I think there's a a good chance that it's 'Rosa canina' (aka Briar Rose or Dog Rose). At any rate, the vendor provides pictures of two different roses -- the one grown by her 'aunt' is different from the rose she's hawking. At the prices the vendor is demanding for her unidentified plants, I don't think u needa those roses from Uneeda, WV. ;-)

I think curiousshopper hit the nail on the head. I think most of us grew up with traditional agitator washers and go figure... our clothes weren't ripped to shreds by agitators and believe it or not... our clothes were actually clean. In my opinion clean is clean, so when I constantly hear FL's clean "better" I always want to roll my eyes and ask to ask... "So, your clothes were filthy growing up" lol I too am considering ditching my front loaders for an old school Speed Queen set in the near future. In the years of having my Duets, it's been a continuous love/hate relationship. Recently it occurred to me that the only thing front loaders have going for them is that their quiet... that's it. We didn't need all these fancy electronic machines with useless features in years past and we were satisfied with our laundry so why are we convinced we need a $1000+ machine these days that produce such mediocre results?

Hi, auntjen! Actually, only 2 Karastans, one in my office and the one in the LR, and the Woven Treasures Couristan in the DR are from eBay. I bought the others locally. I stick to a brand I know - mostly Karastan. I ask LOTS of questions beforehand, if the rug is from someone without a lot of info in their auction, and not many pictures. I'll ask for extra pics, too. I 'met' a Karastan dealer from PA last year when he auctioned Karastan rug that I had been dying to see, but they were not available in my area yet. (Shapura Athena) Come to find out, the one he had, and I bought, was an early 'mill trial' - one of a test run. He assured me that I could return it if I didn't like it, but it was perfect, and I saved a LOT of money. I ordered another of that style from his bricks and mortar store, because Karastan told him to stop selling on eBay or they wouldn't supply him any for his store! I think that is why ones you see now are often 2nd hand (no prob with that!) or from a model home. I often check Craigslist for them, too, and not just in my area. I sold two Karastans last year when I bought the new ones, and one went to VA and one to AR! The buyers paid for me to ship them to them. I'd do the same if it was one I really wanted. I buy all wool, but that's just me. The Couristan was one of those rare flukes, when I hadn't seen the rug before, but the seller had ONE, and it looked like it would go with my DR wallpaper. PURE LUCK...and I paid a bit over $400 for it, brand new, where Macy's has it 'on sale' right now for $1699. You may be looking for hand-woven, but I have never bought one... I don't dare to, unless the seller has wonderful feedback and a lot of it. You never know if it's one of a container purchased from who know where, and many of them, especially the ones where the shipping costs more than the rug, may have colors run if it gets wet. I stick to the brands that I know, and am sometimes able to see locally for true color before buying. I have no favorite seller, and I would gladly buy from an individual or a 'store' on eBay, if it was one of the two brands above. I just go to eBay OFTEN, and search Karastan or Couristan and see what's there. I see a Karastan 'English Manor Stratford' out there right now in 'my' colors, with a $699 Buy It Now price. I ALWAYS check online stores before bidding or buying to see if the deal is good. In this case, the first online store I saw has it for $999, so that is a nice price on eBay. BUT, I just checked another online site (Abington) and they have it for $749.99, so the eBay price isn't wonderful. I will stoop to asking a seller if they can do better, if the rug doesn't sell in their auction after being listed a few times. If yes, I arrange to do a Buy It Now thru eBay. All that flies out the window, though, if it's one I want badly, like the Persian Treasures in my LR, because it's not made anymore. I paid $460 for it (phenomenal!) after it didn't sell in the auction, and offered him less. I sound awfully cheap, but I am professional and courteous in my dealings with the sellers, and it has paid off for me. I hope it does for YOU, too!

Red, I didn't see your response. Yes it seems a lot of people do like the Priority shipments. I just don't need to pay more to have things here fast. Shipping fees are a drag as it is! I bought from the UK quite a bit a few years ago and they would always ship air, understandably I guess because of the slowness otherwise, and the possibility of things getting lost in a winding transit. But, it was quite a bit more expensive, so I'd go parcel post most of the time. Usually didn't take all that long. Added to insuring items, it just really adds up. And when you haven't even seen the item firsthand, well, it's just a lot of money on extras. Yes, it does look like some of her buyers have noticed the post on the package is quite a bit lower than what they were charged. So she may have thought I was questioning her too. Well, I have no control over her packaging and handling charges, but can request slow mail and no insurance! :) And dang! I did manage to get old. I'm not sure when that happened!