Junkin' with Mom

On Saturday June 28th, my mom & I went Junkin' for the first time ever together.  It was all based around this one place called The Crib. everything was stored in an old corn crib so a friend used an old baby crib for the sign~very clever!  Is Junkin' as popular in your neck of the woods as it is in ours? Everyone is wanting things that have chippy paint & are rusty as heck, who cares if it works as original or not as long as it looks cool.  I have always gravitated toward the old stuff but would buy the new stuff that looked old. Now I am more into reusing, repurposing & recycling than ever in my life, so this junkin' thing is right up my alley!Here is the picture of The Crib when we arrived on Saturday morning. I wish I had followed through on the thought to snap one of the line of cars, trucks & vans parked along her driveway & the side of the highway for about a quarter mile.  

 here are our scores from The Crib.  Mom: swivel solid rolling chair, 3 rusty lanterns complete w/flues, 2 wooden horse hames, chicken feeder & little red wagon. Me: flag folded in an old window (very left corner of left photo) & 1/2 barn door.

 they were also having a huge multi-family garage sale on the property (& a couple of other vendors as well) & I scored a stuffed gallon baggie of markers for the childcare & a cute wooden & wire boat themed garland for the bathroom and Mom got a few more things.  The best part was that everything was reasonably priced, so that kept it affordable & fun.

From there we went into the nearest town to hit an antique shop that was a treasure trove.  So much good stuff to be picked through. I was too busy browsing & helping Mom carry her goods to take any photos.
Then we headed south for lunch.  She was taking me to Toot-Toot for my first time. Its just over the state line & everyone raves about the buffet. It was pretty good. here is our only selfie of the day.

 While in town, we stopped at the farm store for her to get some supplies, a peddlers paradise but it was all new reproduction stuff, & the Russel Stover candy shop. Where we got Jelly Bellys for our significant others, ice cream for her & coffee for me.

 Then we headed back into Iowa, stopping at the Lamoni welcome center that boasts a fantastic Amish selection.  I did get my wild rice and coconut oil that I have gotten at the other Amish store & drooled a ton over the hand made basket selections.  on our way through town we found another antique shop where Mom found more goodies for her enamel dishware collection & I got Tim a cast iron skillet unlike any we already own.

From there, we plugged in Diagonal, Iowa to the GPS on my phone & we headed out to find the new Freedom Rock.    after a bit of driving through the countryside, which neither of us minded at all, we landed in Diagonal. First we found the museum & went in. I LOVE LOVE LOVE listening to people talk about something they are passionate about, especially older folks & there was a perfect gentleman in the museum.  He loved to talk about his town's history & that of another nearby town that became a ghost town when the railroad came through Diagonal.

 <~~ the poster about the rock we were in search of  

an interesting shot I snapped of the keys on a telegraph(??) machine ~~>

 Just a couple of blocks up the street we found the rock~right where our helper in the museum said it would be.  Getting out to be total tourists, we were greeted by a lady setting up the flower pots as they had blown over.  We chatted with her a bit about the rock, what the painting means to the town & how they plan to put benches in & how excited the citizens were that their tiny town was chosen out of the whole county.  Another pure delight to chat with.

 the first shot shows a little girl pointing to the name of the Diagonal soldier lost in the Vietnam war & from the right angle, you can see a soldier touching the same name as if from the other side. very cool.

<~~ this is probably my very favorite shot of the day. I was able to score the rock, the flag & the town water tower in the same frame--score!

 This one shows the railroad that was instrumental in making Diagonal a town, the eagle that sat on the globe was from an old statue that sat in front of an old Case dealership right down the street, that was big in town.

 Seeing the storm clouds move in, we headed home. That night, we saw that The Crib listed several items still available, so YES, we headed back down Sunday for Mom to get a few more treasures. It was just us there so we didn't mind asking her to take our picture with her sign :)

Mom & I have gotten to spend several Saturdays together so far this summer.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it.