Kalona, Iowa

Bob and I are making an effort to explore some of the little towns around us that have interesting things to see and that we've previously overlooked.  We spent this past Saturday in Kalona, Iowa (just south of Iowa City).  Kalona has a Mennonite community, lots of gift and antique shops, and places to get great food, such as the local bakery, the cheese factory, and the Tuscan Moon restaurant where we ate lunch.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from our little trip, because I forgot to charge my camera battery before we left.  The shots I've included here are of the items I picked up in the shops.

I was thrilled to find this stash of old green and turquoise Christmas ornaments.  I plan to use them in this year's Christmas wreath.  

I found some vintage children's blocks to spell Bob's name.  

This vintage shelf edging is really cool.  I'll probably use it in my craft room once I get it all set up.

These milk glass knobs are new and are perfect for the tv cabinet that I plan to repaint--they'll give it the vintage look I'm aiming for.

These pictures are not very good.  I definitely need a new camera.  My current camera is a Gateway DC-T50 5.25 megapixel that I got back in 2002.  I don't think that Gateway has even made cameras in years.  I'd like to get a digital SLR camera and learn some special techniques.  But I feel like I need to do some research on which model is best suited for me, before I spend that much money on a camera.