from Chris
The holly bushes, full with red berries and blanketed with snow, gave us a quick flashback to Christmas during last weekend’s snowstorm!…
It’s a Winter Wonderland!
From Madeliza
I have been working here at Stevenson for almost a year, and I have to say that when the property is covered in snow it is absolutely stunning! As soon as most of the snow started to settle, I had to walk out on the property and take a photo because it looks like a scene out of a fairy tale.
We have guests who booked the cabins just to enjoy the full “winter cabin feel.” All of …
First Blush of Fall
from Chris
The first faint blush of fall has crept into the leaves at the Ridge. We’re getting a few random yellow leaves blowing into the pond from the surrounding forest, but the trees directly around the pond are all still full green—except, that is, for a single small blush of dark crimson. See if you can spot it!
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There’s always a rainbow after the storm!
from Madeliza
We had so much rain around the Ridge in late September that I wanted to share this beautiful rainbow that I was able to capture while checking a few of the cabins!
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Our Great Great Blue
from Chris
Madeliza wrote last month about the great blue heron we’ve had along the pond’s edge this summer and fall. I had the chance today to watch him as he considered accommodations at the Riddick House.
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Seeing Red
from Chris
Here’s a splash of color for you, courtesy of the begonias growing in front of the Riddick House!
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Fun Facts about Great Blue Herons
from Madeliza
On Wednesday, I told you about our great blue heron that’s been hanging out in the pond lately. Here are a few fun facts about great blues from All About Birds:
- Despite their impressive size, great blue herons weigh only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones—a feature all birds.
- Great blue herons can hunt day and night thanks to a high percentage of rod-type photoreceptors in their eyes that improve their night
Our Great Great Blue
from Madeliza
For the past few days, we’ve been hosting a great blue heron in our pond! I get so excited every time the heron visits us because he’s such a beautiful and graceful sight.
I’ve tried a bunch of times to go out to the pond and snap a picture, but I haven’t had much luck. This past weekend, though, right before a wedding ceremony was about to begin, I received a text message from the wedding coordinator letting …
Departure of the Ducks
from Chef Anthony
Back in the spring of 2017, Stevenson Ridge took in a little family of ducklings to live on our pond. In the beginning, they wouldn’t leave their “house” across the pond. Over the following months, the staff watched them grow from little ducklings into full-grown ducks. They were then finding their way all over the property, even right up to our kitchen door to see what we were cooking up!
Everyone began to become so attached to …
Egg-cellent!
from Chris
I scooped out some cracked corn for the ducks this morning, and as I turned around to put the scoop back in the feed bin, look what happened:
Literally, with my back turned, one of the hens laid an egg–right on top of the corn I had just spread for them!
This isn’t the first egg the ducks have laid this year, but it IS the first one they’ve laid while any of us have been around.…