SPRING FLOWERS AND A REFRESHING SALAD RECIPE

Our weather has been so beautiful here, I hope it's the same for all of you.  Just the upper sixties has me outside doing whatever I can possibly do with the time I have available.  In a nutshell, spreading crabgrass killer and picking up doggie do.  And today I pulled a lone outdoor chair on to my barren patio so I could read and the dogs could lounge in the sun.

Everything these days is a swirling mix of doing inventory for the lakehouse and picking out replacements for the floors and kitchen cabinets ...a huge job, and then working on the plans we had for this house in the spring.  Seriously, my head is spinning.  The inventory for the lake was mind boggling...what did they toss out in the clean up?  They didn't document that.  I do know the laundry room below the bathroom where the pipe burst took the brunt of the damage and that's where I kept my supply of sheets and towels and we had a ton.  Six twin beds alone in the house and Summerhouse, and I always kept multiple sets to change out so I didn't have laundry going round the clock when we had guests.  And we sleep sixteen so I had a tremendous amount of bath towels.   You don't think you have so much and then you go through the numbers and dollars.  Crazy.

That's just the lake stuff going on.  Besides trips to a few tile and home centers looking at cabinets and flooring for  there, I'm getting quotes on a new porch and driveway here and then some landscaping which we had been planning on doing for over a year. 

I was at Home Depot the other day (looking at flooring), and they had pansies on sale for 98 cents a pot.   This is about the only flower that you can plant during the "iffy" weather here in the upper Midwest.  I think they are pretty in this urn on my porch.

The daffs opened this week and they mimic the sunshine.  The tulips will follow shortly and I love them because they last longer when cut.

My forsythia is in full bloom and I cut a few stems for a vase today...I'll have to post a picture next time---this is flower overload!! :)

I saw this lone little pansy growing along a sidewalk in my backyard today.  It must be a 'volunteer' because I've never had pansies in this area.  Love that.  Tweet! :)

And I found this rather unique vase in a cabinet that I had long planned to clean out and finally did.  Oh, the treasures we find.  So I cut some daffodils and here we go.   Isn't this neat?  I think I found it at my grocery store years ago,  I need to clean out cabinets more often. :)

I so wanted to make a light refreshing dish to go with dinner, I get so tired of leafy salads and I've been avoiding potatoes, which The Husband has recently decided he's not crazy about (you may remember that about a year ago he informed me he didn't like Brussels sprouts after 28 years of my making them.  Surprise.).  So I skip potatoes and rice as much as I can, we have grains occasionally.  This fit the bill tonight.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Peel 2 English cucumbers (I leave a bit of green on them for color).  Cut in half and then again lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and lay them cut side down on a paper towel to soak up some of the water.  Meanwhile mix 1/4 cup plain Greek Yogurt and 1/4 cup sour cream.  Add 3 T. mayonnaise, 1/4 cup fresh dill or 1 T. dried, 3 T white vinegar, 1/2 t. sugar and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Chop up one scallion (or green onion) reserving some of the greens at the top.  Slice the cucumbers at 1/4 inch intervals so they look like half moons. Toss everything together.  Spoon into a pretty bowl and dust with a little of the dill and scallions. You may want to refrigerate for an hour for the flavors to meld, but I simply love it for how quickly it goes from prep to table.   SO refreshing!

I've been wanting to share for awhile that I was given the opportunity to write a column for our lake newspaper.  April 1 my first article was published.  I finally saw it two days ago when a lake friend mailed me several copies of the newspaper.  I was so chuffed to see that it took up one whole page!  And the editor gave it a title.  These are my own pictures and the article was written independent of my blog.  My first writing opportunity outside of the Internet!  And I will be doing it every month.  I'm at a loss for words.  This is pretty much all I've ever wanted in the years I've been blogging...to be published.  For the record...the newspaper goes out to 12 towns in southwestern Michigan, and 22 lakes.  I'm not sure of the population at all.  I am just so very excited about this awesome opportunity and in a big way, responsibility.  Unlike blogging, I have a deadline!

I talked with my veterinarian about Milo the other day.  His biopsy was sent to a bigger lab and the results came back.  Not being able to quote Dr. B word for word...the type of cancer cells they see are not the sort that generally spread, so they are hopeful the sarcoma is contained within the tumor.  My guy will have the surgery May 4th.  I'm going to be a wreck, but the sooner they remove this, the better.  When I pet him and my hand reaches this golf ball size tumor on his leg, I want to scream.  Go away.  Leave my precious dog alone.  He has many years ahead of him.  We would be lost without him.  I know...there is hope and I'm focusing on that.  Keep those prayers coming.

Jane xx