Whiteley Creek Homestead

I grew up on a 160-acre farm 10 miles southeast of Brainerd. The farm is entirely intact and remains in the family. Presently, I live on 35 acres, raise chickens, and grow a portion of the food that ends up on our plates. A farming lifestyle is central to who I am. Several years ago, I had purchased a small-scale two story house that is illuminated by a 5 watt bulb. It provided a cozy glow in the evenings, but it felt incomplete. A saunter through a downtown Brainerd antique store provided the missing piece… an old  tin barn, silo, and tractor. A bed and breakfast guest gifted me with a set of farm animals that are the perfect scale to complete my mini farmstead.   

But wait, there must be someone to keep house and care for the animals on my farm. In a flurry of activity, Lizzy was created by my granddaughter, M, from a wooden knob, felt, string, and a rubber band.  

Look! Lizzy even has a fringe cut on the bottom of her jacket. 

Last month, when I was in the Tractor Supply Co. buying some chick feed, I filled out a 15 minute in-store online survey to receive a $10.00 gift certificate. When I returned a week later to redeem the certificate, I carried two bags of poultry grit @ $4.99 each to the checkout counter and handed the cashier my certificate for payment. She politely told me that I couldn't use the certificate unless my total was $10.00 or more. I was two cents short. Despite offering to write-off the miniscule balance, she explained that I would need to buy an additional item to increase the total to at least $10.00. She helpfully showed me a candy bar that I could buy for $0.49. I wasn't desiring anything sweet at the moment, so I browsed the aisles… a little box of nails to hang pictures on the wall or a hook to hang a potted plant on my porch perhaps? I thought hard… Does Dick need a drill bit or a package of sandpaper? My trip to the farm store to use the $10.00 gift certificate was turning out to be way too complicated… then, there it was! The cutest molded rubber chicks for $2.99 to add to my mini farmstead.   

They are happily pecking bugs, seeds, and grass in the sunshine… just as chickens are meant to do.