Marion's Retirement

[Emma1017]

I am with you Marion on the chin hairs.  I have a long way to go but every step is so satisfying.  I have a lot of gray hairs so I have to mix in electrolysis.  Ouch!

[Maid Marion]

Picture of me before I started using the epilator two months ago.
https://imgur.com/a/Arl6eE9

[Lori Dee]

Such a cutie, MM!

Thanks for sharing.

[Northern Star Girl]

@Maid Marion
Dear Marion:
Thank you for sharing your picture.... 
...the epilator is doing a great job. 
        "no chin hairs that I can see!!!"
HUGS, Danielle

[ChrissyRyan]

Marion,

What is the best way and when to trim a standard rose plant?  Now, spring, right before winter, maybe it does not matter when?  Or not trim it?

I have some of unknown variety that seems to have sprouted two feet with new side shoots in the last month.

I can lookup YouTube but I know are an expert so that is what I am asking you; however, if you know of a video out there that you think is great about this, kindly refer me to it. 

Where on the plant do you make snips, where a branch starts, a few inches above that, or a few inches from the new top of the branch?  Or should only old growth be cut?

Thank you,

Chrissy

[ChrissyRyan]

Happy Thanksgiving Marion!

Chrissy

[D'Amalie]

Father always said, "Trim the roses anytime you like.  Just ensure you do it before the freeze, which will not permit the cut end to heal.  If you wait too long the canes will be damaged by the freeze and introducing a path for disease. If it is too late in the year, then wait until spring when the saps are running and the plant can heal itself.

He also said to trim it back at least to the first grouping of five leaves, or back to the next or more grouping of 5 leaves. Cut out dead canes, but make sure they are dead, not dormant!

[ChrissyRyan]

Marry Christmas Marion.


Chrissy

[Maid Marion]

The crochet crop top I've worn in the heat of summer.
A very fit 20-something GG complemented me on wearing it.

[Maid Marion]

I'd suggest contacting an American Rose Society Consulting Rosarian for pruning advice for you local climate.

It is very controversial but for a while the UK Rose society once suggested using hedge trimmers to prune your roses!  How do you think they prune those big commercial fields of roses?

I prune roses in the dead of winter.  If I see any diseased canes I prune it off. 

[Lilis]

The crochet crop top I've worn in the heat of summer.
A very fit 20-something GG complemented me on wearing it.

Hi MM,

Long time don't see, it always good to see you. That's Pretty, but it's still a bit cold up here for another month and a half for me, maybe in the warmer months.

[ChrissyRyan]

The crochet crop top I've worn in the heat of summer.
A very fit 20-something GG complemented me on wearing it.

Good for you Marion!  That was nice.

Chrissy

[Maid Marion]

Filed my taxes today.  First time I've used a capital gains loss to bump my tax bracket back into a lower one!  US Taxes are very complicated.  It can be very useful to precisely adjust one's income when paying taxes on special categories of income like long term capital gains.  There is a huge difference between paying 15% tax and 0% tax!  I did that successfully twenty years ago by taking a lot of deductions putting money into retirement accounts. 
Now I'm doing it in reverse, figuring out how to get the money out of the retirement accounts while minimizing the taxes.

Marion

[Lori Dee]

I have never filed capital gains tax, but I used to do the same thing with Schedule C Business Income and Expenses. I got audited one year and the IRS agent mentioned that I had claimed a business loss three years in a row. I said, "I never claimed to be good at it. Is there a law that says you must be good at your business?"

No. No, there is not. 

[Maid Marion]

I did a Schedule C one year for my partner's failed business.
She passed from ALS a decade ago. 

She was so worried about how me and my brother would handle our parent's estate.
That sort of money tears families apart.
We donated a house to set up scholarship fund in memory of our father!