Officially introducing SoySauce

SoySauce McSmooshins is the kitten for whom we installed a cat area to the pet shed. Here she is, in all her cuteness:

SoySauce sitting on her patio (or would it be a catio?)

SoySauce's interests include purring, pouncing on anything that moves, playing with her buddy Katniss, and sleeping on shoulders:

SoySauce on BA's shoulder

SoySauce's current location (HA's shoulder)

Meanwhile, in more BaHa Ranch news, Katniss (AKA Katnips) hasn't got a clue that she's bigger than Xena. Which is probably a good thing.

Xena exerting her alpha-dogness

And Xena has stopped trying to eat the cat. Which is definitely a good thing.

Xena not attempting to feast on SoySauce, allowing
for a brief moment of inter-species snuggling.

Little Things Make A Big Difference

Below is rain catcher 1 located on the pet shed. After the last rain we had, it and all others are full. My neighbor caught 5000 gallons in one day.

Below is the grey water 300 gallon water catcher. The barrel beside it is also full from the last rain. 

As you can also see, we had satellite internet installed. It is really expensive out here compared to the city.

Instead of doors, we used curtains we already had for the bathroom and bedroom doors. Once the connecting box is in place, we will install wood doors.








The first shed I built is now converted into an indoor/outdoor living area. It is screened in to keep the Texas Mosquitoes out.

Left side of shed.
















Right side of shed. We tiled the floor to keep out bugs, and to keep it cool.

Here is a new shelf that I built from looking at an IKEA one. This is in the kitchen area.














- BA

New Little Things To Make It A Home-For Pets

This is a converted shed that we made into a dog and cat house. We used old drawers and left over wood to make a cat bed, food box and a ramp to a kitty door. The dog has her own door on the bottom floor. The kitten's name is Soy Sauce. We found Khalisee a good home and kept Katniss. It is too much to train two big dogs.

The outside we built steps leading up to the ledge for the cat with her own tree to climb from dead Madrone trees.

- BA

Why we love it.

It's rare, but sometimes people ask us, "Why Hill Country? What's so special about it?" Of course, we only get asked this by people who are not familiar with Hill Country...

There are about a million reasons why we love it. It's not far from Austin or San Antonio, where you can find just about anything that you're looking for, but Hill Country is a destination in itself. There are a ton of tourist destinations in the area. There are bed-and-breakfasts with homemade soaps in the bathrooms and candy on the pillows. There are little cafes with live music and foo-foo desserts. There are hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurants with the best food this side of the border. There are olive orchards, vineyards, farmer's markets, historical sites, museums, rivers, lakes, quirky artists, cowboys, musicians, hippies, bikers, wildflowers, rodeos, carnivals, concerts, festivals, trade days, old courthouses, friendly people, big skies, beautiful sunsets, and...the list goes on and on.

Then there's the fact that the first time we got out of our car and stepped onto the land that would become BaHa Ranch, we both knew instantly that we had come home.

But pictures speak louder than words, so here are a few pictures of one of our favorite places in Hill Country- the Pedernales river: