Such beautiful craftsmanship!

I’ve enjoyed reading up on the details of this watch and company!  The serial numbers put it right at the turn of 1906 to 1907.  120 years old, AND it’s still running.  It is keeping decent time hanging up, struggles a bit when laying flat.  Howard watches from the late 1800s and early 1900s were some of the best examples of watch making in the US and rivaled what the Swiss were doing at the time as well.  He revolutionized pocket watches by coming up with the first stem wound versions.  He also invented the adjustable regulation mechanism you can see in the upper left of the lower right inset pic. 

This particular specimen was made just after that when the successor (Keystone) was making watches from the parts Howard had in stock after the sale of the company.  The name eventually sold to Hamilton which is still a renowned American mechanical watch maker.

In these days, the watch movement and the case were two separate products.  The case is made by the Chicago Crescent Watch Company.  It is an open faced design housing the crystal, the back cover of the movement and an outer back cover.  All these can easily be opened with a fingernail for viewing.

I love it❣️

The pics she referenced

You can see my grandpa wearing his pocket watch as described in my mom’s letter.  She told me she can fondly remembering him reaching for it to pull out and check the time.  I imagine him working in the factory and checking to see how close it was to time to go home each day.  Maybe even habitually pulling it out like we do our phones these days. Haha.

Here’s the great note my mom wrote about my newest watch!

It’s also a sample of her beautiful and much loved handwriting ❤️

Imagine my immense joy and surprise…!!

My mom presented me with her dad’s pocket watch for my birthday this year❣️ It was my Grandpa Judson Morey’s! It’s the perfect addition to my collection. I’m now the proud owner and humble caretaker of heirloom watches from each of my grandfather’s plus Julie’s granddaddy’s.  So blessed!

My week of birthday fun continues…

We got to enjoy our annual Weird Al concert.  This year, he was playing at the Ohio state fair.  Five sixths of us were able to go together (right pics). Savannah was in Indy with fam.  Puddles the clown pretty good as an opener (lower left).  I always like the closing Star Wars tribute, but never noticed R2-D2 lurking behind the guitars before (upper left), hahaha.  

Zoe likes watching the feeders too!

Cool caterpillar on my canopy

A sleepy lap dog is a happy dog❣️

Toned it down a bit.

Brutus 2.0

Whaddya think? Tires too little? Not enough tread?  

Time will tell if I regret not having beadlocks.

One thing for sure, I am once enjoying the compromises I’d made in going with bigger wheels previously by having gone back down a bit.  Easier to get in and out of, better ride, quieter, peppier, better braking, less wear on the bearings.  I like it so far.

Chris made a great off-road RC Jeep video!

I treated Julie to some pretty, cool, fancy earrings.

She’s been treating me so I decided to treat her!  I realized she didn’t really have any “nice” earrings.  By that I mean jewelry quality.  She’d spied these while she was buying my watch, and I clocked it (pun intended).  So, when I was back at the jewelers recently to have a setting fixed, I picked up these gems (See what I did there again haha.  Side note, they’re differentiated as organic gems since they come from animals instead of rocks).   These are South Sea, Asia black pearls on gold fittings.  I guess they’re her “retirement” earrings.  They have a really cool gray, green, and black iridescence and look really pretty on her too ❤️ 

My birthday week begins with free coffee

I stopped by Subaru to order a part for John’s car.  They offer fresh ground and brewed Starbucks blonde roast Veranda while you wait.  I thought the cups were cool too.  They have every brand we’ve ever owned on them, plus a whole lot more.  This view shows every brand the six of us currently drive.

Something doesn’t seem right here…

As my mom said, “The part where the rubber meets the road is missing”…

As I noted yesterday, I was planning to go to slightly smaller, lighter, and more efficient tires and rims (wheels).  I started that process a week ago Thursday by ordering the new ones from my local tire shop.  I posted my current ones on FaceBook MarketPlace Friday and had them sold by that night.  The new ones weren’t due in until this past Monday so I wanted to wait a bit.  However, the customer offered to pay extra if I would take them off so he could pick them up before the weekend.  Andys stuff is still in the garage, so up it went on jack stands in the driveway. The next morning, while I was taking this pic, I noticed the stands were sinking into the gravel, so I added some planks under the jack stands to stabilize it.  

Brutus looks to wrong and silly sitting there with no wheels…

Julie made me a picture perfect and yummy taco salad❣️

Julie’s feeder is popular with the cats too🤪