christmas lunch thanks to sheila and co...

the dining room all set for a super traditional christmas lunch, roast turkey with all the trimmings, courtesy of Sheila in the kitchen.

everyone soon got in the mood, pulling their crackers and donning the paper hats!





now for the washing up Sheila!!

JUST RECEIVED - A LOVELY THANK YOU LETTER!

Karen received this letter today from two of our lovely guests and wanted to share it with everyone as she feels very proud today...

MOUNT EPHRAIM HOUSE CHRISTMAS PARTY

To All the Staff:

Well done to everyone for all their efforts to make the Christmas Party such a success. It was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who attended, visitors and residents alike.

As ever it was not just the renowned Mount Ephraim House hospitality that impressed. More importantly, it was a further reminder of what makes Mount Ephraim House, in our opinion, absolutely unique – the total care and level of concern of all the staff for the residents in their charge. Not just providing the basic necessities but “going that extra mile” that convinces all of them that they are, in fact, “home”.

Just watching you all providing that special care for each and everyone of them puts most – if not all – of us to shame. We just don’t have what it takes, that special something, that you all seem to assume as normal.

Don’t let anyone EVER say that you are “just carers”. You’re top of the heap, one in a million – and it’s plainly obvious to anyone privileged to watch you work.

And well done to the management for getting it right. It’s not easy.

Best wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year.

Mick and Carolyn Belcham

meh party 2010

a few portraits on the night! it was a lovely party, super food, plenty of booze and music provided by the fabulous doug wake. thanks Karen!!

father christmas...

discovered father christmas up on top of the fireplace at meh today, just needs a few presents to distribute!

review of the year cont'd...

we have had an eventful year at meh, starting off with a visit to the panto in january, johan strauss concert at the assembly hall, celebrated chinese new year in feb, easter celebrations in march, trips to the theatre, art galleries, trinity theatre in april, silver surfers day in may,'music in the air' in june, our garden party in july, party in the park in august, plus river boat trips, day out in eastbourne; sketching on the common in september and trip to burrswood, and in october it was the sponsored walk, autumn fayre and our golf day, finishing with halloween celebrations. november we celebrated bonfire night and visiting the new M&S, trips to local garden centres, a slot on local radio and award ceremonies.

In december, we have been visited by the rotary club carol singers, tunbridge wells boys school choir, and our usual activities - singing, dancing, computers, art and craft and bingo!

some of the staff have been especially celebrated this year with shortlisted nominations for Diana in housekeeping, paul the chef, & daisy and tracey on the care team. We also won an award for Innovation for our introduction of the simply unite computer system in the home, which we hope to extend next year. Nikita was shortlisted for carer of the year in the Reed business awards, and Karen was nominated for care manager of the year; all well deserved recognitions of people doing an excellent job.

We also held the first ever Residents Awards Evening, recognizing the unique talents and contributions from some special residents!

Looking forward to the Mount Ephraim christmas party and christmas celebrations...

etc

review of the year

cant get to work today because of the snow, so I have been reviewing the events and photos of the past year at meh. there have been many memorable days, lots going on and here is a collage of some of them!

another snowy day!

snow caused chaos today - no bingo, no music man - residents had to put up with 'the King and I' for the afternoon instead!!  tunbridge wells was almost at gridlock this afternoon, as the snow came down suddenly quite heavily and then the roads froze over!  did manage to get a few more xmas decorations up, but hopefully we will finish them off next week.  At least the tree is up in the foyer (courtesy of Julian the gardener) which looks lovely.  lets hope the snow disappears before the meh xmas party next wednesday!

the choir comes to meh

today the residents and staff were treated to a delightful musical experience from the Tunbridge Wells grammar school. 24 schoolboys arrived, some with instruments, and entertained our residents with music and carol singing for over an hour. everyone enjoyed the experience (including the boys!)

trip out...

http://www.millbrookgardencentre.co.uk/
wednesday morning we set off for a trip to millbrook garden centre in jarvis brook for a bit of shopping and lunch. our minibus arrived, and pat, phyll, marian, marie, susan hs, hilda, and jean clambered aboard for the short trip.   we had a cup of tea and lunch first, then had a look at the various items on sale - lots to look at but the not the most convenient of places for our residents as it has been built on a slope and there are lots of steps and ramps inside! 

didnt get a chance to take any photos but if you click on the link you will see where we went.

making the decorations...

Julian, our gardener, cut us lots of greenery so we could make some christmas garlands and wreaths for mount ephraim... today in the music room, we set about cutting the foliage into small bunches (as shown to us by Julie) and started on a garland for the staircase.

marie, marian, ursula and iris joined in - while robert and patty hand painted some of the christmas ornaments we bought which will go on the tree.

keep fit circle

the residents look like they were having fun today during Sue's keep fit session.

'sounds sophisticated'

Linda and her partner known collectively as 'sounds sophisticated' visited us again today and entertained our residents in the lounge. Their thoughtfully planned selection of popular music on saxophone, clarinet and keyboard delighted our audience at meh, and included some festive tunes and carols to get everyone in the mood for a bit of christmas spirit.

thursday

Barbara was in artisitic mood today and she is here trying out some artcure pens.













meanwhile, in the lounge, Julia (one of our volunteers) hosted a quiz for the residents.

computer fun!

Iris is learning how to use the rollerball mouse by doing a jigsaw on the computer.  she did very well...







marie and phyll have been taught a word game on the computer and are playing for money! marie won the princely sum of 20p for her efforts!!

Shop with Priscilla!

Introducing Priscilla Thorp - beautician and skin care expert, who visited meh today.

She set up a mini shop in the foyer, selling gift packs of beauty products for our residents to buy for christmas - especially helpful as some of them have been unable to go outside the door for the past week!

contact: Priscilla on o1892 825676 or email: priscilla.thorp@talk21.com

Jemma also opened the 'tuck shop' for sweets, toiletries and miscellaneous items.

group photo before departure!!

This photo was taken by Sheila of some of the Mount Ephraim staff before they set off for the Great British Care Awards last saturday.

Diana, Paul and Tracey were shortlisted for awards and Mount Ephraim was well represented!! The official photograph showing everyone will be published shortly.

the finished article...

starting the decorations

our christmas decoration scheme this year will be based on natural elements, foliage, berries and twigs from the garden. Today Julie our art and craft tutor showed us how to make a garland - which we will put above the main fireplace at meh.

shown here, madge, patty, phyll and ursula, making the little bunches of foliage that eventually were wired onto the main body of the garland. Phyll brought along a tin of 'roses' for company!!

start of another week

still snowy, bleak and cold, but the roads a lot better and most of us managed to get to work today. Sue came this afternoon to entertain the residents in the lounge for 'variety hour' - a mixture of music, quizzes and anecodotes.