How We Do It
First, take a patient husband, an active credit card, and a vision!
We start making silhouettes just after Christmas, and this continues through until about September. Then begins the bulb attachment (to the silhouettes) and the inevitable bulb painting (enter the patient wife!).
We take a lot of photos of the property during the year, and plan out what silhouettes will go where, taking into account access for visitors, and to maximise visibility. Trust us, even with 2 acres for lights, we still struggle to fit it all in!
Trussing and guywires start going up at the end of August (together with corfluting half the house!), and gains momentum from thereon in. We endeavour to have all the framework and silhouettes up by the middle of November so we can do trial runs, and make sure everything is just perfect! Sometimes though, despite our best efforts, mother nature strikes and it's a massive operation to get everything up and working again!
The last few weeks are spent "tweaking" the display, making minor modifications, and particularly programming the computer for all the sequences. Are we done yet? Certainly not! Our display will grow every year - we love doing it!
Why We Do It
It's a novelty gone to extremes! If you need to ask why we do it, you haven't been out and felt the magic and true spirit of Christmas. It's not just about the lights - it's about the true meaning of Christmas, and having something wonderful to share with everyone, to make their lives a little brighter, if only for a night. It's the awe on the faces of our visitors (particularly children), and the conversations with total strangers, which quite often make you feel like the luckiest people in the world.
From a basic Star of Bethlehem silhouette...
To a work of art!
