Take time

I like clocks. I have a clock in my living room and I recently dug out a travel clock that would probably be classified as vintage at this point, and it ticks me to sleep. I find the mechanical ticking quite soothing. If I had an i-phone I'm sure there's probably an app for that, but it wouldn't be the same.

My Grandfather's Clock was one of my favourite childhood songs. I've been rummaging around youtube and even though there are no words in this one, I chose it because he looks like he's having such a good time. (Note to self, add 'learn banjo' to the bucket list.) I also have a fondness for things that are mechanical, off the grid, so I love pendulum clocks and have a dream of owning a grandfather clock. Yesterday I was on ebay to see if I could find a wind-up watch, and on etsy to look at handmade pendulum clocks. Yes, well, lottery notwithstanding, there's more chance of me making my own. Oh, making my own clock, how marvelous that would be. So then I went to youtube and found this lovely series of videos of a chap making his own clock from a kit (there are kits!). It seems that one needs various tools and machinery to make a clock, but I ended up watching his entire series, partly for the commentary and music that is just so quirky and British I loved it, and mostly to see the clock take shape. So cool.

It seemed to just take hours and hours and hours of work, and a couple of times he said he broke a piece more than once and had to make another one. To stick with a project like that for such a long time is an old world thing, like pendulum clocks themselves. I'm not making a clock but I do have one project I've been working on for years (five? six? to be fair it can sometimes be months that I leave it untouched) that has become far more about process than product. I'm a little shy about it because it's quite geeky in the grand scheme of things but, inspired by clock-making chap, here is a picture of my cross-stitch.

This is just the lower half, obviously. The top half is currently wound round the top dowel. I've never taken pictures of it before and I think it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself! It's incredibly slow work because of the distribution of the colours in the complex pattern, but little by little it comes together.
So, here's to investing in long term projects. Here's to creativity and perseverance. Here's to celebrating one's quirkiness.