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.

Hello

SPECIAL THANKYOU MESSAGE FROM KAREN COOPER, MANAGER, MEH

"I would like to extend a big thank you to the staff who have kept Mount Ephraim going in this bad weather.  Special thanks to Pat, Sharon, Daisy, Sarah, Richard, Nicholas, Paul, Di, Rita, Mary, Michelle, Annie & Angie, Tim, Diana & Sheila.

Also to those relatives who offered help.

I am so grateful that I have committed staff "

tuesday - keeping fit

keep fit with Sue was well received today; must be the cold weather!!

monday 29th nov

"Chapter 1
James Herriot reminisces about the cold winter days in Yorkshire. He treats a horse with a new medicine and supplements it with an older type, just to help. Instead, the horse collapses, and he and the owner both worry that the horse has died. Herriot fears he added one medicine too many, but just then the horse regains his footing, and the spots he was suffering from are nearly gone. Herriot learns a lesson about using too much technology when the new drugs are more effective."

The residents were treated to a morning of James Herriott stories - read to them by volunteers Elizabeth and Joan.  The stories are very funny and it was a very enjoyable morning for all concerned!