Posts Tagged ‘cuckoo clocks’
My father has worked in clock development and repair his whole life and he’s taught me a lot of interesting things about different types of clocks that I don’t think the average person knows about. He’s not a fan of digital clocks in any way and has always developed analog clocks; his favorite clocks in particular to work on are cuckoo clocks.
One thing a lot of people don’t know is that there are typically two kinds of cuckoo clocks – eight day cuckoo clocks and one day cuckoo clocks. Generally, cuckoo clocks are driven by a mechanical movement run by weights underneath the clocks. One day cuckoo clocks must have the weights pulled up manually each day, whereas eight day cuckoo clocks require this each week.
Moving A Grandfather Cuckoo Clock
I just moved into a new home and I had wanted to save some money during the actual move, so instead of hiring expensive movers, I gathered some of my friends and a U-Haul truck and we did it ourselves. It took a while, because I had a lot of furniture gathered up over the years, but we were able to move all of it in a day.
One of my favorite pieces of furniture, that actually gave us quite a bit of trouble, was my grandfather cuckoo clock, which was passed down to me by my own father. It was quite large and fairly heavy, so it was a little bit difficult getting into the house and set up where I wanted it. Then again, moving my couch was a lot more difficult than that!
I’m Crazy For Coo Coo Clocks
I love rummaging through yard sales. There’s always some unexpected treasure I come across. People throw out their things without fully knowing how much they’re worth. I’ve seen people sell hundreds of dollars worth of action figures for a few dollars. A few years back, I found some old baseball cards that were worth over a thousand dollars. You here stories of people finding ancient documents hidden inside old paintings and selling them to museums for millions. I haven’t had anything that big happen yet, but I still hold out hope.
This past weekend, I came across some old coo coo clocks at a garage sale. I didn’t think they were worth much money; I just liked the way they looked. I could tell that they were hand made and from a foreign country because of the writing on the back of it. I bought the three of them for twenty dollars and I took them home and hung them on my wall. I put them in different rooms and synched them up so I could hear the chimes they play every hour. I think it gives my house a rustic feel to it.
Don’t Waste Time
Time is very important; it’s essentially become a commodity in and of itself. As the saying goes, ‘time is money’ and this often rings true to people who are paid by the hour (or even by the month). When one is not paying attention to time, it’s easy to lose track of time and end up wasting time, and ultimately, completely wasting one’s time is not exactly something to strive for.
In this day and age, everyone’s got a clock on their cell phone or their iPod or whatever device they might be carrying around. But it’s nice to have back-ups in order to make sure you don’t get caught up doing nothing and wasting your own time. If you’ve got grandfather and cuckoo clocks in every room of your house, you’re likely to have all of your bases covered.
Gourmet gift baskets are nice, but once you eat the contents the gift is finished. Whenever I attend a housewarming party, I try to give the new residents something they can actually use. Sometimes it’s a piece of cast iron cookware and other times it’s a monogrammed towel set.
A close friend of mine recently became a first time homeowner. He loves German culture and food, so I decided to buy him a housewarming gift that reflected his passion for all things German. In an antique shop I found an exquisite cuckoo clock carved in the Black Forest tradition. I’m sure my friend is going to appreciate the clocks’ heritage and craftsmanship.
Wild Cherry Timber
Wild Cherry timber is highly sought after for its rich reddish-brown color. Top of the line violins, cellos, and other string instruments are often carved from wild cherry. Furniture makers are also fond of the richly colored hardwood. I personally own two cherry grandfather clocks that chime on the hour from their home in my living room.
In North America, wild cherry timber is used for smoking. The smoke from wild cherry timber is distinctive and delectable when infused into meats. Gum from bark wounds make an excellent chewing gum substitute.
For several years now, my cousin and I have been tracing our family’s ancestry. This is no small task given the immense size of our family. (Our grandmother had six children and she in turn was the youngest of eight). We finally pinpointed the birth place of our great-great-great grandfather to a small village in Germany.
My cousin and I decided to take a week’s vacation to visit our ancestor’s birth place and to do a bit of touring. I wish we hadn’t told the rest of the family because as soon as we did, everyone started requesting gifts from the motherland. I was surprised that there were more requests for German cuckoo clocks than for beer steins or other German tourist-y items.
For our ten year anniversary my husband and I treated ourselves to a vacation in the Swiss Alps. Not only was the skiing phenomenal, but the accommodations at our chalet were incredible. The architecture in the village we stayed in was stunning and true to the traditional building methods, we learned from a local guide.
I used up both memory cards I’d brought for our digital camera. The photos are evenly divided between images of the unreal landscape and the gorgeous chalets. After scouring through stores full of chalet cuckoo clocks, we finally settled on one that is now proudly chiming in our living room.
Fascinated Cats
We own two cats named Fluffy and Furball. (Yes, I realize the names are pretty stereotypical, but that’s what happens when you let your five-year-old daughter name the family pets). The two of them have a funny tradition that involves our musical cuckoo clocks.
Every hour on the hour the clocks play a musical medley. Wherever Fluffy and Furball are in the home they drop whatever they are doing and rush to the clocks. Then they sit there, very intently, side-by-side and watch the clocks until the music ends. It’s so hysterical! I really need to capture it on video.
My grandmother was a collector of Black Forest cuckoo clocks. When she passed away she had her clock collection divvied up among the grandchildren. I was very pleased with the clock I received because it was one I had always admired as a little girl.
The intricate wood carvings on the clock served as an inspiration for my living room. I found art pieces that reflected the same wood tones and shapes to complement the clock. I also picked a color scheme that I thought properly invoked the Black Forest without seeming too dark.