Dirty Eggs, Duke, Colorado, and String Bikinis by Ree

(Photo by Paige!)

Alex is back at college after a nice, long stint at home for the summer. She happened to be home the whole month of July, which happened to be the busiest month we’ve had on the ranch this year, which meant she had the pleasure of getting up at 4:00 am with the rest of her siblings for days (weeks) on end and working cattle just like she did her entire childhood and adolescence. If Alex experienced any moments of homesickness while at college over the past year, I’d suspect this just about cured her!

I love you, Awex.

 
I have been silent ’round these parts partly because of the crazy-business of July, but primarily because I was finishing up my cookbook! (Ignore the incorrectly set date on my camera. It’s how I roll.)

 
I’m not sure if I had some kind of attack of uncharacteristic perfectionism, or I was trying to distract myself from the fact that I was getting up at 4:00 every morning, but the amount of focus I devoted to the details of this cookbook didn’t allow much brainpower for anything else.

 
As of last Thursday, the cookbook is 100% finished and out of my hands, and I keep looking around, wondering what I’m missing. Once I realize it isn’t my pants, it becomes clear that after months of working on it, I just can’t grasp that there’s no cookbook work to do. And I dance a jig.

 
This is a tree on our road. When I walk late in the evenings, I can sometimes see the prettiest sunsets through its branches.

 
I’m not sure I’ve ever shown you the full kitchen at the Merc. Here it is. The guys and gals who work in the kitchen are 100% dedicated to making the best chicken fried steak, mac and cheese, and pancakes known to man, and I’m so appreciative of them!

 
Here’s a fried egg I made a few weeks ago. Do you prefer fried eggs cooked in butter in a clean skillet?

 
Or cooked in bacon grease?

I’ll give you one guess what my preference is.

 
DUKE! Have I told you lately how much I love this dog? He’s very extreme: He loves big, he fights big, and when he’s hot, he doesn’t take a sip of water; he climbs right into the water tub.

He lives large, and he’s my Dukie pookie.

 
My mom came to visit week before last! She had a group of friends at the Lodge for a couple of days and she bought them all Merc hats.

That’s a mom for ya.

 
I snapped this selfie at our Merc/ranch office about a week ago. It’s my uniform, I just change up the top here and there. I think I’ve lost a little weight, but I don’t know because I don’t weigh out of fear I’ll be disappointed. My jeans fit, that’s all I know. Even though they’re not the size of jeans I wish would fit, but you know what? I feel okay. I still will be working on it, but it’s more about feeling good.

Well, and looking good in that string bikini I plan to wear on my cruise next month.

Just kidding. There’s no bikini and there’s no cruise. But I would like to look good in a string bikini, just for kicks.

YA GOTTA HAVE GOALS IN LIFE!!!

 
I went to Colorado last week. We had the trip scheduled all year, but since Bryce has football and Marlboro Man had to preg-test cows, neither of them could go. So I took my mother-in-law with me, along with the other three Drummond kids, and we had a beautiful time. My favorite thing to do in Vail is go to church at the Vail Interfaith Chapel. Different religions and denominations hold services at different times on Sunday, and depending on when I get my bottom out of bed, I get to pick what flavor I am. This trip, I was Lutheran, and it was a lovely service. The message was about looking for ways to provide moments of hope to others, and it has stuck with me all week.

 
Paige brought a friend with her on the trip, and she snapped this pic of my (almost) 18-year-old!

Sweet Paigie-Girl.

 
My nephew Stuart, my brother’s son, also joined us! It was a delightful mish-mash of souls.

 
I didn’t snap a single photo of my mother-in-law, which is hilarious considering we spent the whole week together…but I did manage to snap the food we ate during our last dinner together last Thursday night.

 
After scallops, salmon, and trout, she ordered this deconstructed cheesecake that has permeated my thoughts for the past four days. My goodness!!!

 
And I got this flourless chocolate cake, which has permeated my love handles for the past four days.

It might be a little while before that string bikini can happen…