Christmas celebrations at the equestrian farm Lerchenhof

Do you miss a  White Christmas  this year?

Me, too!

The winter weather this Christmas season here in Germany is much more spring-like than the years before and we have been far away from snow and frost we generally can expect this time of the year.

So I have a kind of  White Snowflake  for you I took recently at the stud and equestrian farm "Lerchenhof" in the town of Muensingen.

The stud and equestrian farm Lerchenhof organized a kind of Christmas party together with all the kids and teenagers taking riding lessons there. And of course the families and friends were invited to celebrate together with their youngsters.

At the end of this varied day Santa Claus arrived on a horse-drawn carriage...

...and dispensed little gifts to the kids!

A Merry Christmas and
a prosperous and peaceful New Year 2016
to all of you, dear friends!

Weihnachtsmarkt Schloss Weikersheim

Friday evening, on the Christmas market "Weihnachtszauber" / "Christmas Glamour" at Weikersheim,

13 kilometers away from my home town.

This year's Christmas market was is situated around Weikersheim Palace,

on of the bigger palaces in the state of Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany

Multiple food stands and booths with Christmas gifts and decorations are placed in the inner courtyard and around the palace, including the part of the Weikersheim market place facing the palace.

This is what we call 'Gluehwein / Glühwein' in Germany, literally translated into "glow wine",
as far as I know it's called 'mulled wine' in English.

A radio and TV crew was on site as well on the Friday evening...

...to report about this enchanting local Christmas market.

Due to the fact I visited the Christmas market together with my sweatheart and her friend I did not take my tripod with me (--> the ladies are not willing to wait excessively for their companion!). But my monopod is 'a must' when taking photographs at available light or even during night to minimize camera shake as good as possible.

A great 3rd Advent Sunday for all of you!

End of the year 2013

You look tired, dear friend.

So I am.

At the end of the year 2013 I wanna slow down as far as possible, 

this year was equally challenging and exhausting, gratifying and staggering.

It's time to take a break.

I wanna say THANX to all of you who've accompanied me continuously or just occasionally throughout the year here on this blog.

Maybe we meet again in 2014...!?

The photos of my this year's final post I took at the river bank of the river Neckar in the town of Lauffen, in the southwest of Germany. It's the town where the company I work for is located.

Lauffen's old castle from the 11th century on the other side of the river is nowadays the local municipal administration and townhall. There the mayor has set up a huge, but modest Christmas tree.

 A Christmas tree is (?) / should be (!) a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer such as spruce, pine or fir, traditionally associated with the celebration of Christmas.

The tree was traditionally decorated with edibles such as apples, nuts or other foods. In the 18th century, it began to be illuminated by candles, which with electrification could also be replaced by Christmas lights. Today, there are a wide variety of traditional ornaments, such as garland, tinsel, and candy canes. An angel or star may be placed at the top of the tree to represent the angel Gabriel or the Star of Bethlehem from the Nativity.

If you see two Christmas trees on the photo above, it would be time for you to take a break as well, dear friend... ;-)

...to all of you!

Uwe.

First Sunday in Advent

Hi, folks around the world!

Did you have an enjoyable first Sunday in Advent?

Is it possible that you already visited your first Christmas market in 2013 recent weekend???

For those of you who didn't had the chance to do so, I took some photos of a small but fine Christmas exhibition in the SOMMERHAUS RAHMENMANUFAKTUR, a picture frame manufacturer located in an historic building called Tautphoeus House in my hometown Bad Mergentheim.

Click on the link above to look at my digital photobook of the frame manufacturer!

Let's change to my favourite room of the Christmas exhibition - I called it the silver room.

I coulnd't stop taking photos of the table decorated with exquisite decorative objects all in silver, illuminated by the golden glow of the ceiling lamp.

OK, it's time to go downstairs again, passing the stag, back to the entrance hall...

...with the huge guardian angel!

Famous last words (?):

Whenever possible - use a tripod for indoor shooting, at least a monopod to work at available light and to prevent camera shake as good as possible!

XOXO

;-)

I wish you a Merry Christmas!

With today's photos from Bad Mergentheim's Christmas market

I wish you, dear friends from all over the world,

a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous and peaceful New Year!

Unfortunately all the snow we got recent weekend melted away,

but therefore we got "springlike" temperatures of about 7°C... ;-)

This year's Christmas market of my hometown has taken place between Bad Mergentheim market place and our Deutschordensschloss, the castle of the Teutonic Order.

Thanks a lot for stopping by on my blog every now and then, especially those of you who take their time to pass a comment. And those of you who intend to do this in near future... ;-)

Hug those around you!

A wee bit of Christmas decoration

No, that's not the Christmas decoration in our living space,
I took the photos one week ago at the "Sommerhaus", Bad Mergentheim, our favourite home interior shop.

"Sommerhaus" garden in November 2011
The building is protected as a historic monument

I wish all of you a pleasant Advent season!

Euch allen eine schöne und besinnliche Adventszeit!