March 1 - Westminster Chimes

I've had this clock longer than any of the others. It was a Christmas gift from DS1 and DD1, Rob and Jenny, in 1989. It plays the beautiful Westminster chimes on the hour.

Lloyd and the kids used to get frustrated because I always seemed to know what they were getting me for Christmas and they couldn't figure out how to keep me from knowing. They didn't realize that I picked up on things they said and questions they asked me, and was able to guess correctly most of the time.

That year Jenny was so sure I would have no idea of what she and Rob were getting me. She kept it in it's box and wrapped it up very nicely. Then she brought it upstairs to put under the tree, showed it to me and said "you'll never guess what this is". At that very moment, the clock, still wrapped and in its box, started chiming the hour. Jenny was so mad. She thought she was being so good to put the batteries in and set the correct time, but she forgot that the clock itself would give away her secret!

February 29 - The Grandfather Clock

I've always wanted a big old grandfather clock - I love the rich deep tones of them. For Christmas of 2005, Sara and Quincey gave me a modern-day version of the old style grandfather. It has a lovely sound. You can see that they wrapped it up so I would never guess what it was!

My little granddaughter, Sydney, loved the clock but was afraid to walk past it to leave our place unless someone was holding her hand and guiding her past it. Now that she's two and a half she's not so scared of it any more, and hardly ever notices it.

February 28 - Tick, Tock

It was brought to my attention by my children and grandchildren that I have more than the usual person's collection of clocks. I don't know how it happened. Actually my children themselves have given me at least four of my best clocks. Over the next couple of days I'm going to post pictures of some of the clocks that I have and tell the story, if there is one, about them.

We'll start with my newest clock. Lloyd and I sort of accidentally fell into a retro mode in this place we've lived for the past year. With that in mind, I knew I needed a black cat clock with eyes and a tail that move for my kitchen. After a lot of searching, I finally found one on ebay - not a 50's or 60's original, but close enough for me. Here's my Felix.

February 24 - Wrapping It Up

After a couple days of house hunting, this is the one we decided we want to make an offer on. Sara and I both fell in love with it. We saw some pretty sad looking places over the weekend and ended up going with the first one we saw, which was pretty exceptional. Now we start the paperwork and not-so-fun stuff. We have an early flight tomorrow morning so are having an early night tonight - hate to miss our flight home.

February 23 - Pick Your Own Fruit

We northerners were amazed at all the citrus trees that were in just about every yard of every house we looked at today. Here Sara is reaching up to pick a grapefruit.

I loved the lemon trees, and the orange trees. I hated the thought of all that fruit going to waste while those houses were vacant. It seems like such a luxury to be able to pick your own breakfast fruit.

February 22 - Raining in Phoenix

It rained all day on our first day in Phoenix - so much for the famous Arizona sunshine! It wasn't cold and it wasn't snow, so we didn't mind too much. This queen palm was growing just outside the door of our motel - I love queen palms.

We didn't do much today - rented a car and went out with a realtor at 5:00 and drove around a lot. It's interesting how the city is laid out in 1 mile grids - makes it not so difficult to get around. Our motel is actually in Peoria, which used to be a separate city but is now part of Phoenix.

February 21 - Arrival in Arizona

After two tiring flights, stopping at Denver along the way, Sara, Eloise and I arrived in Phoenix. We were tired and it was late so we got the first ground transportation we saw when we left the airport. It just turned out to be a gorgeous stretch limousine - after 59 years I finally got to ride in a limousine. Sara, of course, has had many such rides...courtesy of Quincey's sense of romance. Eloise, at nearly 3 months old, won't remember her first limousine ride. It was nice to finally get here and relax. Elly was a very good traveller.