This week had been set in entertainment stone a couple months ago - translated - COUNT ON IT either not happening, being delayed or some other calamity like a hurricane. And so went my best laid plans to co-host the big 30 minute kitchen infomercial with the up and coming young and cute Aussie chef. I think I play his mom. ACK!!!!!!!!! Kidding!

Plans were set. Airfare, rental car, hotel all scheduled. It was 10 days of Miami beach bliss that was all approved. Working vacation. Off QVC holiday countdown. Bye bye and have fun.

Delayed. Not the worse of it all - in order to commit to the project I had to cancel the beach house I had rented in ocean City, MD for the week and I lost hundreds on the deposit.  No shoot. No beach house. Go to plan C. See mom in Ohio. Packed, ready to go, enter kidney stone. Cancelled.

We spent a hectic week at home. Our farmhouse kitchen is completely GUTTED.  Just finished gutting and re-doing bath and now kitchen is up. All new everything. It was time. House is 50 years old. Lots of golds and greens. We are going to Tuscan Gourmet with new cabinets, new island, countertops, floor, appliances. House is a wreck again. It was planned for renovation while we were away for 10 days.  Back to city living as we have no place to cook!

What did we do all week? Weeded. Weeded. Weeded. Weeded some more. Ate a lot of tomatoes, in fact, I roasted off about 5 pounds and made my tomato basil soup which fed us for a few days. One night we roasted anything I could find - one pan of gold and red beets. One pan of butternut squash and zucchini. A spaghetti squash with a fresh tomato sauce on top. It was all good.

Last night we caught raccoon bandit number 2 - the bite and run bandit. He took a nip out of every red or almost red tomato in the first three rows. We set the trap on Tuesday night, baited with a homemade peanut butter cookie slathered in peanut butter. Something got in and ate the treat and escaped. Last night, we got him! Big brown coon with huge toenails. Kinda quiet. Took him to Valley Forge Park woods and let him go. 

Planted another round of fall crops. I think we shall have tomatoes until December!

Off to make more salsa. Feeling just OK today. Me thinks the meds for my infection are doing a number on my digestive tract. Tired. In a funk. Just not me.

ml