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 the 1999 display...
I had big plans for 1999`s light spectacular, mainly as it was the year that everyone went mad over the "millenium" celebrations- here comes the Year 2000 and all that. Well although I did not really get caught up in the fuss, I did see it as an excuse to put up more lights than I ever had before, since my displays go from mid December right round until January 6th- and came up with the idea of having "2000 lights for the Year 2000". Now how on earth am I going to afford all those lights....
Well as luck would have it, a decorating product newly arrived at our shores made its appearence all over the place- neon ropelight! This stuff has actually been around for ages, but this year was the first time it became readilly avaliable to the public here. Tough, flexible tube with hundreds of tiny bulbs along its length. What`s more- it was cheap too compared to a similar number of bulbs in a "normal" set, so I ditched my original plans for hundreds and hundreds of miniature low voltage lights in the bushes and round every window, and came up with this....

Christmas 1999 display

On paper it looked great, and at the time I was pleased with the result, however comparing it to the other displays I have done, I have to say it is far from my favourite one. I had wanted to try neon ropelight for ages, and it worked fairly well, there just wasn`t really enough of it. I also cheated somewhat, to reach my 2000-light goal. In the upstairs middle window is one of those LED matrix message signs- this too, was something I`d been keen to get and couldn`t believe my luck when I found one on special offer. 400+ LEDs, it made up a significant part of my light count even if, strictly speaking, they`re not really christmas lights. Still, it was unique! Here`s the photos, and sorry but as with previous years, I hadn`t learned my lesson about the flash...

Click a Thumnail to view the full sized image and a more detailled description.
View of the tree and pillar from the front door
 - View of the tree and pillar from the front door

Snowy shot of the house from the bottom of the drive -
 Snowy shot of the house from the bottom of the drive
Very snowy shot of the house from the road - Very snowy shot of the house from the road

The lighting effect in the downstairs-right window -
The lighting effect in the downstairs-right window
Inside the *control room* where all the power came from - Inside the "control room" where all the power came from

Closer view of the window and tiled area above the front porch -
Closer view of the window and tiled area above the front porch
View of the assorted lights in the bush by the driveway - View of the assorted lights in the bush by the driveway

View of the house from the bottom of the driveway -
 View of the house from the bottom of the driveway

Recently (new year 2004) I discovered a videotape made during the night of the big snow in 1999, which showed the display and surroundings quite nicely. It was only a VHS tape, and a 4 year old one at that, so the quality wasn`t amazing. However I was able to capture many stills from that tape, and now can present them here below. The images are not great as I said - they are fuzzy and low resolutuion, but still give an alternative, and hopefully better look at Lights 1999. Also some views from the back out on the wintery landscape taken on the day that followed that heavy snowfall.

Yellow neon-ropelight around the top roofline
 - Yellow neon-ropelight around the top roofline

The little tree weighed down with lights and snow -
 The little tree weighed down with lights and snow
Wider look down to the little tree and front door - Wider look down to the little tree and front door

Heavy snowfall covered the white lights in the bushes -
Heavy snowfall covered the white lights in the bushes
Three-colour LED ropelight around the front of the garage - Three-colour LED ropelight around the front of the garage

Blue neon-ropelight and a laser effect in the middle window -
Blue neon-ropelight and a laser effect in the middle window
Path-lights slowly getting buried at the back - Path-lights slowly getting buried at the back

It was a quite festive inside too! -
 It was a quite festive inside too!
View of the front from the bottom of the driveway
 - View of the front from the bottom of the driveway

The bushes in the front with white and multicoloured lights -
 The bushes in the front with white and multicoloured lights
Another view of the garage with its multi-effect ropelight - Another view of the garage with its multi-effect ropelight

The front-middle as seen from the road -
The front-middle as seen from the road
Wide view of the house from the opposite side of the road - Wide view of the house from the opposite side of the road

Snow piled high on a lantern at the back -
Snow piled high on a lantern at the back
Bare branches of a tree covered in thick white stuff - Bare branches of a tree covered in thick white stuff

View out of the window at the back with Santa & Sleigh lights -
 View out of the window at the back with Santa & Sleigh lights
Looking towards one of the houses at the back - Looking towards one of the houses at the back

Looking far-left accross to the trees and distant fields -
Looking far-left accross to the trees and distant fields
Lights used...
- Along guttering- 9m Neon Ropelight (yellow, 324 bulbs).
- Upstairs window, middle*- 3m Neon Ropelight (blue, 108 bulbs), "Laser Crab" lighting effect shone on the back of the curtain (red), LED matrix message sign with a total of 420 LEDs** (red).
- Downstairs window, left- Disco lighting effect, 20 watt halogen "Moonflower" (red/green/blue filter).
- Above front door- 12 bulb "GLS" mains powered set (multicolour), along guttering- 9m Neon Ropelight (clear, 332 bulbs), continues down pillar below.
- Front door- In ring on door- home made 20 Multicolour LED set (green to red random fading), in small live xmas tree by the path- 20 Noma Royale Garden set (multicolour), round pillar- Neon Ropelight continued from guttering above (clear), in windows either side- 2 small home made wireframe tree shapes with 45 LEDs each (one Red, one Green).
- Along wall by steps to the left- Neon Ropelight (green, 107 bulbs).
- Bush by driveway- 25 low voltage miniature set with assorted glass covers from 4 different similar sets (assorted).
- Left front bush- 80 Sparkle-Lights low voltage miniature set (clear).
- Middle front bushes- 120 plain low voltage mini set, sold as one half of a 240 set (clear), 100 Pifco low voltage net-lights with coloured covers (red, orange, green, blue).
- Right front bush- 120 plain low voltage mini set, sold as the other half of a 240 set (clear).
- Round garage roof- 120 LED ropelight with multi effect controller (red, amber, green).
## TOTAL LIGHTS- 2000*** ##

* After the New Year- well actually at the stroke of midnnight, a 40-bulb "2000" silhouette sign added to this window was illuminated and remained there until the end of the display on January 6th.

** To attain my goal of 2000 lights, these LEDs were counted towards the overall total figure- cheating somewhat, but it got me there.

*** After the "2000" sign was lit, the total was 2040 but since that sign did not light until a minute or two after the stroke of midnight on New Year`s Eve, officially there were 2000 lights to see in the Year 2000, well to me there were anyway!

Site design, content and all images (c) 2001 Chris W. Millinship. Please contact the author for permission to use images or text.