Lincoln View Farm

Jan has discovered a new hosta farm for us!!! It is Lincoln View Farm and it is owned by a friendly lady by the name of Nancy Briggs. It is located east of Boone, IA and just west of Ames.







Having watering cans myself, I enjoyed the clever way Nancy displays hers!




Lincoln View Farm isn't nearly as big as Flying Frog Farms, which is a hosta farm located south of Des Moines. But it's nice to find a new place and new offerings. Nancy has a beautiful garden and some truly awesome ponds. I'm not sure I will ever get into pond gardening, but I sure enjoy others! Too much work for me!!!


This pond is located in front of the house. She has another one behind the house where her hosta garden is located in a small timber.






The lotus pods are gorgeous!!!




Here's a peek at the pond out back!





I love the look of these hollowed out logs just stacked together!!!




Nancy has little treats for the eye at every turn!!




Sam is such a good sport when I drag him along. He gets to pick out his own hostas as long as he plants them!!! He's even getting the junkin' bug as well!!!

Tri-State Vintage Trailer Rally

A few weekends ago, my cousin Jan and I pulled our vintage trailers to South Sioux City, NE for a vintage trailer rally.

This was Sweet Emmaline's maiden camping voyage! I almost didn't take her as we'd only had her with us for one week and we really weren't as prepared, cleaned, and organized as I wanted to be. Sam and I just threw everything in her and went anyway!
When we left Clarinda, IA we got behind a semi loaded with a propeller from those huge wind turbines. It had a lead car in front of it and behind it. I had to chuckle because it looked like I had a lead car. As this was only my second time pulling a trailer, I felt like I needed a lead car!!!




We made it to the campground, without incident, Friday afternoon. We were welcomed with a cheer when we pulled in!!! Luckily, they helped me back up into our space. Jan arrived just a few minutes later and we set up camp. After we got settled in, we joined the group under the shelter for a taco in a bag supper.


The theme for the rally was "Christmas in July". Many of the campers were decked out! There were many types of campers, a teardrop, a Forester, Avion, and Airstream to name a few. I was too busy sweating to get a lot of pictures. On Saturday afternoon an open house was held so everyone could check out the interiors.




Jan has really been putting some hard work into "The Happie Hippie" and it showed! Check out the start of the new paint job! I don't know why these pictures won't post the right direction, but I'm tired of fighting with them, so just turn your head sideways!!! :)



As it was excruciatingly hot, we spent the evening holed up in Jan
's camper, The Happy Hippie, playing board games. Surprisingly, Sam really enjoyed it. ( At home I can't get him to play them. He's only interested in video games!) Later, we braved the heat and started up the campfire. What is camping without S'mores, I ask you??!!!





Saturday morning we slept in. Jan cooked us up some oatmeal pancakes then we took off to hit some junkin' spots. We also visited a quilt shop Jan had heard about and took in a quilt show.

Sioux City was the starting point for this year's Ragbrai event, so on Saturday tons of people and their bicycles poured into every crevice of the town. Tents were set up all along the river across from our campsite and we had several groups set up in our campground. It was fun to see all the people and bikes. The excitement for the ride was building. Downtown had been blocked off for the event. The bike paths were full!

Saturday evening the Tri-State group had a pot luck supper and we enjoyed the company of the other campers. We met a lot of nice people and made some good connections. Holding with the "Christmas in July" theme, there were presents for everyone! They also had several gifts for the children and crafts and games as well.






After supper, Jan, Sam, and I went for a nice bike ride. Sioux City has a great bike trail system. I was much more comfortable on the trail, since I had just gotten a bike and it had been years since I had ridden. No, it doesn't come right back! Well, the balance part does, I am just a little wobbly and much more concerned about crashing than I was as a kid!!!

Thankfully, it had cooled down Saturday, so we enjoyed the campfire considerably more Saturday night. Sam cooked us up s'more S'mores and Mike's Hard Lemonade washed them right on down!!! The evening was topped off with a huge fireworks display! It was great watching the sky light up, with the river flowing in front of us. Very nice, indeed!



Sunday morning Jan was able to have a gentleman by the name of Fritz come down and examine The Happy Hippie's water tank system. Having worked on several campers, he was just the guy Jan needed to meet to answer a lot of her questions.

We said our goodbyes to our new friends, hoping to meet them again next year!

Junk Refunkery and the Family Rebellion

Junk Refunkery's big, red barn!



Saturday, June 26th, was one heck of a busy day!!!
The date was originally set for our annual Ferguson Family Reunion, otherwise known as Ferg-a-Fun, which was to be held at Aunt Shirley's in Atlantic, IA. Later, I realized that an occasional sale in Boone, IA that I was wanting to go to was the same day. Can we do both? Everyone was accommodating and the family reunion was pushed back to later in the day, so those of us who needed some junkin' fun could squeeze in both.



I'm not quite sure what this is, but it made a perfect place to hang galvanized buckets full of plants! And look at the industrial stools! Very cool!!! (Any ideas what's wrong with the camera?)


Slowly a plan was kicked around, twisted, tied in a knot, and then formed. Cousin Jan would pull her vintage trailer over to Atlantic on Friday evening and Sam and I would drive up and spend the night so we could get an early start on Saturday morning. Sister Shelli would come up early to meet us, then off we'd go. We'd meet cousins Jo and Belinda in Boone. Hold on there, bend a couple of kinks into that plan!!! Shelli would arrive early with Mom and her daughter, Riley. Mom and Shirley could visit, while Riley and Sam played. Yeah, now that will work!

The beautiful women of "Junk Refunkery". If you have a chance, check out their next sale, probably the weekend of July 24th. Their website is www.junkrefunkery.weebly.com. Don't forget to check it out!


A gravel road lined with cars, a big red barn, yep, we'd found it. (OMG, I wish I had a red barn!!!) The lawn was adorned with all sorts of re-purposed, re-painted, re-invented junk!!! Ahhh...my heart sighed, the planets have aligned!!! We circled the yard, then the barn, then the yard, then the barn...we found treasures. Jan left with a crazy cool hose reel cart, perfect for solving a yard dilemma which had plagued her for years. Shelli found the most charming oval framed chalkboard to hang over Riley's bed. I fell in love with a galvanized mop bucket! We had a great time at Junk Refunkery. Friendly folks, great prices, definitely worth the drive. Can't wait to visit again!!! We loaded the Jeep, bumped over the railroad tracks, headed to town when, wait a minute, this looks interesting!!! Primitive sale! Stop!!! Wow, they had lots of cool stuff, but the funds were running low. Jan did find an apron for her sister, Barb, who hadn't gotten the "Bring your Apron" memo! They asked if we'd been to Junk Refunkery and Red Barn Rustics. Yes, and noooo...where is it? Turns out it was just east of the Junk Refunkery barn. We were starving so these kind women said "Eat at Jimmy's BBQ, then go!!! Oh, women of wisdom, I thank you sooo much! Jimmy's BBQ was excellent!!! If you are ever close to Boone, IA go eat at Jimmy's, BECAUSE I SAID SO...you won't be disappointed!



Shelli and Jan...How on earth could we pass this up???





More from Junk Refunkery!


The backtracking to Red Barn Rustics (OMG, I want a red barn!!!) was well worth it because Jan found the perfect old shopping cart. I wanted it too, but, well, she saw it first, and, well, I was broke. She wanted it to line with a garbage bag and use it as a trash can for the Happy Hippie. No, no, I said. Everybody lines them and uses them to pack your goodies at flea markets! Dual purpose, says Jan!


Awful photo, great junk from Junk Refunkery!

We made it to the family reunion at 4:00, much later than we had planned, but very happy with our haul. Everyone had a great time, the food was delicious, and we were all happy campers!



Riley was very pleased with her junk!!!


I think I got home around midnight. And the next day? I downloaded my photos, only to find out that my camera is on the fritz...I'm posting the pictures anyway!!!



GOOD COOKS WEAR APRONS!!!!!

The Egg Krate

The Egg Krate in Elk Horn, Iowa is a great place for junking. It has lots of booths and is filled with all kind of treasure. I always have to stop in when I am in the area.

The couple who runs it are just the sweetest folks. Every time I go in I try to get them to sell me that great chalkboard in the background. They also do an excellent job of packing up your items so they won't get broken.

Cousin Jan found some plates for her camper. I found two gorgeous vases and the kerosene stove on the counter. My Mom and Aunt Shirley really got a laugh when they saw me with it because, of course, they remember using the old Perfection stoves!
I think it will look great on my patio. I haven't decided yet if I want to actually try to burn kerosene or maybe I'll just try putting a candle inside. It will throw out lots of flickering light through the cutouts in the metal.




Here Mom and Aunt Shirley take a breather during our junk hunt!

I love the hunt for junk!!!

Henke's Old Crow Occasional Sale

On May 15th I made my sister get out of bed early so we could drive to rural Madison County, Iowa for Kasey and Jojo Henke's occasional sale. Their sale and business is known as Henke's Old Crow. They rescue cool junk! It says so on the back of their very cool tee shirts! They are having three sales this year and this was the first.

What should have been a two hour drive ended up being a little longer because, well, because I neglected to bring the directions. Oops! My bad! I knew it was located on a farm outside of Earlham, IA. I knew we'd get there eventually. So while I phoned my cousin in Des Moines to track down the exact location we decided to follow the sign that said "Covered Bridge". After all people we were in Madison County. We enjoyed the bridge, read the graffiti, and I took pictures. Besides, I'm kind of a "it's the journey, not the destination" kind of person. But now we had road numbers and we were on a mission. We quickly found Old Crow. The cars were lining the road, just like any typical farm auction. But people were carrying off stuff like ants at a picnic. No, more like vultures picking a carcass clean!!! Oh, hell, we're an hour late!!!!!

Don't worry we still found lots of cool stuff. We both bought necklaces made out of hammered out spoon bowls. Mine says "Junk Star" and Sister's says "Scrapper". That's because she like to scrapbook. Sister also found some funky galvanized buckets. I latched onto a wire basket that was huge. It was meant to wrap around a balled and burlaped tree. No, I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with it yet, but sometimes you just have to rely on your instincts! We both got t-shirts-black with an orange old crow on the front.

I introduced myself to Kasey, also known as the junk hunk, and his wife, Jordanna. We had sort of already met online. You can find them on Facebook or at their website http://www.oldcrowfarmantiques.com/. We had a great time and we will definitely visit again. Oh, and they will be at Junk Bonanza in September. Groovy, huh!

For some really annoying reason I cannot get my pictures placed where I want them so I'm just going to post them as is. I need to get this problem figured out because it makes my blood pressure shoot sky high and is extremely frustrating.