Grandfather clocks and company

"My grandfather clock was too tall for the shelf, so it set ninety years on the floor..." Now why is that song going through my head?

David dearly loves grandfather clocks. One of his favorite stores in Gatlinburg is the Clock Peddler, down on the main drag. We have to go in there at least once every time we go to that town. We wander around and look at all the clocks, picking out the ones we like best, deciding most of them are too tall for our house, many of the dials are too ornate, some of them have too much glass or mirrors...but we never buy. Someday, maybe, but not now. Even though the poor shop owner or salesperson tries to entice us with better deals than on the tags, or delivery to our town, no deal.

Just this afternoon we had company again, a cousin and his family from Louisville. The two little girls found the musical clock in the bucket of toys in the living room and wound it up. Of the toys in the bucket, the clock is by far my favorite one for them to have out--the others are way too noisy. But then it's my own fault for having them in there, so how can I complain. The cousins were only there for a couple of hours. We had lunch at the Plum Tree, as is our Sunday after-church custom. When cousins revealed it would be another couple hours before their hotel room was ready in Lex, we invited them to the house. I'll say I had to think twice--not because I didn't want them there, but I had to think--is the house straight enough for company? Then I remembered, it is. That's a nice feeling! And it was a nice visit. I enjoyed chatting with the adults, admiring the girls' artwork, and then reading to the girls while older sister rode the little bicycle around the computer room floor. A good visit for sure.

Cousins were the third set of company in the last week. Last weekend, we had our favorite waiter and his family over for a Saturday evening dinner and sit-around. That was so enjoyable! Waiter's little three-year-old son is the reason for the toys being in the living room in the first place. We had such a good time watching 3 play with the toys. He loved the clock. He wound it up and took it over to David. David started singing along with the toy, which entranced 3. He stood there and stared at David while he sang, never taking his eyes off him. For 3, that was quite an accomplishment--last year, the family was told he was autistic, and eye contact was something they probably wouldn't get. They do get it, though, along with hugs, smiles, and laughs. 3 is making progress.

The second set of company was to have come on Tuesday evening, but family matters beyond their control intervened. They were bringing a five-year-old with them, so we left the toys in the living room for him. (He's also the reason for the bicycle in the computer room.) At first I was miffed when they didn't show, but then another family emergency arose, different family, and we used the food we would have fed to Family #2 to share with our Louisville family. That was a blessing, for sure!

The actual second set of company was Aniel, who showed up on Friday night after calling on Thursday. We were delighted to see them and hardly can count Aniel as company, since they're family. I offered them waffles for breakfast on Saturday only to find the box in the freezer that I thought was full had been raided by a hungry husband, and there were only 2 waffles in the box! It was okay, though. Aniel fixed the waffles, and one ate them while the other fixed a fake quesawhatever out of corn tortillas and feta cheese. Aniel was satisfied, and that's all that mattered there.

We all went to a wedding on Saturday afternoon--Louisville family's grandson. Neat wedding! It was an outdoor wedding, which was great fun. It was way hot, but the bride had the foresight to distribute those colorful folding fans that I love as gifts. We all sat there and fanned, waiting for the wedding. (D and I also got into the bubbles, until A scolded us for blowing them before the ceremony.) Seeing the bride and her father come up in a carriage was really special, too. After the very, very short wedding (only about 10 minutes), while we were waiting for the couple to show up at the reception, many folks took short carriage rides around the parking lot. The little cousins really enjoyed that. The reception was really hopping. My cousin S, who has been married a shorter amount of time than Aniel, convinced her mom, my daughter, and me to get out on the dance floor with her and shake the junk in our trunks--and D sat there with his cell phone, making a video of the whole thing. I told him he would probably be sending it to his folks, who just got back to their home country this week, and he said, "Yeah." Whoops--at least I don't think I made a total fool of myself. A good time was had by all, and only a minimal amount of alcohol was consumed!

Well, that's my week--and a great one it's been. I hope yours has been similar! Love to all, and God bless!

PS Did I forget to mention that I saw Red Skelton on television either Wednesday or Thursday night in a KET special on Pioneers of Broadcasting? Definitely worth watching--I loved that man.