So what were we looking for? I wanted a quarter section that was suitable for horses and cattle, something that was fenced, or could be, with lots of pasture and water available, could be a turn key farm or bare land to develop. Beverly was more concerned with proximity, she wanted something within an hour of town and it had to have some diversity, fields, hills, trees and as a Maritimer water was highly desirable. She once told me it had to pass the "Ice Cream test". That meant that if she bought Ice Cream at the Grocery store she would have to make it home before it melted. I offered to buy a cooler that plugged into car but apparently that was not part of the rules. Luckily after an exhaustive search we found our little piece of heaven.
Sky Hound Ranch is 149 Acres 55 minutes away from our home in St Albert. It is located on the west side or Lessard Lake, in Lac Ste Anne County From the edge of the property to the shore of Lessard Lake is about 180 meters. It is fenced for livestock and apart from one old cattle shelter there was no infrastructure, but it had everything we were looking for. There is about 100 acres of pasture. The pasture is currently divided into the "South" pasture and the "North" pasture. They are rolling hills with some tree line wind breaks and some scattered copse of trees. Each Pasture has a dugout for water. The South East corner of the property has 30 acres that is mixed forest (bush). There are numerous trails crossing the woods and it extends into both the South and North pasture also providing shelter for the animals. On the far eastern edge there is 19 acres of wetland with a 3 acres pond in the middle. During the spring/ Summer season there are 60-100 ducks, geese and other birds in the wetlands on any given day.
Even in our first year we were amazed at the diversity of plant and animal live our little corner of the world supports. Beverly has been cataloging the birds and has identified well over 40 species of birds and is in the process of logging the varieties of plant life. Deer, Elk, Coyotes criss cross the Ranch and although I have not seen one yet Moose also populate the area.
When we first looked at the property it was the dead of winter. By the time we bought it the snow was still hanging on in parts of the property but the trees were still bare and the grass was still brown. I knew I had struck gold when I took Beverly up in early June after everything was green. With tears in her eyes said "This is absolutely beautiful". She was 100% correct.
