michaelg, I have been told to do that and never have, but good reminder. The drip irrigation is a bit harder to determine, as this is the hose with holes every foot or so, so it is not a tube directly feeding each plant, but I will see what the rest of the system does. I am curious how long an average system runs...and I know time should not be the measurement, but wondering if I am way off. Thanks for the input, and I will do that. Jeri, great idea. I am hoping to get the remainders of my "in pot's" in the ground...but 106 today!! It is so hard to leave these unattended. On your timers, how long do you run them? TOO, I have wondered if I debudded roses in hotter areas of the yard, if that would help destress them. I recall one year I pruned a bit, and ended up killing a few, as I guess they took that as a sign to grow. But debudding? Sounds like an option. What do you think?

To clarify some things about our ideas to buy on Isle of Palms - while we're going to hold off on buying, and may not ever buy on the island itself, the area around it seems to be exactly what we're looking for our retirement years. The island is less than 13 miles to downtown Charleston, and only 20 miles to the Charleston Int'l airport. Even closer than Charleston is Mount Pleasant, about 4 miles away (across the Inter-coastal waterway and a marsh), which has plenty of shopping, restaurants, medical care including a decent hospital. In addition to wanting to live close to the ocean, we want to live near good medical care (this is most important), shopping (I'm not going to stop doing DIY projects on any home I live in until my body gives out - it's my hobby), airports, etc. I love the beach - every vacation we can we go to a beach - we've visited many of the east coast beaches over the years - I never get tired of it. My husband loves salt water fishing. We have a boat that he takes onto the Chesapeake Bay all the time to fish, and we go tubing on the Potomac River with our grown kids and grand kids (who are still very little). We've planned on retiring to as close to the (right) beach as possible for at least 20 years and I think it's safe to say that we're not going to change our mind about that between now and when we actually retire. And I definitely don't want to ever live someplace rural again - did that as child and have family still there - definitely not for me. Even if we were young I don't want to live in a place where there aren't plenty of doctors, including all types of specialists, and I don't want to live someplace, where if one of us was in the hospital, the other would have to drive over an hour back and forth. I'm honestly surprised at how many people I know who retire who don't care about that aspect at all. So - given what we know we want/need, we've been considering all the areas close to the Atlantic between Wilmington NC and Jacksonville FL. A few years ago we visited every place that even seemed to come close to what we want. But when we were looking before our income and savings were a fair amount less than they are now, and housing costs and interest rates were higher, so it limited where we would be able to afford to buy, so we didn't consider some of the areas we could afford now. And this is a retirement place we're talking about - being able to vacation in it before retirement is a bonus. We could wait until we retire to buy, but as I said in the original post, I don't want to miss an opportunity to buy while the prices are low AND the interest rates are low. But I do think we need to slow down and take our time - visit and stay there during different seasons, including the heavy tourist season, and make sure that it's what we want. We may find that living on an island/beach itself is not that great and that we should go back to what we always considered to be our only option - living on the mainland, but close to the beach. People seem to think that prices will be low for a while - I don't want to buy and then see prices drop even lower - and that interest rates will be low for a while too. So I realize that there is no rush - but I still don't want to kick myself years from now for missing any "deals of the century". I know this was long - sorry about that - but I think my first post gave the impression that the whole idea of buying at/near a beach, and this one in particular, was hurried and not thought out. While rushing into it right now is undoubtedly a bad idea, I don't think the concept of buying a home sometime soon for retirement in a few years, if the prices and interest rates are really low now, is a bad idea.

We go to the Fl Keys every yr, we are fortunate enough to have a place to stay there, but there are many reasonable family oriented places esp around Ilsemadora/Marathon. The dolphin research lab is there & they have lots of kids programs, there is snorkeling, deap sea fishing trips, beaches etc. It's very laid back. Bahia Honda State prk has beach camping-it's great and we took my youngest s-son & my son about 5 yr.s ago they had a great time & the dolphins and stingrays followed them while they snorkeled! Key west is a fun day trip but get the kiddies out by dark as it gets a little wild then. there is a website fla-keys.com where you can get touristy info & even check condo rentals. We fly into Ft Lauderdale & drive from there, way cheaper, esp if you are near a spirit airlines they have super cheap flights. I'm thinking of going to the DR, Puerto Plata in a few months and while the resort is pretty cheap & all inclusive the flight from Miami is pricey. There were lots of activities for kids at most of the resorts I looked at. There are tons of all inclusive resorts there. I hear the the US Virgin Islands are becoming pretty crime infested and unsafe, Frommers has some really good forums regarding traveling with kids & kid frindly resorts, you should go & read some posts there, a very good travel resource. Whatever you choose have a great time! When I retire I want to be a professional beach bum :0)

Ah grapefruit - your daughters sound like mine. "Sitting on the beach" is a definitive statement and little else is included other the bare beach necessities of a blanket, sun block, a few good books, a cooler with ice and beverages, easy, simple meals and a bed ( and that's the least important). Maddielee - i've never been disappointed with Ritz Carlton's or Fairmont Hotels either no matter where they were. Diane NJ - The Jersey shore is only 60 miles from my home and we've never vacationed there. We've gone down for day trips and we've had long weekends in Cape May but we usually rent places in Duck or Corolla in NC. Avon is one of those quite shore towns that seems to escape notoriety. Funkyart - All good suggestions, we must frequent the same areas - my retirement bucket list is growing longer. It's been over 20 years since we were in Ithaca and it definitely deserves a return visit. We have spent a little time at the Eastern Shore because my brother keeps his boat there but we really on the water most of the time and not investigating the charming towns along the water. We lived in Philly when I worked for the Free Library and then moved to Bucks County . The New Hope- Lambertville area and little towns along the Delaware are favorite haunts for dining or shopping or for exotic ice cream at Gerensers . We cross over the river often to visit my brother in Doylestown or my jeweler in Yardley and my physicians are in Langhorne. We moved to the Jersey side of the Delaware so that our children could attend a specific public school and even though we've been here for 30 years DH and I both still feel like we belong back in PA. Aren't you near Lancaster? DH and I are both originally from the Pittsburgh area and DH's college was in the Laurel Highlands. You definitely should explore the area. My brothers and I used to fish and water ski on the Monongahela River and Cheat River, raft in the Yough, ski at Seven Springs and camp in Somerset County. We used to shoot clay pigeons near Nemacolin Woods which is a beautiful resort. Then there's Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater and Kentuck Knoll. It's funny you mentioned that you could get lost in Longwood Gardens. That's literally what happened to my son and future DIL on their way to their wedding. DH was driving them and they had arranged to meet the photographer before the ceremony at Loch Nairn. The photographer went one way and they went the other and they all arrived 45 minutes late for the ceremony. As for the Brandywine Battlefield- my 3rd Great Grandfather fought there in 1777 with the 6th Virginia Regiment and then spent the winter of 1777/78 with Washington at Valley Forge. I finally made it there last month to see the encampment. Our friend's herb farm (more like a large kitchen garden) is in Genesee, nearly to the New York border. It's a very small home business called Bear Mountain Herbs and they make herbal teas, baths, balms, salves etc. They only sell locally and their web site doesn't even offer online sales. PR is on short list for a winter getaway. We found a home to rent in Rincon for the entire family this past February - until my eldest son hit a patch of ice in Squaw Valley and ripped his knee to shreds over Christmas. ...Kids ...they never cease to surprise and astonish their parents. When dedtired returns I'll have to get her impression of Scotland too.