Murphy's Place Blog

A Guests Perspective

crystalearhart — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:59:39 +0000

I just received this email from some guests after their first visit to Copperstone Cottage.

View from Copperstone deck

Foggy morning

Hi Crystal,

I just wanted to let you know we had a fantastic time staying at your cabin. It far surpassed our expectations and really made our first vacation together special. I have attached a couple pictures of the view off our deck that you might like. I was so pleasantly surprised about the deck it became our favorite part of the cabin (besides the tub of course!) especially with the fog moving in over the fields in the morning. Absolutely gorgeous! So I figured it might be a good selling point for other guests as well.
Thanks again for a wonderful time, we will be back! )

Sara and Kevin

Saturday Night @ Peaceful Bend

crystalearhart — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 03:30:28 +0000

Wow! What a fantastic evening spent with great friends and awesome entertainment!
The event was put together as a fund raiser for the John Hartford Memorial Fest. Dinner was prepared by Bob and Terry. Absolutely delicious food, as usual. The show was kicked off by some music from Bill Startz and Jason Evans. Both did a great job.

Bill

Then we all had the pleasure of listening to the wonderful Mississippi Sawyers! Talk about some good bluegrass!

Mississippi Sawyers

I am working on posting a video on the Murphy’s Place LLC facebook page, in case you might like to listen to them. Hopefully I will have that done by tomorrow evening.

Diane brought her massage chair and worked on a few lucky folks during the concert. Katie was first.

Katie and Diane

Judging by her smile, I think she may have been enjoying that.
If you have never been to a music event in the wine cellar at Peaceful Bend, you should find one you think you will enjoy and attend. The acoustics are amazing. However, you might have to wrestle Clyde for the best seat in the house.

Hangin' out & watchin' the show.

Well, between painting and cleaning and doctoring sick goats, it’s been a long day and I’ve got another tomorrow, so goodnight all. Hope to see ya soon!
Crystal

Saturday at Peaceful Bend

crystalearhart — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:58:35 +0000

Gerald and I spent a great afternoon at Peaceful Bend Vineyard and Winery last Saturday.
We enjoyed live music by Jason Evans from 1:30 to 4:30.

Jason Evans

Lots of other folks turned out to get in on the fun as well.

We were lucky to have a great bunch of fun girls attending a bachelorette party at the winery as well. It didn’t take Maggie and Pepe long to have those gals wrapped around their little paws!

Sharing a sandwich.

How about a hug?

And to top off a perfectly perfect afternoon, I opened one of those delicious little Dove dark chocolates to enjoy with my glass of Dry Creek and this is what the inside of the wrapper said. “You are exactly where you are supposed to be”.
How cool is that? I think that may be an omen that I should spend every Saturday afternoon at Peaceful bend. What do you think?
See ya,
Crystal

A few random cloudy day photos.

crystalearhart — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:11:01 +0000

Took a few photos while out walking this morning. Thought I’d share.

She thinks she is hidden from me.

Pappy

Bradford Pear in bloom.

Mac, my carriage horse.

Woody, takin' it easy.

Ember, Snowy and Tag hanging out in the yard.

That’s it for today. Hope you enjoyed ‘em.
Crystal

Sassafras Cabin almost complete!

crystalearhart — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:34:33 +0000

In spite of the small delay on Spring, the cabin has been coming along nicely. The siding is all on and we will be ordering the metal for the porch ceiling today.

Sassafras under construction

We have managed to gather up a few items for decoration. The guys have been busy this morning carrying some of them in and putting them up.

The light over the kitchen island is now hanging and the fridge is on its way.

Centering the light

I think the color we picked for the doors ties everything together pretty well.

Here are a few shots from different angles of the living room/dining room area.

The fireplace will have a gas burning insert and the flat screen TV will sit on top.

It is a little tough to get a good shot of the bedrooms, but this should give you an idea of what they are like. Each will have a queen size bed and a closet.

As we headed out, I had to snap a shot of the ice and snow coming off the roof. If winter ever decides to give it up for good and let the ground dry out a bit, we will be able to get the yard cleaned up and the grass seed down.

My picture taking just does not do justice to this cabin. I love it. Definitely my new favorite. Come by sometime and check it out.
The floor will be getting a final coat of poly this afternoon and we will be putting in some furniture in the next day or two.
Everything should be ready to go in about two weeks, so if you are looking for a getaway for 4 to 6 people, give me a call.
I think you will love the Sassafras.
See ya,
Crystal

Little by little

crystalearhart — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:36:58 +0000

The guys are making steady progress on the new cabin, in spite of the wild wind and ankle deep mud. They are planning to have the siding completed this week.

Back side of The Sassafras under construction

I really don’t know how they are managing to stay on that pick board. It is WINDY out there.

We have decided to call the new cabin The Sassafras. I picked that name because of all the sassafras sprouts growing near it. When we cleared the area to build, the sweet smell of the unearthed roots lingered for days. I will have to remember that next winter when I am wanting some sassafras tea. That will be a good spot to dig some roots!

Well, that’s all for now.
See ya!
Crystal

New Cabin

crystalearhart — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:59:15 +0000

Hello, Everyone!
Hope you are all managing to stay warm. Just thought I would give an update on our new cabin at Murphy’s Place. It is now under roof and the guys are beginning to put the siding on.

In the process.....

We had a hard time deciding what size cabin to build this time, but decided something in between the two that we already had would be best. This cabin will be a two bedroom with a sleeper sofa in the living room. Max capacity – 6 people. The rate will be $200 per night. Here is a picture of the floor plan.

Cabin #3 floor plan

Decor will be semi rustic like the other two.
We have not decided on a name for this one yet. Any suggestions, anyone?
The view of the river is not as clear as from our other cabins,

river view

but the view across the farm to the old farm house and barn is really great.

Lookin' at the Kick'n K.

I am happy to report that we already have one booking for the new cabin! How sweet is that?
Remember, name suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am looking forward to hearing your ideas.
See ya!
Crystal

The Eagle

crystalearhart — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 22:39:23 +0000

We have an eagle that loves to perch in a tree that grows out of the cliff right next to Copperstone Cottage. I have been trying to get a decent picture of him for 3 years. It has been very frustrating! If I try to slip out onto the deck, he always flies away as soon as I open the door. Sometimes, when I don’t have my camera, he will fly by and turn sideways and look at me as if to say, “Haha, you’re never gonna get me!” I can see that golden eye shining, he is so close.
Well, finally, I was sneaky enough to get a couple of shots. Not perfect, but at least good enough to share.

The eagle perched on his favorite branch.

See, I wasn’t fibbing. I really do have an eagle that lives at Murphy’s Place.
He is not very sociable, though. As soon as he realized I was taking his picture, away he flew.

Hope you all enjoyed my extremely amateurish photography.
See ya later!
Crystal

Stone Accent

crystalearhart — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:14:51 +0000

We had a bit of hail damage at Murphy’s Retreat. It has taken us a while to find enough empty days in a row to get the roof and siding repaired. We decided to change the siding a little bit by adding some stone to the lower part. Let me know what you think of it.
This is what it looked like before.

This is what it looks like now. Hope you like the changes we have made!

You can just catch a glimpse of the river in that last picture.

We have also started construction on a new cabin. I’ll post some photos soon.

See Ya!
Crystal

I am still alive.

crystalearhart — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 01:57:15 +0000

Hi guys. I know it has been a while since my last blog. Sorry bout that.
This summer has been awesomely busy for me at Murphy’s Place. I had only five days in July without guests in at least one of my cabins. With cleaning, taking trail rides and taking care of putting boats in and out of the water, there just hasn’t been much time for blogging!
I promise to try to do better from now on.
This morning was the first morning since the summer season took off that I had a chance to take my morning walk to the river. I didn’t realize how much I had missed it.

Dewey cobweb

I was glad for the dew on this cobweb. I probably would have walked right into it if not for the shiny little droplets making it show up.
The river was beautiful.

I sat on the steps for a while just soaking it up. Meanwhile, Snowy decided to take a little dip and cool his belly.

It wasn’t long before Tag and Ember were waiting at the top of the steps, reminding me it was time to get back to work.

Tag and Ember

Darn stock dogs and their amazing work ethic. Sigh.
Talk to ya soon!
Crystal