May 31: Back to Cleveland and the Farm

Having left Florida, we went to Cleveland on our way to Canada and Guppy. We spent most of the time at the Drouhard farm. We planned the timing so we could be there when Linda's brother Tom (he's the brother who gave Linda a kidney in 1985!) from Arizona, was also there. We always enjoy his company and hospitality. Not sure who was the biggest bad influence but it was Tom and/or Linda that decided we needed to go to the Perrysville  Dairy for a Coney Dog and ice cream. Although I'm not in the picture, I too succumbed to temptation. We just kept saying it was our 'last hurrah!!"

It's always interesting to see what wildlife we see at the farm. There was a robin nest with three chicks on the patio and a pair of chimney swifts flying around. In the barn was a buzzard nest with chicks also. In particular, we tried not to disturb the buzzards, they are pretty big birds to disturb! There are of course always deer, groundhogs, and lots of birds. We've seen turkeys before out in the fields but this was the first time we saw a wild turkey walking through the back yard. (Picture is a little fuzzy because it was far away by the time the picture was taken.) 

While we were home, Linda's oldest brother Warren organized a farm planting for Tom, Steve, Elin, Mandy and of course Warren. We planted two milkweed patches (128 plants) in the lower field for Monarch butterflies. Tom explained that Monarch butterflies deposit eggs exclusively on milkweed plants on their trip from Canada to Mexico. The caterpillars eat the normally poisonous milkweed plant but are immune to the poison. Once they eat the milkweed they become poisonous so nothing eats them.

Given we were in Cleveland for Doctor visits we of course found time to hit the great chinese restaurants.

Cleveland Chinatown has an annual Chinese "Year of the pig,monkey, ox, bull, etc." sculpture decorating contest. 2019 is the year  of the pig. For more info click here.  This restaurant has many of the previous year's sculptures on display outside the restaurant. Very fun to see them all together. (The pig must have been on the side by the door.)

One of the things we love at the farm is the great fireplace. Warren, arranged to have the chimney repaired so we could continue to build wood fires. Many thanks to Warren.

We also had an opportunity get together with Wendy who happened to be in Ohio. She showed us pictures of her latest knitting talent.

She actually knitted these cute little dragons! (Linda is thinking an internet marketing business might be in her future, but of course Wendy would have to do all the work!)

We have had fun seeing Rebecca's name on TV. She is a co-producer of Izombie, a popular television series, and her name shows up at the start of the show as a Co-Producer.

We asked Rebecca to send some pictures of her two dogs, London (tan) and Trevi (brindle). Both are miniature golden doodles.


They are super cute and very friendly. We're looking forward to our trip to California in September where we'll get to play with the dogs and see Wendy, Matt and Rebecca. Bonus this trip, Tom will ride the train down from Arizona and join us.

As our Ohio visit drew to a close we met Julie, her husband Jim for a chinese lunch. Our cousin Marialice drove up from Fredricktown to join us. It's always enjoyable to spend time with Julie and Jim to catch up on what is going on in Ohio. Marialice keeps us informed about central Ohio and all the New York relatives. After lunch we stopped at Julie and Jim's to pick up numerous packages we had shipped to their house. They graciously accept and keep the packages and equipment we need to take to Canada. They have been collecting and storing things for several months! Many thanks to Julie and Jim!