Okay - I have to figure out how to get my name on a stick at the fall swap. I came home with two devils trumpets - but I LOVE the picture in the link Brandon gave with you standing UNDER one of those Angel Trumpets. That is gorgeous!! But - to be fair - the Devils Trumpets sure are happy here...I can't wait to see them bloom. What are the purple blooms on the last picture? And is that RED yarrow? :D Love the classics...reminds me of home... Did I get the ruella from you? If so - it LOVES Chattanooga weather - it is growing faster than the weeds in the yard!

When I did my kitchen in my old house (about 8 yrs ago), I went against the KD's advice and laid it out in an unconventional manner. I did not have the triangle! My fridge was around the corner from my sink-oven-range galley, horrors! But I did it because I also used fridge drawers across from my range, where i kept produce, meats, etc. I also thought through the ergonomics of very element of my kitchen. I loved my kitchen. I had only one regret ... i had a small trash under the sink, and a huge one far away. I ended up never using the undersink one ... too much trouble. With our new (old farmhouse) home, I initially was changing finishes primarily and not layout .... but they had a 19' island... in a galley kitchen! My DH finally insisted that was silly (although it actually didnt work as badly as it sounds, when we made a meal there a few times before starting demo). We had final plans with a 19' island. Then DH totally redesigned it (poor man, he has no design training but I have made him watch so much HGTV). I love our new design. But it sure has flaws, some of which i know already and some that I will no doubt learn. But honestly, looks mattered a lot to me too. And it's not like some of the design nuances really render a kitchen inoperable. This isnt the banquet prep for the Four Seasons. I'm sure we all grew up in kitchens where no one once gave a thought to ergonomics! Don't sweat it so much.

Yeah we get freezes throughout winter and the roses actually do just fine. They seem to like the cold better than my 100+ degree summers. I get a lot of dieback and sometimes complete death in the summer due to sunburn. But I've never lost a rose to winter freezing temps. Of course, we don't go much below 34 degrees and not usually for a very long period. I've also got a lot of succulents in pots on my porch and breezeway. I don't believe I've ever lost any of them. The only things I've lost to freezing temps are the Martha Washington geraniums and any coleus I might still have left. Roses are pretty tough. They can survive a lot of different adversities. And they really seem to like the cold. I also have roses blooming now. My winters are much colder than your normal ones in SoCal. And even so, I'm finding most of them don't really go totally dormant even in our coldest yrs. They have a lot more disease right now, but it's nice to just get a few bloomers here and there before spring hits.

I'd look at an L shape start at the floor of your dining room heading towards your top exterior wall with fridge, dw, sink (under window) and then the range where it is in your first layout. on the opposite wall you could put in a pantry type full height cabinet. i'd also try to clarify what "very expensive to remove" your breakfast nook wall means