visitors

jemma and daughter milly brought in a little puppy they are looking after for a friend at the moment to show the residents. lucille, john, madge and marjorie all enjoyed meeting him and giving him a cuddle!

our girl friday

dorothy wanted a job to do today - preferably paperwork she said - so we asked her to collate some papers for the sponsored walk being arranged for october; she requested payment in chocolate and we were happy to oblige.

monday morning

monday morning discussion group chaired by elizabeth and joan our trusty volunteers. from poetry reading, story telling and debating current topics - its always a lively session.

happy birthday helen

this is birthday girl helen, on her way to the dining room for supper on friday evening, having been out most of the day celebrating her special day.


this is the cake chef Paul has made for her...

a new poster appeared in the dining room today - its one of the latest prints from the keep calm gallery www.keepcalmgallery.com

at lunch time the 'bar' opens and residents can order their favourite tipple - anything from a g&t to a snowball - the message is quite appropriate and put a smile on a few faces.

friday 10th

its 10.30 in the morning and only 3 residents are in the mood for dancing today in Becca's class (normally held every friday). never mind, ursula, dymphna and pat are happy enough to do the warm up exercises!











at 2.30 the bingo is on in the music room - Christiane (one of our volunteers) comes every friday to 'call the numbers' and residents enjoy a couple of hours trying to win all the prizes... when i took this picture only a handful of residents had turned up, but a few minutes later there was a full house.

they usually finish the afternoon with a general knowledge quiz, a gossip, then a walk around the grounds before supper.

tuesday outing

there was no keep fit today - Sue was away - so residents spent the morning reading the papers, listening to music, or doing their own thing. lots of visitors today and quite a few lucky people being taken out to lunch. Meanwhile, Chef Paul prepared spaghetti bolognese and garlic bread for the others.

after lunch, those who retired to the lounge watched a dvd (ladies in lavender) which is a lovely film starring maggie smith.

We had arranged an outing for the afternoon and at 3pm set off for the town of Paddock Wood, where there is a super department store called Barsley's which sells (almost) everything. The ladies went off to look around and we agreed to meet up later for coffee. a new costa coffee opened in paddock wood recently, so we sat outside at tables and chairs with our latte's and cappucinos, enjoying the sunshine and watching the world go by.

marion went off to explore the local ironmongers for a letter opener, Dymphna went to the library to order a book and Lucille popped to the florists. Marie went off to the chemists with a list of things to buy for other residents who decided not to come out! By the time we met up again, the coffee was finished and it was time to get back on the mini bus for the trip home.

happy birthday madge

 
It was also Madge's birthday today - her daughters took her out for lunch and she had a lovely day. Chef Paul will prepare a birthday cake and the other residents will sing happy birthday while she blows out the candles!

reminisence to round off the day..

Once a fortnight, Sue comes to take a 'reminisence' session with residents in the lounge. its a friendly get together to share ideas and discuss a wide selection of topics, including highdays and holidays, travel and transport, hopping in kent, womens lives around britain and 'when we were young'

Sue includes poetry, quizzes, and games as well as music and at the end of the hour, the tea and cakes arrive!


think its egg & chips for supper tonight - a firm favourite for everyone!

meanwhile...

robert came to the music room to play the piano - this is something he does most days, and usually he plays his favourite piece by Chopin.

arts and crafts today!

monday morning once a month, Julie comes to inspire our residents with her wonderful art and craft sessions. today was no exeption - she brought an amazing array of fibres/wool and equipment, in order to demonstrate the art of feltmaking.  we were lucky that our two lovely volunteers, elizabeth and joan, come on monday mornings and they were able to help out the residents!  Julie showed them how to make 'beads' first of all which when dry we will be able to thread and make necklaces.  next, the residents learned how to make 'flat' felt shapes and we hope to be able to make some collage art in the next session in october.  we have arranged an autumn/xmas fayre in october (28th to be exact) and all the items residents have made over the past few months will be on display and for sale.

i took some photos, and the best of them are here!

sunday 5th september

the new mount ephraim initiative by Chef Paul called 'Come Dine With Me' proved to be a success today on its launch! For £4.95 our five diners enjoyed a superb two course roast beef lunch with all the trimmings with pear crumble (and cream) for pudding and a glass of wine, tea and coffee. very good value.

We are hoping to make this a regular feature - even extending it to an evening meal, so if anyone is interested in booking a table, please telephone Karen or Paul at Mount Ephraim and book your table

sunday afternoon in the sun!

This is Rose, enjoying herself  in the sunshine this afternoon having been persuaded to go outside with Sharon! We took the picture as its quite rare for Rose to venture out, but of course once in the garden she wondered what she had been missing!

friday 3rd sept

busy day today; lots of relatives visiting and things going on.  Wifi connection was down so couldn't use the computers and then one of the lifts packed up!

Christiane one of our volunteers came this afternoon to 'do' the bingo which is always popular, followed by a general knowledge quiz.  we also held a residents meeting today after lunch which we do every two months, to guage residents feelings and sort out any problems they may have.  very positive meeting today - quite a few of the residents would like a trip to Sissinghurst gardens so we will have to arrange this soon.

we have a trip booked on a london cruiser http://www.thefloatingboater.co.uk/  in a few weeks time, as well as a trip to a piano recital, etc etc.

don't forget the mount ephraim Quiz night next thursday - if you can get a team together its £5 a head including a ploughman's supper.  book now for a place...

garden is looking brilliant - thanks to Julian and his new helper!  the summerhouse has been refurbished and looks good and its still warm enough for the residents to sit outside during the day, or stroll around the grounds.

2nd trip to hadlow

We arranged another trip to Hadlow today for those who didnt come on tuesday (although Pat stepped in again at last minute when Hazel decided not to go!)


really lucky with the weather again; everyone agreed that the fresh air had done them good!

this time Linda accompanied us - she travelled in the mini bus and i drove the the green van with Diana as she gets 'seasick' otherwise. She wouldn't let me take her photo so there is no evidence she was there today!!

Robert, Helen, Susan, Pat, Doreen and Helen C. are pictured here enjoying a delcious cup of tea and homemade cake.

The residents left behind in the lounge watched 'Marley & Me' with Jennifer Aniston - one of the new films Karen bought recently - hope they enjoyed it.

thursday sept 2nd

The hairdresser visits mount ephraim house every thursday and residents look forward to seeing Charity, having their hair done and catching up with the latest gossip in the 'salon'.

This lovely line drawing was done by Patty one thursday as she sat waiting for her appointment - its called 'hair day' approriately enough! think i will get it enlarged and framed to put up in the 'salon' - not sure if Charity has seen it yet but im sure she will be flattered.

few more pictures from hadlow

we took lots of photos of the beautiful flowers, which we can perhaps use at meh for greeting cards, posters on the wall or just as inspiration for the artists!


these gardens are all designed by the students at Hadlow college.







getting everyone together at the end of the afternoon for a 'group' photo
cont'd below. that's olivia in the background!

afternoon tea at hadlow

We have had a lovely afternoon at Hadlow college/Broadview gardens www.broadviewgardens.co.uk today;
the weather was just perfect- sunny and warm with a breeze.

Olivia - one of our volunteers (she is doing her Duke of Edinburgh award) came with me - we were joined by
patty, helen, hilda, pat, lucille, sylvia, marie and marion, none of whom had visited this beautiful place before.

we had tea, scones and homemade cakes in the tea room, then everyone went off for half an hour exploring
the various flower beds, the garden centre and shop, or just sat in the sun and enjoyed the views.

there is so much to see, and the staff are very friendly and we definately will be making a return visit before
the year is out.