Outdoor Holiday Decorations Go Up at My Farm
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas and everyone here at my Bedford, New York farm is getting into the holiday spirit.
I just love how my home looks during the Christmas season - adorned with festive lights and ornaments inside and out. This year, I put up shooting stars on several of the outbuildings and decorated my front entrance with two beautiful evergreen trees, lots of bright lights, and giant silvered-glass kugels from my old Martha by Mail Collection.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Even the horses are decked out in holiday hats. Here’s Bond, one of four handsome Friesians here at Cantitoe Corners. The Friesian Horse originated in Holland, where it was put to work in the fields. Nowadays, Friesians are used in dressage competitions and as carriage horses because they are so handsome and nimble. I love these stately equines and find them to be gentle and responsive.
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- And can you guess who this is? This is Geert, one of two 12-year old Friesians that came here last year from Britswert, Netherlands.
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- Our holiday decorating usually begins outdoors. Every year, we take out several shooting stars and hang them on some of the outbuildings here at the farm.
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- After checking that all the LED lights work on the star, Pete puts one up on my Gym Building. It is hung securely to a screw eye just under the roof line.
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- Fernando watches carefully from the driver’s seat of our trusted Hi-Lo.
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- This area is the front entrance to the farm, so I also wanted to display a couple of festive Christmas trees here. And here’s a tip… I used heavy cut sections of a log as the bases. And to prevent the trees from falling off of them, Pete inserts a metal rod into the log to use as a dowel.
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- The metal rod is a few inches long – strong enough to join and secure the tree to this base.
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- And then he makes a hole in the bottom of the tree’s trunk.
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- This tree is now very secure on its base and stands tall in the driveway.
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- And here are the two trees flanking a gym window and the doors below.
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- And here is the star. Another tip… if one needs to use extension cords to connect outdoor decorations, use supplies that match the exterior of the building. We’re using grayish-tan extension cords, so they are not seen against the siding. Also be sure any electrical supplies are safe to use outside.
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- And we can’t forget lights on the trees. All of my outdoor decorating lights and supplies are always stored neatly in bins, so they are easy to find and put up year after year.
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- Here is Pete putting up the strings of lights – the more the merrier.
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- This year, I also decided to take out some of the giant silvered-glass kugels from my old Martha by Mail Collection to hang on the same trees. Do you have any? The mirrored shine of traditional kugels first produced in Germany during the early 19th century, comes not from silver or mercury, but from a coating of reflective material sprayed to the inside surface of clear glass.
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- Because the kugels are fragile and quite heavy for ornaments, I wanted them secured to the branches with strong wire.
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- Fernando carefully places each kugel strategically on the tree – none of the ornaments should bang or touch each other, and be sure they don’t weigh down the branches too much – place them deep into the tree, so they are well-balanced.
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- Meanwhile, my shooting stars are placed on other outbuildings. Here is one above the Hay Barn.
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- This shooting star was hung above the sliding doors of my Equipment Barn.
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- By night fall, the lights look so beautiful. I love the way the taillights swoop down the side of the building.
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- These bright stars can be seen from across the pastures. Do you know what a true shooting star is? A shooting star is actually a small piece of rock or dust that hits Earth’s atmosphere from space. It moves so fast that it heats up and glows as it moves through the atmosphere. Astronomers call them meteors. Most meteors burn up before they even reach the ground.
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- The star looks so pretty illuminated above the two lighted trees. If you haven’t yet put up your outdoor holiday decorations, there’s still time – it is now 11-days before Christmas.
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