Wistful Wednesday: Roots Part Two

Last week I wrote about my Great Great Grandmother Briita Liisa, my Great Grandmother Margaretta  was her second child from her second marriage. Later Briita Liisa married Johan Leinonen and they immigrated to America.

It is unclear, but from what we know they did not all travel at once.  Two adults and seven children came to America.

From Verniel : Johan immigrated to America in 1882 and established a farm in section 25 near the Crow River near French Lake Minnesota.  Briita Liisa came on February 8 1883 along with the children.  Note Kaarlo Pietari ( Charley) Leinonen was  Born February 8, 1883. (?? Was Charley born the day they arrived??)

A recollection of Great Uncle Bill…Margaretta’s youngest child: When Johan and Briita sent money to grandma Margaretta to come to Minnesota from Finland.  She told her brother Henry to go, that they would send her a another ticket.  I guess she thought that they might not send him a ticket.  So Henry arrived first.

Anyways Margretta did make it to America and joined her parents in Annandale Minnesota where she met a young man by the name of Isak Yliniemi.  They were married on November 29, 1885. Margaretta would have been 18 years old and Isak would have been 28 years old.

I have a number of old photos from Verniel:

This is a photo taken in 1930.   Margaretta and Isak my Great Grandparents are in red, their daughter Ethel in pink and the boys Bill, Levi, Joe and Charley in blue.  My Great Grandparents were parents of 13 children…only five are in this photograph.

Andrew, Matt and Maria were all half brothers and sisters of my Great Grandmother, they lived at Annandale so they were probably visiting and just before they left they took a photo.

Long ago taking a photo of visiting relatives out by their car was the thing to do.  That way they had a record of their visitors and could look back and remember the visit.

Mosquitoes

Buggers, they are out all the time.  I was hoping that our low temperatures (46 F or 7 C eh) would slow them down a bit and push the ones that are not well toward immediate death.  Did you know the females are the only ones that bite?  They need the blood to make their eggs grow.  The male dies shortly after mating but the female can live for MONTHS and lay lots of eggs…she only needs to mate once in her lifecycle. 

Far Guy has been hoping for a freeze.  Wishful thinking on his part.

How many of you do the mosquito dance?  In Minnesota that would be stomping your feet and waving your arms at the same time.  I just hate it when I swallow one..or inhale one…the dirty little buggers fly around and tickle your throat and make you gag. And why is it that they want to fly into my ears??

Mosquitoes cover poor Chances muzzle where his hair is short.  Buggers.

Darner Dragonfly

The Mosquito Hawks or Dragonflies are trying their best to eat thousands a day, but Dragonflies only live a few weeks, a month at the most when they are adults flying around eating mosquitoes.  It hardly seems fair.

We have Dragonflies in our yard, and for the first time ever a few Damselflies.

Damselflies are usually blue and very thin. They fold their wings in when they are resting.

Damselflies eat mosquitoes too!

I have just about had it with mosquitoes…I don’t know how anyone can stand it outside after dark for very long.  If you ask me between them and the Deer Flies that bite this summer has been miserable.

My stand by go to for mosquito bite relief is Absorbine Junior the licorice smelling green liquid in a bottle…as long as you don’t scratch a bite it will take the itch right out…but boy if you scratch…be prepared for it to burn.  When the grands were little we called it the “magic stuff.”

Dry years we have few skeeters, wet years like this one are horrid for skeeters. It is rumored that mosquitoes in Minnesota can be as big as birds…it is all just a rumor..or is it?

The Leaf River

The Leaf River near Wadena Minnesota is overflowing and making Leaf Lake.

As you can see it is starting to take over half of one lane on this two lane road.  This is evidence of all the rain we have had this summer.

Here you can see that the fence line is in water.

Everyone has either made hay or is making in…looks to be a good year for hay as in some places they are baling the ditches.

We went to the Flea Market near Wadena.  We got our exercise walking around.  I bought a Bobbsey Twins Book…not sure why…it was $2…that may be why… it was worth rescuing.

Projects

The Christmas ornaments are coming along, we have 55 done now…15 more to go and many of those are in progress.

We worked on some more glass flowers yesterday…this one needed a heavy copper pipe.

I wasn’t sure that this one would hold together because it is so heavy…so far so good. The red reflection is from the red bird feeder above it.  This is five pieces of glassware.

I made a display board for some bark carvings, the carving group is having a display at an event in Park Rapids tomorrow.  A display helps introduce wood carving to others who may not know how diversified our group is.

I found this perfect piece of Black Walnut out in the woodshop…imagine that!  I sanded it and put a coat of sealer on it and viola I have a display board.  I try not to look around too much out in that woodshop…oh my.

I sent out another bunch of sympathy cards…people are dropping like flies.  I need to make more sympathy cards one of these days.

So that is an update on my projects.

Glass Flowers

I started a project early in the spring.  I collected glass plates, vases and bowls.  Well I did a really good job of collecting. (Imagine that)  Then I got sick and had to put it all away.  Last week I got everything out and designed some flowers.  It was a fun project.

I wanted to share the first one.  It is a smaller four piece flower.  I have some larger ones, we are working on getting them all on heavy duty copper tubing.

I hope the squirrels don’t try to use it as a step ladder into the bird feeders.

I like that I don’t have to water or deadhead these flowers.  Thanks to Linda for sharing about her glass flowers, they were the inspiration for mine.

Twin Fawns

We have twin fawns nearby.

Mama and one twin

Here is my best shot of the twins. One was being real shy and did not come out of the woods.  The other one kept hiding behind the fence and the rocks.

Here they are all leaving…Chance was being so good and then he just had to bark.

The skeeters are horrid even in the daytime.  We had not had a skeeter problem like this in years.   I am not seeing many bees and only a few butterflies. We have a bat house up to encourage bats to inhabit our area as they eat thousands of skeeters a day.

Quilt of Valor

A few weeks ago with urging from Nancy I submitted the paperwork online for a Quilt of Valor for my husband ( Far Guy) who served in the Air Force and the North Dakota Air National Guard for a total of 26 years.

I knew the request was in the works, I spoke with the Minnesota Coordinator.  She said “We will try to get it presented before August 1st …I will let you know.” I figured I had time to organize something… a small gathering with our daughters and the grands.  I think it is important for the grands to know about service to our country and the sacrifices that Veterans make.

Things happened faster than anyone anticipated.  On Tuesday whilst I was home mowing the grass, Far Guy was at Respiratory Therapy and then went by the Museum to do some work on the High School Memory Room when the Veteran’s Service Officer walked in and presented the quilt to him!  I guess it was meant to be.

I wasn’t there to get a picture. 

I got a photo later at home.

For now we have it draped over one of the railing upstairs, so it is the first thing that you see upon entering our home.

We know that a gal by the name of Jean put the quilt together and also did the long arm quilting.  That is all we know.  What a labor of love these women have taken on.  So far 102,587 quilts have been awarded through the Quilt of Valor Program.

My husband was so pleased to be honored for his time in the military!

Wistful Wednesday : Roots

We all have roots, some are just more exposed and easier to find and comprehend than others.

Lets go back a few years to my Father’s family. Which of course takes us to Finland.

Josef Haapakangas ( my Great Great Great Grandfather) Born February 27, 1785.  Married Britha Lampisaari ( my Great Great Great Grandmother) on October 30, 1823. She was younger than him, she was born December 17, 1796.  So she was 26 and Josef was 37.  Josef died October 25, 1843 at the age of 57.  Britha died March 10, 1863 at the age of 67.  They had eight children.  One of which was my Great  Great Grandmother  Briita Liisa Haapakangas who was born on April 20, 1838 in Salon emas, Finland.  She was  just four years old when her father died.

Briita Liisa my Great Great Grandmother was married three times.

Her first husband was Anders Viiret they were married May 2, 860. Briita would have been 22.  They had one child August Viiret who was born May 15, 1861 and died on May 10, 1862. He was just shy of one year old.   Possibly her husband died the same year the records are unclear…December 4 1862? or 1869?  ( If he died in 1869 then she must have divorced him…I will guess that he died in 1862.)

Her second husband was Alexander Impola and they were married on November 3, 1864.  Briita would have been 26 years old. Alexander was just 22 years old.   They had two children John Heikki (Impola) Newman Born on January 19 1865 (that was a fast baby) and my Great Grandmother Margaretta (Gretta Gustava) Impola Yliniemi who was born April 3, 1867 when her mother was 29 years old.  Sadly just a year later in 1868 Alexander would die at the ripe old age of 26.  My Great Grandmother was 1 year and three months old when her father died.

Briitas third Husband was John Leinonen she married him in 1870, she would have been 33 years old.  They had seven children together.  Anna-Liisa leinonen who was born and died in 1870, and was just one month and five days old at the time of her death.  Maria Augusta Leinonen Johnson was born September 18, 1871 she married Nels Johnson and they had ten children, they lived in Annandale MN.  Matti Leinonen was born October 17, 1873.  He married Anna Sofia and they had eleven children, six died as children, they lived in Annandale MN.  Johan August Leinonen was born February 20, 1876 and died December 11, 1877 in Finland. Antti Aukusti Leinonen Born March 28 1878 married Edna and they had seven children, they lived in Annandale MN. Liisa Matilda Leinonen Gronroos Born April 15, 1880 married Albert and they had seven children and lived in Oregon.  Kaarlo Pietari Leinonen Born February 8, 1883 married Elvie and they had eight children and lived at Annandale MN.

Birthdates and names from research done by my sister Julie and my cousin Will.

These photos are from my cousin Verniel.  Thanks to all the relatives that share photos and information!

John Newman my Great Grandmother’s only Full Brother.  He married a lady named Mary and they had five children and lived in Montana. He died September 18, 1930 he was 65 years old.

My Great Great Grandmother Briita Liisa and her third husband Johan Leinonen.
Briita Liisa died on September 7, 1901 in Annandale MN she was 63 years old.  Johan would live a few years longer than her, he died on May 5, 1917  in Annandale MN, he would have been about 75 years old give or take a few years ( His birthdate is October 11, 1842 or 1846?)

Things I don’t know.  What year did they immigrate? It was before 1885.   Which ship did they came over on?  What city did they come to?  Why in the world did they come to Minnesota?  How did they manage travelling with all those children?

Briita had ten children, three died in Finland. ( I wonder how she felt leaving them behind.) Seven would have made the trip from Finland to America.  Lets just say they immigrated in 1884.  The children would have been 19, 17, 13, 11, 7, 5 and 1.

Of course if my Great Grandmother Margaretta or Greta as she was called had kept a diary we would know some of those answers…sadly she didn’t.  She would have been 17 years old back in 1884.

Update:  Iggy found that Briita Liisa immigrated in 1883 and in the 1895 Minnesota Census she is listed as Lizzie.
Info from Verniel:  Johan immigrated to America in 1882 and established a farm in section 25 near the Crow River near French Lake Minnesota.  Briita Liisa came on February 8 1883 along with the children.  Note Kaarlo Pietari ( Charley) Leinonen was  Born February 8, 1883.

Taking photos with Jen

One thing that I share with our youngest daughter Jen is a love of photography.  She is always up for an adventure.  It is interesting to see how differently we see the same thing through our lenses.

Usually when she visits she says “Mom lets go take some photos!”  So off we go.

Sometimes I take photos of her …that usually irritates her.

Oh well she had good knees and can still crouch down to get photos.

She is off on a adventure and I am anxious to see all of her photos when she gets back.  Last evening she called and we were able to see her and Andy on a beach that had a webcam.  She also went surfing…SURFING I said…she agreed she was pretty old to take up surfing...but she went anyways and didn’t break anything… and yes she can surf…who woulda thunk it?

Blanket Flowers and A Goldfinch

The Gaillardia or Blanket Flowers are in bloom.

Such a riot of color.  Don’t they make you smile?   I enjoy these flowers because no two are exactly alike.

We worked on Christmas Ornaments again…what a big project.  We have 51 all boxed up ready to go…another 19 left to do plus I think Far Guy cut out a few extra.  We might be done by August…well ahead of the Christmas rush.

It was another warm day yesterday but the humidity was lower.  We sat outside and worked on the ornaments.

We watched the Goldfinches flit in and out of the trees.  Doesn’t take much to entertain us anymore.

Quiet Day

We went for a walk whilst the wind was blowing…the skeeters are horrid.

The Red Achillia millefolium or Yarrow is blooming.

The Hot Pink Achillea is blooming too…see the two grasshoppers? 

The Heat Index was 100 degrees yesterday.  We were outside for a short time working on Christmas Ornaments.  Thanks goodness for Air Conditioning!

I did some laundry and I had a nap in the afternoon.  I am feeling better but when my body says it is tired…I listen.

Chance and I sat outside… we listened to the cars zip up and down the highway….everyone is in such a hurry.  Places to go and things to do…around these parts July 4th is a big deal and everyone wants to be at the lake…or in it.  

Rain

We travelled up north to visit an old friend.  We ran into rain.

Babe the Blue Ox and Paul Bunyan

It rained really hard, the rain was cold…people were running everywhere…like they might melt.  We found shelter.

Eventually we found our old friend.  We met him back in 1970 when he was fresh out of High School.  He was living his dream back then…and as we reminded him he is still living it….along with his wife and two children.    A mutual friend died over the winter, she was remembered warmly.

It is good to catch up with old friends.

 

Happy 4th of July

We celebrated a day early with a trip to town to the candy shop with Jen, Andy and the boys and a quick stop by the grocery store.  Oh my town is a touristy mess..a plethora of cars with different license plates.   Traffic is slow and like Far Guy says you avoid a left hand turn at all costs.

Far Guy went kayaking with Jen.  I started on supper.  We had a picnic late in the day…if the skeeters hadn’t been so bad we could have eaten on the patio…but no one wants to be eaten alive whilst eating.

I served potato salad, baked beans, brats and buns, blueberries, carrots and brownies…an all American 4th of July meal a day early.  We have left overs too so I won’t have to cook on the 4th of July! 

I hope however you celebrate the day that you have a safe holiday.

Sunset

Busy day… mowed the yard and driveway, trimmed a shrub, did some laundry and straightened up the house.  I was real tired by late afternoon.

I had about a ten minute nap and put my feet up for a bit.

Jen, Andy and the boys are here…we went out for supper and to the neighbors for cake and ice cream.

Jen and I ventured out to capture the sunset on the prairie.

 

Wistful Wednesday: Unknown Friend

I have an old photo of Far Guy’s Dad.  He worked in the south in the late 1930’s.  This photo was most likely taken then.

To put things in context, Far Guy’s Dad was 6 feet tall and he is the one wearing the suspenders and the tie.

I have always wondered who the big guy was and how tall he was.

Lasagna

There is a commercial on TV…it has been driving me nuts. The lasagna is layered perfectly…and the cheese looks yummy.  It may be a Stouffer’s commercial… I know I can never have it…neither of us like ricotta or cottage cheese.

I was at a dinner party once…I had to push those cottage cheese curds around and around my plate…finally there was no place to put them anymore.   I had eaten all around those &*$# curds.

A long time ago I made lasagna from a Chef Boyardee’s Lasagna Dinner in a box…add some meat and cheese and you are good to go…served four just perfect.  Then they went and discontinued it.  We bought up what we could.

Eventually we were on our own.  I tried different sauces…none were right.  I made lasagna a few times with some kind of spaghetti sauce..uffda…just not the same.  I have never been into making my own sauce either….I just want someone else to make it and put it in a freaking can.

I was lamenting my hunger for lasagna to Far Guy and he got on the Internet and found that Hunts makes a lasagna sauce… we put it on our grocery list. 

Miracle of miracles we found it at Wally World.  I could almost taste that lasagna.  I gave up my afternoon nap to cook.

It was really yummy…it is almost the same as good old Chef Boyardee's was..it has a bit more oregano…I can live with that.  Only parmesan and mozzarella cheese found it’s way into our lasagna, which made it just perfect.

It was just as beautiful as the lasagna on TV…if I don’t say so myself.

Goodbye June

I am glad to be on the last day of this month.  One third of the summer is gone.

Yesterday is was so windy that Chance hid in the house most of the day.  I was outside for awhile until I couldn’t stand it anymore.  The trees were swaying this way and that way in the 40 MPH winds.  The skeeters couldn’t even manage the winds

We finished dusting in the kitchen, those open cupboards are a pain in the neck sometimes.  Whatever I have not used recently was washed and put back on the shelves.

They are nice when it comes time to serve something…you just grab what you need.  When the grands help with dishes it is easy to see what goes where. Most of what is up there is just dust catchers.  I have not used the set of Loon dishes in years.  The cups look funny upside down.

We watched a good movie the other day “Bernie” on Netflix…I enjoyed it.  I finally finished the book I was reading about Alaska called Alaska Bound.  It wasn’t a fantastic book but it kept me reading.  Now I am reading a piece of fluff…one step above a comic book. 

We have had our fair share of rain, the area we live in (West Central) is very sandy and has never flooded.  However from what I hear the Southern part and Northern part of Minnesota are not so lucky. Lakes and rivers are full to over flowing.

June is almost over

One more day and June is history.  Seems like it has rained lots in June.  Lots of rain means lots of lawn mowing….about every three days.

We went for a ride and let Chance hang his head out the window. 

We stopped at Steve and Jo’s  and enjoyed their deck.  Got to pet Putzer he is a sweetheart.  Odda wouldn’t come out of the house…it had thundered earlier in the day... and there were fireworks down at the lake in the late afternoon.

We are on the lookout for a pair of twin fawns that are reported to be in the hay field from time to time.

Hay field partially cut.   Many farmers have hay down and it is getting rained on.

We have a feral cat..it is white and brown…and a bunny rabbit.

Good to see rabbits again.   Must mean that the fox has moved out of the area.