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“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 [ MORE » ]

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 Chere, 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. P.S. – It [ MORE » ]

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 [ MORE » ]

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 [ MORE » ]

I love browsing for antiques, andBiltmore Village is the place to go for that and more. They have it decorated for Christmas so it looks like an old English Village. It was the craftsman’s village for living while working on the Biltmore Estate in the 1890s. The best place to eat is The Corner Kitchen because they have local foods cooked in such gourmet [ MORE » ]

I rarely get to see my own cows having their calf because usually it occurs so early in the morning or night. But Pepper, my favorite cow, because she is such a good mother to her calves and has plenty of milk, gave me the first oppotunity at 4 in the after noon. These pics were taken with a zoom so they are a [ MORE » ]

It’s mid October and there are still bursts of interesting and beautiful fungi growing out of oak tree roots. Here’s a beautiful pinkish orange. It grows bigger by the day! The closest Ican come to identifying it in my Mushrooms of North America book is Polyporus Sulphureus but they say it should be sulphur-yellow. “Growing on a wide variety of hardwoods commonly in late [ MORE » ]

Plan ahead and save these dates for next year;April 4–May 17, 2009 Biltmore’s gardens, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, are alive with color as spring arrives. Enjoy special events and the beauty of tulips, azaleas, and countless other flowers during Festival of Flowers. Every vacation renter that stayed at Cloud 9 and Heavenly Hideaway Cabin spent the day at the Biltmore Estate to see [ MORE » ]

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 of blue heaven. If you book Cloud 9 or [ MORE » ]

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 behind the daffodils.