John wants to see my mantlepiece. I can see why. Mantlepieces are interesting - and can be as revealing of the person as their bookshelves. Wonder what mine says of me?
Funny, it looks a lot more spartan here than in does in real life. Perhaps because I can see the dust? (Which tells you I am not the World's Best Housekeeper.)
From left to right, you have Angel Christmas Tree topper. Yes, technically she's on a speaker, not the mantle, but close enough. I keep her out year-round because she has more than a touch of Faery in her, this angel.
Then the mantle proper: at either end, a hurricane lamp. These do get used from time to time when the power goes out. One of them has matches tucked behind it. No scrambling around in the dark for Laura. (Unless she's in the mood.)
Next from left: a card from our wedding. None of the others have been deemed worthy of preservation from the reycling bin. (No, can't say I'm particularly sentimental. Can't afford to be in this small house!) This card, though, I particularly love.
The little white square is in fact a box containing a medal my brilliant sweetie won for maintaining an A+ average during university. (His second degree, received just a few years ago.)
Centre: Our wedding picture, which is leaning up against a piece of Real Art. Which is probably not good for the Artwork, but the photograph will stay there until after I've finished painting the living room - the persnickety among you will note that I have not yet started, and you can just hush yourselves - and it can be hung properly.
And here are some items from the mantlepiece in the bedroom upstairs, because we do in fact have TWO fireplaces in this house, not that either of them work. They were sealed years and years before we bought it.
Because both fireplaces are very similar, I'm just showing you a few items from the upstair mantle.
Georgia O'Keefe. Unfortunately, not "real", like the one in the living room.
But still appropriate for a bedroom, somehow...
More lamps. :-)
A good sentiment for a marriage, no?
There. The mantlepieces in Laura's house. Care to share yours? If you post pictures, drop John a line and let us know to come look!
Funny, it looks a lot more spartan here than in does in real life. Perhaps because I can see the dust? (Which tells you I am not the World's Best Housekeeper.)
From left to right, you have Angel Christmas Tree topper. Yes, technically she's on a speaker, not the mantle, but close enough. I keep her out year-round because she has more than a touch of Faery in her, this angel.
Then the mantle proper: at either end, a hurricane lamp. These do get used from time to time when the power goes out. One of them has matches tucked behind it. No scrambling around in the dark for Laura. (Unless she's in the mood.)
Next from left: a card from our wedding. None of the others have been deemed worthy of preservation from the reycling bin. (No, can't say I'm particularly sentimental. Can't afford to be in this small house!) This card, though, I particularly love.
The little white square is in fact a box containing a medal my brilliant sweetie won for maintaining an A+ average during university. (His second degree, received just a few years ago.)
Centre: Our wedding picture, which is leaning up against a piece of Real Art. Which is probably not good for the Artwork, but the photograph will stay there until after I've finished painting the living room - the persnickety among you will note that I have not yet started, and you can just hush yourselves - and it can be hung properly.
And here are some items from the mantlepiece in the bedroom upstairs, because we do in fact have TWO fireplaces in this house, not that either of them work. They were sealed years and years before we bought it.
Because both fireplaces are very similar, I'm just showing you a few items from the upstair mantle.
But still appropriate for a bedroom, somehow...
There. The mantlepieces in Laura's house. Care to share yours? If you post pictures, drop John a line and let us know to come look!
Labels: domestic bliss, memes
posted by irreverentmama at
6:20 p.m.
7 Comments:
I love the artwork hanging above your mantelpiece and the old hurricane lamps. How nice that you get to use them sometimes.
By
Beccy, at 6:31 a.m.
Our mantelpiece is notable for its collection of dead insects, its fossilized peach pits, dried-up used tea bags, pencil stubs and dusty photographs. I've got cards I can never throw away myself, as well as year-around Christmas ornaments.
As for your fireplaces, you might want to keep them sealed. We unbricked ours some time ago, and you have never seen a bigger mess on land or sea. It took months to sort out. And a fireplace needs constant attention, and all of us in this household are too lazy to want to keep up with it.
And I love the George O'Keefe!
By
Mary Witzl, at 6:51 a.m.
Beccy - The lamps get used during power outages caused either by summer thunderstorms or winter ice storms. The former more than the latter.
And sometimes, we put them on in the winter just for the ambience. Gather round the dining table and play board games.
Mary - Oh, we have no intention of opening the fireplaces! Well, perhaps some day, but only to put in gas ones.
We did have a real fireplace in our old house, though, that was used quite routinely in the winter, and we particularly miss it on Christmas Eve, when our family tradition is to order in a Chinese food meal and eat it on blankets in front of the fireplace!
We do NOT miss the occasional bird who would somehow find its way down the chimney and fly madly about the house!
By
irreverentmama, at 7:29 a.m.
Mary - Oh, and my youngest (she's 14) only just this week "saw" the Georgia O'Keefe. They can still make me grin at their cuteness, even as teens!
By
irreverentmama, at 7:30 a.m.
Like the artwork.
Don't bother with gas, but in a wood burning stove. Its stops the cold backdraft, and those crafty Norwegians build them with catalytic converters so you produce almost no polution, it all reburns in the stove. Plus they pump out more heat. We have one, and in winter it gets used a lot.
By
The Boy, at 9:36 a.m.
Thanks. I'm rather partial to it! There's a great gallery in town that lets you put down a deposit and take the painting home, then pay them with a series of post-dates. And charges no interest. You get your proof of ownership papers when the last cheque is cashed. A good system.
I love the idea of the woodstove. I've used them at cottages quite often, so they don't intimidate me at all. And it would be way cheaper than gas! Just a cord of wood, neatly stacked in... um... I guess I'll need a woodshed, won't I?
By
irreverentmama, at 10:52 a.m.
I somehow missed this on the day. I just love looking at other people's treasure. Like beccy I rather like the hurricane lamps, and the sentiment to marriage. I did do a post at the time.
By
ChrisB, at 11:02 a.m.
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