If you ever have a chance to just sit and relax quietly, and you have the right plants, or a hummingbird feeder with fresh food, your bound to have some of these neat little birds visit you. I’ve been fortunate enough to have three around here, and it is pretty late in the season! We have lots of hummingbird plants around, and I have put out two feeders for the little guys.

Hummingbird Feeders

We don’t use any store bought nectar in our feeders, it’s far to easy and way more affordable, to make our own. Our recipe is very simple, 1 part sugar, to 4 parts water.  We usually make 4 cups of nectar at a time, so it it 4 cups water and 1 cup sugar. And these guys really go to town on it!

We have done a lot of work around the barn the past couple of years, and I wanted to bring you some updates on the progress.

One of the first things you will see as you drive up to the barn, is our Sweet William vine that came all the way from Florida, thanks to my mom.  He has done wonderful since he was put in his permanent home last month and continues to bloom his red flowers to welcome you to our place, as humble as it may be.

Sweet William Welcomes you to the barn

We have added some new stall space. These will get closed in next spring, at least half way down, so that the horses will stay a bit drier, and we can still use the area to park the camper when we aren’t using the area for stalls. This is one of the biggest advantages of using corral panels for our stalls. We can put them up and take them down as we need to.

Front view of the barn

Back view of the barn

We have also added a small shelter to the front field, so the horses can have a way to get out of the sun, and rain, should they be so inclined to. This allows them to get in some shade, and away from the irritating little nats that like to hover in the sun! We still need to put up at least one wall, on the west side, to help block out rain and wind.

Shelter from the weather

In trying to give this same field more shade, we added a row of Bradford and Cleveland Pear trees along the drive. Once grown, these will give this field some great morning shade. We are also going to be planting some other trees in the top corner of the field, to give some afternoon shade.  We have even thought about digging a small pond in this field, as it stays wet in the low area, where water comes through the levy of the pond. We have not made any decision on this yet, and have also set the pipework in the ground for a water line to the field.

Pear Trees lining the drive

I know it has been a while since we posted any photos of the ranch, and what we have been doing. I figured it was high time to see what we have done with the place over two years (almost 3) years time. WOW, only 3 more months and we will have been here for 3 years already! Where does the time go!

Back yard

Front Yard

Main Ridge

Drive to Barn

Cisco playing in the pond

Our first winter on the property

These pictures were taken while we were still putting the house in, before any additional fencing for the fields went in, and before any additions were done to the barn. As I look through these pictures, I realize just how far we have come in a short time.