As we were walking back to the house last night after watching the starling show, Zoey said, “I keep getting distracted by cats.” The cats Lester and Solo were following us back to the house and Zoey was focusing on walking down the hill so as not to slip.

I keep getting distracted by the dirty dishes that need cleaning, the dirty clothes in the hamper that need washing, the bathroom sink that needs cleaning, and the dirty floor that needs vacuuming. A distraction, yet not enough to motivate me to actually do anything about it. Let me explain. A few weeks ago as I was folding the clean clothes to put away, I realized I haven’t had stain remover in over a year. There is usually a stain on at least one family member’s clothing at least once a wash. I see the stain and regret that I did nothing about it. And then I remember–I have no stain remover. After that light bulb went off, I finally wrote stain remover on my grocery list so I would stop wondering why other people don’t have stains on their clothes like we do. What is that? I think I am a hard worker most days, but the simplest things like cleaning a bathroom sink or buying stain remover seem like mountains I have to move.

Instead of cleaning up today, I made pickled green tomatoes and left an overripe cantaloupe on the counter only to see a swarm of fruit flies attacking it about 30 minutes later. Here’s the recipe for the pickled green tomatoes from Martha Stewart’s Living Magazine. It was a recent issue–maybe September.  Don’t make these if you don’t like vinegar because they are very vinegary, but tasty in a salad or probably in a sandwich though I wouldn’t know about that firsthand.

Pickled Green Tomatoes from Living Magazine

1.5 c. apple-cider vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
3 whole allspice berries
2 dried bay leaves
salt

4 small green tomatoes (1 pound), cut into 1/4 inch slices (I then cut slices in half), plus 6 thin slices white onion

Combine vinegar, 3/4 c. water, sugar, spices, and 2 Tbsp salt (I did teaspoons) in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Fill clean containers tightly with vegetables. Add boiling brine to cover completely. Let cool completely. Cover, label, and refrigerate at least 1 week before serving, or up to 3 months.