Red, Thanks for the comments. My favorite color is definitely green. I love jades, pale greens, emerald, beetle green (that metallic green shot with gold). I also love firey oranges. I love a tropical chic kind of decor. Love the British colonial thing mixed with some Asian flair, love rich woods, sheen-y fabrics. For some reason, I've been on an aqua kick lately. It all started when I decided to paint the bathroom cocoa (and I'm still not sure if I like the color in the bathroom. It just doesn't "feel" right). That's where I got the idea to pair aqua as an accent to the brown, and it's been like a fever ever since. The fact that aqua seems to be everywhere in home decor these days isn't helping to quell my obsession. I thought, aqua's in, I love green anyway, and it will go with my love of tropical decor. Where the Azores color doesn't touch the cabs or countertops, I love it. It just is so weird with those elements. You're right, it almost has a mid-century modern feel to it. I hope people are right in telling me painting the cabs white will cure a lot of ills. I really like how the paint looks against white trim. Another weird thing about this color is that different greens play funny games with it. The dark green in the two orchid ceramic art pieces above my stove look funny against this aqua color. OK, so if I'm going with white or off white cabs, please give me some ideas. And reassure me that with all white appliances there won't be a white overload! Believe or not, I've been toying with the idea of painting the cabs glossy black for a while. Love glossy black furniture!

Anne, on this trip we are just going to Sao Miguel, the biggest island in the azores. There is another trip we will be going on maybe later this year or for sure next summer, through the travel agency in Toronto, that organizes these tours that includes all the nine islands of the azores. It is a 3 week tour. Are you close to Toronto, Ontario, with the Canadian dollar down, the 9 island tour would be very reasonable in US dollars. I believe it is around $3600 Cdn, includes everything except for some meals.

SueB, I am partial too Costa Rica and have been many times. We usually go in January and you just can't beat the weather. We like places right on or walking distance to a beach. We never rent a car and prefer to have drivers when we travel from town to town. As Nini has described, Costa Rica has a varitety of climates. If you want a sandy beach, you need to go south, as the northern beaches are volcanic. One plus to the north is that it is arid and my hair looked fantastic! (But, I digress.) A company that we use and I highly recommend is Anywhere.com. When they started, it was AnywhereCostaRica. They have now branched out. Look at their website. They can help you with as little or as much as you like. Talk to Lester, but they are all helpful. I would jet into Liberia. JetBlue goes direct. If you choose Costa Rica, I can list the places and towns that we have stayed. We have used Costa Rica in the way that you are describing. DH desperately needs downtime in the winter. I don't know anywhere else for the price that you can be right on the beach.

Hi, could you please advise which thickest bamboo would grow best in the Azores?