This morning, we harvested.

• The rest of our potatoes (about 10 pounds or more)
• All of the carrots (some of them are honkers!)
• All of the woeful beets (we only got two that are about the size of ping pong balls)
• The third zucchini (from the plant that I swore was a yellow squash - hmmm)
• About a pint of various beans (yellow and flat Italian)
• One very large red onion

There is a batch of roasted vegetables in our very near future! 

The potatoes are drying in the basement.  I’ll be blanching and freezing most of the carrots and the beans.  The beets will go in with the roasted vegetables, as will the onion and some of the smaller potatoes.

Our tomatoes look to be a dismal failure.  We have only gotten a few golf ball-sized that all have blossom end rot.  I cut two of them open today and they are dry and hard.  I thought these were supposed to be big juicy meaty tomatoes, but not so far. 

We have some hot peppers (those were unintentional - we thought they were sweet) and a few sweet peppers growing.  Some of the brussels sprouts are almost harvesting size - I have no idea how to harvest them.  The plants themselves are a mess.  They are so bug-eaten, it’s pathetic.  And the plants are so large that I can’t get to the other side of them to weed, so our poor cucumbers and acorn squash are doing their best to survive while being squeezed nearly out of existence.  The cucumbers look like they have found the back fence and are making their way up that, which is fine.  The sweet potato plants look amazing but, again, lots of weeds.  I can’t seem to get under them to weed so I’ll just have to hope for the best.  The lettuce is done (gone to seed) so I have to dig all of that up - we planted WAY too much lettuce.  There are some scallions left but they will need to be harvested soon.  The onions are doing very well.  We’re just going to leave them in the ground and use them as we need them.  The herbs are OK.  The basil that I got from Burpee (I don’t know what kind it is but it has small leaves that have white edges) is very pretty and grew up very large and it smells pretty (very delicate) but I don’t know what to do with it.  I have to go back and figure out what kind it is.  We have your regular old basil, too, which is doing well.  The tarragon is getting overtaken by the parsley so I have to harvest some of the parsley to let the tarragon have a chance.  The dill has gone to seed and never looked good at all this year.  The chives were underwhelming, which is surprising, since you can grow chives in a dusty corner, if you’re not careful.

We’re on vacation for two weeks (EEP!!!) so we’re going to replant lettuce, radishes, and carrots.  Hopefully, we’ll get another round of them later on.  I’m also going to make some pesto for the first time this year in preparation for a gourmet meal we are planning as a thank you to my sister and brother-in-law for letting us stay on their boat for a few days during our vacation.  Should be great!

OK, that’s about it for now.

All my life, I have been an animal lover.  Except after the age of 10 when I began to fear dogs.  Ah, who am I kidding?  I love to see dogs, I just don’t want them anywhere near me.  Except little tiny dogs.  I love them because they’re the same size as cats! 

But I digress.

I am an animal lover.  I am especially a cat lover.  (Or crazy cat lady, however you describe it.) As a child, I loved the circus and carnivals and zoos and, as a young adolescent, I used to love to go to the pet stores and see all of the furry and fuzzy pets.

But now?  Whenever I see an animal in a cage or a pen, I feel sad and uncomfortable.  The animals always look out of place and discontented and my attention is hopelessly drawn to the floors of the enclosures and I feel bad - truly bad - for these animals.

I know I’m sounding like P*E*T*A but, trust me when I tell you this, I am NOT a fan of P*E*T*A.  I am a fan of animals.  And I think I’ve come to the conclusion that, although I would love to see wild animals and birds and reptiles close up and get to see all their splendor in real life, they really belong in their own natural habitats.  Where they can feel at home.

Is that stupid?

Buzz is traveling on business for two days.  This is the first time in 18 years that we have slept apart.  And almost as long that we haven’t been within 10 miles of each other, usually within feet of each other.

While he is away, I am finding it weird to be at home alone.  Of course, our youngest just moved back in on Sunday so he is here a bit of the time but he has a real job and he doesn’t get home until after 10:00 at night most days.  So I’ve been alone most of the time.

Yesterday I worked, so I was on the work stress high when I got home and all I wanted to do was eat.  And have a glass or two (or three) of wine.  Which I did.

Today, I am working from home from 4:00 PM until whenever I’m done, which could be by 8:00 or could be until midnight or later.  But I had most of the day to myself.  I didn’t eat nearly as much as I did last night, but what I did eat wasn’t healthy.  I will be dipping into the wine as soon as my work is done.

Things I suspect about myself, if left alone:

1.  I would get as big as a house.  I have no interest in the healthy cooking - whatever’s quick and easy is what I want.

2.  I would probably become an alcoholic.  Drinking while alone doesn’t bother me in the least.  And I do think that I would wait until the evening to begin! 

3.  I would definitely be a slob.  I found that I didn’t care where I left my shoes or how I left the bathroom when I was done getting ready this morning or really what the kitchen looks like. 

So, the things I learned about myself were not good ones.  But I did do a lot of work today, even though all I wanted to do was sit and read.  I guess I can get myself up and going if I put my mind to it.

But it’s going to be much harder when I get to be a ginormous alcoholic lazy ass slob!