Winter Parade

Yesterday was the annual Metuchen Winter Parade. Despite the balmy 60+ degree temperatures, everyone was in the holiday spirit!



We had sleigh rides



Well it could have been if it wasn't so warm...

Colorful Mummers

Angels

The snow men made an appearance

The drummer boy shared his song

And everyone anxiously awaited the arrival of the man of the hour ....

Until next time ~ Live, Love, Laugh!

Stockton, NJ

Located along the Delaware River, Stockton is a small borough of approximately 560 residents as of the 2000 census.

The borough was incorporated in 1898. This is a very charming town with one of it's main attractions being the Centre Bridge-Stockton Bridge connecting Stockton to Solebury, PA. You can click on each photo to enlarge.


The view from the bridge, the Delaware looking south


Approximately a quarter mile east of the bridge is the D&R Canal path, a path we've been along several times over the last couple of months.


The Stockton Inn, supposedly immortalized by the Rogers and Hart song "There's a Small Hotel" from 1936 Broadway musical "On Your Toes" .


Along Bridge Street there are just a few little shops. This shop caught my eye, especially the horse painting.


This was a short and relaxing Sunday jaunt, we'll probably make another trip to Stockton to catch the last covered bridge in NJ which is in Sergeantsville and Prallsville Mills.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn In Clinton - Part 2

Sunday Drive Explorers

Here is a continuation of our Sunday in Clinton, we'll have take a time trip back a few weeks

Decorating for the season was early and thorough, from the harvesting signs of the autumn corn

to the displays of gourds and mums in the shops around town.

As we walked along Center Street there were views of the river, clearly showing us Mother Nature's decorating skills!

Providing an opportunity to reflect on the beauty we should be grateful to have.

Homes on the river attempt to guard their precious access to nature


Their place for relaxation, contemplation


Or cherished conversation


But there you find a small local business with the hospitality to share their abundance, and assist with decorating the scene for visitors



In the town that brings one back to a time when life was slower, and Nature was more cherished, when even power came from the river.



Until next time ~ Live, Love, Laugh!

Pink November Sky

I just happened to be leaving a client's office this afternoon and this is the view I saw from their second floor doorway



{sigh} Beauty I often miss, captured thanks to Blackberry!

I Want to Be Alone!!!

Just a quick shot of Maddox, trying very hard to avoid the camera. Click on photo for a larger view.


I just don't get it, everyone is so camera shy!

Until next time ~ Live, Love, Laugh!

Autumn in Clinton, NJ

Sunday Drive Explorers

The exploring continues in Clinton NJ. We had a great day in this little town located in Hunterdon County and on the Raritan River.

I absolutely adored this basket setup in the window of the town framing center.

Clinton is known for the Red Mill, a source of area development and commerce in the 1800's. Learn more about The Red Mill Museum Village.

The South Branch of the Raritan River begins it's flow at Budd Lake and ultimately empties into Raritan Bay just south of Staten Island in Perth Amboy. I posted some summer shot of Raritan Bay here.

The river in Clinton provides a relaxing and reflective view of life in the area, this scene seemed to long for the not too distant past that was summer.

New Jersey's western countryside is a beautiful treasure deserving of the title "Garden State", far from the smoke stacks and factories that are viewable from I-95. Full of beauty and history these towns are worth the trip!

I'll be posting a few more pictures later, but here is a sneak peak of what's coming up!

Until next time ~ Live, Love, Laugh!

Sugar Pup's Specs

Friday Fun Foto

Sugar Pup has been complaining that words are blurring when she reads, so we made her some custom specs.

Just a little fun shot for a Friday afternoon!

Until next time ~ Live, Love, Laugh!

Reflection - October

Another quick stop on the trip up north - Rochelle Park. I could not resist this reflection pool, and that Sunday was just georgous!

Maywood Station

A quaint little town in Northern N.J., Maywood remembers how important this railroad station is to the development of the area. There is always so much to learn from remembering the past!



Read all about the stations and it's restoration at http://www.maywoodstation.com/.

October in Atlantic City

October was a busy month, we had a wonderful time taking trips all around the state! Our first trip was with a group of friends to Atlantic City.

The Steel Pier thrilling visitors for nearly eight decades before legalized gambling made it's debut at Resorts International on May 26, 1978!

Trump Taj Mahal from the boardwalk



And of course the Atlantic Ocean!

Until next time ~ Live, Love, Laugh!

Sunday Drive

Steve and I have been taking little Sunday trips over the last month. And of course I made of point of having my camera with me every step of the way. Seems to me the month of October just went flying by! Our first Sunday drive was to Lambertville.

Lambertville Station has been converted into a restaurant, a complete 19th century restoration has made this a must see stop for visitors to the town.

Canal-side dining is also available, enjoy the calming sights and sounds of the D & R Canal.

This was our very first trip to this quaint and historic town located on the Delaware River. Formerly known as Coryell, George Washington's troops crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania from here. There is a brief and interesting history of Lambertville provided by the Lambertville Historical Society.

The town saw a resurgence of popularity during the 1970's - 1980's when many artists were drawn to the town.

Today the town is full of quaint little antique shops, proud of their location and decorating to keep up appearences.

Shops with antique bicycles and building clocks

Shops that offer the best of the confections

Or maybe just a glimpse of the owner's own treasures

A place where one can clearly see modes of transporation from bygone eras

Waterways

Rails

and Automobiles

A truly enlighting autumn day in the Garden State! More photos can be seen in my Flickr Lambertville Set.

Until next time ~ Live, Love, Laugh!

Happy Halloween!

Until next time - Live, Love, Laugh

Puppy Love

Friday Fun Foto

Having fun with flicker and Big Huge Labs, happy Friday! Until next time - Live, Love Laugh

True Love

I came across a wonderful You Tube video while catching up on my blog reading this morning. I just couldn't help but smile when I saw this!



Special thanks to Snappy Di over at The Blue Ridge Gal for finding and sharing this! Be sure to stop by Di's blog for a wonderful trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains!

And for a real smile, here is my favorite Dog of all time!

Until next time ~ Live, Love, Laugh

Friday Fun Foto

Louie - The Thinking Lamb

We've had a couple of beautiful days this week, best summer days so far ( well, Indian Summer). And Louie has been certainly enjoying basking in the sunlight by window.

Mac: Grab - Great Screen Capture

Today I found a little utility called Grab located at Applications/Utilities/Grab. Very easy and included in the Mac OS.


As you can see from the Dock, there are quite a few applications installed. Pretty much the same as what I detailed yesterday.

I also came across a very interesting article this morning regarding the increase in Mac households . Looks like Apple is gaining some ground, but Windows is still out there!

Until next time ~ Live, Love, Laugh.

Mac

So I got started using the Mac Mini on Wednesday, basically I just dusted it off and made sure all the Apple components were updated.

Thursday I got on line and downloaded some essentials I thought I'd need to keep me from switching back to the PC;

• Remote Desktop
• Flickr Uploadr
• TweetDeck
• Greasemonkey and scripts for Flickr

Friday I worked from home using the Mac and remotely connected to my work Vista PC. I checked my eMail and did what I had to do via RDC without any issues. Later in the day as I was on Flickr or Facebook Firefox just decided to crash, I had to restart Firefox and then go back upon my merry way!

Over the weekend I downloaded a few programs, Zuma's Revenge Trial (I've been playing Zuma on the PC for a couple of years and while it's quite mindless I find it relaxing. Kind of like "Whack a Mole" take your frustrations out on the poor mole!) While I'm not a fan of Pop-Cap games due to their use of pop-up Ads I gave the trial a try. I didn't get very far when the trial just closed down and made the system completely unstable. Needless to say the application has been removed and will not return.. ever! I then proceeded to download Nikon applications to help with photo editing, iPhoto is ok but I really prefer the MS Office Picture Manager. However, I think is only available with Office Professional/Enterprise for Windows. So, I'll probably be searching around for a photo editing/work flow program for the Mac. But first I'll test the Nikon applications to see if that works for me.

Until next time ~ Live, Love, Laugh

Fall Flowers

Friday Fun Foto

Scruffy love's to play in the flowers!


Wednesday I took a trip with my brother to the Lyons, NJ VA Hospital. We found that they had a Greenhouse that is run by Veterans, signs were posted along the drive "Mums are Ready!" I just had to go check it out. Very nice greenhouse and a great deal on the plants. Next round will be for Poinsettias. We added ourselves to the mailing list!

Happy Friday, until next time - Live, Love, Laugh

The Mac is Back!

I've been spending quite a bit of time online lately between flickr, facebook (Farmville is evil!) and just trying to keep up with the blogs I'm following. Lately I've been very restless, bored, unfulfilled. So, today I decided that I would dust off that Mac Mini I got about a year and half ago and give it another whirl.


The Mac Mini is a small, entry level computer targeted to the Windows user community. It's Apple's way of getting more PC users to switch to the Mac at a minimal cost. Historically Apples are known to be more costly than comparably equipped pcs, but this model is just the computer without Monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Those little things can cost a bundle, especially if you're a PC user who probably already has 'em. That was my case so off we went and just got a KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switch so we could just share with the Vista PC . A double key press is all we needed to go back and forth between them.

So, we hooked it up and we gave it a whirl. After getting familiar with the initial differences, and there are many, we didn't really see the big deal. I did learn there are many, many websites that are dedicated to the "PC switchers", the differences can frustrate the best of us. It was a strange experience and we all said "OK, now what?" Except my daughter, she absolutely hated it and demanded her PC back.

So I will be using the Mini for the next month, and post my thoughts. Just in case anyone is interested.

Today I'm thinking - What a cute little computer!


My photo buddy Louie agrees! :-)

Until next time - Live, Love, Laugh

Embrace Change

click to enlarge photo

In celebration of the first day of Autumn, my newest Photo Buddy "Louie daLamb" is starring in this poster to Embrace Change!

Louie is a gift from my daughter, she knows I'm a bit nuts and still play with my toys! This little guy comes from William Patterson University and proudly wears the school's colors!

Happy Fall!

Summer's End

This has been an absolutely perfect September weekend. While I will miss the long hours of daylight I gladly bid the hazy humidity adieu! I've loved the cool clear nights of autumn for years, I still easily recall the view of NYC from the Queens Borough Bridge, it was many years ago but still so vivid. This clarity just never happens in summer. The colors of autumn are also so vibrant and fiery, I love autumn!

Yesterday we took a stroll along the Waterfront Walkway in Perth Amboy, the day was clear and warm and Raritan Bay was bustling with boaters

I found this boat of great interest, I wonder if it actually made the journey from Galway, Ireland. (click to enlarge photo)

Things have been a bit hectic, and I haven't really been posting as much I'd like. I have managed to get out and take some photos in the last month, and I'll be sure to get some of them posted here shortly.

Check out Hilary's Smitten Image for some fabulous photographs and quotes regarding September, Hilary is a wonderful tour guide and keeps me smiling on every visit.