saint Mary's Thistle, Mediterranean milk thistle, variegated thistle and Scotch thistle. "Milk thistle has also been known to be used as food. Around the 16th century the milk thistle became quite popular and almost all parts of it were eaten. The roots can be eaten raw or boiled and buttered or par-boiled and roasted. The young shoots in spring can be cut down to the root and boiled and buttered. The spiny bracts on the flower head were eaten in the past like globe artichoke, and the stems (after peeling) can be soaked overnight to remove bitterness and then stewed. The leaves can be trimmed of prickles and boiled and make a good spinach substitute or they can also be added raw to salads." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silybum_marianum www.saskatoonfarm.com Posting really early today as it's the annual High River Christmas Bird Count, half an hour's drive south of Calgary. Unfortunately, there is a Wind Alert in place, for winds up to 100 km! I would imagine all the birds will be hiding in hidden, sheltered places. Will be interesting. I think it's only -1C at the moment - snow forecast for late today. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On the Internet, I saw a couple of photos of flowers just like this one, that were identified as Purple Star Thistle, Centaurea calcitrapa, but lots of photos of a different plant that had this name. So, I don't think I do have the right name. Could it be Silybum marianum? Yes, I think that is what it is - also called Milk Thistle. Anyway, I thought it was a beautiful plant, though the purple flower was on its last legs. Taken on 28 September 2013, when I spent a most enjoyable few hours at the Saskatoon Farm with my youngest daughter and two members of the photography group that she leads. It's a fascinating place to visit, with all sorts of things to photograph, a gift shop, a food shop, and a restaurant that offers delicious food! I love their quiche. So nice to just wander at leisure and have lunch together. This was the very first time that I had driven there, though I had been with various friends maybe three or so times before. So, that's one more place I can now drive to, which feels good. "Silybum marianum (milk thistle) is an annual or biannual plant of the Asteraceae family. This fairly typical thistle has red to purple flowers and shiny pale green leaves with white veins. Originally a native of Southern Europe through to Asia, it is now found throughout the world. The medicinal parts of the plant are the ripe seeds. Other common names for this species include blessed milk thistle, Marian Thistle, Mary Thistle, Saint Mary's Thistle, Mediterranean milk thistle, variegated thistle and Scotch thistle." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silybum_marianum www.saskatoonfarm.com