Meet Butch

Whenever a new calf is born on Cloud 9 Farm, the renter at the time, gets to name it. Sooooo, presenting Butch, named by two sisters from Florida, looking for a macho name for this new stud. Actually this new baby face stud will have a couple weeks reprieve before becoming a steer! I bent down to gather some baling twine with camera in the other hand and Butch ventured away from his mother to investigate. The whole time she was growling like a mad dog warning him of possible danger, but still Butch independently checked me out, looking back at her every other step. He finally did heed her call but not until I got some really good photos of that milk face!

Blueberry Nectar Flow

The sweet perfume of blueberry blossoms pulls the honey bees and bumble bees into the lure of sweet reward...poliinating for a cross pollinated crops for me and sweet nectar to take back to the hive for the colony. I keep 5 colonies of honeybees for this sole purpose that happens every April here at Cloud 9 Farm. It's a little later than normal with the much needed rains and the long lasting blackberry winter but welcome as the true sign of spring.

Look at that Rock!

On her hand ...on her ring finger! It happened this week at Heavenly Hideaway cabin! Such a romantic get-away!

Path of the Sun from Cloud 9 Property

On the first day of spring, (March 20 this year) the sun rises right over the tippy top of Little Pisgah mountain from Cloud 9 Properties. Click the link to see other views. But this is just a week and 2 days later and look how much it's moved to the northeast. I'll take another photo on the longest day of the year (June 21) to compare. Being in touch with nature is what I like about living here!

Green and Yellow

Colors and feelings...doesn't bright grass green and daffodil yellow just make you feel fresh, alive, and healthy? Of course, coming to the mountains SHOULD make you feel like that all year long. So come! Here's a photo of a side of Cloud 9 Relaxation Home, 4 bedrooms for a great family reunion spot.

Tasty Tadpoles

"Or should I say, poolishicious polliwogs, Quack, Quack!" Yeah, that's Mr. and Mrs. Woodduck thanking me for brunch at Peterson Pond. Here's the story: While doing some swamp drainage in the cow pasture, we noticed some gelatinous globs of what must be tree frog eggs. Knowing that they would soon be covered with a culvert, a rescue plan immediately took shape. Grab the vacation rental kids for a farm adventure! So kids from 3 to 10 who were staying that day had a ball scooping the eggs and catching individual tadpoles with buckets (and mud, of course) while parents took photos. We took them to Peterson pond's warm edge and dumped them ceremoniously into their new home, proud to have done the amphibian kingdom a favor. After they left and I continued working nearby, I was heralded by two ducks quacking in the sky, and plummeting skillfully with cupped wings in an almost vertical drop to the pond. You can guess what their first order of business was. Just hope they were tasty.

Book now for Bele Chere Weekend

I could rent Cloud 9 Relaxation Home and Heavenly Heavenly Hideaway cabin 10 times for this last weekend in July because of the popularity of Bele Cher, Asheville's (and the Southeast's)biggest and free street party, so get your reservation plans done now! We are 15 minutes from down town Asheville, a total of 4 turns and you're there having fun.

PS It always rains at least once during Bele Cher. Bring an umbrella!

Landscape in snow

I love how the snow defines the landsacape. This is from the "big" snow on Sunday. We haven't gotten this kind of snow in 4 or 5 years so, forget about the inconvenience, just enjoy it.

PS All roads are clear so you can get to Cloud 9, no problem.

Elvis has been seen at Cloud 9!

or rather...Tiki Head with White Mustache...but it does look like Elvis. Just another winter photo from Cloud 9 farm.

Winter Wonderland at Cloud 9

It was quite a snow we had yesterday, making everything so beautiful on Cloud 9 Farm here on the southern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. About 5 inches. Too bad you're not on vacation and getting snowed in! Here are the chicken girls trying to decide whether to come out of the coop or not. It was so funny watching them cautiously looking at that white stuff and weighing the pros and cons with their pea-sized brains. Then a great push came from behind and one was out, then two more.

Food you can "nuzzle"

On these cold days at Cloud 9 Farm, the cows really look forward to a serving of warm silage, chopped fermented corn stalks with plump whole kernel corn. It steams with the composting heat in the frigid air as I shovel it in the trough. Their pleasure is evident because they bury their sensitive noses in the warmth and stir it around before taking their long tongue in a swirled scooping thrust to devour this yummy winter delight. The closest thing I can relate to the feeling would be wrapping yourself and head in a soft fleece blanket and rubbing it on your cheek. There’s little Valentine, with the white heart mark on his head.It looked more heart shaped as a new born with his smaller head. I don't usually name the calves as these are beef cattle, but he was a natural!

Bee Tree

My new friend, who is in the tree business, has a heart. He saved this chuck of tree with a bee hive in it to bring home and nurture. So here it is, propped up with stones and with a hive box on top of the hole in the tree. There is an upside down jar of sugar water with tiny pin pricks in the lid for the bees to suck out of with their straw-like tongues. I hope they make it through the winter. My beekeeper friends and I will help him put the hive in a box in the spring so they can expand and flourish. There is a way to take all the precious comb we can carefully retrieve and rubber band it into the rectangular frames for the honey bees to attach. Who knows, they may be "survivor" bees of rare genetic stock.

Hot Tub with a View

I love this time of year, when the leaves are off the trees and you can see a true view at Heavenly Hideaway cabin. In the summer you are completely secluded by forest but now you can see the distant mountains (and no houses). Very quiet! And if you were in the hot tub tonight...oooo, la, la...a full moon that would cast that second-hand sunlight into pleasing romantic tones.

Think Spring!

Spring Fling at Cloud 9 Farm

Cloud 9 Relaxation Home and Heavenly Hideaway Cabin await your INNER RENEWAL for Spring.
With any booking in March/April '09 mention "I read your blog" and you'll have a breakfast delight basket waiting for you:
Fresh ground whole wheat bread, half dozen Cloud 9 large brown chicken eggs (you can gather them yourself if you like), a chunk of hand-rolled Amish butter, and locally produced fruit preserves.

Dang it's Cold!

Goldy, the rooster, is so stoic as he waits for warmer weather up on his perch in the hen house. Got a little frostbite on those wattles, don't you old man? It did go down to 10 last night, and even though the Cloud 9 Farm Chickens protect themselves in the wind break of the hen house, a little frostbite on those tender combs is inevitable. So before another night of 10 degrees, I'll get him in a"football hold", gently under one arm, and smear it good all over where it must hurt to nsulate it. Oh, what we don't do for chickens on this conservation farm!

New Art Work Adorns Heavenly Hideaway

Pyrographic Art is the fancy word for wood burning with an etching pen and filling in with beautiful colors. Here is the new headboard on the king-size bed in Heavenly Hideaway cabin, a couple's secluded get-away on Cloud 9 property. Lisa, a spirit-filled, talented artist was commissioned to do this for me. I think she captured the blissful feeling of staying here at the Hideaway...you're floating on love-filled air in the clouds listening to etheric music. She is a local artist in Black Mountain with Earthfin Studios. She has muses from other realms, for sure!

The Antics of Duke, our Neighbor's Dog

When I say neighbors, I mean the neighbors a 1/2 mile away on the other mountain down the road, because Cloud 9, for a vacation rental is a very private spot. But the other day, an alert renter couple who were hiking to Buzzard's Roost, noticed this cute beagle joined them. Waiting to meet another hiker they just kept walking and the dog excitedly followed them, sniffing rabbit trails along the way, but always running to catch up. After reaching the top (2,470 ft.) and coming down again, no other hiker showed up, so reaching down to check the dog tag, "Duke" belonged to an address down the road. The hiker called it on his cell phone, and Fred and Brenda were so relieved to find out someone had found their new dog, Duke, that had escaped that morning. They met the hikers and Duke at the bottom of the Cloud 9 trail and were happily reunited, thanks to good people!

Winter Hiking in the Blue Ridge NC Mountains

Hiking is really great in the mountains in the cool 40-50 degree air. That’s my favorite temperature to hike in because you can start out wearing 2 tee shirts and a sweat shirt and end up with just one on with the others wrapped around your waist. There are lots of great places to hike off the parkway trails (but sometimes they close the road because of ice so check first.) The best place of ALL to hike is right up to Cloud 9’s own, Buzzard’s Roost. It’s pet friendly and you won’t need a leash. There’s a mailbox with a journal at the top, just so you can write that you made it! The hike starts at the garden in the valley of Cloud 9 Farm and is about a mile of gradual incline tractor road. Here’s a quote from one of the entries I found in the journal, “Hill, my foot, this is a friggin’ mountain.” Obviously she needed that hike!

Winter Turkey Tracks

Wildlife is abundant here on Cloud 9 Farm even in the winter. The wild turkeys are starting to gather in preparation for mating season in late February and March which is a spectacle to see. The fanning of the tom turkey's tail, his head change color from pink to bright red to purple...oh, so handsome. That would be a great time to vacation here. Bring your camera. You can get unbelievably close. Especially since it's the misplaced chicken scratch that they love to eat right around my chicken coop. Whoops, did I say "misplaced?" ...on purpose misplaced that is. I love observing them.

Biltmore Estate in the Winter

You can almost have the whole Biltmore Estate to yourself. The prices are the best now through March and you know, the house tours can be shoulder to shoulder on summer weekends. If you can’t come now, come in warmer weather during week days for the best summer prices.

Fire Pit Fun

Here's the view at suset on a winter's eve enjoying the fire pit at Cloud 9 Relaxation Home. We provide the wood, starter mix and log seats. You provide the kindling from the nearby woods (make it a family project), the marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. Smores anyone?

BREECH! Chicken Run Occurs

Nawwww,

Only in the movies...My chickens know where I feed them and where it is safe from the hawk (I only let them out of their large run coop after I know the chicken hawk has made his rounds.) With the wind the other night, a leaning tree fell on the chicken coop. But, here come first-to-wake-up vacationers at Cloud 9, knocking on my door to lend a helping hand. We cut the tree off the coop in firewood-size pieces and they put down their morning coffee cups to help stack it around the fire pit. Our motto is "We work, you relax" but, hey, if it's fun, join in! Next, I'll show you the fire pit pictures.