Fake chandeliers for Winter Solstice

It is only four days until it happens! The day that marks the turnaround of the light. The day when the sun starts it’s slow-paced struggle to once again win this cyclical war against the suffocating darkness here at the 64th latitude. The Winter Solstice! It’s terribly annoying how the most important day of the year has to linger in the shadows of Christmas, is there anyway we could change that? I would like to throw a big Winter Solstice party, but somehow I can never make that happen…  

For those of you who have been following me along the seasons you know I get through the darkness with adding light. Inside and outside. One thing I do is spotting interesting lights in the stores and then wait for the season sales to hunt for them. It takes patience. Like every hunt.

Some years ago one of those cheep stores where you can find most anything at a bargain and in a guaranteed bad quality (Rusta) added an interesting item to their assortment. A crystal chandelier made out of plastic and and wire. The lights are led. They come in two sizes.

Those creations made me stop. They are unbelievably ugly. Yet fascinating. I had the feeling I would find a spot for them somewhere…

When my carport was finally done, all white painted panel inside, I knew that was the place. Odd, yes, Very. But so right.

At the Christmas sale 2014 I bought the first big one. Half price. Of course. That’s how cheep I am. The big one wasn’t that big though, it would just look silly in the carport. So the year after I purchased two more. Three big boxes with plastic/wire chandeliers took up a lot of space att different places for 1,5 years before my electrician finally found his way here.

But man, was it worth waiting for! In October 2016 three fake chandeliers had found their purpose hanging close to each other in different heights from the roof ridge in front of the west window facing the fields. Putting the switch on I frowned in disappointment at the fact that two of them turned out warm white and one more of a copper tone. Yeah, that’s the downside with hunting at different years… It actually grew on me though, it’s kind of cool, especially since the exterior of the carport is red.

Now, the chandeliers came in a smaller size too. Hmm. My mind wondered for a long time before it settled. For the apple tree. But of course! At the Christmas sale last year there were three of them left at the shelf when I got there. Half price. I grabbed them.

They’ed been sitting in their boxes taking up space under my staircase for eleven months before my imaginary image became reality. It was Mohammed (I will tell you about this amazing young man further on) who hang them and completed my vision for me. 

So, three fake crystal chandeliers in the carport and three in my grandfather’s crummy old apple tree. What does it look like? Well, it’s kind of cheesy of course. But it’s also so out of context that it’s fun and even pretty. It works. And the light and the accomplishment of the hunt for it make me happy every time I look. And so are my guests and my home care people, I can tell.

There won’t be a Winter Solstice party, it’s just impossible three days before Christmas (in Sweden). But the fake chandeliers are shining and my surroundings dressed in snow. It actually looks like we will have a white Christmas this year (knock on wood! )