Deadlines and a Dancing Mixer

There is nothing like a deadline to push you to complete your pallet garden construction project.  Today I had two: Grandma Cora departing at noon to visit GG (bye bye Seamus watcher) and the threat of rain starting at midnight (bye bye good weather for working outside).  As a result, I worked like a mad-woman to get my last two pallet gardens finished in time for triple mix delivery later this week.  I am happy to report that they are done with time to spare!

I advertise this with the clear disclaimer that they are done to the best of my abilities.  I have decided that I should add carpenter, alongside goat vaccinater and sheep shearer, to this list of tasks that, frankly, I am not very good at.  I have accepted that I will never be fit to be a home builder.  Despite my best efforts, what starts out square frequently does not end up square.  It is baffling.  Any house I built would surely resemble the Crazy Kitchen.

I have made my peace my limited carpentry skills.  I can be satisfied with building chicken cabanas, pallet gardens, and milking stands while leaving the more serious undertakings to others.  To quote Ian following Sunday's aborted attempt at shearing our sheep myself (after the first snip came a little to close to Abbott's skin for my liking), "Well, you can't be good at everything."  Anyone know a professional sheep shearer?

My construction project would have been finished sooner but I encountered a few unforeseen obstacles.  Namely, I let the KitchenAid mixer "dance" off the counter while kneading bread dough.  Not only did it add a new crack to my tile floor but it brought our coffee grinder down with it.

The poor grinder smashed into a million tiny shards of glass.  Ian has been looking for an excuse to upgrade our grinder for a while now and I definitely gave him one.  Though I would caution visiting the farm until he secures a replacement - neither of us are at our friendliest without our morning coffee.

As a result of this fiasco, my dancing mixer has been relegated to the floor to knead.

This should circumvent any similar catastrophes in the future.  On the up side, my second and third loaves of bread turned out nicely.  The first one went in the garbage in case any rogue glass shards had made their way into the bowl.  Given the number of coffee beans embedded in the dough following the crash, it was a distinct possibility.

I must admit that I am looking forward to tomorrow's inclement weather to get things back in order around the house and maybe take a much needed afternoon nap.  There is nothing quite like a rainy day nap.