Wednesday 20/4/11

Hi everyone!!

Today has been quiet – most people, quite understandably, have been down at the beach, enjoying the sun and surf……………. I love my job, I just really wish the hours were different…………

On another note, I did some interesting research into Sea Swimming today; I didn’t realise how much actually went on down at West Bay, and how much continues to happen there. The race for the Black Buoy sounds downright lethal, but really good fun at the same time!! I can’t even imagine swimming up to 1,225 metres out to a point that I can’t find in the middle of the sea!!

See you tomorrow!!

Tuesday 19/4/11

Hi everyone!!

Today has been straightforward – I came in this morning and went over to the museum to do the morning shift there; it was understandably very quiet as most people were down on a beach somewhere, enjoying the sun…….. I am really looking forward to the Easter break, as I am going to go down to Burton Bradstock or West Bay and spend my time swimming in the sea………

I spent most of my afternoon cataloguing some more items, as well as progressing with the murder mystery story idea; Emily and I found some interesting information online, as well as tips on how to organise an event!! Things are looking up!!

Sorry about the shortness of today’s post – couldn’t think of anything more to say….

Sayonara!!

Monday 18/4/11

Hi everyone!!

I had a great relaxing weekend – the sun, as I am sure you all noticed was absolutely glorious on Sunday. Unfortunately, I was ‘roped’ in to do some gardening……… I hope the weather for the rest of the week is just as nice; no one wants it to rain, or cloud over……

On to other news – this Wednesday we are having a Roman Day, so bring all your family along. It promises to be another great event, held at the museum from 10:00 until 17:00. We even have some new equipment for the children to enjoy including a coloured mosaic. We all had great fun with it first thing this morning!! Emily went a bit over the top designing strange creatures……..

See you tomorrow!!

Friday 15/4/11

Hi everyone!!

Today has been more of the same, cataloguing items. However, I did go over this morning and take some photos of the fossil fun day that is going on over at the museum – this week has been nice because the jobs that I have been doing have been straightforward. All the same, we have had an interesting week. Shannon’s mask making day on Wednesday was a clear success – we had a lot of children in, as well as families, who all loved making the masks. Some of the children looked really funny in the mammoth masks; the long trunk and tusks really did make them look like mammoths!!

Today was also a success; we had a young man from the National Trust come in to the museum, and he has been running the fossil fun day. The children could dig around in a box of sand and discover fossil cards. They also had the opportunity to talk to the young man about the history of the Dorset coast, and see some fossil items that he had brought along. He also had some pamphlets which gave a more in-depth history about different areas of the coastline.

Everyone here is looking forward to the weekend; I on the other hand, am looking forward to Sunday, my only ‘technical’ day of rest, as I work on Saturday as well.

Bye for now!!

‘Don’t worry, be happy’

Thursday 14/4/11

Hi everyone

Today has been simple and straightforward. I have spent some of my time doing more cataloguing of the collection items, and also removing excess census information from some of the village files. I’m looking forward to coming up with some more ideas for the murder mystery story; Emily has suggested that we could possibly create some sort of event to go along with it. It might be a bit scary for some people, but I modelled it a bit along the lines of the Midsummer Murder series, although John Nettles will sadly not be participating in it……………

I am really looking forward to this weekend; I am especially looking forward to Sunday, when I can just relax…….. Sunday however, may not be my day of rest, if I’m roped in to do gardening, or painting, or something tedious………… etc…….

See you tomorrow!!

Wednesday 13/4/11

Hi everyone!!

Today started with a bang (not literally of course). The mask making day has attracted in a lot of people, which is really positive for our image and publicity – we even had a young gentleman come from the Bridport News to write an article and take some photos….. The children absolutely loved making the masks – they were really creative with all the glitter paints and feathers.It was really nice also to see the volunteer staff getting ‘stuck’ in with the children; I know everyone who attended had a great time there.

For the rest of my day, I spent my time continuing to write the murder mystery story, and also continuing to catalogue the items in the collections…….. It has been a really positive day, with so many young children and so many families coming into the museum to enjoy the mask-making event……. Hopefully, this will in the future, entice even more people into the museum, perhaps on a regular basis?..............

See you tomorrow!

Monday 11/4/11

Hi!!

Today was straightforward and simple, which was nice after the last week, which was a bit stressful because of the season opening and preview evening etc. It has been really nice today, just to get on with a lot of item cataloguing; I am making good progress, but I hope the number of files I have finished can be checked through quickly enough on Wednesday – it may take a while……

Don’t forget about the mask-making day this Wednesday over at the museum; it promises to be colourful and wonderful event, so do bring everyone along that you can!! It is of course, completely free entrance!!

See you tomorrow!!

Wednesday 6/4/11

Hi everyone!!

Today has been steady, as usual. I did do something different as well, which has been really great today – I began writing a murder mystery story based around the museum; I'm going to try and make it spooky and reasonably complicated to unravel………

I have spent most of the rest of my time cataloguing more of the seemingly endless number of items that we have in our collections; I really will not get them all done by the end of my six months.

On another note, there was an article this morning in the newspaper, which some of you may already have read. The reporter came on Monday morning, shortly after we opened our doors for this 2011 season……..

I hope everyone is content and well

Bye for now – I’m off down to Truro tomorrow, so I won’t be here for the rest of the week

See you all on Monday!!

Tuesday 5/4/11

Hi everyone!!

Last night was a truly fantastic success – everyone who attended, whether they were Friends, volunteers or trustees, had a good time. It was good to see everyone their together, enjoying the preview evening. Thank you all for coming – this museum could not work without your support.

And so to today…….

I came in this morning and went straight over to the museum to take some more photos for the disability file. This allows people who cannot get up to the upstairs galleries, so see the items, and read the same information about them that is upstairs. I was pleasantly surprised again to see the number of people who had already come in to see the museum; we had not been open for more than about 20 minutes before we were inundated with people quietly strolling around the exhibitions……

I’m nervous about this morning’s coffee break – I had to buy some fruit before I came in this morning to add as a deterrent buffer against the biscuit barrel. Emily has stopped trying to tempt me with them now, but that doesn’t mean that I actually can resist them………… I’ll let you know if I resisted later on in this blog post……..

I survived the biscuit barrel, and the cup cakes. I’m getting better at this, slowly…………..

Signing off – I have the afternoon shift at the museum

Sayonara!!

Monday 4/4/11

Hi everyone – today was of course the first day we opened this season…….. It was a great success!!

We had a steady morning, with about two-dozen people coming through our door to see the exhibitions and ask us various questions; we even had a sizeable donation from a very generous gentleman. The afternoon was equally positive and promising; a party of school children, accompanied by several school staff came in to do a quiz they had made, concerning some information in the museum relevant to general history in Bridport. It was a really nice surprise to see them there after my lunch break; they looked so enthusiastic and excited, I couldn’t but help smiling at them all……..

I’m looking forward to tonight with both excitement and a little trepidation; I have no bar skills, and have been ‘roped’ in (ha ha ha) to pouring alcoholic drinks for all who are attending. I’m sure this is an inter-office joke. And worst of all, its quite effective…….. I’m just being silly really – tonight is going to be a great opportunity for all the different museum parties to drink and be merry.

See you tonight then!!

Sayonara!

Friday 1/4/11

Hi everyone!!

‘Pinch, punch, first of the month’…. Sorry about the terrible jokes, old habits die hard and all that…..

Today was interesting, as everyone - including some volunteers – were working flat out from the word GO!! I came in this morning feeling pretty tired – I had been up half the night, desperately trying to organise my accommodation application for my first year at university.

So, when I came in this morning, I was more than a bit overwhelmed. Nonetheless, everyone mucked in happily, whether that was sweeping the floors in the museum, or laminating the price labels for the museum shop items. I was impressed by the floral smell as I walked through the door of the museum – it is a nice touch to have lavender fragrance wafting around the room. However, it can get a bit overpowering after a while. I may bring in my own air freshener to combat the cloud…….

I am really looking forward to opening on Monday. I have never been part of a museum which has such a sense of community enthusiasm. It is a real testament to the hard work and tenacity of volunteers, friends and staff alike…….

The museum is looking really smart and modern – the exhibitions are all up and running, and the shop is stocked with all kinds of fabulous items – the beautiful wooden pens, the paper weights, pill boxes and magnets

I am afraid that it is time to say adieu….. I’m off to have a relaxing weekend. Like that is actually going to happen……. L

Bye for now J !!!!

Thursday 31/3/11

Hi everyone!!

Today was another eventful day – we had another couple of volunteer tour sessions, and I spent a lot of my time cataloguing more items from our collections. The number of items we have means that I might just finish sorting them by the time my job period finishes.

On Wednesday night, during an episode of BBC Spotlight, the presenter Simon Clemison did a story on how Amsafe is making missile proof netting for tanks. They came to the museum as well, and took a few shots of some of the rope-making machines, focusing on Bridport’s rope history. Sadly, I could not find a connection to the programme on the BBC Spotlight website…

Sorry about the shortness of this blog post – I left it foolishly to the last minute!!

See you tomorrow!!

Wednesday 30/3/11

Hi – today was an important step in the lead up to our opening on this coming Monday; we had two sessions of volunteer tours, one in the morning and then again in the afternoon. Bruce makes an EXCELLENT tour guide – perhaps we should get him to do the voice-over for an audio self-guided tour……..

I forgot to mention that yesterday I went around the exhibitions and took some photos; I also took some photos as ‘evidence’ of behind the scenes activity. Margaret and Emily – in fact everyone – have been working flat out to get the exhibitions ready and make sure the shop is well-stocked. They both had great fun a couple of week’s back, when they spent the morning picking out the girliest mugs they could find on the internet……..

The Roman exhibition has some amazing artefacts on display this season; items like the amphora and the broaches show how civilised the Romans were....

The courtyard garden is also looking very nice, and the plants are just beginning to flower

Our preview evening, also on Monday, promises to be another fantastic event. We hope to see many old friends, and perhaps some new faces.

See you again tomorrow!!

Bye for now!!