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Jaywick Art Exhibition
Venue: Jaywick Martello Tower
Event: Artists at Work
Date 29/07/2010

Tomorrow I am having a day out of the office and I'm off to Jaywick to help set up the Jaywick Coastal Open Art Exhibtion, being held jointly at Jaywick Martello Tower and St Christoper's Church, Jaywick. I am really excited as I love looking at all the different styles of art and deciding how it would look best. The grand opening is Thursday 5th August when the public will be able to come along and see the hard work of all the artists and the hanging team. Jaywick is always a lovely place to visit, with the beach, the tower and the welcoming local people. I've not visited in a while so it will be great to go back, take a stroll along the beach and get some sea air. Why not see the exhibition for yourself, Thursday 5th August at Jaywick Martello Tower and St Christoper's Church, Jaywick. See www.jaywickmartellotower.or for full details.
Hop into Space
Date 09/07/2010

With six long weeks of the summer holidays coming up, I was thinking about entertaining the children, so my first port of calling was my local Essex library. Last summer one of the children had taken part in a scheme where each child read six books and then received a medal at the end. The youngest was so pleased with her medal, I was hoping for something similar and was very pleased to find that this year it is happening again and is called ‘Space Hop’. All you have to do is pop down to the library and the children can choose any books they like. You get a set of stickers for each book you read and then a gold medal when you have read six books- wow! The ten year old informed me that he was ‘too big’ to take part in Space Hop and I was equally delighted to find that they had a different activity for him called ‘Space Station 2010’. He will receive puzzle cards, a DVD voucher, and a space gadget at the end if he takes part in all six activities. So I know where I’ll be on the first day of the holidays – Essex Libraries wins again.
Celebrating National Bookstart Day
Date 11/06/2010

Whilst in the Library today I heard the lovely sound of singing from the children’s area. It is National Bookstart Day and it is being celebrated in every Essex library for the next two weeks. It’s all about the seaside this year.

Bookstart sessions happen in every library in Essex where children and their carers can come along and share books and sing nursery rhymes - how wonderful is that! Sessions happen at all different times and you can find out about your local library here. http://digbig.com/5bbsht

So that dads don’t miss out, there are some weekend sessions. Daddy Cool runs in a lot of the libraries where dads and their children can join in with the rhymes and also take part in the celebrations of National Bookstart Day. So, if you have a pre-school child, go along and celebrate with Essex Libraries. Fantastic!
Treasure Hunters
Date 28/05/2010

It’s half term coming up, and as always I am always on the search for what’s going on locally. Once again Essex Libraries have come up trumps and are doing exciting events all about treasure hunting! I had a look on the posters and I can have my photo taken with Indiana Jones. I am more than happy to do that – oh I forgot it was for the kids! It also asked me if I was as brave as Indy – not sure if I am, but I went to parents evening and survived!

There will be some real artefacts from Essex and you can find out how your ancestors lived in the past. Sounds like a really good afternoon out. Events are not only in my local library they are all over Essex – http://digbig.com/5bbraw However there are lots of events going on, and I know there is a Horrid Henry event at Chipping Ongar Library so why don’t you check out what Essex Libraries are doing this half term. I know it will be great.
Venue: West Cliff Art Trail
Event: Artists at Work
Date 27/05/2010

Everyone who attended the Westcliff Art Trail earlier this month, please tell us if you enjoyed yourselves and be in with the chance of winning a fantastic prize. To enter to draw and tell us what you think, please complete our survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/summerofart2010
Free WiFi in Essex Libraries
Date 14/05/2010

I was in the library with the my partner and the kids and needed to do some research on Family Ancestry and whilst I was getting engrossed on what was happening in the 19th Century in my family, I sent them off to explore.

They were thrilled to find that the library had free Wi-fi. I found the kids lounging on the sofas with their laptops playing games and my partner, enjoying chatting on Twitter on his smartphone. ( http://twitter.com/EssexLibraries). We were in Chelmsford Library, but apparently it’s in every library so if you have a laptop, a smartphone and your Essex Libraries card then you can access this amazing service straight away!

However, our friends turned up and they had left their laptops at home, so they used one of the library computers. They needed a library ticket, but that was no problem because they could get one there and then.

Once again, what a great trip to Essex Libraries – Isn’t it time you found out? You could have a quick look now at www.essex.gov.uk/libraries
Global Gala
Date 30/04/2010

I was wondering what to do this Bank Holiday Monday and I discovered a fantastic event in Chelmsford called the Global Gala. It’s all about stories and myths from different cultures and I thought it would be great to visit. However I wanted to tell the children about the stories and I popped into the library to find that they had loads of stories from different cultures. Check them out here http://digbig.com/5bbnch

In the evening at the Global Gala there is a Cuban and Jamaican concert and whilst at the library I found some great CDs. Find out about what you are going to listen to before you go! http://digbig.com/5bbncj

It’s between 12 - 9pm and in Central Park. And for more information check it out here. http://digbig.com/5bbnck
Essex Book Festival reviews
Date 16/04/2010

I was in Chelmsford Library looking at the recommendations that people had made at the launch of the Essex Book Festival. I found some fantastic books that I hadn’t read and some that I had.

But this got me thinking about books I have read in the past and I decided to try one of my old favourites during the Easter Holidays. I love reading all sorts of books and I was really pleased to find that there were plenty of copies in Essex Libraries. However I was really pleased to find that it was on CD. So, I popped it on the CD player in the car and the journey down to Cornwall transported me back to when I was a child!

Oh ...what was it? To Kill a Mockingbird. Take yourself back down memory lane and re-read your old favourites. You can order it free of charge today with your library ticket here http://digbig.com/5bbkmm
Healthy Eating
Date 03/04/2010

I’m having a first go at growing my own salads this year. I’m starting in a small way, but who knows, one day I may go on to great things – or do I mean giant vegetables!

Growing plants in pots seems the easiest way to start. No digging needed! http://digbig.com/5bbjhj Organic crops in pots has great ideas on growing salads in bowls and potatoes in sacks.

But I’m not sure what to plant. There are so many packets of seeds at the garden centre and my idea of picking the ones with the best pictures may not be the most scientific!

Maybe I need some down-to-earth advice from an expert http://digbig.com/5bbjhk Even I can’t fail with Alan Titchmarsh at my side. So, here goes for my start to healthy eating!
NT Live
Date 05/03/2010

It was with some interest that i recently attended a seminar being held by the National Theatre to talk about their new scheme to send a live broadcast of their productions out to cinemas across the world.

The hope of the scheme is to increase the accessability of National Theatre productions by making them available to the whole nation. By screening it live to hundreds of cinemas simultaniously it is hoped that it will still retain the element of a shared live experience but without the hassle of getting to London.

The scheme was launched last year with Helen Mirren's starring performance in Phaedre, which was screened in 73 cinemas across Britain. This was followed by a screening of the play Nation earlier this year. But it is the next screening that has particularly caught my attention:

The Habit of Art, which is a brand new play by Alan Bennett, will be broadcast in 22 April 2010 and includes Richard Griffiths in the cast. This world premiere is something that could genuinely interest the whole nation and so it will be interesting to see whether this captures our imagination and fills up the cinemas country wide, including Colchester's Odeon.

It will also be interesting to see if a live screening, mistakes and all, can ever be a good alternative to seeing the real thing...