Cloud 9 Blog

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!

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.

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.

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.

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 insulate it. Oh, what we don’t do for chickens on this conservation farm!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.