Friday, 21 October 2011

Birth experience or changing bulbs in a Coral light

A couple of months ago I got an email from a reader asking me how we change the light bulb on our David Trubridge designed Coral light. It was a strange request. I didn't want to write back, "umm..like, der", so I sent a nice reply telling him how to do it. 

My reply was totally theoretical by the way, as the bulb in our light hadn't blown at that stage.

And then our light bulb blew and I appreciated fully what that reader was on about. The bulb that goes with the light is ginormous! Think childbirth thoughts. 

The light is constructed from about 60 pieces of very thin bamboo pieces which plug together to form a sphere - you need to unplug some of the connectors to make an opening wide enough to squeeze the old bulb out and the new bulb in. 

The thin bamboo pieces are liable to split if you are too heavy-handed when unplugging a section. If you don't have spare pieces, you could run into a spot of trouble. 

This is lighting obstetrics 101 and was to be handled very delicately. We photographed our lighting (reverse) birth to show you how it was done:

Fully dilated Coral Light
I unplugged the pieces in three places to make an opening large enough to squeeze the light bulb out.

Jason was the midwife (or husband?) in charge of the reverse birth of the light bulb.
There was a bit of manoeuvring to get the bulb in without damaging the pieces.

Nearly there. A few more deep breaths and a big push, Jason! You can do it!
The light bulb is an energy saving  Philips Ambiance Globe

It's a...it's a...
working light! Aw...Congratulations! 
There you have it. If we can change a light bulb, anybody can. 

18 comments:

  1. How many Fun and Vj's does it take to change a light bulb? Ha! I always liked those lights but have serious doubts that we would survive a natural birth. We'd end up with tearing or a caesar for sure and have to resort to the PVA emergency unit.

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  2. Yes, if was a bit touch and go there Annie. I mopped the sweat off Jason's brow while he was concentrating. PVA was our stand-by. xx

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  3. What a gorgeous light! I never knew you had that. (Now I'm thinking what other little gems you may have that I don't know about. Not that it's my business anyway ...)

    Congratulations!

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  4. Wait a minute. I'm sorry Bris - I try not to comment about aesthetics when it comes to other folk's choice of decor, but that lampshade is too much. You couldn't even concentrate on the T.V. with that thing hanging up in the room.

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  5. Anita, would you post a photo of Jason concentrating on the tv just to show Tom that it can be done? Light on, fast swanky cars on the tv.

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  6. Reminds me of James Harriet the vet...always with his arm up a cow. Showed the lovely people responsible for the fab imported chairs at the WAC you admired, your blog post....they were excited and say thanks xxxx PS you should hit them up for a discount he he

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  7. You guys have a great sense of humour, truely! Have a fun weekend - no painting unless you want to come to our house. ;-)

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  8. That's one funky light with cool shadows.The Sow's Ear is looking very fresh just in time for summer.

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  9. I've loved that light since you first chose it, i recently went to a restaurant on that girls weekend and they had a cluster of them- goodness that would be like a multiple birth if the bulbs needed changing! melx

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  10. Is that a Station of the Cross I spy in the background? Please tell me it is. Do you have all twelve of them? Please tell me you don't, I'll be insanely jealous.

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  11. That was my morning chuckle. Thank you for that!

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  12. Congratulations on the healthy bulb installation.

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  13. Phew glad you could change it! Very funny! Mimi xx

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  14. Congratulations on the new bulb...hope you have many more healthy bulbs in the future
    Lesley

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  15. MMMC, yes lots of little surprises in the Sow's Ear.

    Tom, you no like our big light? That's ok, I will forgive you. Mise is right. It can be done. No photo of Jason is required though, he has no time to watch the box.

    Thanks everyone for your happiness about the new bulb. We are so proud.xx

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  16. Kylie, I forgot to answer your Q. Yes it is a station of the cross from the 30s/40s. We only have two. xx

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  17. & just like childhood - i bet you'd never think twice about purchasing a difficult-to-change-light-globe-style-lighting-art-feature again too!! Love Posie

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  18. You're hilarious. Looked like a tricky delivery - well done to you both xx

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