I am going on a Vacation again!

I am going to Bangkok for a week from the end of the month.  My husband left today for a business trip and I am following him later.

I have never been to Thailand and unfortunately I wont get to go to one of the islands like Puket but I will have fun shopping and relaxing.  I am very excited about going and have already started packing.  Don't worry I am leaving lots of space in my bag for extra weight coming home hehe.

All this traveling I do gave me enough frequent flyer points to get there so this is a very affordable vacation if you don't count the shoes and handbags I will buy.

There has been a terrorist alert on there but nothing has been said for a week now so I think it has all settled down.  I will post some pictures when I come back.

Till then, have a great week and stay safe.

Oh and I nearly forgot to tell you that I have been doing well with my Crock Pot Recipe Books on Kindle so if you have one or and iPad or iPhone go and have a look at my Author Page which lists my books at
Pauline's Amazon Author Page.

Bowral Tulip Festival 2011

I have just returned from my trip to Bowral in the Southern Highlands of NSW for their annual Tulip Festival which is held the end of September and early October.  It is Spring in Australia and the gardens are starting to look very pretty.

I went this time with my mother and sisters for a girls long weekend and we really enjoyed it in spite of the weather which ranged from raining to overcast to a few sunny periods.  Luckily we decided to go to the main garden, Corbett Gardens in the afternoon that we arrived and enjoyed the time there amongst the tulips.

We were fortunate we did as it rained on and off all the next day.  We spent the time talking and catching up though so we still enjoyed ourselves.  We stayed at a B & B and as one of the rooms was very large so we hung out there most of the time.  They also had a lovely common lounge room with a fire burning which was very inviting but we decided we were a bit loud for the other guests and had more privacy to talk in our own room.  You can see my review of the B & B called Strathbourn House (coming soon).

My Mum & Sisters (I am on the right)

We still got out and around the town the day it rained but it was more difficult for my elderly mother with her walking frame so we limited ourselves a bit and so we took her back to our accommodation for a rest and explored the town again ourselves.  We bought some lovely earings at one of the boutique type shops in Bowral.

The tulips were good this year but many had already flowered and after the rain a lot were damaged.  There were beds of tulips though that were just glorious and some were very big.  Overall they were a lovely display.  The only negative really was the admission fee of $8 which I thought was a bit much for a public garden that size.  I realize though that tulips are expensive but they do sell the bulbs off afterwards so that should recoup some money and the area does great business during the festival. Anyway that is my own whinge of the day.

We had a lovely time at the Bowral Tulip Festival this year but we would have had a great time anyway because we were all together to spend some quality time with each other which we did.  I treasure all the time I can get with my mother now as she will be 88 this Christmas time.

If you haven't experienced a Tulip Festival wherever you live then you must go next Spring.....you will love it.

I have been busy publishing on Kindle

I have been busy lately publishing my crock pot recipe books on Kindle and it has been an experience I can tell you.  I am sure if I was publishing these books the old fashioned way it would be more complicated than Amazon make it with Kindle but for me it was still a bit of a challenge.

I did a lot of searching on the internet for the best ways to do this and I must say I got a lot of good advice from people at Warrior Forum. I took points from each of those who offered it and started my own folder for reference.

Not everyone had the answers I needed but together I got a good picture of what I needed to do. Probably the best advice came from Jay Boyer with his Kindle Cash Machines which includes a template to help you get the formatting right.

The next step was promotion as it is nice to have your book published but you want people to see it too. I also have to recommend his follow up Kindle Sales Crusher which addresses all the promotion you need to get to the top of the best sellers list.

I would love you to see my Author Page on Kindle so follow this link to it.....My Author Page.  My books are Mexican Crock Pot Recipes and My Soup Recipes.  If you have a Kindle I suggest you grab them as they sell for less than a cup of coffee.

Please  leave a comment here or on Kindle as it would be greatly appreciated especially as the soup recipe book is new.  I also plan on publishing a casserole book next.

I saw this funny sign.....

so......don't read it just look at it hehe

Hi again, remember me?

I have been very busy since the end of last year.  I got married to my soulmate in December in Las Vegas, had a lovely honeymoon in the US and also started a new job here in Australia.

I wish I was more organized and then I would have been able to do all the things I wanted to do.

I really miss blogging here and posting my photos so I will be doing more of that now that I have settled into married life and the new job.

What I found out though which surprised me was that at 57 years of age I don't learn new things as fast as I did when I was younger.  Starting a new job in a different field has been very stressful, challenging and I found out how much confidence can desert you when you need it the most.

Here's a lovely picture of my garden in early Autumn (fall).  I have posted this part of the garden before at different parts of the year.

I will post some photos from my short vacation to Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo, NSW in my next post.

Las Vegas - Shocking Santa

Once Santa has come you can then get back to being
a little naughty but nice.

Merry Christmas everyone!

The Melbourne Cup

Today is the running of the Melbourne Cup and most people in Australia will stop to watch the race which is held at 3 pm.  The Melbourne Cup is run on the first Tuesday of November.  Today as I was not working I took the opportunity to go to a luncheon with my partner and watch the Melbourne Cup.  People get dressed up at these functions and so I wore a hat.

Many people get dressed up even when at work by wearing a hat while watching the Cup being run and most businesses will allow people to stop work to watch it.  Some companies even have lunches or snacks so it becomes a fun activity for their staff.  In Victoria it is a public holiday but in other states we work, but stop for the race.

For a few years we would go to Melbourne the Saturday before the Cup was run on a day called Derby Day and I enjoyed that even more than the Melbourne Cup itself.  Here is a photo of me dressed up for the day. One year I would wear a hat and the next I would wear a fascinator.   It was a fun day at the races and I always enjoyed it whatever the weather was like.  This year the Cup was won by Americain watched by 120,000 people at the racecourse.