Rain's Coming, and Creative Lighting

As of last week, I feel pretty confident that I have taken the steps needed to protect my home for the hot and rainy season and to live comfortably in it.

The roof is waterproofed, A/Cs are ready to go, outside furniture is re-arranged, and I have finally given myself permission to take over the casita as a full-on art studio (this took some serious mental work on my part, I will write about this soon).

I  still need to do a little rust-proofing on my iron doors but for the most part, I think we're good at least until the first downpour - at which time we may have more information, hopefully nothing big.

So there I was, sitting in the garden with my friend eating breakfast when she casually mentioned that she needed to make-some-light-covers-out-of-water-bottles for her land.

"You know, for the rain."

What now??

I am READY for the rain! I am READY. What was she talking about?

Between two bites of mango, she points at my outdoor light bulbs. Painted a warm yellow (I am a lighting snob), they are indeed bare and dangling. Actually the same is true for my indoor light bulbs - painted yellow and bare and dangling - as I was looking forward to making my own sconces out of clay but that's another story. They look uncharacteristically unfinished but somehow, they haven't bothered me. There's something sweet about a little part of the house not finished.  A reminder of the days, not that long ago, when I wasn't sure anything was going to get finished.

Until now. Until I learn that guess what? There is more to do.

But hey, I like the idea of the water bottle lamp shade. I like the idea of using these plastic bottles however I can because goodness, there are so many of them all over the place.

Yesterday, during an early morning walk, I spotted a perfectly lampshade-to-be water bottle inside a recycling bin. It was one of these nice blue ones. I reached in and walked home with it. I love that I got it out of the bin, for some reason. Tropical dumpster diving turned into a home project.

This morning, before it got too hot, I decided to give it a try.

I cut the bottle, took off the label, and started to play with the whole thing, figuring out how it was going to work. If I took the bulb out, I could slip the bulb fitting over the neck of the now half-bottle. It was loose so I walked into my little studio and unearthed a piece of hard foam I knew I had kept "for something." I made the bottleneck smaller and it worked great. I then covered  the plate with electrical tape and of course, drew some doodles on the bottle.

I believe it is all pretty protected now. There is plenty of air and room between the bulb and the bottle. I think it is going to work great.

I love it. I love everything about it.

And today, I am going to look through more recycling bins for my three other outdoor bulbs.

Heck, I may even tackle the indoor lights!