Cave #4 lights

Well done Fran, on finding some outdoor lights..
pretty ! :o)

thanks TT. Did find some others first, product description said that battery housing wasn't waterproof; i posted a question about how the heck one was supposed to use them, leave a window open to take the lead through? couple of people said to put battery housing in plastic bag. Maybe I will if I get any more, but I'd be more likely to get more of these.

I can't remember what the light cycles are; I don't know if there's one that stays on all the time, timer or not, which would be more useful for indoors. But still, my first lights, and outdoor ones at that!

You've done well ... the silhouette shape of the lights in this pic. is rather like Santa's sleigh :o)

I had two strings, and just wound one over and around the upper frame, and hte other over and round the lower, wiht a bit of overlap. not very "arty" but it's better than nowt!

I found some lights in a deep cupboard I got sale price a long while ago Fran. They are indoor ones with a big heavy transformer and many tiny bulbs. First time I have ever put lights in the front window. They do look rather pretty. Your lights relieve the darkness of your garden.

It's amazing how they've come on since the old days! I remember dad having to check every bulb to find out which one wasn't working.

The timer starts when you first swtich them on: last night I was fiddling around trying different light displays and clicked throught he cycles until I reached the "off", then on again; this reset hte timer so they didn't go off till 4am. Just reset them now, so they'll stay on till about 11pm

All clever stuff Fran.

lol tech is amazing, and these days, amazingly affordable

They look quite good, Fran! Your talk about your dad having to check every light bulb when went out reminds me that my dad used to do the same! At least in those days it was easier to get replacement bulbs not like nowadays when you get a couple of replacements + a fuse bulb, if you are lucky!

The bulbs were also a lot bigger & more powerful & fires were therefore a frequent hazard. My dad was extremely careful so we never had an accident. They were prettier too! Now many of the sets are just small, bare coloured bulbs without even a colourful plastic collar! I can still see in my mind's eye the bulbs I used to help my dad put on the tree each year - as well as the times I used to help him search for the dud bulbs!

Thanks Balcony. Remember dad chasing the lead round the tree, trying each bulb with a spare, then tracing to the next one and so on. All great fun – not! And a few bulbs got bounced each year in unpacking or repacking, so spares were always needed.

There used to be one “flash” bulb, I seem to recall, which made the whole string flash – and he had to test each bulb to find out which it was if he wanted to change the display to constant glow.

It probably was a lot easier to get spare bulbs, since that was the only type available so everyone had them, unlike later on when they became a niche in the market.

Yes, they were a lot bigger than now – and they got hot in operation; remember dad having to use a tea-towel over his hand when playing “find the one that doesn’t work”

(lol reminds me of the old cameras; dad would have to get under the blankets in his bed so as to be able to change the film without any tiny chink of light ruining the exposed film! Drop-in cassettes were so much easier.)

You got a lot more colours then, and different effects: frosted glass gave a whole different feel to the light.

I did see snowflake, fairy and butterfly lights, with plastic covers in those shapes, but I went for the plain ones – snowflake ones wouldn’t seem very seasonal in summer!