Christmas lights all around

coffeechat

In case you hadn’t noticed, it has been a bit quiet here – my apologies. And a life-sign: Hey, I am still alive! Just wanted you to know, in case you were wondering.

My niece is visiting and naturally I am taking all the time I can get outside of work to spend with her. Meaning no photo editing and no blogging.

Yesterday we went to Clinton, NJ, we found it in a Google search under ‘quaint town in New Jersey’. We also read that there was an old mill transformed into a history museum. So, after breakfast we suited up for the cold and drove to Clinton. I took lots of pictures, some of which you may find in future parts of David’s story. The old mill and surrounding settlement i.e. historic village with a shop and mining and farming equipment was just perfect and pretty inspirational.

This here is the Red Mill in Clinton NJ.

red, mill, clinton

After taking our time checking out the exhibits, it was time for lunch. Naturally we took a walk up and down main street Clinton before deciding on a restaurant. After that and a quick stop to get groceries, we headed back home, but stopped at our local landscaping shop to get this year’s Christmas tree. Here is the very first iPhone photo, I am sure I’ll be taking and showing you more later.

Christmas tree

After we got it home and put it into its stand to settle, Sonja (my niece) and I drove up to Skylands, Augusta for the annual Christmas lights show. It is a drive-through and, well, there were lots of pretty lights, but somehow we were a little underwhelmed. Oh well, you have got to try everything at least once, right? But now I am pretty tired and tomorrow is another Monday work day. So, I’ll leave you with a few of the pictures I took at Skylands. Have a good night.

bokeh

Skylands Christmas lights

Skylands Christmas lights tunnel

Oops, nearly forgot, Leslie wanted to know what Christmas Eve looks like here. Well, we are having a European Christmas Eve i.e. any and all presents are given, received and opened on December 24. Apart from that I guess you could call it a tradition that since we have been together our dinner consists of sushi and sashimi. Other than that we’ll be lounging at home, by the fire, probably having champagne and/or wine and later on we’ll be watching a film. Yep, that’s about it. And now, good night for real (or good morning…) :)!

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12 thoughts on “Christmas lights all around”

  1. Oh the mill is perfect for David’s story!! I can’t wait to read the next chapter and see what other pictures you have taken. And your tree is beautiful!! I can’t wait to get ours today. I swear I’m actual 8 year old. 🙂

    Once when I was dating a French guy, they did the whole open gifts and celebrate big on Christmas Eve thing. It felt very different from the Christmas morning excitement that I was used to. But, it was nice sleeping in Christmas morning and not having to face the day tired and rushed, so I can definitely see the advantage. Once you are past the age of Santa excitement, it doesn’t really matter: just as long as you are with the people you love. Course, with young children, it’s all about Christmas morning these days!

    Reply
    • A Christmas tree is a pretty good Christmas tradition, right? I love it. This year I shared decorating it with my niece, that was pretty special, too.

      I know exactly what you mean. The first time I spent Christmas at my in-laws, it felt totally weird having to wait till Christmas Day morning and then, in bright sunlight opening presents – weird. But, hey, different cultures, different countries, different traditions.

      Reply
    • It sure is, Tamara, we probably walked right past it. I checked out her website and the first photo I saw was taken on the bridge from the mill to town. She sure does have a lot of beautiful, natural backdrops for portraits.

      Reply
    • Thank you, Debbi! I really appreciate you dropping by – right now… I bet you would have loved the mill. So much history there and they brought it alive quite nicely, too. We really had a great couple of hours walking around.

      Reply
  2. Love the pictures of your tree and the light show. So glad you have your niece with you. Have a merry christmas – we too celebrate Christmas eve in the European tradition.

    Reply
  3. My iPhone photos never turn out that pretty 🙁

    I’m glad you’ve been able to spend time with your niece……the quaint town sounds amazing, and that first photo is especially gorgeous!

    Reply
  4. We have a park in the area that does a yearly Christmas light show like this and in all my time I’ve lived here we’ve never gone. Maybe one day we will. For now we stick to driving or walking through the neighborhoods to look at everyone’s houses and their decorations. I love the last shot – the light tunnel. That’s pretty cool.

    Reply

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