Decorating for Christmas

 Harold Wood have got a tree...but not any tree...a Christmas tree....and a Summer tree....and an Easter tree.  Here is Viv helping me to reach up and put the star on the top. 

The Mayor was there and even she wasn't allowed to put the star up there...or maybe she couldn't reach, it WAS very high!

 #


See?  What a lovely star!  It was quite breezy up there!

Josh's Mum and Margaret tied the ribbon on - with the help of Frances and "the man from parks".  I am not sure why they left me up the tree!

It was quite prickly!

I was trying to see who kept eating all the mince pies!  I thought I would go undercover!

Hee Hee - not sure Viv was expecting to be spotted helping me!

Ann (big boss lady!) let me drink some of her tea - I was awfully chilly by the time I got back in!   James (a different parks man!) was looking suspiciously full - now, I am not saying HE ate all the mince pies........

Then I spent some time with the Mayor - hmmmmm not sure who she enjoyed cuddling with the most!  Actually...it was me!

Thanks for popping by  Dexter x

I have been poorly!

I have been a little absent recently --- its because I have been poorly and had to have an operation!  Dragons are rather susceptible to inflamed tonsils (as you can imagine) and that is just what I have been suffering from.  I had to have my tonsils removed, not a very pleasant operation! 

I am recovering very well now and will be posting again soon

Thanks for visiting

Dexter x

 I met these two cheeky girls recently.  Oh my - the secrets they whispered!

 BUT - they got very cross when I told them to Josh's Mum!

I was really very sad - but I promised I wouldnt do it again - so they both gave me a lovely cuddle to cheer me up!

So many things to learn!

Dexter x

On top of the world!

I am feeling so great today!  In fact.......I am feeling "On top of the World"!!!


See Michael.....I said I would do it!

Dexter x

Full or Empty - which is the best?

 I just cant decide....is it better to see a display thats nearly empty?  It means the books on it were popular and people wanted to take them home.  On the other hand, it looks a little unloved and sad.

Or - is this better?  Lots of books to choose from, great selection.

I think I like the full display better - if I was going shopping then I would rather pick from a full shelf than a half empty one - otherwise I would wonder if I am getting the dregs that no one else wants!

Dexter x

All the single ladies, all the single ladies!

 I had a blast at the Havering Poets, Poetry Slam!  I met lots of lovely ladies!  And the poetry was pretty good too!..

Every year, Havering Libraries run a poetry competition.  The prize is to be published in the annual Havering Poets Anthology.  Its quite an honour to be selected - and awfully hard work for the judges to decide which ones go through.

 Yay - and here I am with Madam Mayor again!  I was a little bit shy about meeting her again - I think she may have read the bit I wrote before, about me sleeping with her picture under my pillow!

 And yet another gorgeous famous type person!  This lady is our MP Angela Watkinson....I have been held by a Mayor and an MP in the same day!  Be still my beating heart!

These were some of the people who joined in with the poetry slam - lots of people were brave enough to read their own poems out!  WOW!

Josh's dad helped me write this little ditty....

Dexter had a cuddle with Pam
At the Havering Poetry Slam
When Angela found out
She gave a loud shout

.....except we couldnt think of a last line!!!  But, if it helps....SAM CAM might work in some way!

Please tell me if you can complete this little ditty!

dexter x

Human Libraries

Yes - these might look like people but they are actually BOOKS!

You have seen Ron (big smile!) before on my blog but these are some of the other books (there are more).  They talk about their lives - good and not so good bits - but they are normally heartwarming, honest tales.  I spoke to a lady who had been involved in a terrible car accident - she is amazing and her story showed how strong people can be!

They were doing an event as part of our Word Weeks - phew, the last two weeks have been really busy.  We have had Martin Bell, Edwina Currie and lots of other things going on!

I have really fallen behind in my posting on here!  So, look out as I will be working hard to catch up!

Oh - and if you would like to find out more about Human Libraries then pop over to their website...here.

Dexter x

Class visit

 I like Jacky alot - she wears very nicely coloured trousers!  And look at how closely she is holding me...I felt very secure!  I was a little nervous because I was helping Jacky to do a class visit!

 This is the bit when Jacky was telling the children all about the library and asking them questions to check they understood!

They were lovely children - so well behaved!

I really didnt need to be nervous at all - they were so nice and quiet - even when they were looking at the books after Jacky had finsished telling them about the library!

thanks for popping by today!

Dexter x

See a penny....

See a penny, pick it up, then all day, you'll have good luck!  IT DOESNT WORK!  I was reaching down to pick up a penny outside Harold Hill Library and Nicky nearly ran me over!

I got knocked right over - notice how Josh's Mum just stood there taking pictures????

I was ok though!  I am NOT going to pick up anymore pennies though!  Well, at least not when Nicky is around!

Dexter x

Thanks!

In Havering Libraries we have alot of fabulous people who volunteer to help us and our community.  They do lots of fabulous things - listening to children read, helping grown ups get going on the computer, delivering books to people stuck in their houses.  Once a year we like to say thank you to them all!  Every volunteer who comes to the event gets a certificate - I helped Viv to write some of them - with her rather fabby pink pen!

And then I helped to cut some bread up!

There was an awful lot of it!

Then I found these!  Just happened across them!  You can see, I am poised to sample them......

....unfortunately, Viv spotted me - darn it!

Hee hee - then I found these!  Each volunteer gets a little something yummy for their tummy!

What do you think....will I be able to sneak out with these????

NOPE!  This is our "Lead Councillor" - he caught me!  - He is very very heavy because he is made of LEAD!...oh, Josh's Mum just told me he is our LEAD councillor...not our LEAD councillor!  So confusing!  His name is Andrew - and he loves libraries.  I thought he might turn a "blind eye" to me trying to sneak out with the chocolates - but it turns out he volunteered as well - so I didnt get away with it!  Shucks!

And here is a picture of some of the volunteers!

Dexter x

Covering for the boss!

It can be hard work at the top!  Ann, our big boss lady, is on holiday this week.  So, before she went away, she briefed me on what needed to be done whilst she was sunning herself in Spain with her grandson.  I think there are other people going too - but she didnt mention them!

Despite my heavy workload (thanks Ann!), I still found time to find her some books before she left!  She likes a good murder....hmmm, wonder what to make of that!

Dexter x

Summer Reading Challenge!

My goodness, its been a busy one this year!  In fact, its been our busiest one yet!

This is the finisher's board at one of our libraries.  In fact, we had 4114 children take part in our Space Hop this year!  Wow - now, ready for some maths?  They each come once to join up, then they come back 6 times to talk about each of their books - thats.....erm....hang on, toes.......erm....yes well, it's ALOT of visits! 

It doesnt stop there for the team though!  We need to do lots of sorting out so that every child who completed the challenge gets their certificate and medal in school.  So first, we sort the cards into a pile for each school!  Some schools have big piles - and some have little piles!  We like the big piles best!

I tried hard to help.  It is not easy, with little legs, to get around all of those different piles and not knock them over.  And then Jacky got her laptop out and put her music on....that really made me giggle - she had some really OLD stuff on there!  Jacky had to talk sternly to me and tell me not to mess around!

Her music choice was very funny though!  Josh;s Mum took a picture of me rolling with laughter!  Luckily this was on the next table - this was the table with all the oddments on - the cards with no schools, out of borough schools, preschools, senior schools etc.  Thank goodness this wasnt on the "proper" table!  I think Margaret might have yelled at me!

Still, we got them all done - now all we have to do is book the assemblies, and get the certificates written, and report the statistics up to the Reading Agency, and get a press photo done and and and - I need a nap!

Dexter x

These are a few of my favourite things....

Now - own up, who is singing the song from The Sound of Music???  We watched it last night!  I don't think I really understood it - all those children!  And Nuns!  And Soldiers!  And singing at every opportunity!  I did ask Josh's Mum if she thought that the people all sang when they went to the bathroom - but she told me off for being facitious...when I find out what that means I will let you know if I was being it or not!

That aside - I really did enjoy the song about the favourite things - so I am going to periodically put up some of MY favourite things!

Shoulder rides!

Tattoos!  Josh's Mum has TWO!!! But I am not meant to tell anyone!

Board games......not this one particularly - but Michael was very proud of it!

Stories - anyhow, anyway - reading, cassettes, CDs, ebooks, MP3 on my ipod - AND you can get them all from Havering Libraries!  Hee hee - just a little plug!

This one is a little cheeky - reading the newspaper over someone's shoulder!!!  Nothing quite like sneaking that peek!   G didnt mind me doing it though - he read all the difficult words for me - I didnt have a problem reading them, but he seemed to enjoy doing it, so I didn't say anything!

LAUGHTER!  Big guffaws, cheeky giggles, sneaky sniggers - you name it....I love them!



*Giggle* Dexter x

Lunchtime gaming!

Josh and I LOVE computer games and Josh saved all his birthday money to buy an Ipod touch.  Josh's Mum had to pop into her office on a day off so Josh and I came too.  Who should we find there????  Colin - our friend from HR (Human Remains?  Hardly Relevant? High Risk?  High Resistance?) - ahhhh HUMAN RESOURCES!!! Sorry, where was I?  Oh yes - Colin was there - he had just finished a meeting and was going for lunch.  SO - Colin and Josh spent a little time comparing what each of them had downloaded....

I had to put my glasses on to see the game he was playing - angry birds!  Colin very kindly took the time to show me how to play the game - he had lots of very good tips for how to get a high score!  In this photo it looks like he was helping me to play the game.....he wasnt!  He was trying to pull my hands off the screen so HE could play it!

And THIS was his face when he realised Josh's Mum had been taking pictures of our tussle!


Very FUNNY!  He did say to make sure that people knew that he was on his lunch break!

Dexter x

I need danger money!!!

It all started so well....there was Ella, Chris and Viv and we were all at Forest Lodge Community Day representing libraries.  Well, actually Chris wasnt representing libraries - he is a regeneration person...I think that's a little like Dr Who!

Have you noticed that we all have BIG smiles!

This is Alfie - he had a big smile too!  He had come from the Children's Centre - I think the ladies behind might have been a little tipsy because they didnt seem able to sit up!

There was an awful lot to see  and do - a nice man said that I could try out his bike...he had to hold me on, so I think it was a little large for me!

I think riding on the handlebars would have been easier!

And this is where it began to go wrong!  Ella thought it would be a great idea for me to have my picture taken with this owl from Myca Falconry!  Now, we might both have wings but thats all we have in common!  He kept giving me a funny look - he definitely narrowed his eyes at me when his owner wasnt looking!  When I wiggled my foot he looked distinctly hungry!

Then Ella took us over to meet the smiley PCSOs - the lady is called June....I know that because Ella kept saying "we must see June!".  I think the man might have been on holiday recently because he looked very tanned! 

Then June and I had a little chat about her Crime Investigation Day down at Collier Row Library....Ella looked like she might like to offer me up as a corpse (I thought she liked me!) so I quickly changed the subject!

AND THEN I GOT TO SIT IN THE POLICE VAN!  Really!  They took the keys out first though.

....and just to prove I wasnt just in the front of someone's car.....can you see me?

Then June let me try on one of the helmets and sit on their satellite dish!  It was quite slippery!  Oh, Josh's Mum just told me it was a riot shield - phew, glad I didnt need it!

At this point you are probably thinking that the only thing that was remotely scary was the owl...but it got worse....

I ermmmm kind of disgraced myself on their riot shield...in my defence (your honour), when I get nervous I do sometimes do little bottom burps...and this one left a bit of a scorch mark on their shield.  I thought they would be more resilient than that!  So June asked her friend to "lock me up and throw away the key!"....

I was very scared!

But then one of the other policemen gave a little chuckle and set me free - they had only been joking!  Well, it did nothing for my blood pressure I can tell you!

Ella, Josh, his mum and I then went to see the agility dogs from the Delta Dog Display Team - they were so clever!  I had no idea dogs could be that well behaved.  So - ELLA decided we should get my picture done with them all afterwards!

I think I smelled a little of the beefburger I had for lunch as the dogs started closing in on me...the teeny weeny Max (not the big hairy Max who was at the back in the last photo) kept snuffling in my ear...and then I am sure I felt a little nip on my wing!

I almost fainted with fear!

My next call was to see the lovely ladies from St John's Ambulance!  A lovely lady strapped me to a trolley in case I rolled off.

Then she listened to my heart and gave me a good check over!  She said that I had just had a "nasty shock" and that I would recover with "no lasting effects".

And I thought Ella liked me!  I need danger money!!!

Dexter x