Different times of year, I run into typical farm scenes on my morning walk. Towards the end of winter, I see @sarahsiudut9 and @iancarney88 throwing hay to horses, for example. In May, I come across @anyhowiloveyou tinkering with pivots, Cody always at his side. #bitterrootranch
This is one of the many calf sheds that Richard had put up. The bar prevents the mothers from entering, but it allows the babies to go in and get out of the snow. By keeping the mothers out, it gives dedicated shelter to the calves, and the mothers aren’t able to squash the babies by accident. Yesterday was so warm that the calf went in there for shade! It was my first time seeing a calf use one to cool off. #bitterrootranch
This is Marshmallow, one of our chickens. I just love her floppy little comb, and she’s super cuddly. I can’t look at her without laughing because of this one memory this past summer. We had all the wranglers to our house for a drink after work, and Tristan was SO excited to introduce them to his poultry and fowl. He terrorized the wranglers by forcing them into holding and cuddling geese, ducks, chickens— you name it, the wranglers had it in arms. And I wouldn’t say they were all pro-birds at this point. 😂 Anyway, Richard had been sooo certain that sweet little Marshmallow was a rooster. He kept going on and on about it, while Tristan and I both thought she had hen energy. So while she’s being held by a wrangler and while Richard is mid-sentence blaspheming against her, dismissing her as a rooster, she popped out an egg right then and there. It thudded on the ground. That sure quieted him. And sent all of us into hysterics! The timing, the quiet elegance! She sure put him in his place. I could have kissed little Marshmallow right then. Such a funny, little bird. #bitterrootranch @sammy_caroline@stella_frame@sienacurtis@sophiedrasnin@amber.adams7
Farmers out here are scared, given the extremely dry winter we had across the west. The irrigation water was turned on this morning, so @anyhowiloveyou was up early getting pivots going. My heart swelled on my morning walk to see the water showering the alfalfa/grass field (first photo) and the new seeding field of corn (second photo). We haven’t historically planted corn, but it requires much less water than alfalfa, so this year it made sense. We don’t know how long the water will last, but we are grateful everyday we receive it. #bitterrootranch
Richard left early this morning for the ranch, before Tristan was up, so I have no idea how Tristan knew it was Mother’s Day. He asked if he could have some time for independent art while I made breakfast this morning, and this sweet card was the result! I was so touched.
We learned about stained glass in art today, and we examined photographs of stained glass in European churches. He then made his own version with black poster board, scissors, tissue paper, and glue. He spent over an hour laser focused on this, even filling some “windows” with more than one color.
We finished with a cooking project, and for the first time, his creations far surpassed mine! We made soft pretzels in the shape of marine animals. Mine is the ridiculous attempt at a sea star, while he made both the crab and the octopus completely independently. He had a bit of extra dough, so he made a small brachiosaurus too. Two are salty and two have cinnamon sugar.
The days are getting so long! The dogs had the zoomies tonight, so I took them on a walk before bed. Even though I know we are not much more than a month away from the solstice, it still catches me off guard to have the sun up at 8:15. A pretty evening for a stroll. #bitterrootranch
Such a fun morning walk just south of us with @gabbyy09 . The poodles loved being back on their old stomping grounds, my home for 15 years, and the older poodles’ home for 6. Spooky is the only one who never lived there, but the other dogs get him so amped up, you’d think he lived there once upon a time too! 😂
Today is 18 years of marriage. How lucky am I that I love my person today more than any day before! Dedicating yourself to a person for lifetime is an incredible commitment. 18 years in, I am deeply aware that life will likely change dramatically before year 25, or really any year. No matter the changes that come our way, I know we are committed to facing it together.
One of Richard’s best high school buddies (and selfishly I will say my favorite of his friends!) flew in for a few days. This man stood as a groomsman at our wedding, so it was such fun to host a big (14 person) dinner party to celebrate Kip’s visit and our anniversary with our farm family.
Richard asked @anyhowiloveyou to pick me up a bottle of champagne in town for our anniversary. Townes, being the sweet man he is, said “you should get her flowers too. Whether or not you pay for them, I’m getting them.” So I now have roses in my Fox vase in the third photo! Richard quickly declared that the bubbly was his idea but our Townes got flower credit. I appreciate them both! Teamwork is always the best.
Thinking about our wedding, all those years ago, I just remember how excited I was, how nervous I was, but mostly how much faith I had in Richard. My father, who loves me the most, the most loyal man I know, said to me before we walked down the aisle, “ if you don’t want to, we turn back now. I’m with you.” My daddy is one of a kind. I smiled at him and told him that I agreed it was hard but I was ready. And here we are. I had some incredible options in my life in terms of career, but marrying Richard Fox was the single most terrifying and best decision I made. I look forward to the next 18 years.
Tristan’s most recent homeschool art project. We’ve been learning about the Etruscan art found in tombs in Italy. They typically painted human profiles, so Tristan had his first attempt at a self-portrait silhouette. He used oil pastels, and one of the assignments was to layer colors in an effort to capture skin tone and hair color. I love the result so much! He’s now working on a paper mosaic project I anticipate will take several days.
We got a milk cow! This is Pineapple, our Jersey cow who has been AI bred with a Jersey bull for a heifer calf (technology is truly incredible), so we will have another milk cow born next winter. We have three orphans this year, and Pineapple showed up on the scene with enough milk to raise them all. She is incredible. Having nursed one baby for years, I simply cannot fathom nursing three at one time! I want to give sweet Pineapple a stall covered in velvet, a personal massage therapist to follow her around, a wreath of buttercups for her beautiful head, I could go on. 😂 She’s a sweetheart! ❤️
