It’s pretty exciting to be a bee keeper in WNC this time of year. The beautiful yellow, orange and green bloom of the tulip (yellow) poplar tree drips with nectar (don’t park your car under one in May) and is the major nectar source for honey here along with the locust (tree not cicada insects)… Read more »
Blog
Come Kick a Rock
Dirt roads, almost as rare as hen’s teeth in Fairview, NC as developers demand ameneties for prospective buyers. My favorite winding backroad to town got paved a few years ago. Sure, less dust and easier on the car but it was the road I always took out-of-town guests on the way back from the airport…. Read more »
Giant Black Widow
Asheville has lots of fun places to explore. One of them is the Arboretum off the Blue Ridge Parkway. This traveling exhibit is called Dr. Entomo’s Palace of Exotic Wonders and since I had never seen a real live glow-in-the-dark scorpion or been in an artrium filled with hatching monarchs, I went. Here I am… Read more »
Caffeine
For those of you that are addicted, let me introduce you to Drinking Beans Coffee Shop otherwise known as Drinkin’ Beans or DN BZ as the closest place to get snap-you-awake java. My former 4th grade student, Zach, (pictured here) created this space a year ago. I’m so proud of him. It’s a relaxing place,… Read more »
That Darned Old Tree
All fall and winter I curse that crab apple tree in the pasture. It’s prickly limbs that fall off or have to be trimmed give injuries even to my gloved hands everytime. But now…in the spring…full glorious blossoms (double blossoms this year to make up for the freeze of ’07) in pinkish white that make… Read more »
In Love with Self
Enjoying his reflection in the sliding glass window on the deck, this robin red breast hops back and forth on the deck for long blocks of time. And it doesn’t seem to matter if people are here! At first I marveled at nature’s ways but now, after cleaning up the deck for the umpteenth time,… Read more »
Blueberries are in Bloom
We can let our breath out now that the danger of frost hurting the delicate, pink and white blueberry blooms is over. Last year in April ’07 the 4 day freeze wiped out 98% of the crop so this year’s double bloom brings new hope for a bumper crop of those sweet tasting, grape-size delights… Read more »
It’s a Dogwood Time of Year
Remember this time of year, mid April to mid May if you’d like to take a vacation and see the glorious wild dogwood bloom. The white blossoms spread out like sheets through a wood’s view amongst the new green leaves coming out of their buds in many shades of green. I’ve never seen a honeybee… Read more »
Free Ranging Chickens
When the danger of the (Cooper and Red tailed) hawk’s regular feeding time is over (mid day) the “girls” (and 3 boys) are let loose the last couple hours of the day to free range. Here is the beautiful Golden Comet rooster, “Goldy,” staying out of the way of the alpha rooster, “Ooleroo” by hiding… Read more »
The Head Fell Off
On the 200 acres of Cloud 9 Rentals, there are many places of interest, tiki heads to mask tree stumps and stone works all from the property. One that you see in the valley is the Phoenix, sitting on the edge of the woods. You have to look closely to see the rock legs and… Read more »