I initially titled this blog, My Two Lives but then I got thinking about it and I realized I have more than two lives. I mean, we live one life, right, but I often feel like I have chosen to live several lives in one lifespan. The figure skater, the veterinarian, the writer, the real estate agent on top of being the wife, the daughter, the sister, the step-mom, the pet-mum and the friend. But that’s not what I wanted to write about today.

I more want to share the two places where I live out all of the lives in one lifetime: my two spaces.

We are fortunate to have found a second, amazing house/pet sitter in young Katelyn. Her family is local in Seeley Lake and I’ve known them for many years. Katelyn eagerly moved onto the Montana Fyfe Farm so that I could join Alistair at our North Dakota Fyfe Farm for some body and home tune-ups.

Where to start?

Medically, I got my Influenza vaccine (GET YOURS!) and a mammogram (GET IT DONE!) (Normal results, all good.) If you haven’t had a mammogram before, they aren’t the most delicate of procedures. And check your pride at the door because those babies are getting handled and squeezed every which way you can imagine.

I also had another eye exam and found that, yes, my vision has deteriorated a teensy bit more so I have a new prescription. I had kind of figured that was the case. It seemed like I had to take a second longer to focus, even with my glasses on, during my last book edit. Staring at a computer screen for hours and days on end isn’t something my eyeballs have evolved to combat yet.

I also got to visit Tiffany #1 for a much-needed cut & color. She was awesome enough to straighten my hair for me, which is a challenge on my own given my Ronald McDonald curls that often just do their own thing. It was a bit of an extended salon visit because my long, covid19 roots “came in hot” but we always enjoy catching up and laughing together.

(It turned out that Tiffany #2 had her first baby in Montana that very same day so that was fun for Tiffany #1 and me to share.) (Yes, the 2 Tiffanys are aware of each other.)

I felt like I had a full-body tune-up that was long overdue. Not just because of covid19 but also because I hadn’t been able to get back to my space in North Dakota for a long time.

We were excited that our home in Bismarck got a bit of its own much-needed tune-up, as well. A new roof is finally on top of things so Alistair is happy he doesn’t have to see old green shingles on the lawn coming home from work after supremely windy days.

When Katelyn was able to stay at our house in MT a little bit longer than we had thought, we decided to go for it with painting the front of the house, which also has taken a beating from the wind over the years.

We actually had fun in the sun with our paint brushes and the iPad streaming CNN or music in the background. It is as if we gave the place a bit of a face lift and it looks terrific.

The herd had an adjustment that had to be made before winter, as well. We laid our last remaining broodmare to rest on a sunny morning. Katie, a tall chestnut Thoroughbred, had been on the race track in Canada before we bought her from a veterinary classmate in 2003.

She was only bred one time on our farm- the rest of the time she ran with her herd mates and bossed everyone around.

Until she stopped bossing them around this summer. She still hung out with mighty Zeus, who has always been one of the top dogs of the herd but she also hung back more and more from everyone else and started the dramatic weight loss that happens with many senior horses. She was in her mid twenties and she deserved a good, long rest.

It wasn’t necessarily sad or upsetting to say goodbye to Katie. She sedated well and she passed uneventfully after I finished giving her the injection. We had over 20 horses at the height of “Pair O’Docs Paints” and now we have 8. They are still so beautiful to watch running around the fields both in Bismarck and in Seeley Lake.

I am so happy I got to see Deb, Whitey, Painted Woods golf course, some of Alistair’s staff and the brand new Costco in Bismarck on this last trip and it was fun driving back to Montana together with Alistair.

I followed Alistair’s Ram in my own Ram along a road we both know very well. Parts of it around Circle and Jordan have deteriorated over the years to the point where they are downright dangerous so a 6-year improvement project has begun.

Alistair does this 10 to 11-hour road trip every 2 weeks so he knows where to stop and where to eat (and also where the cops won’t pull him over for speeding because there is no cellular service.)

We marveled at the green grass coming back after a grass fire outside of Jordan had threatened the community just weeks ago. Alistair drove through that fire on his way back to Bismarck a month prior and we were both amazed at the cycles of nature and how fires are, indeed, part of life. They just aren’t supposed to be as intense or frequent as they are and they aren’t supposed to screw up California, Oregon or Montana like they have done the past few years.

But this isn’t a political or environmental blog. It is a story about where I get to live my various lifestyles in two very separate but wonderful spaces.

And now the seasons are changing and the cooler temperatures are starting to arrive. I still had the windows open here in Montana yesterday and I’m still hoping to get out there to hit some golf balls after I click ‘publish’ today. And I’m getting ready for a book blog tour to kick off on Oct.21st while sending my newest book around North America to friends, family, reviewers and contests.

The Runaways of Missing Lake is available on all Amazon outlets and while it is the 4th book in my Missing Lake series I believe it also stands on its own. If you read it I would love to hear your thoughts.

For now, its time to find a cute golf outfit to change into, check to see if my working hubby had an opportunity to email me (unlikely on their crazy Sundays) and kiss the snoozing kitties on their foreheads.