Maddie, the Amazing Barking Dog, we believe, is losing her mind, and we are not kidding. Remember I told you in the last post that she was limping around last weekend. Well, she has done that in the past, and quickly recovered, like maybe she just pulled something out of place, or whatever. Anyway, she did not recover quickly. In fact, she went into a real tailspin. Bob and Rob were home with her last Monday and just after they let her in from outside, she had a major diarrhea explosion upstairs and downstairs. I was not home to take care of that, so thanks, Bob. He took her to the vet who, after two hundred dollars worth of x-rays decided it was probably just arthritis. (which was what Dr. Bob had already diagnosed) We got some anti-inflammatory pills to give to her and brought her home, and after that she refused to go outside. If we took her out, she acted like the grass was on fire and she refused to do any business out there at all!! She would just stand there, pressed against us, with her nose stuck between our legs, shaking all over. We shut her up in the kitchen, and for two and one half days, to my knowledge, she did not expel anything from her body. Finally, we started taking her out on a leash and she did resume her usual routine, but now,every time we walk back toward the house, she bares her teeth and growls and snaps at something behind her, I don't know what she thinks is after her- some phantom attacker, I guess. We're going to start calling her Mad Maddie.

What's this I hear? The Swine Flu has once again raised its ugly snout???? Wash your hands, peeps.

Well, the mini-marathon is next weekend, and I sure haven't done any training for it. I'm in Corral X, which, you might guess, is pretty far back there. The kids will all be running it. I told them I would come down, and bring a large Casa salad to contribute to the young people's Friday night supper at Lindsey and Brent's. And, then I'll spend the night, and I guess I'll do the mini, unless it's raining, and then I'll just drive back home because I'm not walking thirteen miles in the rain.

TET Recipe

I made these salmon patties with horseradish sauce for supper Saturday night. Stormy, I swear to you, they were almost as good as crab cakes and for only a fraction of the cost!! Here's the recipe:

Salmon Cakes with Horseradish Sauce

1 - 14 ounce can salmon

2 eggs

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 onion diced

Take the skin off the salmon and remove the bones. Mix the salmon, eggs, onion, salt and pepper and form into two-inch patties. Cover the bottom of the skillet with olive oil and fry patties about ten minutes.

Horseradish Sauce

3/4 cup mayo

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons horseradish

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

"To me, it's always a good idea to carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me hand?" you can say, "Sorry, got these sacks."

Jack Handey

Sing your spring song!

Winter, too long!

Daffodils shine on!

Tulips long gone,

because of those durn deer.

Here's a photo of the daffodils blooming in the woods behind the neighbor's house. Lovely. I spent the week teaching poetry to the eighth grade, and I think they REALLY liked my impression of Ethel Merman singing "You're the Top," a song just teeming with metaphors.

Ah, the first visiting toad of the season, seen last night on the front step. This event was followed by the first mouse of the season to run over the top of my foot in the Wal-mart parking lot. (not that this happens very often during the season)

Candace and Rob purchased matching motorcycles last week. Yes, I know. Please pray. Here's Rob with Little Roxanne perched on the back.

From the Archives: An old picture of my brother, Jeff, who celebrated his birthday on the 17th, and once again, is a year older than I am. Each year for about a month, we're the same age, which used to irritate him in the old days. Now, it only irritates me.

Finally, cartoon Maddie gets in on the poetry action by illustrating the use of a simile. Maddie appears on the classroom chalkboard each Friday, barking out something of note or import. The Amazing Barking One, by the way, is limping around here this weekend and is going to see the vet tomorrow to find out why.

Recipe of The Week: The Book Babes met at my house last Tuesday and discussed A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. I served the dip that's good enough to eat with cardboard, and this dill dip with vegetables. I don't think I've ever posted it, so, here 'tis.

Dill Dip

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayo

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

1 teaspoon dill weed

1 tablespoon dried onion flakes

Mix together and store in the refrigerator until serving. This dip should be made at least several hours before you serve it for proper spice distribution.

"I wish I would have a real tragic love affair and get so bummed out that I'd just quit my job and become a bum for a few years, because I was thinking about doing that anyway." Jack Handey

This is going to be a mini-posting, as I'm working on a poetry unit and it's getting pretty late and I'm a little stressed out because I have a meeting every night this week except Friday. I wonder if I'll make it to all of them? We'll see. We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Lindsey and Brent came up on Saturday and we painted eggs. Oh, and Bob and I purchased a new front door at the Emma Warehouse for forty dollars! (TET)

Here's a picture of the kids after church on Sunday morning. Lindsey has on a great new dress and Brent looked really good in his new lavender shirt. I wore the same suit that I wore last year, because of TET and everything. You can scroll back to 2008 and look at it, if you want. Here's Lindsey and our adorable granddog, Bonnie the Barbarian. In the first thirty minutes of her visit she managed to turn over the Easter baskets, and roll up all the rugs. She also molested some precious bunnies that I made 26 years ago. We just love her. She's such a little dickens.

Here are the eggs we colored. Notice that we refused to color any of them yellow, pink or red. I don't know why we did that - we just did.

And, here's an Easter Dinner picture. We're done eating and Nick and Stormy and Brent and Lindsey are looking at each others' travel photos. We enjoyed our traditional meal of Honey Baked Ham, cheesy potatoes, asparagus, Melt in your mouth yeast rolls, and the strawberry-spinach salad. For dessert - carrot cake and three-day coconut cake. On the table is this great book that Stormy brought me - Chef Daniel Boulud: Cooking in New York City. That would be Chef Daniel of the restaurant, Daniel. Look for some of his recipes on the blog - but not this week.

"Nobody gets to run the mill by doing run-of-the-mill work." Thomas J. Frye

I've been pretty busy, settling in with 8th grade and The Outsiders and To Kill A Mockingbird and everything. This coming week we're on spring break, so I'll be cleaning my house and getting ready for Easter company. Cindy gave me this big glass bowl of Dove chocolate eggs for my birthday. The number of eggs in the bowl seems to be decreasing. Somebody's taking one out every time he passes by the bowl. I think it might be Bob.

You remember those deer that I kept alive through the long winter here on the snow-covered tundra by trudging out to the bird feeders every night and leaving multiple ears of corn? Those deer? They have eaten every single tulip I have.

From The Archives: 1987 - Lindsey and Alf ready for church on Easter morning.

A special Easter message from Cartoon Maddie, Stella, Bonnie the Barbarian, and Little Roxanne.

Recipe of the Week: This strawberry spinach salad has become a traditional dish at Easter dinner. We're looking forward to serving it next Sunday to Lindsey & Brent, and Nick and Stormy, who will be coming from Pennsylvania to celebrate the holiday with us.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Sweet & Sour Vinaigrette

Dressing

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 green onion, finely chopped

1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salad

1/2 pint strawberries, sliced

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/2 small red onion, sliced

1 package (10 ounces) fresh spinach leaves

For dressing, whisk all ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over salad and toss.

"Just as bees will swarm about to protect their nest, so will I 'swarm about' to protect my nest of chocolate eggs." Jack Handey