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I post on Monday with an occasional random blog thrown in for good measure. I do my best to answer all comments via email and visit around on the days I post.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

My Grandfather's Clock and Thankful Thursday

This, is my grandfather's clock. I mean that literally. Sometime between 1906 and 1910 my grandfather built this clock in his high school shop class. Which makes it between 105 and 109 years old.

It was a kit clock. The style, with the picket fence along the bottom, was popular in its day. In the original Great Gatsby movie (with Robert Redford) there's a scene in which a clock very similar to this one makes a brief appearance.

It's the only thing I have of my grandfather as he wasn't a part of my father's life and thus not a part of the lives of his grandchildren. My father said, since he slept in the living room, that he grew up listening to it's ticking and bonging all of his life. When Dad's mother died, he took the clock. Then he gave it to me.

It has kept descent time all these years, until recently when it just plain stopped.

We spent a small fortune and had the clockworks completely overhauled, cleaned and repaired.

It's tick-tocking and bonging beautifully once again.

The clock man says, with oiling once every 4 or 5 years, it's good for another 100 years. That's a lot of tick-tocks, a lot bongs.

My grandfather's clock is too tall for the shelf
So it's stood 109 years on the floor...                  

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ImageChef.comEvery Thursday, from now until I don't know when, I'm going to express my thankfulness, for at least ONE something.

I've chosen a picture of the Deep Field to remind us all of how precious and rare this tiny ball of dirt, that we call Earth, is. 

This is it. It's all we've got Let us be kind to Earth and each other. Let us be THANKFUL for what we have.




Today I'm thankful for: Hamburgers!
Burger DeLuxe (4414826939)
 Why? Because it's National Hamburger Day.
Pay it forward, buy a hamburger for somebody in need.

***

What are you thankful for? Do you have something from a grandparent that you cherish? Will you be eating or giving away a hamburger today?

5 comments:

  1. That's impressive that he built and that it still works. I don't think the kids in shop class today are building anything as impressive.

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  2. Yes, a very nice heirloom to have and a service every 100 years is pretty good going! They must have had skilled teachers back then. Hooray for hamburgers!

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  3. What a special heirloom, indeed! Like Alex stated, most high schools have eliminated vocational courses due to $$, lack of space, etc. It also comes after the "all students should go to college" movement.

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  4. Hi Bish,

    What a treasured timepiece. Glad it back to tick-tocking and having a right good bonging session :)

    I love grandfather clocks, although I've never seen one that actually looked like a grandfather.

    We, that little dot on this fragile, beleaguered planet.

    Time for me to go to our local food bank and donate some food. Happy Hamburger Day.

    Gary :)

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  5. I have many precious things that once belonged to my grandparents, and I’m thankful for all of them.
    I won’t be eating or giving away a hamburger today, but I just might tomorrow – give one away that is!
    I love your grandfather's clock - they don't make things like that any more.

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