Mantel

A reader put out a request today for me to remark on the mantel/mantle  distinction, and you people know that I would do anything for you.  A mantel  is a shelf above a fireplace. The  mantelpiece can include the facing around the fireplace as well as the shelf. A mantle  can be a number of things, but the one that we need to pay most attention to is a cloak. A very specific cloak at that: "When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, 'Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.' Elisha said, 'Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.' He responded, 'You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not. As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.

A reader put out a request today for me to remark on the mantel/mantle  distinction, and you people know that I would do anything for you.  A mantel  is a shelf above a fireplace. The  mantelpiece can include the facing around the fireplace as well as the shelf. A mantle  can be a number of things, but the one that we need to pay most attention to is a cloak. A very specific cloak at that: "When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, 'Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.' Elisha said, 'Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.' He responded, 'You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not. As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.

Throughout Lisa Hoppenjans and Evan Mantel's eight-year relationship, their desire to build a better life for themselves led them to separate cities and even separate states, but the distance never diminished their commitment to each other. Their relationship began when Lisa, from Takoma Park, and Evan, from Silver Spring, both worked at a Montgomery County drugstore. Lisa was a senior in high school and Evan had graduated two years earlier. Evan, 27, says, "I was interested right away."

The kid was at the top of the arc, sinking three-pointer after three-pointer. But it was the look on his face that sticks with me. I witnessed a lot in the past 12 months, things I'll never forget. In Beijing, I saw Michael Phelps make Olympic history. I trailed a couple of old-timers named Arnie and Jack at Augusta National and saw a 3-year-old named Big Brown capture two jewels of the Triple Crown before choking on the third. But the look on this kid's face, I won't soon forget. He was 20 years old, stood just 6 feet 2. The kid was nailing every shot but seemed frustrated.

We're building a modern-style home that will include a fireplace. It's not the standard kind that's placed against a wall but will instead be situated between the living room and dining room and visible from both. What sort of mantel would be appropriate with such a fireplace? The type of fireplace you're describing is seldom accompanied by any mantel at all. In keeping with its minimalist styling, there are usually no decorative or framing elements around the firebox. Slate, marble and tile are the materials typically used on the surrounding wall.

The kid was at the top of the arc, sinking three-pointer after three-pointer. But it was the look on his face that sticks with me. I witnessed a lot in the past 12 months, things I'll never forget. In Beijing, I saw Michael Phelps make Olympic history. I trailed a couple of old-timers named Arnie and Jack at Augusta National and saw a 3-year-old named Big Brown capture two jewels of the Triple Crown before choking on the third. But the look on this kid's face, I won't soon forget. He was 20 years old, stood just 6 feet 2. The kid was nailing every shot but seemed frustrated.

I live in a contemporary-style home with a typically under-scaled fireplace opening that has no mantel. Unfortunately, it's in the living room, so it has to be made more inviting, because I plan to place seating pieces around it.How might I treat the fireplace to make it the room's focal point? And where do I find a mantel suitable for a contemporary setting? Only traditional designs seem to be available.I can help you with the focal point issue but not with the mantel dilemma. I don't know where you'd find a modern-type mantel and, frankly, I can't imagine what it might look like.

MODELS OPENGunview Farm1.Ryan Homes has opened a model of the Chandler, one of seven two-story Colonials the firm is building at Gunview Farm near Germantown in Baltimore County.Gunview Farm is surrounded by Gunpowder Falls State Park and many of the community's 47 homes will back to the park or open space.All the homes will have gas heat, two-car garages, unfinished basements, ventilated closet shelving, Merillat-brand cabinets, oak stair railings and crown molding in the living and dining rooms.

Q: We're about to remodel the living room of a typical ranch-style home, built in about 1960. One idea is to add a wooden mantel to the simple slate surrounding the fireplace opening. We're also considering installing crown molding below the ceiling to create more visual interest. Do you think the wood mantel and molding should be painted or left in a natural stain?A: A lot of factors need to be weighed before you make a decision. I'll assume that you want the room to look lively and not too formal, and that you're willing to introduce a mixture of styles.

If it weren't enough that rap sensation M.C. Hammer already had a mantel full of Grammy Awards, a stack of hit records and a fashion sense beyond the borders of originality, now he has something that'll really make the folks back home proud his own Simplicity Pattern.That inimitable Hammer style is can now be imitated with a $7.50, genuine Simplicity Pattern (No. 0693).The package includes three variations of his harem-style pants, his tuxedo jacket, two official M.C. Hammer iron-on transfers, his autograph and the logo from his award-winning album.

We're building a modern-style home that will include a fireplace. It's not the standard kind that's placed against a wall but will instead be situated between the living room and dining room and visible from both. What sort of mantel would be appropriate with such a fireplace? The type of fireplace you're describing is seldom accompanied by any mantel at all. In keeping with its minimalist styling, there are usually no decorative or framing elements around the firebox. Slate, marble and tile are the materials typically used on the surrounding wall.

Darryl Savage shoots photographs from peculiar angles. While riding a ferris wheel in Paris, he snapped a picture of the Eiffel Tower. Then in Nice, he held his Nikon camera out the window and took pictures of trees as he drove by. "I try to take photographs from angles no one else sees," Savage said. Savage took his hobby to the next level when he opened his first show - an exhibit of about 50 photographs that depict New York City and Europe - at the 49 West Coffeehouse in Annapolis.

Union Square couple turns a townhouse that had been apartments into an art showcase Walking through the spacious, ornately decorated rooms of Debby and Francis Rahl's Victorian townhouse overlooking Union Square, it is hard not to gasp at a sales price of $60,000. "The neighborhood was a lot different back then," said Debby Rahl, noting they had bought the home in Southwest Baltimore in 1980. "There were a number of vacant [houses] and multifamily rentals. And more crime." Still, Debby Rahl, who grew up in the northeast neighborhood of Hamilton, didn't want to leave the city.

Throughout Lisa Hoppenjans and Evan Mantel's eight-year relationship, their desire to build a better life for themselves led them to separate cities and even separate states, but the distance never diminished their commitment to each other. Their relationship began when Lisa, from Takoma Park, and Evan, from Silver Spring, both worked at a Montgomery County drugstore. Lisa was a senior in high school and Evan had graduated two years earlier. Evan, 27, says, "I was interested right away."

COLLEGE PARK -- A season that began with modest expectations ended on a familiar note. The No. 1-ranked Poets reclaimed the state 2A boys basketball championship yesterday with a 45-43 victory over Wicomico at Cole Field House. And finishing the season with 20 consecutive victories, Dunbar (27-1) won its seventh title in nine seasons, tying Fairmont Heights of Prince George's and Thomas Johnson of Frederick for fifth most all time. The title was also the 11th for Baltimore City. Senior point guard Kenny Minor led Dunbar with 12 points, and junior guard James Taylor contributed 11 points and three steals.

STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. -- Her friends talk about her sarcastic wit and sensitivity, about how much fun she is to be around and how deeply she cares about people. Her voice chokes up when she mentions her coach back home in Australia, a quadriplegic for the past decade. There is another side to Karrie Webb, the hottest golfer on a planet that includes Tiger Woods. for much of her five-year career on the LPGA Tour as being virtually devoid of emotion -- an "ice princess" she was called by one golf magazine last year -- Webb is trying to change her image without altering the tunnel-vision approach that helped her get to the top. After a month-long break, Webb returns to work today when she tees it up in the $900,000 Chick-fil-A Charity Championship outside Atlanta.

Bustling a yule tide in shimmery taint,stock, lock and barrel chest, Santi the Saintall clad in crimson and toting his toys,is jingling his jastles with polar north joys.Bobbing the banter boys chime song their daysas hammer and chisel and cackle fir blazegently spindles their tables of nickel pop toys,twinkle blink boxes for lasses and boys.They're dwarves in the lore books and elves to the eyes,glisten skin polar lads, prick pointed earssharing the timeless soft pine scented din,one makes a snorkel the other a fin.Outside winds fouling of chill and frost blighthave whistled at Santi through vasty pine night.

A garniture is a decoration for the top of a fireplace mantel. Most antique garnitures are composed of a clock with two matching vases, candelabra or other pieces. Some sets have three or five vases and no clock.The clock garniture was first used in 18th-century France to decorate the lower mantelpiece that had become fashionable. The early examples were made of gilded bronze, porcelain and marble.By the 19th century, clock garnitures were widely used in England and the United States.By the early 1900s, when mantels had become larger and often included a top section, the garniture went out of style.