Merry Christmas!
Remember, Christmas spirit is not what you drink.
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| Ghost of Christmas Past |
Christmas Lights 2003
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| My favorite picture of Christmas 2003, taken right after a big snowstorm. | From a different angle. | I do it all by myself. Let's step back and look at the installation. |
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| During the off season I installed hooks wherever I intended to hang Christmas lights. This makes installation a breeze. | One mistake I made was not using all plastic coated hooks. You can see that the cheaper brass hooks have rusted and left unsightly rust stains on my trim but the more expensive plastic coated hooks still look good. | I try to make all connections in a sheltered spot, such as under the eaves. |
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| Here I am up on the big ladder, showing my best side. | Here I am using my homemade reach stick to place the lights on the hooks. Using the stick I only have to move the ladder three times to do the entire upper level. | My trusty assistant up on the big ladder. He didn't really help and only wanted to climb the ladder. I was very nervous but he was as cool as a cucumber. Good thing Mom didn't see him! |
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| I screw this into the outdoor light socket and then plug an extension cord into it. Each of these powers one of the large rectangular windows on the first floor and two of the second floor windows. | My outdoor light fixture with the extension socket screwed into it. The normal white bulb will be replaced with a red bulb for Christmas. | This is an inexpensive but indispensable tool, a light bulb tester from Radio Shack. It can test individual bulbs and fuses, help pry stubborn mini-light bulbs from their socket, and can help locate a dead bulb in a string of non-working bulbs. |
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| Two windows are connected to one extension cord. | Each second floor window has one string of 200 lights wrapped around at least twice. | A closer view. This extension cord is attached to the outdoor light fixture next to the front door. |
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| A main junction point is in that corner under the eaves between the garage and the dining room window. | A convenient place to anchor the string of lights coming down the right side of the house. | The Christmas lights are finally up but not lit yet. I like the stealth look. Until the lights are on, you can't even tell they're there. |
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Now it is time to turn the lights on! Merry Christmas! Remember, Christmas spirit is not what you drink. |
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