Question of the Day - Monday, November 30, 2020

Jem

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I love lights. Color or style doesn't really matter much to me....If it sparkles, it's good.
I'm not a fan of the inflatables, plastic figurines or wood painted cut outs of Santa, snowmen, etc...It just ends up looking tacky and smaller ones are usually buried by snow in no time.
We used to put lights out around the gutters of the house, but now I just put lights up in my windows (inside), and you can see them from the outside...so much easier and I get to enjoy them too!
 

posiepurrs

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When the kids were young I would decorate the outside with lights. We were the first in the neighborhood to do it. I haven't done it recently since my hubby used to grumble about taking them down in the cold. I don't know why he grumbled - I was the one who put them up so I felt like I should take them down! I still have everything (if they still work) and am considering using them this year. I don't do the inflatables (just don't like them).I think this year we all need a little extra sparkle to raise our spirits.
 

gilmargl

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I agree with Jcatbird Jcatbird . When I was growing up in a London suburb. we loved seeing Christmas trees lit up in the front windows of neighboring houses. Walking to the shops, in the dark, on a winter's late afternoon and seeing the, usually colored lights, perhaps even flashing, in other people's houses conjured up a feeling of excitement, romance and expectation. However, the number of lit up Christmas trees and indoor decorations started to decline - perhaps because the children had left, or new houses had smaller windows so one couldn't see a tree, even if there was one. Even the tall Christmas trees planted and lit up by the local council at each end of our long main road became a thing of the past. Then people started putting up monstrous lighting displays on their houses and in their front gardens.

Moving to Germany in 1974, we found that people were stringing lighting on trees - never colored or flashing lights - and this looked both comforting and in keeping with the Catholic community. So, once we bought our house, one of the first trees we planted was a blue spruce which we decorated diligently each year with white standard electric incandescent candles for outside use. In those days, all lighting (if not specifically colored) was the same tone of white. Streets looked pretty as each house, although lit-up differently, had the same uniform color. But.....

Today, with LED's, there are so many different whites - ranging from orange to green or blue. My street could still look attractive if everybody kept to one color-tone. Fortunately, we don't have any reindeer, Santa Clauses or Disney characters telling us it's Christmas time, though there are some in the side streets.

The blue spruce has gone - it grew too tall and was too close to the house. There's not much space at the front so I have lit up a small tree in a container at the back of the house and have ordered two stars to put on either side of the path at the front. If these turn out to be too blue, orange or green, rather than white light, they will be discarded or used somewhere else.

So, yes, I do like lighting, in moderation, outside in the dark winter months. But, we should not forget the extra energy we need to light up the street. Sometimes a little is more effective in bringing back the feeling of excitement, romance and expectation than an extravagant, gaudy show.
 
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MoochNNoodles

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When I was young, I always liked catching a glimpse of a lit tree through windows of houses as we passed at night when were in the car. I like seeing some lights but nothing huge and I don’t do a big display myself. I do put some little red poinsettia lights around the border of a special garden that is beside the sidewalk. It lights the path and I don’t have to climb a ladder.
That sounds pretty! I have path lights that look like large Christmas bulbs. I started with things I could do myself after we bought the house. Now DH does the lights on the house while I hold the ladder! And then I do the yard stuff myself.
I love lights. Color or style doesn't really matter much to me....If it sparkles, it's good.
I'm not a fan of the inflatables, plastic figurines or wood painted cut outs of Santa, snowmen, etc...It just ends up looking tacky and smaller ones are usually buried by snow in no time.
We used to put lights out around the gutters of the house, but now I just put lights up in my windows (inside), and you can see them from the outside...so much easier and I get to enjoy them too!
I actually put up a led nativity in my backyard so we can see it inside. :lol: I had gotten it for the front; but then I fell in love with a big metal cut out one at a craft fair. That sucker was hard to carry out and I had to call DH to come get it in his suv. But I love it! People were stopping me at the fair asking what vendor I got it from. I had to tell them I bought the last one. It was way over my craft fair budget; so DH agreed to it being my gift that year. I have zero regrets!;)
I think this year we all need a little extra sparkle to raise our spirits.
I agree!!
Today, with LED's, there are so many different whites - ranging from orange to green or blue. My street could still look attractive if everybody kept to one color-tone.
Thats what really bugs me about the white led lights. I prefer the look of the old warm incandescent white lights. DH didn’t agree to doing lights on the house until I found a deal on leds. It hasn’t raised our electric bill much. They are on a stake with a light sensor and timer so that helps too.

I do have some incandescent white lights around the kitchen. If I ever find leds that look like those; I’ll swap them out.
 

aliceneko

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We don't decorate our house much outside as we can't afford a lot of the outdoor lights, but when I drive past other people's houses I love seeing the multicoloured retro style Christmas lights, they look very warm and cosy. Not too keen on cold coloured lights so much, but warm coloured ones give a really homely feel.

Our neighbours have projected snowflakes on the front of their house each year which looks pretty cool, too. Inside we have warm coloured lights, silver Christmas trees for the mantlepiece and some white light up stars.
 

MonaLyssa33

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My family never decorated outside for Christmas and now that I have my own house I'd like to do it, but probably not this year. My house is a rambler so putting up the lights will be a lot easier than if I had a taller house and the previous owners already had hooks on the gutters for lights.
 
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