Thank you, thank you all. This has indeed been an interesting journey. DH retired 3 years ago and he resisted the idea for a long time. But one day last year I mentioned that one of the larger homes that backed up to the woods had just come on the market and he surprised me by agreeing to see it. Then he floored me by making an offer. Most of the homes in this community sell quickly, usually by word of mouth which is how I found this one. My friends who live there told me the day it went on the market. Joanie - You asked how we chose this community. That was probably the easiest part of this process. We used to drive past the entrance when we took the dog to the vet and every now and then DH and I would drive through. This community is 13 years old, has 235 individual homes and 30 townhouses reserved for lower income seniors. There is a clubhouse, outdoor pool, tennis and bocce courts and a very active group of residents. As with so many other real estate decisions location was key. We have many over 55 communities in this part of South Jersey and I know of 5 more that are being built. Most of the newer ones have larger units and more options but they're not necessarily better construction and most of them are in towns with high taxes. Toll Brothers is building one on a golf course in my town. These are all townhouses and the taxes for a 2100 sq ft home are over $15,000. Our development has 8 different models ranging from 1500 sq ft to 2150 sq ft - we choose the larger one in hopes that some day we might have grandchildren who'd like to visit. We have a 2 car garage, a kitchen, family room, living room/dining room, master bedroom and guest room on the first floor. The second floor has another guest room and a loft. The lots are small and the houses are close together which is why we wanted one in the rear with a private patio and backs up to woods. The monthly HOA fee is $135 which covers yard care, snow removal and recreational facilities. Once DH realized that this move made sense he threw himself into planning the remodel. He comments that if we're giving up this home that we love then he wants to make the next one 'ours' too. So while they all seem to look alike on the outside we're completely remaking the interior. I've heard him talking to our friends about our move and he now says that he should have done this earlier. Giving up our big home, yard and pool will free us from many of those home ownership worries plus there is the financial savings - our taxes will be halved, utility costs will be significantly lower and we plan on spending more time at our vacation home in NE PA. DH is near 70 and I'm a few years behind and he has health limitations that prevent him from strenuous activity. We won't have to switch doctors or hospitals, all 3 adult kids now own their own homes and live within 30 minutes. I'll actually be closer to Wegman's and the Wellness Center where I try to do pool exercises 4 or 5 times a week. I can easily drive or take the Hi-Speed Line into Philly or take NJ Transit to NYC. I'm the social butterfly in the family while DH is reserved, quiet and definitely not a joiner. They have regular card games in the clubhouse but DH wouldn't dream of just walking in. I'm hoping he'll met someone who will ask if he plays pinochle - that would make him a happy camper. My girlfriend and I have already signed up for the September bus trip to NYC. Thanks again everyone for your encouraging words. Maire

Thank you all for your input! I told my mom about the watering and the shade and she said she'll do it. Karen, the rose is new. We got it this year. But it grew like crazy and was blooming in no time. My mom was actually a little surprised. The TZ was growing and blooming better than some of our older roses. My apologies for the pictures. I'm not the best photographer. As for the soil drying out in between waterings, I wasn't quite as clear as I should've been. I typed this post after several hours of mind-numbing calculus homework (I'm not the best at math). Anyways, they don't wait for it to be 100% dry before watering again. My apologies for not being clear about that. I think I might go back and edit my original post to fix that. They water them in the early evening. We have a lot of mosquitos because of a retention pond that's really close to our house so my parents try to get out and water them before Our roses were fine last summer so that's why we're a little perplexed. Only the TZ is unhappy. All of our roses get the same amount of sun and the same watering schedule but four out of five are doing great. Two of them seem like they might have gone dormant or something like that but they still look happy and healthy. Is the TZ a more...sensitive kind of rose? I don't know if that's necessarily the right word, but it's the only one that I can come up with at the moment. Thanks again for the help. I really appreciate it!

I'd have another guy look at it. It appears that water could run down the wall and get behind the wavy black plastic part of the drain. If that's the case it should be redone so water draining down wall goes into drain and not behind the drain to who knows where.

TZ is a vigorous rose. My baby band was hit with the weed torch right after planting leaving almost nothing. By the end of that season, I got these pics of him..... .....from this pitiful little guy. I'm glad I didn't toss what was left after his 'accident'. (I don't use pine straw mulch. This is what I rake up all season long.) Grrrrr.