Mantel

36 Clocks to Watch Find time to visit the new exhibit Clock and Watchmaking in Early Maryland, running through Nov. 28 at the Homewood House Museum, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St. On view are more than 20 tall case clocks, pocket watches and French mantel clocks from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, all on loan from state museums, private collections or Homewood House. The exhibit explores Maryland watchmaking and clocks, delving into the stories of the craftsmen and their patrons and the intricacies of the timepieces.

Q: The interior of my recently built, Northwest-style home is furnished in a mostly contemporary manner. I'm tempted, however, to redo the kitchen and the family room in an informal, country-type decor. Do you think the country look would be appropriate for this kind of house?A: Why not? I think of modern Northwestern architecture as being casual and expressive of the region's environment, with lots of wood and natural surfaces. That kind of space seems well-suited for so-called country furnishings.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - As the fire from thousands of thundering guns outside turned the sky smoky and gray that warm morning of July 3, 1863, Jennie Wade worked the dough for biscuits for the Union soldiers, pressing and patting it on the dough table in the small kitchen of her sister's home on Baltimore Street.In the next room, her sister, Georgia McClellan, lay on a walnut bedstead near the cradle where her 5-day-old son slept.Jennie Wade, her mother and younger brother had come for the occasion of the birth from their home on Breckenridge Street some blocks away in the small southern Pennsylvania farm town of Gettysburg.

Sabina Waldman consulted a priest before opening her shop, Sabina & Daughter, in a former convent in Fells Point. "We didn't want to be sacrilegious," she says.No problem, said the priest, so now she and daughter Samantha keep shop in a large room that was once a chapel. There, with a reverence for the old and a love for whimsy, they show off the most beautiful objects of the 1860s to the 1950s.A ceramic angel sits on the ledge of a Gothic window and watches over the former sanctuary, while the Waldmans focus on art deco, art nouveau and mission style -- mixed with some Victorian and Empire -- furniture and accessories.

This award surely won't earn the centerpiece on Dylan Bundy's mantel, but the Orioles' top pitching prospect has earned the MiLBY Award as the fans' choice for minor league starting pitcher of the year in all of baseball. Miami Marlins prospect Jose Fernandez earned the vote of the writers at MiLB.com in results announced Tuesday . Bundy -- who pitched the first 33 innings of his career without allowing an earned run and quickly made his way up to Bowie, and then Baltimore -- earned 20 percent of the fans' votes to beat out Fernandez and 10 other nominees.

Luxury is born of a marriage of texture and scale, believes Darryl Savage, principal of DHS Designs in Chevy Chase.To achieve this marriage, he refuses to turn his back on a bargain. He enjoys the fresh results when simple materials are enhanced with elegant finishes. And he'll place an inexpensive, yet beautifully scaled find in a room with rarer objects."I prefer the juxtaposition of the simple with the elegant," he says. "They complement each other."Mr. Savage developed his taste for blending simplicity, practicality and luxury during his tenure as the primary designer for a well-known hotel chain.

James A. Standiford Jr., a retired mechanical engineer who enjoyed building houses, boats, clocks and musical instruments, died of pancreatic cancer May 12 at his Parkville home. He was 85. Mr. Standiford was born in Baltimore and raised in Locust Point. He attended city public schools and during World War II served with an Army infantry unit in North Africa and Italy. "He earned the Bronze Star at the Battle of Monte Cassino," said a daughter, Lillian M. Thompson of Govans. After the war, Mr. Standiford earned his General Educational Development certificate from Polytechnic Institute and became a licensed professional engineer in 1970.

Getting it togetherSharon Zorella makes a business of restoring memories. She takes and makes whole again everything from broken dolls to pottery to chipped cups to crystal, both for dealers and individuals. One of her most unusual jobs was to repair a 2,000-year-old water jug from the Mediterranean that was broken in 14 pieces.You can call Zorella Ceramic Restoration at (410) 561-3257 for more information or to set up an appointment.Sponging it upA smelly kitchen sponge is one of the small unpleasant facts of life.

Through a stroke of good luck and perfect timing, Polly and Terry Smith became residents of Federal Hill six years ago. "We were wandering around town one day and saw the 'For Sale' sign on this house," Polly Smith remembered of the spacious, end-of-group home she now shares with her husband, Terry. "I lived in other cities before, and I have always loved city life. " Just as the couple thought there was no way they could afford the three-story brick home, they were approached by an interested party prepared to buy their Dulaney Valley Colonial home on Loch Raven Reservoir should they ever wish to sell.

COMMON SENSE should dictate how people dispose of the cremated remains of the deceased. Yet that quality seems to be in surprisingly short supply when it comes to spreading ashes on property belonging to the public or other private individuals.To remedy this, the State Board of Morticians has produced a pamphlet for distribution this spring to Maryland's 1,400 licensed morticians and funeral directors. They intend to give it to families whose relatives have been cremated.For residents of Venice on the Bay, this advisory is overdue.