Lighting up the Windmill

 Each year John's dad would string lights on the windmill in their farm yard and we kept up the tradition after we moved here.  I have been trying to get a good photo of the lights for several days so I could share with you how pretty they look.

The first photo is what it really looks like at night all lit up but to be honest you would not know if it were 2 feet tall or 200 feet tall.  John and I estimate it is probably 40 to 45 feet tall.

This evening I went out again before it was pitch black out and took a few more photos and changed the settings on the camera so you could see the rest of the farm buildings to give you some perspective on size.  It made the lights a little fuzzy but you can see it in comparison to the other buildings.  Our house has the two larger lights clear to the right of the windmill near the edge of the photo.

This windmill does not have the blades on it but still has the tail blade that catches the wind to position the wheel to catch the wind.  You can see the reflection of the lights from the star on it above the star.  If you look closely you can see the silhouettes of the calves.  They are in a pen across the driveway from the windmill.

This windmill is not functional anymore although we do have our water well under the windmill but it is pumped out of the ground by an electrical pump.  Someday John and I would like to put the blades back on the windmill to make it look like it used to.  The blades were saved and are behind the barn so we know where they are.  It is just a matter of figuring out how to get them up the tower and attached again.  We might have to get someone to come out with a boom to help.  Will let you know when/if that ever happens.

In the mean time we put the lights up and enjoy them.  People that the frequent the highway past our house always comment about the windmill lights, especially if John doesn't get them up the first week of December.  You can see them from several miles in each direction.   John does extend out the base of the windmill with some boards so the strings of lights will not hit the metal supports and break the bulbs when the wind blows - that is why  it is wider than normal.  The windmill has 4 legs and he has 8 strings of lights coming down from the star.

Enjoy our lights and the ones in your own communities....they do look so magical this time of year. 

Lynn

Favorite Ornaments

One of the things I enjoy about decorating the Christmas trees is unwrapping and hanging each of the ornaments.  A lot bring back memories of past Christmases.  Some were made by special people, some were purchased and bring back memories of the time when they were new.

 In 1982 I made ornaments like the one above for all our extended families plus all the Sunday School kids I had in my class at the time.  I made the salt-flour dough and spelled out the names then added the heads to each - I painted them after baking in the oven.  This one is the one I made for our family.  John with his brown hair, me with my red hair (it has faded to something that doesn't even resemble red now and John's has turned to silver), daughter A with her blond hair and daughter S with her brown hair.  I wrap this ornament very carefully each year so it won't break.

 When our daughters were very young we made ornaments like this from the cardboard egg cartons to give to everyone.  We glued two parts together, spray painted them gold, glued on trim and sequins and hung a small gold glass ball in the center.  It isn't the prettiest but I love it and will hang it on the tree every year.  The girls had so much fun making them and thought they were so pretty with the sequins they glued on.

This is a very special ornament to me.  The very first year we were married (1971) we didn't have anything to decorate the tree with so I ordered this ornament from Good Housekeeping magazine.  I think I spent a couple of dollars for it at the time which I thought was pretty expensive but wanted a special 1st ornament for us to commemorate the year we were married.  It was made in West Germany and is made from the curls of shaved wood and a bead to indicate Baby Jesus head.  It has it's own special box where it is stored with the words West Germany stamped on it.

Memories....wonderful memories!

Lynn

And The Stockings Were Hung

The 10 denim stockings are now hung on our fireplace mantle.  This photo was taken before I filled them and now they are fat and ready for everyone to empty when we open gifts this week.  We will be celebrating before Christmas with our daughters and their families.  They will be leaving for their own homes on Christmas Eve.  So far we have managed to not tell them I made the stockings....I wanted to keep it as a surprise. 

The mantle is holding a few of of my Santa collection.  Most of them have been gifts so I treasure them all.

Lynn 

Busy December

Molded Glass

I don't know where most of December went but here it is a week before Christmas and I haven't posted since December 1. I have not touched my sewing machine since then either.

Painted Canvas and Metal

Two weeks in a row John and I attended conferences in Kearney for several days each. I did get most of my Christmas shopping done while John attended meetings but sure didn't get anything done here at home.  I have made some candies and cookies, made some Christmas visits, wrote our Christmas letter, cleaned up my house and have my laundry caught up so now I have time to do a few other things before our family arrives mid-week.

Molded Glass

This year it took me longer to get my decorations up - walking is still not back to normal so my ankle gets tired easily. I decided to not take everything out of my boxes this year but the house looks festive anyway. I have WAY TOO MANY Christmas decorations and should sort and get rid of some of them. Maybe my daughters will want some that I didn't put up then I wouldn't feel bad about leaving them in the box.

Painted Gourd

We put up two trees....I know it's overkill. One of them is very skinny, called a pencil tree that we have had for years. The house we moved from was limited on space so we got this skinny tree and it worked out great. We have two living areas so one tree is put up in each. The skinny tree only has Santa ornaments on it...with the exception of one Mrs. Santa.

Plastic from the 80s

Santa and Mrs. Santa I made from nylon hose

The second tree is full and tall and I put the rest of the ornaments on it - oh, by the way both trees artificial. I am allergic to pine, cedar and fur trees so just can't have them in the house and the artificial look OK.

Santa holding a quilt

Plastic formed over glass ball

The photos on this post are some of the Santa ornaments on our skinny tree. Enjoy!

Lynn