Category: Fun Around the Ranch

12 Acre Horse Ranch in Northern California For Sale at a GREAT PRICE!

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Experience country living on this 11.73-acre horse property in Northern California, near Sacramento. The entire property is fully fenced and cross-fenced, with an electric gate at the entrance and paved roads leading directly to the home. Ideal for horse and animal lovers, it features a riding arena, round pen, hay and equipment barn, and animal shelter.

The home includes a four-car tandem pull-through garage/shop with extended height, ample storage, and a fully wired large air compressor. There’s also an unfinished space above the garage, perfect for expanding the home or creating an ADU. Enjoy stunning sunset views of the foothills from both decks and large windows.

Recent updates include a new roof with a warranty from 2023, two independent HVAC systems installed in 2017 and 2022, and fresh exterior paint in 2022. Inside, the home boasts granite countertops, custom tile flooring, updated bathrooms, and a beautiful, cozy fireplace. All bedrooms feature walk-in closets.

Located just 15 minutes from town, the property offers an easy 45-minute commute to downtown Sacramento. It’s also close to a State Wildlife Area and just five minutes from a large recreational lake, perfect for hiking, horse riding, fishing, watercraft, kayaking, and enjoying nature. This property provides both privacy and convenience. An easy hour-and-a-half drive will take you to Donner Summit in the Sierra for even more adventure.

Whether you’re looking for a horse property or a place to enjoy country living, this home has it all. Listed at $849,999.

Contact Kelly Zimmerman at 530-368-3498 kellyzrealtor@gmail.com

Fire at the Ranch-Neighbor’s House Gone!

We had a grass fire just two streets away from our ranch on June 8th 2021. As of this writing, the cause is unknown. However, it did start at a house on Kapaka Lane, jumped Intanko Lane, raced up the hill and burned a large 3 story home to the ground, continued on to Beale AFB housing and into the brush in the Spenceville Wildlife Area. The temps were only in the 70s that day, however, the south winds were very strong and it pushed the fire at a rapid pace. Don’t underestimate the power and destruction of a fast-moving grass fire. If the wind was blowing from the North, we would have been in the direct path.


SHOW LESS


Momma Nature: Better than Netflix

So, early this morning I was awakened by a series of flashes coming through my window. Flash, flash flash flash flash. In most parts of the US, lighting storms are common and happen frequently from spring to fall. However, in the Sacramento Valley of California, lightning storms like this are an oddity. We will get the occasional thunder storms in the spring that will produce a couple of flashes and a few rumbles, but we hardly EVER get an event like this! As a matter of fact, we don’t get any rain in the Valley for 6 months! So, in my jammies, I scramble for my GoPro and head for the back porch to binge watch this epic event. The show went on for about two hours. Here are some of the highlights!

Stupid Humans = FIRE

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Spring is my favorite time! The wild flowers are abundant and so colorful! I don’t have to feed our horses any hay, which saves us a ton of dollars! However, the season is so short and we have to get onto the mowing before the grass dies in just a few short weeks! We have wildfires all around our neighborhood every single summer! These fires are most always caused by a stupid careless human! We are getting ready!!

As a former wildland firefighter, I know how quickly a grass fire can take out an entire ranch, home barns, animals and people. Now if we can only get HUMANS to STOP throwing lit cigarettes out of their car windows, STOP mowing dry grass in 100 degree weather, and be mindful of where they park a hot vehicles on the side of the road where there IS dry grass! These are the typical fire starters!

 

We Met our Strange and COOL Neighbors today!

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We live right next to Beale Air Force Base! Our property is just outside the back gate!  Living next to an Air Force base can be weird at times. We hear all types of strange announcements over the loud speaker, weird sirens, and see odd planes coming and going.  There is also a gigantic over-the-horizon radar structure that we immediately get asked about by friends who come over for the first time. The radar was built in the Cold War to give early warning of a nuclear attack.  I guess that’s a good thing? When we first moved in 18 years ago, we couldn’t use our VCR or analog answer machine without hearing pops and static over our movies and messages because of this radar!! Thank goodness we are all digital now! However, it still interferes with some of my recording equipment and camera microphone on certain days.

The military has its secret,s and when they are your immediate neighbor, it spurs your imagination and sometimes paranoia. I can’t just go walking up to their door and say “howdy neighbor what’s going on here” without a large – fully automatic rifle pointed at me!  I better have good reason to be there!

A few years back, there were 5 large planes from the base that circled our neighborhood at about 2000 feet for several hours every night!  These planes carried a crew of six and were outfitted with equipment to listen in on phone conversations.  We were told they were just training and not really listening to us..  hmmm…….

Our neighbor also has the U2 Spy plane that takes off like a rocket daily, flying to foreign lands to see what’s going on.  The U2 can go check out the happenings in the middle east and be home by dinner!  When it takes off, we can hear it climbing to its 70 thousand foot cruising altitude for a good 15 minutes!  The pilot has to wear a space suit! Oh and our neighbors have a really REALLY cool drone called the Global Hawk!

Today our mysterious neighbors invited the public to enter this secret-mysterious land and treated us to an airshow free of charge!

With the Sutter Buttes as a backdrop, the show was pretty spectacular! If you are into airplanes, you are gonna LOVE this video!

 

Spring has Sprung on the Ranch! Meet the Crew!

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Hi All!  I live on a small ranch in Northern California. It gets extremely hot in the summer, it stops raining for 6 straight months and the land becomes dry and dusty. But for now, spring is here. The wild flowers are blooming, the pond is full and we are enjoying this very short season of GREEN!

I would like to take you on a little tour to meet the crew of our little ranch!

My Back Yard – Wildflower Wonderland

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Spring is here and the window of opportunity to see wildflowers in the Sierra Foothills is very short. Once the temps start to rise, the wild grasses will quickly die along with the flowers. In just a short time, the land becomes fuel for wildland fires.

The area Rebel and I trekked yesterday is literally in my back yard (just down the road a couple of miles) complete with waterfalls, raging creeks and  wild flowers galore. It’s a feast for the eyes.  If you want to see this show, you better hurry, it won’t last long!

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My Big FAT Laundry Room Makeover!

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We’ve lived in our house for 18 years and the laundry room was NEVER finished! It was one of those projects that I wasn’t motivated to get done. I was busy working, having fun on the weekends and that laundry room was just a place to wash clothes. BORING!  Well, I GOT MOTIVATED and after I tackled a bathroom and a toilet closet, it was time for the next big fat makeover! The Laundry Room!  Now I can’t wait to do laundry!  Well maybe that is a big fat lie… but the laundry room turned out GREAT!

Check it out and please let me know what you think!

 

Epic Rains = Wildflowers on the Ranch

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After very big rainy winter, the wildflowers have gone NUTS on our ranch. We get to enjoy them for a short while before they die. Unfortunately, we have to mow a lot of them before they dry in preparation of fire season which will start in just a few weeks! Then our ranch will turn into a hot, brown dust bowl for 6 months with not one green blade of grass to be seen until winter!

 

Oh and Rebel the ranch dog goes swimming for the very first time EVER in his life!  It took him a while, but he just couldn’t stand not having his ball any longer and finally jumped in!