Hickory Nut Telegraph Newsletter

Summer 2010
Hello again good Spring House Farm friends! Summer has descended upon us here on the farm with some warmer than usual days. The night are cooling down nicely and with open windows allowing the cool air in as well as the sounds of the night. Crickets peeping and bull frogs drumming in the ponds sing a nightly symphony of soothing natural music. It rained last night which made morning crisp and clear with a soft veil of blue fog hanging over the farm.

This morning the humming birds on the front porch of the Albertus Ledbetter house compete with one another and also with honey bees for a morning sip from one of the three humming bird feeders on our front porch. We also keep feeders hanging on the front porches of all the cottages so our guests can enjoy the action!

In fact why not become a fan of the farm by adding us to your friends page? I am up-dating almost daily with farm news and specials. Incidentally don't forget about our massage specials where you can have outside massages on the privacy of your own deck!

I have opened our swimming hole under the bridge that leads to the regulation croquet court and horse shoes pit. Here is a picture of Mr. Jerry lee looking down and wondering what are those crazy folks doing in the stream? http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/photo.php?pid=4162838&id=88714702988

We all hope you have a wonderful summer and plan to come for a visit soon. Don't forget to check out our Face Book page for updates and farm news.

Spring is finally here on the farm once again after an incredible fall and winter. We had some amazing snows this year with nearly sixteen inches in one blizzard in January! Believe it or not we were nearly full that weekend but all our folks got in safely and had a wonderful time playing in the snow and then retiring back to their warm and cozy hot tubs and cabins! Even Jerry Lee had a huge time romping and playing in the snow. It was actually hard to see him in the snow because of his almost white coat, just some black spots dancing in the snow!.

This past fall I built "Cailein's Bridge" in honor of our son who joined the United States Navy in August. You can also see the "Blue Star Service Banner" we have proudly displayed on our home page honoring our son and other young men and women's commitment to serve our great country.

This new walking bridge over heads a small waterfall and our new swimming hole! Also, once across the bridge I have set up a horse shoe pitching area and regulation croquet court in the hay pasture beyond.

I have also kept busy by finishing our hiking trail. For you folks who have hiked it before you may remember that once to the end one had to back track back down the mountain. I borrowed an amazing machine called a D-8 Caterpillar bull doser and using as delicate care as possible, continued the trail thus completing the "Loop". The trail passes through two and one half miles of deep mountain forest of hard woods, rhododendron, laurel and dog woods. It also passes a remarkable formation of rocks as big as a house. Jerry Lee will be happy to guide you although the trail is well marked and easy to navigate. This trail is one I consider strenuous so plan on taking your time, camera and bring along a bottle of our great Spring House Farm water.

The fishing is still good with plenty of large mouth bass, blue gill and shell cracker biting. Bring your own gear works best but I may be persuaded to let you borrow my fly rod and give you a fly fishing casting lesson.

Folk's we don't pester you with "blanket" emails like so many other properties do. We think we have what is the most uniquely different cabin and vacation experience any where in the state of North Carolina or the country. If you have a minute click on the "North Carolina Weekend" link on our home page http://springhousefarm.com/unctv.htm and see what they have to say about us. We believe that once here you will probably return as so many of our previous guests have done after nearly ten years in business!

Take care and hope to see you soon!
Arthur, Zee and Mr. Jerry Lee (he's the polka dotted one!)
Pray for Peace

The Hickory Nut Telegraph, May 2009

Hello again Spring House Farm friends! Here’s hoping you all are well and happy!

The past few years our area has experienced what’s called an “exceptional drought”. This spring however, has been especially beautiful with an abundance of beneficial rains. Because of this, the forest surrounding the cabins is bursting with foliage like I haven’t seen in years.

When Earnest Hemingway wrote “Islands In The Stream” about an island called Bimini in the Bahamas being surrounded by clear green waters of the Caribbean Sea, it reminded me of our cabins this spring… like being surrounded and adrift in an ocean of swirling lush rain forest.

The soft evening rains have also been keeping time with a quiet patter of drops on the metal roof, cooling the forest so that a warm fire in your fireplace is necessary to ward off overnight chill. The morning sunrise filters through the wet, sparkling hardwood canopy drying things out from the night before.

Springtime here is a wonderful thing indeed!

GARDENING TIME
I have gotten my garden in… almost!

You guys are welcome to come and raid some goodies for your supper when things are ready. I have planted several varieties of tomatoes, lettuces, sweet onions, hot peppers, zucchini and yellow squash. Honey dew and cantaloupe will be ready later on as well. This is a completely organic garden fertilized courtesy of a neighbor’s prize Paso Fino horses! An organic garden is more effort, but the taste of the veggies is unmatched. For you gardeners out there, find someone who has horses and ask but beware of the grass seed contained within! Plan on being in your garden with your hoe daily or compost your manure for a season before using in the garden. It kills the seeds and neutralizes some of the acid. Lettuces are red leaf, bib and butter leaf.

I make a killer vinaigrette, which works well on the fresh lettuce or even drizzled over a fresh slice of cantaloupe.

The recipe follows:

2 cloves fresh garlic crushed
1 large pinch fresh graded ginger root
1 tbsp good balsamic
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 good dollop Dijon mustard (Maille Mustard)
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Mix all ingredients in blender or food processor or by hand.
Then gradually add olive oil. Don’t guess. Taste, adjust, taste adjust…
Then let sit overnight.

NEWS FOR THE BIRDS
Birders! Don’t forget about the farm’s June induction into mountain region of the North Carolina Birding Trail. http://www.birdingtrail.org

The farm will be open to the public who will have access to some great bird watching areas. Our cabin guests will have their own special private prime bird watching areas too.

SPECIAL
Super Spring Specials: May, June
Any cabin is $175/night on Sunday-Thursday nights (saving up to $150/night!). On Friday-Saturday, get 50% off your second night.
Limited space, call Zee or Arthur today at 828-738-9798!

See you soon!
Yours in Peace,
Arthur, Zee, Cailien and Jerry Lee!

The Hickory Nut Telegraph January 2009

Once again I have given up the tractor and the never ending "to do" list that constantly beckons my call here on the farm for some quiet moments writing this newsletter.

Incidentally, if one has ever had thoughts of starting a business like this and coasting along in a free and easy manner, better think again. No complaints from me as it's allot of work but most rewarding as we strive to provide you the best vacation experience and value.

Miss Zee and I are beginning to wind down the holidays and will be casting off via cruise ship for a week of warmer climes and someone waiting on us for a change! The farm will still be open for business under the watchful eye of our son Cailein and Mr. Jerry Lee! We will however, be back on deck after our trip to start another great year hosting our many repeat guests and new ones as well.

News...

This up-coming spring we will be kicking off our involvement with the North Carolina Birding Trail's Mountain Region http://www.ncbirdingtrail.org/ . After a careful site inspection by The Audubon Society, we have been selected as an official site on the Mountain Region Trail! Once opened, we will have a trail along the other side of the creek away from the cottages open to the public.

As many of our repeat guests know, our walking trail to the top of our mountain (guests only) dead ends at the top. We will be opening the trail to continue along as a loop with the trail ending over near the upper pond. You might even get Mr. Jerry Lee to show you the trail and bring you home. This trail will be strenuous (better eat your Wheaties!) while our other trails are easy and just as beautiful.

This past few months has seen some amazing changes and has created some great challenges for us all. We all here at the farm remain optimistic that the future will once again bring good things for us all.

No worries as we are not going anywhere. We will still be here for you. So, if you feel like just stepping off for a weekend away from the race, just give us a call. We can even have Miss Carey, Kara or Sherry come up and give you a great Swedish, Kaya or hot stone massage. Afterwards, don't forget about the hot tub and blazing fireplace to complete the relaxation process.

Check out "Winter Special's" located on our home page for some incredible deals!

Yours in Peace, (and quiet)

Arthur Zee Cailein and Mr. Jerry Lee!

The newsletter of Spring House Farm
August 2008

I have been asked by many of our many returning guests to write a small column about happenings here on the farm. The fact of the matter is that I did just that when we opened Spring House Farm over eight years ago! Time and web sites changed and old news letters slipped through the cracks.

Back then I named it The Hickory Nut Telegraph for a couple of reasons. First, the farm is situated at the base of Hickory Nut Mountain which is the crown of The Hickory Nut Gorge that extends down into the Lake Lure/ Chimney Rock area. The other reason is that an old friend who I knew in my flying boat days by the name of Jimmy Buffett used a similar title in one of his songs called The Coconut Telegraph. While those days are long gone and with me being blown way ashore and still having a bit of the tropics in my blood, I named it The Hickory Nut Telegraph. No more clear skies and green waters of the Caribbean for me, but the beautiful mountains of The Blue Ridge!

Other hints of past life.. Check out the names of our cabins. "The Bimini Twist", "The Compleat Angler", "The Flying Bridge", "The Outrigger"... You get the idea. Oh, less I forget our most isolated cabin which sits atop a small mountain on the property. Called "The Reach" which I named after a phrase the Bahamian people use in describing when arriving somewhere as in "You done reach?". This cottage is perfect for relaxing in the hot tub and gazing up at the stars!

So, as the names of the cabins suggest, we aren't your typical mountain retreat with a few cabins scattered close by. We are very special in that we just have six completely PRIVATE and SECLUDED cabins situated on ninety- two acres of pristine mountain property. I will spare you with the usual pitch about our trout ponds and walking trails but must tell you that our cabins sleep just two persons and all have real wood burning fire places and front porch hot tubs! Get it now? Oh, and we even have one that has two bed rooms perfect for two couples! That one features gas logs and hot tub as well. If the walls could talk with that cabin!

Anyway, while we are wrapping up the summer now and enjoying the rains blown ashore from tropical systems down south, the weather will take on a change and bring cooler days and nights. With those cooler days of fall approaching we will begin to see the leaves changing to their beautiful autumn colors and smell the sweet smoke of a hickory log fire burning in one of our cabin fireplaces. The cooler waters in the upper pond will have the rainbow trout begin to come alive with promise of a hearty tug line if lucky enough to hook up!

Until then, the blossoms will still be blooming in our Lillie pad pond which surrounds Hammock Island and the promise of cooler nights, hot fireplace fires and warm hot tubs await!

See you soon!

Arthur

Hickory Nut Telegraph: Latest from Spring House Farm