Show us your lights

JoAnn - great thread! Nice decorations, everyone! Victor - love your big fat tree!

Allison - congrats on your contest win! So cool! Let us know what your prize is!

You should see the decorations on our street down here in Fla. People really get into it. No more "all white lights" or all color.........this year they are all mixed together! I've never seen that before. We've never been here on Christmas Eve before, so this year we'll be a part of the luminaries placed on the sidewalks in front of every home in the neighborhood. Each house puts a sand bag luminary on each "seam" in the sidewalk in front of the house. People apparently drive through the 'hood to see it. It should be interesting!

Here's a shot of the palm tree in our front yard....this year DH did green and white all the way up the trunk and then color at the top......it looks pretty cool......

yikes........not sure why I put that huge gap in the post above......ooops.

That is EXTREMELY cool DonnieBrook! Very festive! I asked about the only white Christmas lights in old Savana and also in St. Augustine and I was told it was a municipal law. I guess because there's so much tourism?

we have always mixed them up.... I think it breaks it up some.... make a few brighter spots here and there

guess we can't live in those places

:)

Hi everyone I want to share my lights. I wipped them up on that day that it was 55 degrees. Good thing it was or I probably would never have done it. : ) It's hard to get a picture of them at night but here is the best I could do.

Very nice Meredith!! Aren't you glad we get flakey weather in now and then? lol

real nice Meredith... very elegant looking

Thank you : ) Yes I appreciate an occasional warm spell! Now we just have to wait for a January thaw. : )

Some front yard friends.

Some areas around Dallas dictate what "theme" you need to use for your decorations. I'd never be able to live in a place like that.

Very pretty decorations, Meredith!! The snow adds a nice festive touch too! Just think.....you could live in Savannah or St. Augustine and be within the law with your lights!! LOL

Dahlia - glad you like our lighted palm tree. It looks better this year than last.

Victor - very cool visitors. I'll bet your boys enjoy having them!

Jen - I'm with you.......no way would I live somewhere where you have to follow such strict rules on fun things like innocent decorations. My Goodness! Live free or die folks just don't tolerate such nonsense. That's why I couldn't live in the gated communities here.......too much sameness for me. I love the elegance of white lights and I also like the tasteful use of color, and my DH has even helped me appreciate the fun that people have with "over the top" decorations. I guess at my age I value knowing that people are having fun doing their thing more than I value "the rules" on how it should be done. The holidays are times for exceptions to the rules, in my humble opinion.

love those Victor!.... well they sent us a free oil change and tire rotation as a prize

LOL

That's a great prize! Nice Christmas photos, folks---I'm with you, Louise, about the gated communities---we could not put up a fence for the dog, or a clothesline for drying in that free FL sunshine! My 3 yr. old GD HayHay warmed my heart last night---she noticed there were pink lights on the tree---she thought they were just for her, & that even her Mom didn't put on pink lights!

You should borrow an 18 wheeler and see their expression when you drive in!

It was snowing when I took the picture, look at how the first one with a flash came out. : )
It's still snowing here now. This may be the last year for white lights for me, until my kids are grown. We got colored ones for the inside tree, and I told my daughter I would get colored ones for outside next year. She's 4 and she thinks the colored ones are wonderful! I remember being the same way when I was little.

Meredith - I agree that kids seem to love the colors in the lights - as I did too as a child. I hope you enjoy the holidays with your little ones. It's a magical time in their world.

There is a house a few miles from me, on the way to the ritzier suburbs, that looks kind of like a castle. In 2007 we noticed a big frame or construction or something on the roof in September! It turned out to be a truss for a huge CROWN which went on in early October 2007. Wow, these people really celebrate Halloween, their house gets a costume too? By November the crown was joined by swags of lights, rows of lit-up trees, and beginning on December 1 all 8 reindeer, the Holy Family, Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, a menorah and a Star of David were all squeezed into their corner lot.

This house had people coming from miles around to gawk, day and night. Of course the spectacle was more amazing at night. I always tried to remember to change lanes far in advance so I wouldn't get stuck behind the tourists. People wrote into the paper, called the mayor to complain, but the guy said something along the lines of "I pay my taxes, I pay my own electric bill, this is my dream come true, to live in a castle with a crown!"

Anyway, this year, the house is for sale, there is no crown, the truss is still on the roof, there are a few modest lights but no drive-bys and no blow-up Mickey Mouse. No "SOLD" sign either, just "for sale."

Victor the coupon says limit 5 quarts... or else my truck would be going... I think that takes 24 quarts

:)

Thank you Donniebrook : )
That is kinda sad that the house doesn't have lights this year. It reminds me of when a new owner moves in and rips out gardens for more grass. : (

There are a lot of For Sale signs this year ---sad economy---but, we sold our FL house after being on the market for one & 3/4 years!

Sure are... but it's nice to be able to drive straight home with no detour. I'm glad we're able to improve our house instead of moving, although we just found out we need a new roof. That's a little more improvement than I had in mind.

Never got the outside lights up....here are the trees...


family tree

one of my fav ornaments

man tree

the "baby" tree

another shot of the baby tree

Thanks everyone, all the holiday decor is lovely

Until I wrote this article, I thought it was weird to have more than one tree. But originally people had one for each family member!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1946/

Very nice, Jen! What, no beer cans or Harley ornaments on the man tree?!!

I tried to take close up but they didn't come out I'll try again later.
No beer cans, though, since it's in my 6 yr olds room. Plenty of Harley, Nascar and fire fighter ornaments

Love all your trees, Jen! Very cool! "Man" tree....LOL!

I really love our tree this year. It is very cheerful and colorful. Of course, every year we say that the tree is the prettiest one ever! LOL

Luvly, luvly flowerjen. We're the opposite. Got the outside done but since entry to the box of the truck is frozen solid no hope of an inside tree LOL. I'm ok with new non-gardening neigbours taking out the gardens as long as they give the plants away. But if they send them to the dump....

great trees Jen.... we always have two trees.... I have enough ornaments for four of them... we switch the ones we use every year

Dahlianut, how was the solstice celebration? I thought I heard you crying out that spring is on its way.

Jan I have just recovered from malais and dropsy which kept me stuck in my flannels for days:( I have postponed my celebratory dancing til the end of the week when all lingering dropsy symptoms are gone. I was so disappointed that I missed the first day of spring, I have officially moved the date ahead in my garden. Of course now I will be later than everyone else, but then I'm always later than everyone else so what the hoot.

I'd love to be stuck in my flannels for days. Please let us know when you do your celebratory dancing. I will officially move the date ahead in my garden, too, so you are not alone. LOL

Awww that is just the sweetest thing Jan. I will definitely post pics.

Happy return of the sun everyone.
A solstice card for all I called it Raindeer Games

Beautiful card ge1836.

thanks