I was wondering who still has all of their old Eureka's. I was cleaning out, and altho they do take up space, it hard to throw away some of the great pictures in them.
O how I used to love the day, every year, my new Eureka came.

You are correct, it is a matter of space, but also a matter of facing the reality that we won't be here forever. After my husband died two years ago , that reality struck! I got into "cleaning mode" and cleaned out all closets, bookshelves, storage areas, etc. Can't even recall how many times I loade d the SUV to the gills and donated loads of clothes, small furniture, household items, books, etc. to the Goodwill, the local library, and local mission groups. I also donated many items to the church's youth yard sale and sold several large pieces of furniture, as part of the downsizing process. During that process, I gave away all of my old Eurekas except the last one or two ( even though I had pictures in the last 10) and all of my old AHS Journals that were in the small size ( prior to Meg taking over in 2008.) I did mention them on the AHS robin and offered them free to the first ones who emailed, so hopefully those who got the items will continue to use and enjoy them. I shipped three or four big boxes of Journals and Eurekas to people, can't remember how many except that it was at least 3.

As a past AHS President, I continue to receive copies of all Regional newsletters each year along with the Journals. It is difficult, but I don't keep the newsletters for over two years. When you live alone and are in your 60's, you start looking around at all the "stuff" you have, and think about your family who will be stuck with the job of having to clean it up one of these days, and you want to make that as easy for them as possible!
Regarding the garden, I'm also downsizing. It's not that I ever intend to quit gardening, but as I've hit my mid 60's, it is physically harder to do the heavy duty work I once did when my AHS Display Garden numbered over 1000 registered cultivars. After the fall selling this year, my registered cultivars are down to 440 and I took out a small bed that housed seedlings. ( the keepers got moved.) By the time I'm 70, I want to have the garden down to 300 registered cultivars and to have turned a few areas back to grass. Traveling and relaxing are items on my bucket list, along with gardening, and easier is better! 300 sounds like a manageable number so that I can continue gardening reasonably as I age. One can hope!

I only have a few of the Eureka's but a lot of the daylily journals. I know I must get rid of them by next spring as we are moving and will have to downsize quite a bit. As Julie said in her post, as you get older it is harder to keep the gardens like you want. I am downsizing from 350 daylilies to just l00, 50 dips and 50 tets, plus some selected seedlings I want to keep. That should be a more manageable amount.

I just cant get rid of the journals yet. I did most of the Eurekas. Ive got to stop with the seeds soon, or put a firm small limit on the number. Id really like to get down to 50-75 cultivars...tops. I love them, but also want time for the butterfly gardening as well,......just yard upkeep.

I have seen the pictures from the old Eureka books cut up for a display at meetings where the club was selling that plant. Many of the pictures are so good. It also is a visual aid to the potential buyer.