Beautifully illustrated, it gives clear guidelines on conservation and picking rules, as well as cooking tips.

ETCH A SKETCH The legacy of Patrick Hickey - the painter, architect, designer, etcher and lithographic artist who died in 1998 - is celebrated with a retrospective of his work in the Dalkey Arts Gallery. Hickey, who was born in British India in 1927, studied architecture in UCD and then etching and lithography in Italy before starting a print studio in 1962 with Anne Yeats, Liam Miller, Leslie McWeeney and Elizabeth Rivers. He also designed bank notes and postage stamps for Ireland and was head of painting in the NCAD from 1986 to 1990. This spectacularly beautiful exhibition runs until 4 May.

GET THE SCOOP!

Purveyors of fine ice cream Ben and Jerry's held its first Free Cone Day in a converted gas station in Burlington in 1979. The tradition is still going strong 29 years later and this Tuesday they'll be dishing out free ice-cream at Scoop Shops in Dublin and Galway between 1pm and 6pm, as well as collecting donations for Friends of the Earth.

Tuesday also marks the launch of two new flavours to Ireland, Vanilla Toffee Crunch and Bohemian Raspberry, and to celebrate, there's a screening of cult classic, Napoleon Dynamite in Movies@Dundrum at 7pm. If you'd like to catch the movie and scoff some ice-cream mail freeconeday@thinkhousepr. com LET'S MAKE IT CLEAR The oxygen-based facial has long had its champions and now we too have joined the ranks after experiencing the Beauty-Tox Ultra from the Nora Bode OXYjet treatment. It delivers pure oxygen and specialised ingredients into the skin, smoothes fine lines and wrinkles, pumps up collagen. The result is A-list, dewy, clear skin - the kind that says, "I drink three litres of water a day and have never, ever eaten a tray of curry chips." We're ready for our close up.

Call 01 8828624 for details.

BUY IT THIS WEEK Get them cheap and pile them high.

More is definitely more when it comes to bangles this season, and you can afford to go as OTT as you want when with these Rosina bracelets from Costelloe and Costelloe, Euro9.50 each. www. costelloeandcostelloe. ie THINK ICE BEFORE YOU MISS THIS A rather special performance comes to Belfast with the arrival of the Imperial Ice Stars in Swan Lake on Ice at the Grand Opera Hall in Belfast. The cast is made up of 25 skaters, who between them have won over 200 competition levels, including Olga Sharutenko, star of ITV's Dancing on Ice in the role of Odette, the woman transformed into a swan by a curse. Tchaikovsky's delightful score is accompanied by a dazzling array of triple flips, double axels and death spirals, and it's also a remarkable occasion because this is the first time the stage has been transformed into an ice rink. Running from 24-28 April, tickets are available from �10.75 to �32.75. Visit www. goh. co. uk or phone 028 90241919.

FREE WHEELING "Rain is my friend, " a taxi driver told us the other day. "So are uncomfortable shoes, heavy shopping bags and general laziness." He really didn't make us feel particularly good about ourselves, sitting in heavy traffic, emitting carbon fumes as the metre clocked up the euros. Next time we need to take a cab in Dublin, we'll be jumping into Ecocabs, Ireland's first free (and emission-free) inner city transport option which operates in the city centre between 10am and 8pm. All you have to do is hail and hop on - and they look like a riot to travel in.

ON A HIGH The Loft, at the top of the Powerscourt Centre in Dublin 2, is home to an eclectic range of original labels and vintage gear. Open from 126pm on Saturday and Sunday, it's been up and running since just before Christmas but this Saturday marks its official launch. Backlash DJ Chewy will provide sounds, there will be free cocktails and canap�s, and highly recommended are the following: Laura de Burca's silk prints, Fable Clothing's ethical fashion, Wendy's Wardrobe's quirky accessories and Jill Burke's cool handbags.