My apartment is full of people. They are all engaged in one task or another, One is taking all the curtains down to get them cleaned, another is cleaning the outside of the windows, another fixing the air conditioner in the bedroom and my maid is washing the window screens. I guess this is ‘spring cleaning’!

We went to see “The Nutcracker” on Fri night. Performed by a Russian Ballet Co. It was lovely to see, the costumes where beautiful and we always enjoy this ballet at Christmas time. However it is very difficult to imagine how close to Christmas we are because it is so hot.

I think I mentioned I joined the National Museum Volunteers recently? I went last week for orientation in their library so now I will help them out on Wed. Mornings, I am looking forward to this. I have also been on a trip to Lopburi which is about 2-3 hrs drive from Bangkok and has a lot of archeological digs as well as many ruins. It was an important centre in the history of Thailand and in the 1600s the Kings court was centered here. At that time a lot of Europeans visited the court and a Greek man had a great influence over the Thai King.

We tried to go to Ha Noi but had forgotten to get visas so we ended up visiting Krabi instead. It is on the Andeman coast opposite Koh Phi Phi Don and has a very ‘island’ feel to it. We had a few days relaxing and even hired a motor bike! Actually we hired two at first but after driving down the road a little way I decided it was too heavy for me so we took it back and traded for a bigger bike so that I could ride behind Dave, a safer option! We explored all around the coast and found little secluded beaches. It was fun.

I went to the Melbourne Cup again this year. Last year was my first experience and this year was even better as I knew a lot more people and dressed as a ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ . I got there at 9:15am and decided to start with a coffee, then about 10:30 we started on the champagne and orange juice. We had our ‘bets’ on the horses and watched the race, all 5 minutes of it! I won with one of my tickets and then we had a meal and the dancing started. This year I made it to the after party at a local pub. I ended up being taken home by Dave at 8:30pm. A very good day had by all. It is great to see a whole bunch of women just having a good time and not caring about men.