Ouch on that tumble, Charmion! I still have a tender place on my thigh from falling on campus in early June (it left a mark).

This morning I went out before the waste disposal truck came through and hauled a couple of more things to the curb. Pepper's chewed up $6 pool is no more, and I filled it with the chopped up woody limbs from two large dried out native sunflowers. There was a large dog food bag with regular house trash, and then a large Rubbermaid bin with more cut up and aligned sunflower parts (align them and you fit more than stuffing any which way). I'll pick up another wading pool for Pepper next time I'm past a Dollar General Store. I'll be putting various more trimmed bush parts into that Rubbermaid bin for several weeks and dragging it to the curb twice a week.

The stand mixer gets used mostly for the grinding attachment. I buy beef chuck or other pot roast-type cuts and freeze them in 1-pound pieces. When I'm making tacos or want to season something with hamburger I let it thaw (ideally) part way then it's very easy to cut into pieces and run through the grinder. I make carrot salad, I have made other things that involved grinding but I can't remember what right now. In the bowl part I tend to use it for times when I'm cooking for a crowd; mashed potatoes or to break up boiled sweet potatoes to add other ingredients before putting it in a casserole with little marshmallows on top. I make banana or pumpkin or zucchini bread in batches so I mix it there. I most often use the paddle, sometimes the whisk.

Years ago I was given a large durable bread machine (made by Wellbilt, branded to various companies) that I use on the manual setting for bread and rolls. I let it do the kneading and first rise then it's finished and I take out the dough to shape and let rise again before baking. Bread, rolls, pizza dough, etc. Every so often I find one for a song at a garage sale or thrift store and have picked them up almost brand-new for the kids.

My ex had one with the aluminum bowl cracked, and asked if I'd keep my eyes open for another bowl. I found a barely-used machine for $20 - it was as good as new and the bowl was great but the machine was missing the gasket and the paddle. Next time I was at his house I realized he used his gasket and paddle with the new machine and it's bowl and discarded his very old machine. I've tended to do that kind of repair myself lately, marrying parts from new and old to come up with one completely working device. My small Westblend grinder was that way - the switch on the old body had broken and I had to operate with a twist tie and a toothpick. I found a new body with a top that was missing the blade, but my top and blade fit on the new body.

The neighborhood excitement is over - Pepper has been busy listening to noises from next door as the local lumber company came to retrieve the unused planks from the patio decking and new roof project. They will get a credit for the unused wood, but the process of using the little hydraulic loader to put it back on the truck, and the unloading and reloading of the loader - so much for Pepper to keep an eye on! When I realized what she was excited about I opened the front door so she could watch them through the glass of the security door. She takes her job very seriously; when she was adopted she had no idea at first all of the things that would keep her busy around here! (I'll see about replacing her wading pool later today.)