Several years ago, my brain suffered a "tock" when it should have "ticked". Son and I were on the pier when I seemed to lose all ability to talk and even move. His thoughts immediately turned to "Mom is having a stroke!" Neither of us had our phones and he knew he could not leave me on the pier so he (somehow) managed to get me to the shore and up the hill to the Little Bayou House. A trip to the ER and a brief hospital stay saw me hale and hardy again. There were a few lingering problems that needed tending, however, so my kids kept after me. Their therapy soon turned to "learn something new" which led to my current hobby of repairing antique clocks. This was something that never crossed my mind before so it was definitely new territory! Now, it has become almost a passion to seek out dilapidated clocks and restore them to their once regal state.
A few months ago, a "new" cuckoo clock was obtained and it met the broken standard to a T. It was in shambles. I was a bit intimidated, at first, but soon found myself tinkering with the mechanism. That is always my beginning point. Fix the inner workings then repair the housing. Finally, the clock was ticking away and cuckooing halfway. One bellows still needed to be repaired. I started on the housing...the fun part! Once the pieces were cleaned, hand-rubbed with polish and reattached, all seemed well...except...except that the pediment (top, decorative piece) was missing. Simple! I shall just buy a replacement! Nope...none were to be found...anywhere.
This brought me to my new craft! Both of my sons prodded me to "make your own". Well, I had never carved a thing before in my entire life but I decided to try. Keep in mind that I have a very arthritic right hand (I am right-handed) and no fancy carving tools...still I was determined. Armed with an Exacto knife and a rotary tool sander, I flipped through my stash of wood pieces. None seemed to be even similar to the linden wood that the master woodcarvers used to create the original clocks. Not to be daunted, I opted for some cedar simply because the color was similar. Then...I carved.
This particular clock is supposed to have an owl seated among the leaves as a pediment. I knew I could never replicate the detailed work of the master carvers, so I took a little creative leeway with my carving. I still did four leaves, a cluster of grapes and an owl but they are vastly different that what should be on the clock. My hand would often seize up and cause a delay and then would ache terribly at night but I refused to stop. I WOULD carve something that resembled the original pediment...not copy...just resemble.
All in all, the attempt was not a dismal failure. It is far from perfect but not terribly disappointing. (I have, however, come to the realization that I shall never, ever become a master woodcarver!) I learned a lot, found it interesting and created a pediment that worked. Do I want to carve other pieces? Maybe? It could become a new hobby along with the myriad of other crafty doings. I do need to give the hand a rest, however! In the interim, I shall attempt to re-leather that silent bellows! My cuckoo clock is coming along nicely and I am definitely learning. (The only downside to all this clock repair is that I am running out of wall space to hang them!)
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