wow! that is severe pruning even more than the Serena way...it's like one/third of its original size, hee-hee! Something which I have done before...but man, I never thought you'd prune it down that much! I thought I was the only one doing that major of a lopping off... But it does like very aerated and well spaced and since your Platinum is growing so vigorously I am sure it will still end up being quite the giant...especially with all the goodies that you keep feeding your roses with. My roses are bushy monsters right now so you would definitely be hacking them down, but I just let them overgrow themselves and only hack the top parts off... I figure 1st year roses I'll just let them become one massive forest...They're so dense right now, I'd have no idea where to begin! boy, I'm such a chicken-lazy one... I hate to lose that wonderful bushiness and have let my roses become fat, wide and massive...

Hi Karen, I agree completely and I can relate to your story too. I gained 30 or so pounds since meeting my DH, 15 of which are already back off... but I was never so grateful that he never NEVER mentioned it. He's happy I'm losing it and gives encouragement, but he always said it was me he wanted to be with, not my body. It was me who had the issue of being overweight. I think Straycat speaks for all women when she says... "...Whether she is fat, skinny, built like a brick house or a bowling ball-she hopes and she prays her husband shes the woman inside the skin and loves every inch of her inside and out. But, when he doesn't she slowly becomes more and more empty and that is when the numbness sets in. It's hard, very hard for that to ever be replaced with love, the trust just isn't there. When that happens it's hard for her to give herself-to the same man." "...You are still in the physical stage of a relationship after all these years. Too bad, and to think...you've been married to the SAME woman all these years and you have never SEEN HER. " "...If you'd seen her through the eyes of love how would she have looked?" WOW~WOW~WOW How many of us have felt invisible/are feeling invisible right now? That Straycat can speak so completely for me, with all of our differences in opinion, says a lot. I think this is one of the core truths. THIS is how a woman (or man) becomes empty. This is the hole through which the love pours to the ground. This is the echo never answered.

Took me a while to get it. I'm just slow that way! LOL! I can't believe the things you do with a paint program!

Hello, been lurking a bit. Lots of good info here, thanks. FWIW, I agree that if the things you can't change are right and there is room in the price to do the rest ... thats a pretty good place to be. I knew the minute we walked into our current home, it would be ours, more than 20 yrs. ago. We had looked at a few dozen as I recall but the search was over when we got here. Since then we've added several investment props to the pile and since last fall have been looking for a new joint for us. Found an REO that is the only house of hundreds that can tick off every item on our list. Trying to convince the bank that they should stop holding on to it has been frustraiting, aggravating, stressfull etc. but now it is finally fun. They are offering counters in less than 24 hrs. and moving proposed closing dates up. Still not moving as much in price as they'll need to yet but it is vast improvement. Guess submitting the roofing bid and the well test did the trick :-) It kinda feels like I'm the lone bidder. Its got great bones and for us, a great loc. (acerage close to where we need to be). Its way more than we need but the lot, loc. and subdivision are pretty near perfect. Some minor damage from the eviction but I'm pricing that in and will order the full blown insp. once we have a deal. I was at the auction, I know the number ... they might get it but I'm thinkin not. There is a lot of inventory out there.