Whiteley Creek Homestead

pyrex mixing bowls

I have been delving into minimalist blogs as of late. You see, I have been on a quest to simplify and declutter my life. I'm still in the planning stages. To date, I haven't made noticeable progress... but I plan to. There's really very little we need in life. Colorful mixing bowls... essential.

 
An outing with Dick to the Blooming Arts Festival in Bartow, Florida would have been a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon in and of itself, but with $40.00 less in my pocket, I happily cradled a four-bowl pyrex 400 series primary color nesting bowl set in my arms. (Sizes: yellow-4 quart, green-2 1/2 quart, red-1 1/4 quart, and blue 1 pint). These cheerful bowls debuted in the 1940s. They were not numbered until the 1950s. Mine are numbered 401, 402, 403, and 404. (Note: Tonight, I followed an eBay listing for a set of bowls identical to mine. The bidding just ended. "The item has sold for US $86.99. Item: VTG set 4 PYREX PRIMARY COLORS MIXING nesting BOWLS." Additionally, there will be shipping charges. I have passed by many of these pyrex primary color  mixing bowl sets in antique stores and various outdoor events where antique dealers are selling their wares. The average price tag has been $90.00 - $100.00.) 

The vendor's booth was as colorful as their (now my) mixing bowls.

 
I think a cup of tea will be a perfect ending to my most perfect day... sipped from a yet another purchase that I made from this same vendor.

 
The "Sweet Meadows" Numi organic, caffeine-free, herbal tea is a gift that I received recently from my childhood friend, Sharon. She knows these things.

   

farm show

Each year over Labor Day Weekend, a Steam Thresher's Reunion is held in Rollag, Minnesota, which is near Fargo, North Dakota. Today, Dick and I returned from a similar farm show near Avon Park in central Florida, where we spent three days with our friends Ron and Sue from Illinois. The most popular transportation of choice to navigate the grounds at Rollag is a four-wheeler. At the Florida event, it is a golf cart. There were so many golf carts that it looked like ants had crawled out from under every rotted log within a 60 mile radius. The four of us chose to navigate the grounds on a lawnmower pulling a handmade sully made with a school bus seat. Each morning, we opened our camper's door facing these orange groves. Oh the aroma... the trees are bursting with spring blossoms.  

  

A major portion of the event was vendors selling their wares... mostly antiques. In upcoming posts, I will share some of the treasures that I uncovered. We walked down the main street of an 1800s town where a metal sculpture of the Clampetts was parked. Jed Clampett and Daisy May "Granny" were recreated especially well, I think.

   
  
We looked a bit like the Clampetts as we transported a Model A to the farm show to drive in the daily parade.

   

  

 

 

tin can tourist rally

Dick and I have become members of the Tin Can Tourists Organization. Our membership became official during our initiation ceremony over this past weekend at a rally in Cedar Key, Florida. After learning  the club's hand symbol, handshake, and song, we were welcomed into this vintage travel trailer club that was started in 1919. Here is a photo of the 1940 (?) travel trailer that we are restoring. On Saturday, all of the vintage trailers were open to walk through. I fell in love with the kitchen in a 1950 Spartanette.

 
This is a view from the living room through the kitchen toward the bedroom. The walls, cabinets, sink, and appliances are all original to the trailer.

 

Look at this round corner cabinet that has interior shelves. Oh, yes. I can envision frequently used items happily tucked behind that door. My blender immediately came to mind, but if I had the retro stainless steel model in this photo, I would leave it on the counter, too.

 
The weather was perfect for a bike ride. These pelicans had a rally of their own on a dilapidated structure on the Gulf of Mexico shore. 

round barn theater

Dick and I are enroute to New York and New Jersey to vist our daughters, Heather and Lisa, and their families. A regular stop at the halfway point in our cross-country journey is the Round Barn Theater in Napannee, Indiana where, this year, a Cinderella musical was playing.

 
The architecture of the theater is as amazing as the performances offered there. This is the intricate webbed structure that forms the interior's domed ceiling.  It forms a ceiling canopy high above the audience seats... as tall as the exterior roof. 

 

Our favorite characters were Cinderella's stepsisters.

 

They are male actors. Look at the transformation!

 

ellis concert

This morning, Dick and I attended the funeral of a lifelong friend. It was sad... a tragic, unexpected death. We had previously made plans to attend a concert in the evening, not knowing that it would provide the comfort we would need today. The performance by Ellis, a Minneapolis folk artist, was the 251st in a series of Grassroots Concerts debuting in 1988 in the Brainerd area. 

  

(photo from ellis-music.com)
Ellis's songs, which are retellings of simple, everyday  happenings and memories, are soul healing and uplifting. She is a gifted guitarist, vocalist, and storyteller who captures the details of life from both thought provoking and humorous perspectives. Three of my favorites were a tender song that she wrote for her granny titled "You Are Royalty To Me", a song titled "George Anne" about people who called Ellis's residence for two years asking for this woman who was apparently a former resident, and "How Would It Be." Here is a YouTube video of Ellis performing "How Would It Be" at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts August 26, 2007.      

bayfield apple fest

Bayfield, Wisconsin, a New England-feeling town located on the Lake Superior Shore, held its 49th annual Apple Fest this past weekend. Its population is only 611, but during this event it swells considerably. Dick and I increased the total by two.

 

We toured some of the many orchards surrounding Bayfield. My favorite was North Wind Organic Farm, a 110 acre wind and solar powered orchard and berry farm. I fell in love with the old... a handmade wooden cart used to transport apples from the orchard, a '52 International pickup, and a rickety shed. The property was void of noise... only the sounds of nature and the gentle warmth of the autumn sun.    

 

Each day during the three-day event, the "Blue Canvas Orchestra" provided the most amazing music. We listened to their two hour set two days consecutively while eating the earth's best ice cream-topped apple tortes.

The only day we missed the show and apple tortes was when we rode the ferry to Madeline Island where we spent the day biking. Peace. Seldom did we meet a car. (I shot this post's top photo from the ferry that transported our bikes and us to Madeline Island.) We camped at the Dalrymple City Park just outside the Bayfield city limits. It was a short bike ride to downtown where the the Apple Fest was set up. We had a beautiful view of Lake Superior. In the photo's right side, you can see the front end of our pickup poking out from our campsite.    

 

 

 

fall raspberries

What an amazing autumn day! The morning started out crisp with temp in the 40s, but quickly warmed to the high 60s. I chose to spend a portion of the day picking raspberries at Brambling Rows Berry Farm south of Brainerd (Minnesota) on St. Mathias Road. Perfect serenity... just the bees buzzzzing.  

 
The owners provide pickers with an ice cream bucket to hold a quart container and a hook to attach the bucket's handle to a belt loop to free up both hands for more efficient picking. I wasn't concerned with efficiency and increased speed, though. I was there to lollygag in the warm sunshine and then enjoy the fruits of my labor upon my return home.

 

Paul Bunyanland

The Paul Bunyan Amusement Park in Brainerd (Minnesota), that I knew as a child, was moved to "Paul Bunyanland's" new location 6 miles east on Highway 18. Despite a sadness that is rooted in nostalgia... stemming from my wanting things to remain the same as they always were, the present owners have done an amazing job of recreating their own version. We spent the day there with our daughter Lisa and her two kids visiting from New Jersey.

With one in mid-air (foreground) and the other just beginning her ascent (far left), they pilot vintage-inspired airplanes. 

 

With slabs of bacon attached to their feet, skaters circled round and round greasing Paul Bunyan's giant griddle. 

 

The garbage can lids were cute as ever... 

 

When little legs grew weary, retro strollers lined up in a row were ready and waiting. I imagine they came from the original Paul Bunyan Amusement Park. 

aluminum travel trailer

Look at this little cutie... It's the most perfect size. 

We have completely stripped the inside and are presently researching the manufacturer, year it was built, and photos to determine authenic interior styles so that we can accurately recreate its period look. We want to include a refrigerator and a kitchen sink but no stove. We'll use a camp stove set up on folding metal table for cooking outside under an attached canopy. Our friend, Craig, is a master cabinet builder, so we will hire him to work his magic over the winter months. 

Grand Portage Minnesota

Lupines along the roadside from just north of Duluth all the way to Grand Portage... Miss Rumphius must have been here.

 
Miss Rumphius is the title of a children's book by Barbara Cooney. It is based upon a true story of a little girl named Alice who lived in a city by the sea. Her grandfather had come to America on a large ship. He told her stories of faraway places. She told her grandfather that when she grew up, she wanted to travel to see faraway places, too, and then come home to live beside the sea. Her grandfather said there was one more thing she must do. "What is that?" asked Alice. "You must do something to make the world more beautiful," said her grandfather. "All right," said Alice. But she did not know what that could be... until she was quite old and hit upon an idea.

One thing that I wanted to do when I grew up was to visit the farthest point in northeast Minnesota where the state comes to a point. That is just what Dick and I did on our North Shore trip. We travelled north of Grand Portage to Hat Point Marina where Dick's friend, Elmer, has a charter fishing boat moored. Elmer took us out on Lake Superior and I drove the boat! Well... I sat behind the wheel and I was, for a moment, a fishing boat captain.

We returned to Grand Marais to our campground to stay a second night. That night, we attended a play depicting Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island performed by local community members. How fitting to end our day in such a manner.