Good, golly, Miss Molly, aka Return of the White Robin, is hosting this week’s Fun Monday.  She asked bloggers "to show us something that hangs on your wall that is fun, interesting, endearing, sentimental, or otherwise enticing."

I’ve gone with sentimental…let’s just say I’m in a mood, okay?  Enough said….

A bit of a disclaimer (seems like I’m having to disclaim a lot lately :/)–because of the time of day I took these pictures, I had a hard time not getting photos that glared at me.  Did y’all have the same problem?  I guess this is the reason they offer you the more expensive non-glare glass when framing, which apparently I must always decline. 

First off are three cross-stitches, all made by one of our dearest friends, Christi.  When we moved to our previous hometown back in 1989, they moved into the condo directly under ours the day after we did.  We peered out the window of our second floor and thought, "Hey, they look about our age," and since we didn’t know a soul in town, the next day I cooked brownies, hand delivered them to their door, and we’ve been fast friends ever since.  Between us we have six children, both girl-boy-boy, and their grades stair-step each other’s.  These are "lifetime" friends, and for the past (we can’t remember when it started) X number of years, we’ve traveled to Hilton Head together to celebrate a long Memorial weekend.  GREAT family tradition for both of us. 

If our house ever catches on fire, THESE treasures are going with us, right after I throw the children and our wedding pictures out the window.  Sorry they’re blurry…lighting issues, too…

Next, this is the first cross-stitch my mother-in-law ever stitched.  I had known her over 20 years when she showed it to me, I’ve never seen her doing anything crafty (baking, heck yeah!  Crafting, never).  She made it in 1975, but never could find the extra money to have it framed.  Tad and I loved it and asked her if she’d frame it for us for Christmas, so she did (2005).  It’s a treasure, and yes, it, too, will make it out of the house if there’s a fire.

Last…are some oil paintings that belonged to my mother.  In my mind’s eye, I can still see them on the wall of our little apartment.  My grandfather had an antique store (before I was born), and these paintings were originally in his shop.  I’ve never had them appraised, but a friend (who "knows" these kinds of things) told me they were the "nicest" thing in my house…even nicer than my Polyphon  (which says a lot, I’ve never seen a duplicate of it IRL anywhere). 

Whatever.  Their value to me is their attachment to Mama; for some reason, even though I don’t love them on artistic merit alone, they’re always somewhere prominent in our home because they were prominent in her home.  Interesting…I’ve never had that conscious thought before.

Okay, head over to Molly’s to check out what’s hanging around everyone else’s place, even if you stop by here on Tuesday or Wednesday or…;).