25 Days of Christmas

Social networking is interesting. Since I became active on Twitter I have met some very nice photographers that I probably would not have known otherwise. One of them is Rhonda Holcomb. Rhonda takes awesome photos -- many of birds. I love seeing her photos. Getting to know Rhonda brought me to the group (she invited me) on Flickr; "25 Days of Christmas Photo Challenge."

I don't participate in a lot of Flickr groups. Frankly I just don't have time. And really, at the holidays -- I don't have time for this. But you know it is all about finding or making the time. From that old blog I "found" time to walk a dog every day and it has really paid off for me in getting a little more in shape. I am working on finding the time to take a Christmas photo every day to add to this group -- and it is paying off in getting me to really think about the images.

The Christmas challenge has given me a great idea for one in 2010 that the photo club can do to really get us thinking -- and at a time that is kind full of the winter blahs. In the meantime I used a different method getting the photo to the blog. I don't know if I will do this again -- but I sent it from Flickr. This is my entry in the challenge for today -- a heavily manipulated angel image. This looks like a card for next year to me. Follow this link to keep up with my challenge photos. If I don't post one for a couple days -- don't worry -- I will catch them up!

Dec 6
Originally uploaded by TheBarefootPhotographer

From the Barefoot Files...

We have been having a little cold weather, rain, damp, possible frozen stuff -- so I thought why not take a trip to the tropics?

Going through my granddaddy's photos I found this picture of Diamond Head.

In 1991, I took this photo (below) of Diamond Head from a hotel balcony.

In 2007, I painted this from my photo. The canvas is 30x40 and this painting sits on my mantel. You can see it in the blog From Where I Sit...My Home Office.

It is nice to think about Hawaii on a day when I hear a snow prediction on the radio!

Biscotti & The Cookbook

This morning my house smells wonderful. I toasted almonds while preheating the oven for biscotti. The smell of the toasted almonds was very nice -- especially on this very wet and chilly day. Earlier this morning I sat out the stick of butter. Mixing it with the sugar and eggs was easy after it had time to soften. Adding in the orange juice, espresso powder, and cinnamon smelled great too.

While the biscotti was baking I made a cup of coffee with my Tassimo. The scent of the coffee mixed with the biscotti baking and the lingering smell of the toasted almonds. Well -- add in the iPod playing 'Christmas with the Rat Pack' -- the kitchen was warm and cozy on this dreary December morning.

I am baking the biscotti to have on hand this weekend. Finally after many edits, redits, checks, rechecks -- the cookbook is printed and ready. This is just in time for the arts & crafts fair at St. Andrews in the Pines this Saturday. The books, as well as prints and notecards, will be available for purchase this Saturday. In addition to having the delicious cappuccino biscotti for sampling, I am planning on baking some chocolate crinkles Friday morning. Both of these recipes are in the book.

I am very pleased with how it came out. There are 388 time-tested, family recipes in this book. The recipes range from soups & salads to pickles & nuts, appetizers to pies, cakes, and more. The main dishes are some that have been prepared over and over on request. The famous pound cake recipe from my husband's grandmother joins my grandmother's baked beans. The cookbook is printed on premium paper, 8.5x11 size. The binding is plastic coil. Scattered throughout the book are vintage family photos and stories -- stories about many of the people who have recipes in this book. Also in this book is the award winning photo, Fork #1.

The book is available in print softcover copy for $20, add $5 for shipping and handling. It is also available in electronic format (pdf) for $7.95. The book along with notecards and prints can be purchased at my new Etsy shop or you can email me.

The Christmas Tree & The Kodak

Our Christmas Tree is decorated with family photos. Photos of my great great grandparents and my husband's all the way up through to my children with their cousins. There are photos of old homeplaces that no longer exist. There are photos of family reunions. I have an extensive collection of old family photos. And I bought tons of small photo frames at local stores. I printed the photos to fit the framed I had and then hot glued a ribbon hanger. A couple years ago I created a listing of the photos -- a number on the back corresponds with a number on the list. The list tells everything I know about the photo -- who, where, what, when, etc. Some of them all I know is who. Every year I add a couple photos to the tree. So far this year I haven't printed any to add -- but I have a couple in mind.

I am writing this post for two reasons -- to share the idea of the tree and to talk about my new toy, the Kodak Zi8. Beginning today there is a new rule about blogs and products. Let me just say right now -- Kodak did not give this camcorder to me (how nice if they had!). Since I bought it -- I have sold two for them. When people see it -- see the quality of video, ease of use, etc. -- they want it. The video looks a little jerky (that's me) and a little pixely (I think that is the upload). The picture quality is really great. It takes video in 1080p and 720p.