Whiteley Creek Homestead Bed and Breakfast Brainerd Minnesota

felted wool

I have been immersed in a new passion for anything and everything made with felted wool. These booties, that are so easy to either hand or machine-stitch, are especially fun to make because you can vary the look dramatically depending upon how you choose to embellish them. Let your creative spirit run unbridled. For the flowers, I used a snippet of fabric I had purchased in my travels criss-crossing the country, saving it for just the perfect project. I cut two circles, strategically selecting the fabric's fun spoke pattern, then I made a "yo-yo". I flipped the yo-yo upside-down and, using black embroidery floss, I stitched some French knots to attach it to the bootie and add a spark of interest to the center of the flower. All it needed was a loop of fabric and a button to make them "cute as a button". You can access the basic "Bitty Booties" pattern at www.heatherbailey.typepad.com located in her "free patterns" side-bar category. For inspiration, view nearly 200 bootie submissions in Heather Bailey's "Bitty Booty Pool". I'd love to see your creation. Email me a photo, or better yet... come stay at Whiteley Creek and bring your booties along to share with me personally!

Why stay at Whiteley Creek Homestead?

Welcome! Grab a cup of tea, java, mocha and make yourself at home. Allow me to introduce you to my bed and breakfast. My goal in creating this blog, and my retro bed and breakfast's atmosphere, is to inspire you to create and surround yourself with things that are just plain fun.

Organically-fed laying hens, honey bees, and gardens planted with chemical-free heirloom veggies, flowers, and herbs are used for in-season food prep. Evening dessert and hearty homemade breakfast prepared with organic and locally grown ingredients, early morning newspaper, canoeing, walking trails, birding, bulletin board featuring area activities and events, and a screened wrap-around porch with huge fieldstone fireplace.

A Green Routes destination, located on thirty-five acres three miles from downtown Brainerd, Whiteley Creek Homestead Bed and Breakfast was featured in Minnesota Monthly Magazine August 2005, Midwest Living Magazine July/August 2005, Great Midwest Country Escapes Book  2005 , St. Paul Pioneer Press Sunday, October 24, 2004, and Country Home Magazine July 2000.

Our bed and breakfast builds upon Brainerd's heritage as a farming community centered around the railroad and mining industry. A signature entree, "Flossie's Eggs on the Rails", was named after one of our most prolific laying hens and the 1890 railroad passenger car "Queen of the Meadow Blooms Tearoom" where guests' breakfast is served. 1930s-40s cars and trucks, vintage farm implements and tools laid to rest amongst flower and herb gardens, laundry flapping in the breeze, and antiques scattered throughout the rooms and property recreate an earlier era in history. Quilt-covered beds are piled high with buckwheat and billowy feather pillows. Made-from-scratch food is prepared with organic and locally-grown ingredients purchased from a local CSA farm, weekly farmer's market, and a neighborhood food co-op. Vegetable, flower, and herb gardens are maintained using sustainable growing practices (i.e., natural fertilizers and pesticides, crop rotation, companion planting, composting, rainwater collection, and mulching). We purchase wind power through the Brainerd Public Utilities "WindSense" program. Thirty-five acres, with purposeful planting to attract and protect wildlife, has walking trails and a wetlands area with a creek for canoeing.  The Cuyuna Range open pit mining lakes for fishing and boating, Crosby's Croft Mine Tours, French Rapids Trails along the Mississippi River, Paul Bunyan Bike Trail, Paul Bunyan Nature Learning Center, Paul Bunyan Arboretum, and the Pillsbury State Forest offer outdoor activities nearby. The Chamber of Commerce web site www.explorebrainerdlakes.com lists specific area events to assist you in planning activities when you will be visiting the Brainerd Lakes Area. Also, click on over to my "oh, fer fun" category in my blog's lefthand sidebar for more ideas of things to do in the area. In the evenings, wrap yourself in the warmth of a fire crackling in a huge outdoor fieldstone wood-burning fireplace on the screened wraparound porch. OPEN MID-MAY THROUGH OCTOBER... our 12th season! Regrettably, we are not able to accommodate children or pets at our lodging establishment. We have chosen to be an adult retreat... a respite for guests desiring to rejuvenate their physical and emotional energy... to recharge. So that we might provide an atmosphere conducive to that end, we have structured our B&B environment to be as slow-paced, quiet, and free of distractions as possible.

knitting socks

                                                      

One of my daughters taught me enough to make a knitted dishcloth except for how to cast off, so my project has come to a standstill. At Jo-Ann Fabrics, I found these stocking knitting needle point protectors. I figure that I might as well make my knitting needles look cute until I learn how to finish my project. The texture of a crocheted or knitted dishcloth makes it a scratchpad and dishcloth rolled into one. Try it... you'll see. If you don't want to make your own, you can find them at craft shows for a couple dollars apiece in so many pretty colors to match your kitchen decor, color trends, the season, or just your mood.

knotted bags

                                                                                                                                                                                                         

With a few simple square knots you can repurpose a scarf, small tablecloth, or scrap of fabric into a hands-free waist pack then toss in your keys, sunglasses, and yard sales listing from the local newspaper as you race out the door to snag that rusty, white enamel pan to pick strawberries in later in the afternoon... 

a bangle bag to carry a veggie hummus sandwich to work or to the lake to throw in a fishing line on a sunny summer morning...

or a larger knotted bag to store your bounty from the local weekly farmers' market.

So easy and fun. (Blueprint Magazine May 2006) I found these two scarves after sorting through a huge mound of every size, color, and pattern at the Mount Dora Antique Extravaganza near Orlando, Florida that I attend every year with my youngest daughter. We each pull an old metal shopping cart up and down the hills at the outside market where over 1500 dealers gather, transporting their wares mainly from the East coast. We love to dig to discover those treasures that have been overlooked by the casual passerby or that appear to be beyond refurbishing. I choose to retain the markings... the evidence of previous owners, so I apply no more than a few rubs of sandpaper to smooth away peeling paint. We've never rubbed elbows with Sue and Ki, the JunkMarket gals from Long Lake, Minnesota who are featured in Country Home each month. They regularly attend the Round Top, Texas antique event. What am I missing? I wonder... Maybe Sue and Ki should wonder what they are missing instead.

cutie clogs

I'm really really really in the spring gardening mood even though the calendar tells me it is eleven weeks away. Growing up in Minnesota, we always planted on my Dad's May 20th birthday. My small greenhouse allows me to get a headstart ahead of that date, but it's even too early for that. While in my local Jo-Ann Store this morning, as I was heading toward the clearance corner to see what new gotta-haves were added since my last trip, my eyes zeroed in on these rubber gardening clogs. The clogs begged for a pair of socks to complete the look, so I found ones with tiny red trim that looks like rick rack. The color name on the socks label (referring to the red trim) is "hollyhock". I chose them for the name as much as the color and style! The clogs, socks, and the beginnings of a garden plan sketch satisfied my gardening urge enough to make it through today and return to a felted wool project that excites me as much as the upcoming spring season.   

Talk to me...

Whiteley Creek Homestead Bed & Breakfast 12349 Whiteley Creek Trail Brainerd, MN 56401 218.829.0654 email: Whiteleycrk@aol.com Directions to Whiteley Creek Homestead from Brainerd: At Brainerd's landmark water tower, next to the Chamber of Commerce, go east on Washington Street to the last stoplights at the eastern edge of Brainerd. You will see the East Brainerd Mall (with a Cub Foods Grocery at one end and a Caribou Coffee at the other end) off to your left. From the stoplights, go straight ahead on Highway 210 East exactly 2.4 miles. Turn right just past the "Whiteley Creek B&B" state highway sign. Follow the signs down the 1/2 mile drive to the gray, weathered Whiteley Creek Inn.

Directions from Minneapolis-St. Paul Intl. Airport:: Take I-494 West from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to I-94 toward St. Cloud. Just before St. Cloud take the Clearwater Exit. Go to the town of Clear Lake where you will turn left onto Highway 10 and head north to Little Falls. In Little Falls, where Highway 10 veers off to the west, go straight ahead onto Highway 371 North. Go 30 miles to Brainerd. About 5 miles before Brainerd you will have the option of taking the Brainerd bypass (to Baxter) or the old Highway 371 (to Brainerd). Take the old Highway 371. Upon reaching the Brainerd city limits, go straight ahead through several stoplights. Just after crossing over the railroad tracks, you will see the Chamber of Commerce and Brainerd's landmark water tower on your right. Turn right (east) onto Washington Street. See "Directions to Whiteley Creek Homestead from Brainerd" to guide you the remaining three miles.

queen of the meadow blooms tearoom

 
Pour a steaming cup of coffee or tea, which is set up every morning at 7:30 a.m. on an old baker's cupboard in the queen of the meadow blooms tearoom, an 1890 railroad passenger car. To prepare you for a busy day of scouting the local area, a breakfast consisting of a muffin, scone, quick bread or coffeecake, fresh fruit, hot entree, and juice is served on 1940s era Homer Laughlin china. Kitchen utensil mobiles and old hankies tied onto lampshade frames hang overhead tables covered with mismatched vintage linens. Food is prepared with organic and locally-grown ingredients. I receive a weekly basket of freshly picked produce from our local CSA farm and hand-select fruits, vegetables, and herbs from Brainerd's weekly farmers market. I pick berries at a growers farm outside of Brainerd. In-season bounty determines the week's menu. I also purchase organic items from our local food coop. Our free-roaming "Black Star" and "Red Star" brown-egg laying hens are fed organic chicken feed and garden veggie scraps. A signature entree, Flossie's Eggs on the Rails, was named after our most prolific laying hen and the railroad car where guests' breakfast is served. The recipe was one of three selected from submissions thoughout Minnesota's bed and breakfasts that was included in the jacket insert of an instrumental music CD.

cabins and inn rooms

out my kitchen window cabin The out my kitchen window cabin features a loft overlooking flower, vegetable, and herb gardens. At night, the light from the fireplace downstairs peeks through the cracks in the wood floor... so cozy! French doors opening onto a private porch, antique clawfoot tub with shower, queen-size bed, and air conditioning. Rate is $125.00, which includes an evening dessert/snack and a nutritious breakfast prepared with carefully selected, organic, and locally grown in-season ingredients.

 

three marigolds and one other flower cabin The three marigolds and one other flower cabin sits to the rear of the Mustard Seed Mercantile where 1930-40s cars and trucks pull up for a fill at an antique gas pump. Feel the breeze while gently swaying in rocking chairs on the mercantile's porch while gazing out over the expanse of Whiteley Creek Homestead's thirty-five acre property. Vintage aprons, hanging on the many windows inside the cabin, frame the view of dense woods outside. Fireplace, air conditioning, queen-size bed, and antique clawfoot tub with shower. Rate is $125.00, which includes an evening dessert/snack and a nutritious breakfast prepared with carefully selected, organic, and locally grown in-season ingredients.

   

cabin in the pines Serenely nestled in the woods, in harmony with its habitat, the cabin in the pines offers guests a quiet hideaway with a front porch to sit and sip a cup of early morning coffee or tea while greeting a new day. A large feeding station draws a chorus of birds to serenade you while awaiting the morning's breakfast. Nearby, a stand of sunflowers and a pair of bluebird houses beckon guests to meander down a wooded trail where a bench provides a welcome spot to listen to the murmur of the breeze in the pines. Air conditioning, queen-size bed, and tub with shower. Rate is $125.00, which includes an evening dessert/snack and a nutritious breakfast prepared with carefully selected, organic, and locally grown in-season ingredients.

 

starry starry night inn room I wish I may, I wish I might, wish upon a star tonight. Even without stars to wish upon, on rainy nights listen to the raindrops fall on Whiteley Creek Inn's tin front porch roof outside the starry starry night inn room window while a breeze stirs the curtains hanging from a scraggly tree branch. In the private bath, with a clawfoot tub and a pump that draws water into a white enamel basin, a window frames a view looking outside toward the Mustard Seed Mercantile. Rate is $95.00, which includes an evening dessert/snack and a nutritious breakfast prepared with carefully selected, organic, and locally grown in-season ingredients.

 

miss 4th of july inn room Hooray for the red white and blue! Long may she wave! In the miss 4th of july inn room, tucked just off the porch inside the air conditioned Whiteley Creek Inn, guests may immerse themselves in a patriotic decor. Tiny stars reminiscent of the night sky dot the fabric curtains draped over a flagpole, an antique copy of the Declaration of Independence hangs on the wall, and an interlocking puzzle of our country's founding fathers beckons guests to continue piecing it together where others left off. In the private bath with a clawfoot tub, a red pump draws water into a white enamel basin trimmed in red. Rate is $95.00, which includes an evening dessert/snack and a nutritious breakfast prepared with carefully selected, organic, and locally grown in-season ingredients.

 

backporch fireplace A marshmallow floating in a steaming cup of hot chocolate... a fire lazily crackling in an outdoor fieldstone fireplace... Relax in twig chairs on Whiteley Creek Inn's huge screened-in porch while savouring each bite of the evening's complimentary dessert or snack. A refrigerator on the porch is available for storing items to prepare a simple lunch for day trips into the surrounding Brainerd area, as well as for storing leftovers after dining out in the many area restaurants.