Make a Calendar from the Pictures You Take

Have you ever thought you’d like to make a calendar for yourself or friends from some of the pictures you take?

There are many ways to create calendars online, through commercial printers, and by gluing your images to ready-made blank calendars.

You only need glue dots, some favourite pictures, and a blank calendar

I recently made some calendars for gifts as well as one for my office.  For an Italian theme, I used pictures I took when I was in Tuscany and Rome last June.  I chose horizontal photos to fit the calendars and printed them in 4 x 6 inch format.  I like to make them with different themes such as spring flowers, still lifes, waterfalls, and so on.  Black and white images also make stunning calendars.

a lion for March

I suggest you print more than 12 different images so that you have lots to choose from for each month of the year.  Lay them out on a table and start thinking about how they would look in your calendar.

There are many kinds of glue and stickers available but I prefer glue dots as they only require one step and they come in different sizes…I use the “mini” ones. At the back of the picture, I attach glue dots on each corner and in the middle of the top and bottom…try not to let them touch the front of the photo or other objects as they are very sticky.    Once the glue dots are in place, center your picture within the frame…one for each month.

Press the photo to the glue dot and it attaches easily to the back of your picture

Take your time to center the picture within the frame

To help each picture stay in place, I lay a blank piece of paper over top and gently press down with my hand and then remove it. This also reduces the number of fingerprints.

And….there you have it….a lovely calendar for your office or friends.

Tuscan Landscape

When you take pictures throughout the year, think about which ones would look great in a calendar.  I store them in a folder on my computer until the creative spirit hits.  Although calendars typically start in January, you can give them as gifts up to a couple of months later so that others can still enjoy your images.

Hearty Vegetable Soup

Do you have an easy vegetable soup recipe?  Is it one that your family asks for over and over?

I try to make vegetable soup at least once a month during the fall and winter.  It may take a few minutes to prepare but it’s easy to make and worth the effort. I find that it tastes even better the next day after the flavours have had a chance to mingle. My daughter’s office is fairly close to my place and she loves to drop in and have a steaming bowl of soup for lunch or before her long commute home.

I don’t usually use a recipe but some of my friends have been asking for one. When I made it the other day I actually measured the ingredients as I threw them in the pot.  Enjoy!

Marion’s Vegetable Soup

Gather these ingredients together:

• 1 large cooking onion
• 3 medium size carrots
• 1 large leek
• 2 medium size stalks celery
• 1 red pepper
• 1/4 small green cabbage
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. butter (I don’t use margarine)
• 1 28 oz. tin chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 c. ketchup (I use Heinz)
• 2 vegetable broth cubes cubes (I use Italissimo, Knorr or Maggi)
• 2 dried bay leaves
• handful of fresh parsley
• 1 tsp. dried basil flakes
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano flakes
• 7 cups water
• 1/2 c. tiny bowtie or other pasta  

To get started:

• Chop into small dice ~  the onion, leek, carrots, celery, cabbage, and red pepper (Sometimes I use the food processor if I’m in a hurry. I find that I don’t get the same consistency of sizes that I do when I hand chop, however it does not affect the texture but rather the amount of time it takes to cook the vegetables and the appearance…but seriously…no one would know the difference or care as long as they get to enjoy your delicious homemade soup.)
• Melt the olive oil and butter over medium heat in a large dutch oven or soup pot
• Add the onion and leek and saute for about 3 to 4 minutes until almost tender (do not brown)
• Add the carrots, celery, cabbage, and red pepper. Continue to saute for another 3 or 4 mintues
• Stir in all of the other ingredients except the pasta, increase the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.
• Bring to a boil and add the pasta.  Lower the heat to medium and cook for 10 to 15 minutes more until the pasta is tender.
• Season with salt and pepper
• Remove from heat and serve or cool and refrigerate.

Serve with cheese biscuits, focaccia, or saltine crackers and lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Notes for beginning cooks:

Place a paper towel, dampened with a little water, underneath your chopping board to stop it from slipping.

Peel the onion and discard the outer skin before chopping.

Wash and peel the carrots before chopping.

Wash and cut the red pepper in half and discard the seeds.  Chop with the skin side face-down on the cutting board so that it is easy to cut through it.

Use only the bottom part of the leek…for example all of the white and about 1 inch of the green…and discard the rest. Cut the leek in half lengthwise and rinse between the layers to get any sand out.

Cut the cabbage in quarters, discard a couple of the outer leaves, rinse well, and remove the thick white core before chopping.  Save the other 3/4 cabbage for another recipe.

If you can’t find chopped tomatoes; buy whole ones and drain the liquid into the cooking pot and chop the tomatoes inside the tin by slicing up and down with a chef’s knife or place them on a chopping board and chop.  When I’m feeling really lazy, I just squish them into bits with my fingers.

Whenever you use dried herbs, put them in the palm of your hand and rub them together before adding them to the pot.  This releases the aromatic oils and adds more flavour to the soup.

A quick way to chop parsley is to gather the leaves together in one hand, hold it over the pot and cut into small flakes with a pair of scissors.  I don’t use the thick stems.

You do not need to add pasta to this soup but I like the way it gives it more body and nutrition.  Sometimes I substitute chopped, peeled potatoes or orzo.

Marion's Hearty Vegetable Soup

Valentine’s Day

What do you love and how do you express it? Do you sometimes think about it and forget that love comes to us in many forms.  What are some of the places where you can feel it or find it?

Everytime I see something breathtaking in nature I feel love for the beauty of the natural world around me. Surround yourself with images, either real or imagined, and let them wash over you and fill your heart with moments of happiness.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Thinking About a Holiday in France?

Do you ever wish you could just get away from it all and be in a place where you can create memories and learn or experience something new?

Pujols

Two years ago I was searching the internet for a place where I could learn more about photography.  I wanted to go somewhere for at  least a week and be with like-minded people.  I was hoping to find a holiday package that provided instruction, meals, accommodation, and local transportation at a price that I could afford.  I was amazed at how many excellent photography courses ranged from $3000 to $5000 for a week but they were too pricey for my budget.  So…I kept looking…and looking…and, after countless hours on the internet, I found just the perfect place.

Barbaste

Nerac

After checking references and finding flights, I took a leap of faith and, in May 2008, left to join Painting-Photography-France for a week of exciting adventures.  Pete Evans, a professional photographer from the UK,  provides the photography instruction and his partner, Jill Fellows, teaches painting out of their lovingly restored house in the Lot et Garonne region southeast of Bordeaux.  Each spacious room has ensuite and there is a purpose built studio, living and dining room for guests, covered patio, and an outside picnic area with a swimming pool.

Les Peupliers at St. Juin

I flew from Vancouver to Paris and then took another flight to Bordeaux. Pete picked me  up from the airport…turns out he’s a very good driver…and drove just over an hour to their home, Les Peupliers..they have rather a lot of poplar trees on their property so it was aptly named.  I was warmly greeted by Jill and their black lab, Holly.

After settling in, the other particpants and I joined our hosts for a delicious meal that Jill had prepared.  During the course of the week we ate in delightful restaurants, at “home”, and had fabulous picnic lunches.  We were a very short walk from the Canal Lateral and could watch houseboats navigating the locks, and families, with dogs in tow, strolling along the leafy plane tree lined paths.

Canal Lateral

The time flew by and I found Pete to be exceptionally patient and willing to explain photography terms and techniques over and over to me.  I came away knowing more about shutter speeds, f-stops, white balance, ISO, and how they all work together.  Whew….a lot of learning crammed into just a few days…I knew I could go at my own pace but I wanted to soak up as much knowledge as I could while I was there.  Both Pete and Jill welcome beginning learners as well as those with more experience.  They limit the number of guests so that they can provide plenty of individual attention. At the end of the week, Pete gives the photography participants exclusive online access to an extensive and exceptionally fine tutorial that he has prepared.  He has written it in a language that is easy to understand and includes lots of charts and pictorial examples to explain things.

It’s years since I had been in France and fell in love with it all over again.

I loved the peacefulness of the rural countryside, the company…it’s great to meet people from all over the world, the vistas, the noisy marketplaces, colourful shutters and doors and windows, pathways and roads paved with stones trodden by thousands over centuries, the food….ah…yes, the food…so exquisite, aromatic, and beautifully presented works of art, the wine…well…what can I say…French wine awakens the senses either sipping on a lazy afternoon or the perfect compliment to any meal.

Imagine a picnic under a tree by a gurgling stream in a 13th Century village with crusty French bread fresh from la boulangerie, creamy cheeses, pates, pickled beets, salads, and a lush glass of rose…it wasn’t a dream…I was fortunate to live it.

I found the perfect gift at an antique market

marketplace in Marmande

Travel photos provide me with my own version of souvenirs.  Every time I look at them, I conjure up the glow of those moments…a great way to extend my holiday for many years to come.

There was no shortage of images to capture…Pete took us on outings and willingly shared some of his favourite spots with us. On one of the days, we met up with Jill and the painters for a picnic in Barbaste. On another day, we all went to Latour Marliac where Monet bought his waterlilies. The painters got busy en plein air and the photographers couldn’t stop shooting waterlilies at different angles and exposures…aiming for the perfect shot. Check out my website http://web.me.com/mmccristall/France/France.html#grid to see some of what I took during my week there.

So when you’re planning your next holiday, ask yourself, “What do I hope to see, taste, touch, smell, and hear?  What memories do I want to bring back?“

If you’re looking for a holiday away from home, where you can count on being taken care of, where you want to learn to paint or study photography, and where you feel like you can fill your memory bank with riches, I highly recommend looking at Pete and Jill’s website, www.painting-photography-france.com …. and signing up.  I had a fabulous time and loved being with them. In fact, I enjoyed my holiday so much that I went back again in May 2009.  It was just as wonderful the second time.

at Latour Marliac

I hope you enjoy seeing a little part of France through my eyes.

All photos copyright Marion McCristall.