Jackie, Good for you! Fragrance is very important. BUT, most of the time, I can't smell most of my roses. The Rugosa Rotesmeer is the only rose I grow which consistently provides me scent. I can also smell myrrh which is probably why I like it. I can pick up a little wafting scent as I walk through the garden. It is light and pleasing. But, disappointing when you figure I have at least 30 very fragrant roses. On the other hand, the fragrance of the butterfly bushes is overwhelming. And I love my "Miss Kim" too. So fragrance is not necessary to allow me to love my roses.

By now you have surely planted your garden but.... If you want a different flavor, you've got to try Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Old German or Bradywine. Arkansas Travelers are easy to grow, medium size and wonderful flavor. Homegrown tomatoes are not "mealy" nor do they have "gel", not if they are ripe. I refuse to eat tomatoes from the time I get the last one off the vine (usually Thanksgiving week) until I get my first ripe one (unless I find a locally grown one, first!). The easiest to care for tomato I've ever grown is Green Zebra, they taste great, are small in size, beautiful yellow and green color. They rarely split from too much rain, either. Since you are growing them for others to eat, you could really WOW them with an Old German or Cherokee Purple. All of these I mentioned,(besides the AR Traveler) have beautiful unique colors, that you don't find in the grocery store, (orange and purples) and smokey flavors. Beware though, one of my Old German's last year was over 14 feet tall!

In my first house, I painted each room in a strong colour, with zero uniting theme (hey, it was fun). I painted the hallway a dark, azure blue (turned out shiny smurf blue). And I had a fabulous Men at Work Orange walls in the kitchen. Before selling the house, I repainted the whole house in various shades of griege. And I learnt a couple of things: everyone complimented me on the new wall colours (the colour of drywall mud, I thought) once it was repainted, but never on the bright colours; my ex asked when we got the new artwook in the hallway (it was there, on the dark blue, the whole time - he never saw it, I guess); and, an orange kitchen is fine, as long as you don't repeatedly think that the house is on fire when you see an orange glow eminating from the window in the evening....

Of all the things mentioned in this list, I think the only 3 I do not have are an air fryer, an air popper and electric griddle (takes up too much space) . Most things are used fairly frequently. My grain mill has been on hiatus because my daughter has celiac disease. At 19 though, I expect in a few years using it may be in the cards again. We also have a mini donut maker which was a birthday gift for one of the kids. I like that more than baking donuts in the oven. I'm not sure I would buy a new one if it ever dies, but have definitely enjoyed it over the years. While I have 2 ovens, I am not about to get rid of the toaster oven. There are some things where it just makes sense to use a smaller oven. The Instapot is great for large batches of stock (and it keeps the house from smelling like stock all day long) and beans. I do not use the stand mixer or large food processor every day but I do a lot of large batch cooking (6 people to feed), so they make more things possible. There is nothing wrong with my knife skills, just the hand holding the knife. I also have a large garden that I preserve from in good years, so the tools help. If I moved to a smaller place, I would streamline some of these things. I basically have one appliance corner where the 2 coffee makers are (regular and K-cup which belongs to one of the kids) and toaster oven resides. The microwave is on its own shelf and so with everything, my counters are reasonably clear.