or that's what my mom and i like to call ourselves :) can't really call ourselves the iowan pickers since the American Pickers guys are from iowa too...
in the last year, we've been lucky to have two friends of my parents connect us to others looking to have someone help them with a loved one's belongings. ultimately they are looking to sell whatever they can and we are looking to buy whatever interests us. but it's also rewarding to guide them on how and where to go to take care of what we're not wanting to buy and they seem appreciative for the help. a third time, my awesome friend Stephanie, called me and said that her parents were sitting at her house with a truck full of goodies they were looking to sell cheap...i was over to her house in under 10 minutes!
we've also been lucky that there has been really awesome finds at these picks! the one last month was just in time for the Valley Junction Antique Jamboree and the June Market Day. here's less than a fourth of what we brought home in June :
and here are pictures from the Antique Jamboree that include items from all of our picks [and then some]:
we make a good team, my mom and i! we have very similar tastes but with some variation...she knows a lot about depression glass, figurines and such and i love vintage kitchen and pottery.
Sarah of sarahndipities has welcomed the new arrival of her sweet daughter and she has kindly allowed me to share my doily bowl tutorial over at her blog while she takes care of her growing family. so, if you're so inclined, you can check it out here...
the iowa state bird, the goldfinch, that is...
do you see him? i love spotting these little birds as their yellow feathers are so very bright and beautiful. one day earlier this spring, that cherry blossom tree was full of chirps and probably 8 - 10 pairs of goldfinches. they would constantly fly in and out and they don't sit still long, so i'm lucky to have captured them in focus at all.
[a sad/funny/one-in-a-million chance story including an iowa goldfinch and rob lowe, the actor... a few years ago rob lowe came to des moines to play in the pro-am golf tournament associated with the Principal Charity Classic- a senior pga event. during that tournament, rob lowe hit a golf ball which then collided with a goldfinch, our state bird, in flight! unfortunately, the poor creature flew no more :(
but rob lowe did survive the aftermath in the media and as the butt of many a local joke, which probably much to his relief, did not include a certain videotape scandal... :) ]
here's another goldie -or maybe it's the same one- in a different tree:
for being in an urban setting, there is a lot of bird activity around my house. here's a female cardinal sitting on our roof:
and her fella in his brightest red feathers in our back yard
we also have nuthatches, house & purple finches, sparrows [pests!], robins, blue jays, hawks and more. you can always tell when a hawk is soaring above- all of a sudden, all of the birds in the hood go silent and it gets eerily quiet.
what kind of birds flutter around your neighborhood?
i love pinterest! there are so many wonderful things to see and the 'Pin It' widget I put at the top of my Firefox browser window makes it sooo easy for me to mark things as i read through my blog roll. this is one of my favorite pins- a vintage mill used as a planter:
feel free to check out my pin boards here and if you have pinterest, leave your link in the comments as i would love to see your pins... or you can follow me and i'll follow you. and if you don't have [but want] pinterest, leave me a comment letting me know you would like an invite to join- i have six to send out ...
i love this treasury curated by Thrush sooo much...
has it has been a busy month! the month of may was filled with:
high school soccer games
high school prom
driving golf balls
a weekend get-away to the Amanas [more on this in a separate post]
crafting wherever time allows
and the first Market Day of 2011
i would love to hear what you all have been up to... enjoy your weekend!
