Canadian province - Manitoba and New Blog of the Month

This is part of an occasional series going through the 10 Provinces of Canada in alphabetical order to check out how they got named, what their flag is like and other things of interest. 

Location – in the centre of Canada between Saskatchewan and Ontario with the territory Nunuvut to the North.  It sits just above North Dakota and Minnesota.  It has an Arctic deep water port on Hudson Bay.

Nicknames – the Keystone Province, The Postage Stamp Province (due to the original rectangular shape of the Province), Land of 100,000 lakes.  The Province's Motto is 'Glorious and Free'

Flag - yes, that's a bison

Capital – Winnipeg – 60% of the Province's population live there.

Tree – White Spruce

Bird – Great Grey Owl

Signature foods – Bison, Bannock, Shmoo Torte

Famous places to visit – Wapusk National Park for Polar Bears, Northern lights, The Forks, Grand Beach Provincial Park, Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach

Famous people from Manitoba – Anna Paquin (born Manitoba brought up in New Zealand), Randy Bachman (of Bachman Turner Overdrive),Deanna Durbin (singer), Carol Shields (author), Paula Abdul

I have selected a new Blog of the Month for you (in fact 2 by the same blogger)– I give you my friend Tina – she has 2 blogs Novel Meals and Squirrel Head Manor.   Tina is based in Florida.  Novel Meals does book reviews and you'll find recipes on Squirrel Head Manor.