just found this photo...

...taken when we went for a stroll out at eridge rocks looking for bluebells.

our first egg!

lesley and seth meet the chickens

we had a visit today from Lesley (far left) who follows our blog in new zealand where she been living for the past few years. she met the new chickens, admired the veg garden and met some of the residents. little seth (who was off school due to the teachers strike) came too.

meet the chickens!

the mount ephraim chickens arrived yesterday and were introduced to their new home in the garden.

we now have to give them all names and so from a list that residents and staff have suggested we are going to take a vote on the most popular and then have a naming ceremony next week!

so far suggestions are:
sybil, gertrude, henrietta, gladys, mildred, karen,florence,ruby,violet and wilamena. we will announce the winning names at a ceremony in the garden next friday!

Life's a Beach...

annual trip to the seaside today - this year it was st leonards on sea and we visited AZUR on the seafont.   http://azurmarinapavilion.com/index.html  highly recommended!

trip to st leonards on sea...

john. doreen, robert, susan, sheila, jean, marise, lucille and hester assisted by hollie, olivia and volunteer ivy, enjoyed a day at the seaside today. although quite breezy out on the front it was a beautiful sunny afternoon and everyone got some sea air. our destination was AZUR a lovely restaurant/bistro on marine parade. the staff looked after us so well.

john went for an impromtu paddle, hester collected some pebbles from the beach and robert enjoyed a walk along the prom courtesy of hollie. we had a fish 'n' chip lunch and the minibus driver took everyone for a drive along the seafront to take in the sights of hastings old town before heading back up the A21 and home to mount ephraim house.

iris at the computer

val was teaching computers today - iris was doing very well - we helped her to send an email to her son. marie was interested in google and susan howard smith looked up some interesting sites on russia - a country she visited some years ago and loved. the theme today was again involving food and val did some reminiscing with residents on what sweets they used to like and researching their origins on the internet. we had bought some old fashioned sweets to prompt the memory (and taste buds) and we had flying saucers, sherbet dabs and cough candy to name a few.

making Ice Lollies

 just the thing for a summer's day - julie came to do an art and craft class and this week the theme was food. we decided to make some ice lollies which residents could enjoy. patty got stuck into squeezing the lemons, marian pulped the raspberries and someone else was responsible for taste testing before the lollies made it into the moulds for freezing. lucille, marie, pat, marian, patty - all had a great time.

keep fit outside today!

it was too hot for keep fit indoors today, so sue took the residents out for a walk around the grounds and then they enjoyed a rest in the shade - fresh air and sunshine just as good as physical jerks!

sandwich

variety hour with a food theme..

 how many words can you make
from the word sandwich
was one of the questions posed to our residents today by sue during variety hour. she was expecting about ten - but ended up with over 25 - in spite of the humid atmosphere today our residents were on top form!