How To Build Your Own Wine Cellar

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Discover exactly how to design and build your own home wine cellar that will impress your friends and allow your fine wines to age and mature the way the winemaker intended … and save thousands of dollars doing it yourself with this easy-to-follow guide. 

The book not only covers the planning and construction of a home wine cellar it also covers topics ranging from the history of wine to how to choose wine glasses, cellar inventory control to cooling your cellar. 

This is a worthwhile book for the novice and experienced wine collector alike.

Inside You Will Discover …

• How to build a wine cellar in a basement – You’ll learn the full construction method … building a stud wall, adding insulation, installing a vapor barrier, wall lining, doors, cellar lighting, installing a cooling unit … and more. Everything you need for a custom built home wine cellar.

• The Best Insulation For A Wine Cellar – insulation is critical to building a successful wine cellar

• How And Why To Install A Vapor Barrier – the vapor barrier protects your insulation from the humidity in the wine cellar. It must be installed correctly and it’s imperative to use a vapor barrier is you’re installing a cooling unit.

• Wine Cellar Lighting – you’ll require lighting to display your wines, however, you don’t want lighting that is so bright it increases the temperature in the cellar.

• Selecting A Door For Your Wine Cellar – the quality of the door is important for maintaining a stable temperature in the cellar. Don’t compromise on the type of door you install.

• Installing A Cooling Unit – If you require temperature control in your wine cellar you’ll discover which system is most suitable. We review Breezaire, WhisperKOOL, split systems, and more.

• Inventory control and wine cellar management – A good inventory control system is one of the most important but the least-considered elements in maintaining your wine investment.

• Hints on planning your wine cellar – Cellaring wine is often thought of as the preserve of the rich. However, people from all walks of life build home wine cellars. All you need is a love of wine and a nose for a bargain!

• Temperature controlled wine cabinets – If you don’t have space for a cellar this might be an option. But beware of the manufacturer’s bottle count – some manufacturers inflate the bottle count by reducing shelf size.

• How large should your cellar be – A simple guide to help you establish how many bottles you might want to cellar.

• Humidity and Temperature – The role of temperature and humidity in a wine cellar and how they affect the quality of the wine and the ageing process.

You’ll Also Discover …

• How to hold a wine glass. There is a right way to hold a wine glass. We’ll show you how and reveal why you should!

• How to taste wine like an expert. The four steps in tasting wine

• Cork, and the causes of cork taint

• How to choose wine glasses. The shape of the glass can dramatically increase the enjoyment of your wine

• Oak barrels. Why they are used and where they come from. Discover what the markings on the barrels mean.

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How To Set Up A Freshwater Fish Tank

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I've just published my latest book for Amazon Kindle, a no-fluff, no-frills guide to setting up your first aquarium.

Are you ready to start your new hobby of keeping fish? Are you wondering where to start? This straight-to-the-point guide will set you on the right path to creating a stunning fish tank filled with happy fish.

Topics covered include:

• Before You Start
• 6 Steps To Goldfish Success
• Buying Your New Tank
• Setting Up Your First Aquarium
• Where To Place Your Aquarium
• Testing For Leaks
• Adding Equipment
• New Tank Cycling
• How Many Fish Can You Add To Your Aquarium?
• What Sort Of Fish?
• Introducing Your New Fish To The Tank
• Feeding Your Fish
• Aquarium Maintenance

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How To Plan A Baby Shower - Free Today

My e-book HOW TO PLAN A BABY SHOWER: Plan the perfect baby shower - checklist, games, ideas is available for free download today and tomorrow direct from Amazon Kindle store.

Please grab a copy while it's free.

Marine Diesel Engine Maintenance

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Just published for Amazon Kindle ... Marine Diesel Engine Basics - A Beginners Guide to Marine Diesel Engine Maintenance.

No matter what your level of experience you can learn the basics of how to repair your marine diesel engine and know that it is properly maintained.

This workshop manual by shipwright Laurence Burgin can explain in easy-to-understand language which marine spare parts you absolutely MUST carry on board and you'll discover how to make emergency boat repairs on the water.

Whether you are a weekend boater or a long-distance sailor you must be able to maintain and repair your marine engine and make running repairs when on the water. Lack of engine knowledge can lead to disaster!

Laurence Burgin is a shipwright with more than 20 years experience on a wide variety of vessels. He also teaches marine diesel engine maintenance for beginners at yacht clubs along the east coast of Australia.

I attended one of Laurence’s marine diesel engine maintenance courses and the knowledge I gained has enabled me to do much of the regular engine maintenance on my boat myself. I still get the service guy from the engine manufacturer to do some of the more complex maintenance but with what I can now do myself I’ve saved thousands of dollars.

More importantly, I have confidence that I can handle a marine engine emergency out on the water!

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How To Plan A Baby Shower

My first book "How To Plan A Baby Shower" is now available for Kindle at Amazon.

Discover how to plan, prepare for and host the perfect baby shower!

Do you want to know how to organize and pull off a fantastic and memorable baby shower – one that will be remembered by you, the mother-to-be and the guests for the rest of their lives? Then this is the book for you.

It covers all the following topics: planning, registering for gifts, invitations, venue, food & refreshments, games, prizes & favors and step-by-step checklist.

You can download it here.

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More Travels

I know I'm supposed to be writing a blog about writing but I started with our recent travels so I'd better finish them off before getting down to writing business ... or maybe I'm just delaying the writing business!

After we left Palm Springs our road trip took us via Lake Havasu City to the Grand Canyon. I've seen hundreds of photos of the Grand Canyon from many vantage points but none prepare you for the sheer awesomeness of this landscape!

We then had a little fun on Route 66 in and around Williams AZ before heading to Las Vegas ... not our sort of place at all. Obviously for different people it is highly attractive but for us it was a monument to excess. On the other hand, Hoover Dam was a monument to industry and ingenuity and well worth the visit!

From Las Vegas we headed west through Death Valley to Lone Pine at the foot of Mt Whitney. We traveled through Death Valley on the day of the Badwater Ultramarathon. This is a 135-mile race from Badwater in Death Valley (elev. 282 feet below sea level) to Whitney Portals on Mt. Whitney (elev. 8360 feet). These runners must be mad. They had all finished by the time we reached Lone Pine – well, the ones who were going to finish standing – and there were still a lot of runners and support crew out and about that evening.

Not too many miles up the 395 we stopped again in Bishop and I discovered where Los Angeles gets it water. Apparently the Los Angeles Dept of Water and Power controls much of the Owens River and surrounding areas and has piped the water to Los Angeles via aqueduct since 1913.

After we left Bishop we headed up to Tioga Pass and into Yosemite National Park. More spectacular scenery, both through the pass and in the valley! The only downside were the crowds ... we were there on  a weekend and through the valley the traffic simply crawled.

From Yosemite it was a short haul to Sausalito to catch up with friends from Hawaii before we all headed to Napa for 10 days of wine tasting and fine food while staying at the Reid Family Vineyard. Many of the wines of the Napa Valley are too big for my palate. I prefer the wines of Sonoma and especially the pinots of Russian River, however many of the Napa wines are worthy examples of zin and cabernet from a hot climate. If you'd like to read about some of the wines we tried and vineyards we visited you can check them out at my husbands wine blog.

But I can't put it off any longer. I'll have to start writing about writing.

Travels and Writing

After spending a month on a road trip around the western US I'm now back home in Sydney and ready to get on with writing and publishing books.

The road trip hadn't been planned. The original plan was to visit our son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren in Los Angeles for a few weeks,  however our son landed a contract in Sydney for six months beginning at the time we were planning to head to the US ... so we went anyway.

We stayed in Los Angeles long enough to attend a performance by the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl – a truly wonderful experience – then borrowed our son's vehicle and headed east. I have to use the word "vehicle" because it is in fact a rather large truck. A huge truck by Australian standards but only a medium sized US truck ... but a monster to fill at the gas station!

Our first stop was Palm Springs - that oasis in the desert. Where do they get their water from? I never found the answer to that question. Joshua Tree National Park is a spectacular landscape with its distinctive rock formations and vegetation ... Not just the Joshua trees but also the chollas and other desert plants. I'd been through JTNP previously but was just as awed on this second visit.