More Yard Art -- Lantern

I found this really cool decorative lantern-thingy at the dump thrift store. It just begged to go home with me, so of course I obliged. Now, what to do with it? Why not hang it down by the gate? Ah-ha, an opportunity for more yard art!

Now there are lots of different ways one could hang a lantern. But living by the philosophy of having this farm be somewhat self reliant, I looked around for a suitable post......tree, that is. And I found one that could be sacrificed and not more than a dozen feet from easy access. It had to be trimmed a bit more than I liked because of the weight (less tree = less weight). Afterall, David and I had to manhandle it into the truck bed, then from the truck to the hole. Surprisingly, this tree weighed a lot more than it looked. 

Happily we were able to dig a hole down two feet before hitting solid rock. Using a bag of quikcrete and lava rocks, the pole got securely anchored outside the gate entrance. On one arm I hung the lantern-thingy. The other arm will eventually hold a plaque with the street number. I was going to hang the old sign that's been sitting on the rock wall, but David thought it needed something classier. So he's making a new sign for me. 

One more step to go.....capping the ends of the branches. I plan to pick up some copper to make copper caps. If not copper, then lead. All depends upon what I can find in the stores. 

Adding a vase and yellow flowers seemed like a nice touch. Yup, it's sort of like putting lipstick on a pig, but I like the look of this new lantern & post.