Time is Precious

We brought my mother's clock home today.

The clock was originally her grandmother's, my great grandmother's.  It was given to my mother early in her marriage.  But in our poor little house, there was no special place for it and it became a plaything for me and my sisters where it sat on a dresser in our over-crowded bedroom.

Eventually my aunt asked for it.  My mother didn't want to part with it, she had so little, but she knew my aunt would take care of it and give it a proper place of importance.

Last spring, when we emptied out my aunt's house, I asked my cousin for it, and she gave it to me.  It sat in a bedroom until we got around to getting it restored.  Restoration of old clocks in not cheap.  This one cost $200 to bring back to life.  But it was my Great Grandmother's, and my Mother's. Today it came home.

This style of clock is called a kitchen clock, and that is where it is, in my kitchen, now ticking away.

We have other old clocks.

 This mantle clock belonged to Tom's grandparents.  It's had some work done on it over the years, but has been quite reliable for the more than 30 years it has had a prominent place on our family room mantle.

The tall case clock, or Grandmother clock, sits in the living room.  We have had this clock for about two and a half years.  It isn't especially old but it belonged to my mother and dad.  When we moved Mom into assisted living, it needed a home, but no one else wanted it.  Tom loves clocks, so we took it home.  It needed new works, estimated at $1000 by a clock maker, so Tom bought a kit and did the work himself for half the cost.  Still, this clock is a considerable investment too. It does have lovely chimes, and reminds me of my mother.

This mantle clock was a gift from me to Tom one Christmas.  It is an almost identical model to one that his grandparents had.  That family clock went to his brother.  Tom always looked for this type of clock when we visited antique stores.  I bought it on line and we put money into having it restored too.

 Finally there is the completely extravagant, non-family clock that Tom just kept admiring at the clock shop in Langley, Whidbey Island.   With our kids raised and out of the house, we had a little money for extravagances  so I talked him into buying it.  It turned out to be a money pit in its purchase price and restoration.  

It lives in the dining room where it keeps great time, but the hour/half hour bim-bam striking is totally confused and we have not been able to fix that.  Now we don't care.  You never know what twangy hour it will strike, usually on the half hour.  I love its quirkiness. 

As I was posting this blog, the clocks all began to strike the hour, 4:00, down stairs, each a minute of so off from each other.  Some may find it noisy, but we like it.

Each Sunday evening it is Tom's job to wind the clocks and correct the time if necessary.  Old clocks can't be set backwards, so last Sunday it took awhile to adjust to the return to Standard Time.  

And so you see, in our house, time is precious.