But for those times when you aren't around, I must rely on other methods of light and warmth. I love to light candles for the warm glow they give a room. There is nothing like it. And it is what Colonists and Early Americans used primarily. I like pure beeswax candles because they burn so nicely, but they sure do burn fast. But, let's face it, it is pretty hard to read or work by candle light - especially with 54 year old eyes. Over the years I have been fortunate to collect a variety of Colonial inspired lighting. Some are for task lighting, some for mood lighting. Some are overhead and wall lighting. Some are made in a style pretty close to what might have been used, only they are electrified. Others are really more inspired by colonial times and are less accurate but I still prefer them over what the typical discount and home decor stores carry. I have been asked by a few prim friends to show my lighting so here is part of my collection. Be warned - picture heavy post!
When I first started to look for more primitive lighting back in 1986 or so, it was not easy to find - even in the local primitive shops. One of my favorite things to do was to take an old jug and make it into a lamp. One local shop back then sold lamp kits that were set into a cork and the cork was then set into the jug thereby avoiding making any holes in the jugs. I have seen similar kits using a rubber stopper instead of a cork in stores in my travels and online sites but I don't recall exactly which ones right now - sorry. Below are some of the jugs I made into lamps back way then.
Two in this corner of the living room...
This one on my little desk in the living room...
This one is on DH's side of the bed...
And this one is one top of my desk in my office... 
Some of my other lamps are made to resemble different style candle holders. These are not great for bright light, but when used with the silicone dipped bulbs, they are wonderful for soft mood lighting. Almost as nice as a real candle. Now that our eyes don't adjust at night as well as they did years ago, we use a few of them as night lights.
Here are two on my side of the bed...
This one is a night light in bathroom...
This one in DH's office....
This one right next to my computer monitor...
And this one on top of the refrigerator is a night light too. 
My favorite are these two lanterns - this one in the dining room I got at the Seraph MANY years ago...
and my newest lantern in the living room. Except for this one, I have had all my lamps and electric candle sticks for several years at least. 
These next few pics are types of bridge lamps. Some are old and some are repros.
We got this is wall sconce when we moved here. The previous owners had something hard wired here and I didn't like it. Back then it was hard to find colonial wall sconces and when I did find one, it had to be modified because this was not linked to any wall switch. And it was brass to boot!
We started to replace the ceiling fixtures almost immediately. This one in the dining room did not have the dripped candle look sleeves back in 1986. I added them several years ago. I got the sleeves from New England Traditions in Sturbridge.
I added the drip sleeves to this one in the kitchen too - this is from 1986 as well!
This is the second colonial light fixture we have had over the sink. The first was a punched tin witches cone but it blew up one day! I couldn't get the parts or another one exactly like it so I got this revere lantern instead. Of course I then found the cone lanterns everywhere after that!
This little guy is in the front hall.
and this one from our bedroom is the exact same style, just painted.
I love this one in my office....
And this is in the hallway outside our bedrooms...
So that is the lighting tour Behind My Red Door! I hope that was helpful to the gals that asked me to post the pictures of them. Some sources for primitive lighting are: New England Traditions, Irwin's, Lt. Moses Willard, The Country House Catalog, Piper Classics, Circa Home Living, and Early American Tin Lighting.
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Now for Whatcha Working On Wednesday! Make sure you head on over to Leslie's to see more! We have had a busy time the past week Behind My Red Door with the in laws in town and babysitting our sweet angel and other summer time business, but I did manage to finished my pillow from last week. 
And I even managed to make two more little pillow tucks for the fall but I can't show you those just yet!
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I wanted to let you know the source for the Swedish Rhubarb Meringue recipe It was from the Heart Change Place Blog. Thanks Kathy for steering me in the right direction!
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We have had a few glorious days of gorgeous summer weather. Mid 70's, dry and breezy - but it is coming to an end tomorrow. The humidity is coming back with a vengeance - DARN - and just in time for my Prim Gathering tomorrow. Back on go the a/c's. I have been busy cleaning and tweaking and primping. It's amazing what you notice needs fixing, dusting, or tweaking when you have prim friends coming to SEE THE HOUSE! LOL
I offered Bonnie and Audrey a choice of a lunch or a brunch menu and Bonnie chose brunch so I am making:
Broccoli cheese quiche
Apple maple chicken sausages and
Colleen's Strawberry, Spinach and Feta Salad.
After brunch we are going to head out to Country Plus in Hopkinton, and Pepperberry Cottage in Westboro. One of my blog followers, Tricia, will be working at Country Plus for the owner, so I will get to meet her - how fun is that??!! When we get back here, we'll have a cool summer dessert made with fresh blueberries and raspberries before the gals head home.
I best get back to my tweaking and cleaning. I heard Bonnie is packing a camera!
Until Next Time - Hugs, Linda
