Ree Drummond is opening up about a spicy new addition to her routine since she and husband Ladd became empty-nesters.
In a recent blog entry, the Food Network’s Pioneer Woman explained that the two of them installed a hot tub in their home over the summer and now dedicate some time to skinny dipping, but it’s completely by accident.
“The only complication, and I’m sorry if this is too much information, is that because we aren’t swimming pool people, neither of us owns a bathing suit,” the chef wrote on her blog. “So we waited till dark because I’m shy about my body, traipsed across the yard wrapped in towels, and inched our way into the 103-degree water in our birthday suits.”
Drummond continued writing that the two of them enjoyed the activity so much that it has since become part of their weekly routine. “It was absolute bliss — warm, bubbly bliss and we’ve enjoyed it three to four evenings a week ever since,” she said.
Despite what people may think about where skinny dipping may lead the couple, the chef told her blog readers that they keep things PG.
“That water is way too hot for any of that,” she explained. “We may be naked, but we typically just sit in the heavenly water, stare up at the smog-free sky, talk about our hopes, dreams, concerns, and fears...and laugh at the dogs.”
She pointed out that their four basset hounds have interesting reactions to watching them in the hot tub. “We laugh at the dogs because they are completely nonplussed at this new hot tub development,” Drummond wrote.
“They still can not understand why a) mom and dad are naked, b) mom and dad crawl into a water hole in the ground and stay for 20 minutes, and c) mom and dad are naked,” the 54-year-old continued. “Fred, Rusty, and Shelby typically stand on the ledge and stare, trying in vain to solve the above mysteries. And when I say they stare, they stare. Mostly at Ladd. They’ve never even seen him without a shirt.”
As for their youngest dog named Lucy, she has the “funniest” reaction. “She wants nothing to do with it or us when it’s all going on,” the blog read.
“She is embarrassed and confused, feels our shame for us, and spends the whole time pouting on the porch, refusing to look in our direction until we cover ourselves.”
Despite being in love with their hot tub, the couple were originally going to install a pool into their new Oklahoma home before they decided to change their mind at the last minute. Ladd’s mom had a pool at their house growing up (this was the same house where we eventually lived and raised our kids),” Drummond wrote.
“She regaled me with many horror stories through the years about what a maintenance nightmare it had been (what with the 40 mph winds, the dust, the tumbleweeds, and the occasional possum or raccoon), eventually leading her to drain it and fill it in with dirt well before I married her son.”
She added: “In addition, Ladd and I have been to a pool together approximately zero times since we got married, so a pool made approximately zero sense.”
