Marion's Retirement

[Lori Dee]

I have a glass file that I use too. I love it!

Mmmmm I can smell the chocolate from here.

Hugs!

[Oldandcreaky]

Your lucky , mine just goes to my tummy--------

Mine goes to my head.

I like labeled plants, Marion. A couple hundred, huh? Whew! More than I have and my garden is an acre. I do a lot of mass plantings.

[Maid Marion]

Got my state and federal tax refunds.
When I was picking my retirement date I realized if I timed it right, I could earn just enough money to fall into a lower tax bracket and pay less taxes on the money I earned.  That is because taxes are based on earnings over a calendar year.  I got to work on my garden as Spring finally arrived.

Spring is early this year!  My roses are already leafing out this year.  Well ahead of the yellow forsythia.
The daffodils are in bloom.

[davina61]

Still way to wet to get on the soil here and still more wet stuff coming next week.

[Oldandcreaky]

I live north of you, Marion, and my garden is quiet. I think my azalea buds might be slightly larger, but this might be wishful seeing. However, I'm happy. I built my garden to be pretty in the winter too, so I look outside and enjoy plenty of color and my critter feeding stations means it's always busy outside too.

[Maid Marion]

I'm wearing my most challenging pair of high heels tonight.  A barbie pink Cole Haan with just four straps in front and none in back.
Wearing high heels helps my balance.

[Gina P]

Very pretty shoes Marion.
 I have started working my vegetable garden yesterday. Hoping to get in some cool weather stuff soon.
Gina

[Maid Marion]

Marion does windows!  The last owner of the house installed bay windows with vinyl trim that blew off in nasty winter storms.  I got on a ladder and pounded it back in with a white rubber mallet, then cleaned the windows with glass cleaner.
 
I've been digging out perennials to make way for a new rose bed!  The ground is quite workable as the temperatures have stayed above freezing.  I remember times in which the ground was still frozen at this time of years.

[Maid Marion]

Over 2-1/2 inches of rain and it is still coming down!  Lots of ponding in the backyard but fortunately just a little in the basement.

Found out from the oil maintainence guy that if I get a new oil tank, I'll need to remove a shelf installed by the former owner above the old oil tank.  They used the shelf for cloth dryer supplies.  I was going to rip it out until I saw electrical wiring attached to it.  It had two shelves, so I shortened the four 1x3 wood supports with a fine bladed miter saw to hold just one shelf above the oil tank.  Full body workout standing on a short ladder to saw the two back 1x3s.  Made half a dozen trips to complete the task, doing a little at a time and keeping an eye on the trickle of water on the basement floor that goes from one window and out the door.

[Maid Marion]

That was fast!
I had my 30k car service Monday and needed new ball joints.
They were able to get the parts from a nearby shop and I got the car back that day.

But in the process I ended up playing phone/email tag with the guy who sells the oil tanks and figures out what needs to be done.  We managed to meet and he sent the contact via email the next day.
He said they could install it the very next day after a weekly meeting.
Sure enough, they came 45 minutes early and left in time for lunch!  Now I have a new oil tank!

Interactions are different when you are female. Guys look for affirmation from women.  Told him I'm an engineer so he knew he didn't have to explain anything.  But I also mentioned that electricians make really good money if they can pass the tests.  Told him about the car service wasting the day so the phone tag didn't matter and gave him a chance to vent about one of his own issues getting a simple oil change.  Guys like to be able to share stories like that.

I had the work area cleared away inside and out.  With a tarp over the dryer. They were all smiles that morning.
The guy who gave me the paperwork said he had time to hang the dryer duct from the ceiling behind the new oil tank!  They caught a nice break in the weather.  Now it is back to wet rainy weather.

[davina61]

Bit of a storm here this afternoon, watching horizontal rain past my kitchen window.

[Maid Marion]

Yesterday I deconstructed an old recliner purchased twenty years ago from Bob's Discount Furniture.  The fabric was attached with lots of steel staples.
It is fun to see how stuff is put together.  It used a lot of plywood.  I now have a large lazy Susan or rotating platform to play with.

I used to rely on cooking thermometers but I can now smell when foods are important cooking temperatures from a distance!  I've now been cooking for a decade.  Today I'm cooking corned beef brisket in a slow cooker for dinner and will be having Teriyaki flank steak for lunch.  Yesterday I got up early and had the corned beef for lunch and the flank steak for dinner.

I used to wear heels all the time at work but stopped when I retired a year ago.
I wore heels the other day when I went out to get my eyes checked.  I ought to wear heels more often!

My investments are doing great since I retired! 
My  SS widow's benefit covers most of my expenses since the house is paid for.
Plan to spend more time fixing up the house this year. 
Yesterday I moved a room darkening blind to the master bedroom after breaking off some brittle slats in the old one. 
The old one was 11 years old.  We had a guest and they broke the one it replaced.  Bad luck spot for blinds!

[Oldandcreaky]

You're a busy bee, MM. Good for you!

[davina61]

Busy on dear, nice to get jobs sorted.

[Oldandcreaky]

Busy on dear, nice to get jobs sorted.

She's a dervish!

[Maid Marion]

Planted a new rose bed between two long asphalt driveways.
A dozen big hybrid tea roses from a friend who is moving in a week.  Took me four hours to dig them up.
An ideal location with all day sun and excellent drainage.

Used to be a perennial  bed.
I transplanted a bunch of peonies as the soil was soft enough to dig them out with minimal damage to the brittle roots.  Ended the day by finding an Asiatic Lily under some weeds.  Moved it to a spot that is easy to see from the sidewalk.

I moved my fragrant roses to locations about five feet from the sidewalk so folks can smell them.

[davina61]

There was an old rose that got smothered by plants that I cleared, last year it put up 2 stems about 3 ft tall and no flowers. Now it has put out 3 long shoots so I am wondering if its just wild root stock? Will see what happens to it this year ,if its gone wild it will get dug up.

[Maid Marion]

Old garden roses and root stock bloom on old wood, which means they wouldn't bloom on the three long shoots that just came out.  They would bloom on the two 3ft tall stems if left long enough to produce lateral growth out of the bud eyes on the stems.
Many OGRs fell out of favor because they would only bloom once in the late Spring or early summer in favor of modern roses that would bloom two or three times a year, typically in cycles seven weeks apart.

In New England a lot of yards have too much tree shading in the fall to allow modern roses to re-bloom unless located in choice spots away from the trees.  OGRs are a better choice if the roses don't get enough sun to bloom again.

[Maid Marion]

I talked with my neighbor about her new roof.  A big crew of guys did it four hours.
I think they realized they need to do some improvements to their home when they heard about my new oil tank.

My wife commented years ago that she doesn't dress properly. She is a busy manager.  When she worked as a manager at Nine West they told her she needed to wear high heels.  A decade later she looks like a girl going off to school with her backpack!  I say this because dressing appropriately is a skill that is learned.  It doesn't come automatically!

Dressing appropriately is something that I can now do easily now that I can buy stuff off the rack that fits.  They don't make much in the way of clothes for short guys.  It was a lot of work trying to alter clothes to fit.  Now I can buy crops styles that don't need hemming!

Life as a woman in the USA means that you will be judged constantly by how you look.  I'm OK with that.

[Maid Marion]

Sorting out sexuality.

I was happy to hear that Rachel in Philly was able to sort it out and find a partner who she gets giddy over! 

I think a lot of us have a "type."

Did you know that "You Belong With Me" foreshadows her current relationship with Travis Kelce?
She is attracted to #12, who catches the ball to win the game!  Travis is a tight end!
Her alter-ego, pushes him away in favor of the quarterback, right after the game winning celebration.
Quarterback is the alpha male on football field who gets to make the split second decisons on where the ball will go. 

Why not an alpha female hooking up with an alpha male?  Hard to have two leaders in a relationship!

This video was way back in 2009!  Taylor put in a lot of work singing the National Anthem at sporting events to gain valuable experience with singing in front of crowds.



I know most folks don't have the visual memory to recall details like this.