A Productive Spring

There are many was to enjoy Spring in Northeast Ohio.  Just seeing piles of snow turn to green, and grey skies turn to blue is reward enough for having weathered the winter, but getting outside to work in the dirt is a must.

At Villa Mir II, Paul has worked fast and furious to landscape around the new house.  It's great to see things take shape and Paul doesn't mess around.  Instead of planting dainty saplings here and there, he's making huge beds and bringing in 5 to ten-year-old trees that make the homestead look like it's been here a while.  John Sullivan stopped by recently to help, and Paul bought an espalier that John has been growing (an espalier is a fruit tree that has been trained to grow flat against a wall).  Instead of the usual home landscaping specimens, we plan to have bushes and trees around the house that bear fruit.

Carol came to the farm last week.  After picking up her son Michael from college in Pittsburgh, she spent time in the perennial bed and meeting with "Chad the Builder" to finalize plans for renovations of the old house to begin in August.  As if that wasn't enough to keep her busy, she was the keynote speaker for the Global Healthcare Investing Conference in Cleveland.  She got some ink in the Plain Dealer out of the gig.  Now she's off to Africa with her husband, Don, where she'll mix business with pleasure for a couple of weeks.

Spring is also a time of new beginnings.  Paul and the kids ran into some new neighbor kids a few weeks ago.  Remarkably, Maddy is Helen's age, and Hank is Jack's age.  They've had loads of fun getting to know each other and running back and forth through the woods between our two houses.  Eager to spend every minute together, they have about 12 years of fun ahead of them!