that in Graham Stuart Thomas' book on antique roses he specifically mentioned that RDV was in his mind the bluest rose he had ever seen, and that it was notably more "blue" than many of the modern so-called "blue" roses. Obviously since RDV's coloring varies a lot that "blue" only shows up when it's growing in the right soils, however Thomas must have seen it because he wrote that he often wore RDV as a lapel flower to rose functions to remind people that the rose existed and that it could be an unusually "blue" rose.

This one is from my own sweet mom, who is mother to 9 of us. To save on bathroom storage space ~ which, let me tell you, was at a premium with 9 kids! ~ she gave us each a simple, inexpensive, plastic tool-type caddy to keep our own personal bathroom necessities (toothbrush, comb, brush, etc. ) in. They were stored on a shelf in our bedroom closets, to be carried in and then back again, as we needed them. This helped a lot to keep our bathrooms uncluttered and organized. Mom also bought one of this type of plastic baskets for each kid to catch of our dirty laundry. She wrote our names on each of them. The plastic made it easy to keep clean and the holes kept our dirty clothes somewhat aerated . . . which really helped with our brothers' stinky things (LOL). The handles made them easy to carry back and forth to our laundry room. Lynn

I doubt it's second hand that is hurting retail. As mentioned before, I think it's a proliferation of garbage materials. And in my town, (pop 160K) we have two enclosed malls each with a Macy's, one has a Sears, the other Pennys and Nordstrom, and a new outdoor mall within 10 miles. There are 2 Targets, 3 Walmarts, four regional superstores, countless mini-malls, dozens of furniture stores, mattress stores, Tuesday Morning, 2 TJ Maxx, 3 Ross Dress For Less, and countless others. We also have 2 Lowes and 2 Home Depots. And virtually the same stuff in every store. The only place to find original things is downtown at the independent stores. My biggest gripe is amount of product at the stores. Clothing in particular. I cannot find clothing in my size, because the stores usually only carry one or two in that size and half a dozen each in the smaller sizes. When the size I need sells out the fastest, you'd think they'd stock more of that size! Plus the selections are garbage. But when I go to Goodwill (and we have 4 of those!) I ALWAYS find nice, quality seperates in my size. Oddly enough, I also find lots of NWT smaller sized items that the stores dump off! I know that it's very fashionable in my area to shop at Goodwill. I have even seen some 'boutique' second hand thrift stores-where they glean the top of the line goodies & vintage items and sell them at the special Salvation Army & other charity thrift shops. I have virtually furnished and/or decorated my home and yard with second hand items. Mattresses and upholstered furniture being the exception. Lamps, tables, even rugs I've gotten from CL and thrift stores-and most are well branded. Even yard sales have turned up Waterford for pennies on the dollar. I hate buying retail when I can save money and buy it much cheaper (and helping with my personal goal of reduce, reuse, recycle). I do draw the line at buying intimates, sleepwear and swimsuits 2nd hand. But I've gotten great new shoes at amazing bargains. And for those who get queasy at the thought of buying used clothing-chances are the items you buy in the store have been tried on, and therefore used, too.

Back when your mother was selling was at least 20 years ago. There wasn't anyway to buy things online. You went to a store or you looked at ads in a newspaper. Now you can find anything online anytime. You also were limited to your area. Now you can shop world wide. That has reduced the prices. Twenty years of everyone's parents passing and now Baby Boomers are going also. The market is flooded with everything you have. There are no less that 15 estate sales running this week in my area alone. They will have the same amount every week. They all have the same things you have. When you add in the fact, like others have said, that a large part of the younger people no longer want stuff, the price has hit rock bottom. The plates in your first picture that are priced $4, you would be lucky to get 25 cents. If you enjoy having the sales, by all means keep on doing them. The professional estate sale companies here price everything and it is full price the first day, 25% off the 2nd day, and 50% off the 3rd day. After that it goes to a charity or the dumpster. I am not saying that you don't have nice or pretty things, because you do. They just don't sell anymore. Pink depression glass that was $50 in the 90's won't even sell for $5 now. If you look on E-Bay for current prices, be sure to go to the side and check the box that you want to look at sold listings.