So did you catch it?  If not, the full programme of tonight’s Titanic Songs of Praise is on iPlayer here

…or if that’s too much singin’, you can just catch Eleanor’s bit here

…or the Dock’s bit here – look out for Dock Cafe!

It doesn’t seem long since we were racing to get Dock Cafe ready for Eamonn and the Songs of Praise film crew – obviously things move fast in BBC-land, as the programme is now ready to broadcast – set your Sky+ for tomorrow afternoon – 5:10pm, Sunday 11th March on BBC1.

In the TQ we’ll all be watching it together at the end of tomorrow’s Dock Walk.  It’s so exciting!  How and where will the Dock appear? After all that work, will there be more than a fleeting glimpse of Dock Cafe?  Will we get to see Jonny and Olwyn’s sellotape holding up postcards on the wall, or Joe and Elaine’s candle on the table?  Will anyone notice that my beard was much more fulsome on the first day of filming than the second?  Will Eamonn say “the Titanic sank, so it did”?

One thing we do know for sure is that the incomparable Eleanor will appear, as you can see by clicking here to see a preview of her contribution to the programme.  What a complete star!

And to complete my media blitzkrieg on all your senses this weekend, as well as watching my stubbly mug on BBC1, you’ll be able to listen to my dulcet tones on Sunday Sequence on BBC Radio Ulster – I’m due to pop in to chat to William Crawley about Eamonn, Songs of Praise, Titanic and all things Dock at approx 9:45am during tomorrow’s programme.  Set your…(whatever it is you set for a radio)

And on top of that, we’ve been joined in Dock Cafe this weekend by Anja, a journalist from a fabulous glossy German magazine called Mare.  We first met when I was tour-guiding last summer; she was part of a junket of journalists who were writing travel articles on the Belfast tourism scene, but after hearing about the Dock while on the Titanic Walking Tour, she concentrated more on the Dock story in her article and has now been commissioned to come back over for the weekend to do a follow-up article!  (…it’s probably for the best that her article didn’t concentrate on my tour – I think it was one of my very first, so there may have been lots of enthusiasm but not a lot of facts…!)

So – TV, radio, print – and not just in German, apparently I was in the Belfast Tele’s ‘Question of Faith’ last weekend (I didn’t see it – if anyone did and hasn’t thrown it out yet, could you save it for me!)

And invading social media as well – the Dock Cafe opening on Thursday got some great coverage on Twitter, as you can see below.

And what of Dock Cafe in the midst of all this excitement, you may well ask?  Well, you’ve seen the pics of the opening, and now we’ve got two “normal” days of business under our belts.  I’ll write about it all in more detail next week, but for now just to say:

Wow.

To get a little taster of Dock Cafe life in action, have a look at this cool timelapse from Alaninbelfast:

So I think we’re ready…

Another dash to the finish line, another To Do list to be ticked-off one-by-one, another Herculean effort buy the fabulous, fabulous Dock gang…

More sofas, new art, new tables and chairs, more Titanic stuff…

Loads of locally sourced ingredients – fresh buns and traybakes from the bakery, locally-produced coffee and tea…

Dock cafe is ready!  Opening tomorrow at 3.  Miss it at your peril…

A quick little blog before I hit the hay tonight. Dock Cafe is looking awesome as the team pull out all the stops to be ready for the Grand Opening on Thursday afternoon; over the last few days, more artwork has arrived, we’ve got some extra tables and chairs, a rather swish new leather suite, a working stereo system, a step at the entrance door, and a even a fishtank… (the names of the fish shall be ceremoniously revealed at the Grand Opening).

So just a quick message tonight to ask all you wonderful people of The Dock for help, on three fronts:

One – the final countdown!  From 2:00 onwards tomorrow (Wednesday), we’ll be putting the finishing touches to the space to get ready for the opening.  Whether you’re free in the afternoon or evening there’ll be plenty to do – wear old clothes if possible and arrive any time.  By sundown tomorrow night Dock Cafe will be ready!

Two – brother, can you spare a dime?  Dock Cafes don’t grow on trees – but it’s amazing how much difference some of your donations have made.  Think of it like this: a £10 donation buys one Ikea floor lamp; £20 a barstool; £25 a gas refill for the heater; £50 buys the fridge (thanks Gumtree!); £100 a good-quality secondhand squashy leather sofa; £150 a heater… you get the idea!  To make things even easier, you’ve maybe noticed that there’s a new ‘Give’ tab on the Dock website homepage; you can send a cheque as always, but now you can use the wonders of the intranet to donate through paypal without leaving your sofa.  To everyone who is helping us make the Dock vision a reality and bring Dock Cafe to life – thank you.

And three – unleash your inner barista.  Tegan, the wonderful Captain of the good ship Dock Cafe, is putting together a team of volunteers who can spend some time helping out behind the coffee bar.  Much good craic, flowing coffee, interesting people and great times are guaranteed.  You even get first dibs on the tray bakes.  Just get in contact if you’re up for helping out…

That’s all for now – g’night!  Up early tomorrow to meet the guy who’s connecting the water supply!  They never trained me for this in minister college…