Friday, September 7, 2012

Rusty, Crusty, Divine Treasures


On the main drag of the tiny town of Morrison, Colorado, is a little antique store called El-Mercado. Inside and out, it's overgrown with decades of rust and crust and thousands of treasures. 


El-Mercado has been a fixture in this town of about 500 since the mid-1960s. The store, which is in a 19th century house, is crammed so full that the goodies nearly cover all the windows. Because the lighting conditions inside were so poor, I only took photos outside.


Personally, I don't work with most of these types of items in my projects, but, for me, they're true eye candy anyway. They bring back memories of similar castoffs strewn around the parts graveyard on the far reaches of my grandparents' farm.

I could imagine creative geniuses such as Liz at The Brambleberry Cottage turning many of the treasures here into wonderful masterpieces.







Hey, you looking' at ME?


Directly behind El-Mercado, my husband and I came across this big bruiser munching the leaves of a cottonwood tree directly above a mountain creek. What do you think:  300+ pounds?

And, the name of the creek he dined above? Bear Creek, of course.

Linnie, the proprietor of El-Mercado called in Police Chief Rudy to assess the threat the mammoth guest presented. When we had taken our photos and finally moved on, Rudy and his officers continued to watch and wait for Bubba to descend so he could be tranquilized and moved to a safer place.

A vacation afternoon filled with some of my favorite things. Rust, crust and a big helping of nature.

Make it a great day!
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12 comments:

  1. Oh my goodnees Ann what a "beary" delightful experience! Love the rusty shop-I could poke around there for hours. (sorry about being so corny but I just couldn't resist)lol!

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  2. Oh I love decorating those disks-I paint them and put them in my garden. I could dream in there all day long.
    Ann

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  3. Oh what a treasure trove that shop is...I could see a few things I wouldn't mind lugging home. Thanks for stopping by and becoming a part of my world.

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  4. Oh, I'd love to pick and poke through it all! Thanks for sharing on Weekly Top Shot #47!

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  5. All the old stuff in this store look really interesting to me... I would probably be tempted to buy too much! And amazing how you ran across this bear!!

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  6. I could spend all day in that shop! :)
    The bear shot is awesome! He was close enough for a great shot. A vacation moment to remember.

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  7. I'd run if I see that black bear lol.

    Green Bug
    Visiting a little late from Camera Critters.

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  8. Antiquing can be so fun! And, that bear would have scared that crap outta me!

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  9. Wow...looks like "Junk Heaven" to me :) And that bear...wow too!! Laurel

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  10. Colorado has so much beauty a little old, rusty things will not hurt. I would be have been hunting higher grounds if I saw that bear. At least, you found more excitement than you planned.

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  11. Best junk I've seen in ages. Definitely "Junk Heaven". Love the barb wire. Scary to see a bear so close though.
    Joy

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  12. Well that kind of rust is right up my alley, I take those old disks, sand the rust off, prime them and paint them for flowers for my gardens. I could lost in there for days.
    Ann

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