thursday april 7th

here is madge just leaving the hair salon with Linda! meanwhile, Helen and Eric decided to go for a stroll in the cool late afternoon air - this picture is especially for helen's sister just to prove she does indeed get outside sometimes!!

computer

marie, sheila and iris discovered You Tube today - each had a favourite piece of music and interesting choices were made - from Charles Aznavour to Richard Tauber.

monday

elizabeth and joan visited today for meeting of the minds - poetry, stories and deep and meaningful discusions about life!  lunch was followed by Sue's reminisence session in the lounge - topic today was religion which was interesting and provoked lots of memories and debate!

again, sainsburys's generously donated lots of flowers, no doubt left over from mother's day, and we were able to brighten up the rooms and corridor with gorgeous tulips and special daffodils.

patti put the finishing touches to the easter cards she has designed for the competition and lucille and dorothy took themselves off for a walk in the afternoon sunshine.

INVITATION

Patty has kindly produced a poster inviting relatives to a meeting on 15th april followed by our SPRING FAYRE from pm onwards which everyone else is welcome to attend. It will be held in the games/music room and weather permitting, on the patio!

flowers and opera on the 1st april

 flowers from sainsbury's today. opera video in the lounge this afternoon, while bingo was being played at the other end of the house. well done to Marian who apparently won 7 times (only took 2 prizes though) hope you enjoyed it!!

John had a trip to the library to continue his local history research, Patty did a lovely poster for the forthcoming relatives meeting and spring fayre (invitations will be mailed out to you on monday) and peggy enjoyed her regular g&t with the family - before the priest arrived to visit his 'flock'!

trip to burrswood

this afternoon a group of residents went to visit Burswood in Groombridge, organized by two kind volunteers, Vivienne and Joan from Chartwell Lodge.  we had tea and homemade cake in the delightful tea rooms, then went on a guided tour of the building - from the chapel to the bookshop including a lovely stroll in the grounds.  The daffodils were in full bloom and made a stunning display.  Helen managed to get stuck in a lft and patty got chatted up by the coach driver!

greensleeves Accolades 2010

tuesday 29th march 2011 at the MIC hotel in London.  Head Office (Greensleeves) Accolades Event was held to celebrate achievement in 2010 of the 17 homes in the group. Karen took 4 members of staff as mount ephraim had been nominated in 3 categories - Activities award, Innovation and Carer of the Year

In addition, Diana and Sheila Wilson were recognized for their long service records (36 years in Diana's case and 33 years for Sheila) and received Certificates and a gift.

Daisy was a worthy finalist for Carer of the Year - 'she is always cheerful, enthusiastic, capable and reliable..a team player, willing to learn, adapt and take on new challenges......she is also loyal, and fantastically committed to mount ephraim... a role model. She received a framed Certificate.

NVQ level 2 certificates were  awarded to Jessica & Daisy and Level 3 to Jemma and Sarah in recognition of their hard work and study.

We are pleased to report that Mount Ephraim House won the Activities Award and the Innovation Award and were  presented with prizes and Certificates which will be proudly displayed in the foyer.

not the monday blues!

julie came today for art and craft session; continuing on the wall hanging project we started a few weeks ago. this beautiful piece of silk was sent to us by patty's daughter and we are nearly ready to assemble all the lovely flowers, leaves etc - this is work in progress. meanwhile, elizabeth was entertaining some of the other residents with anecdotes and poetry in the library - the sun was streaming though the windows and everyone was in good spirits.

end of another week

finished today with bingo - eric, gordon, sylvia, helen p, doreen, phyll, marian, marie, susan all won prizes !! Win & peggy had visitors and patti was busy designing an easter card for a national competition mount ephraim is entering.

we had  flowers from sainsbury's and pat helped to arrange some vases to put around the home, taking care not to smudge her newly painted nails after Priscilla (the manicurist) had just done them! lucille, margaret, ursula and iris and diana also enjoyed a spot of pampering... lovely sunset this evening - afraid this photo doesn't really do it justice.

what a beautiful day

it was such a warm sunny morning that we managed to get quite a few residents to venture outside for a walk and a breath of fresh air - pat, lucille, helen c, sylvia, sheila, robert, margaret m and patti, phyll and dorothy f - all enjoyed the sun. madge came out later, just before lunch, and asked me to take her photo - doesn't she look lovely?

still life sketching, computer class & musical entertainment - a day in the life of meh

while patty and phyll enjoyed sketching in the sunny library, susan and sheila were learning how to send emails with tutor Val.

meanwhile in the lounge Jon McDevitt was entertaining residents with his guitar and singing popular songs, and the hairdresser was finishing off in the salon.

a special treat

Patricia Jacobs came to play the piano for some of our residents today, and guest of honour was Robert - a dear friend of Patricia's, who is also a passionate piano player and loves his classical music. she played for over an hour to a very appreciate audience and only stopped when the tea trolley came around with a welcome cuppa and homemade cakes!

Tuesday morning starts with SONAS session in the dining room...

'Sonas aPc was devised by Sister Mary Threadgold, a speech and language therapist in Dublin.

Sonas is Gaelic for 'well-being' and aPc represents 'activating potential for communication'. The

multisensory packaged programme on audio tape uses music, singing, touch, smell and taste to

promote interaction and a sense of well-being amongst participants.'


This was followed by the weekly 'keep fit' class run by Sue who is specially trained in this area.  She reported

"A cheerful, enthusiastic group !"

Shostakovich - Ballet Suite No. 3 - Part 6/6

tuesday afternoon, and residents were treated to an afternoon of classical music, presented by ray and lesley orsen.  they finished with a piece by shostakovich so ive added a clip from you tube (it may not be the exact piece lesley played, but will be a reminder of the day!)  A  big thankyou to lesley and ray for sharing their passion for music with everyone at meh.               

Reminisence Today at meh!

Today's topic was "Age", and we brainstormed the qualities of youth and then explored which
	of these qualities they have! This triggered many memories and we took the opportunity to
explore the positive aspects of getting older. The debate was particularly lively, with many
people sharing their opinions, including Doreen, gordon, marie, helen d, helen c and helen p, lucille, phyll, peggy and pat...	The residents also tried out sample
	dining/lounge chairs and appreciated that their opinions were sought by Karen.
by Sue Betts
21 March 2011

the masterpiece!!

busy afternoon

christianne called the bingo today, eric and helen came along a bit later to join in with susan, pat, doreen, phyll, gordon, helen p,marie, sylvia and iris.

meanwhile, ursula, patti and lucille joined me in the foyer to sort out the pens and pencils and then with supplies organized, we attempted some therapeutic colouring in!

madge had a visit from the priest, and peggy's family visited for the now regular legendary g&t in the library!

st patrick's day

residents and staff celebrated st patrick's day today, with an irish themed lunch, decorations and hats!!

spring has arrived today

doors to the patio open for the first time this year - lovely day and the daffodil bulbs are so pretty.

a beautiful day

madge was the star of the keep fit class today and marie and iris were indispensable in the flower department.


Tosca was on in the lounge (gordon's favourite opera apparently) and patty came to create another masterpiece in 4b pencil. will scan it in and maybe use it in the next newsletter.

the builders have arrived together with office and portaloo in the grounds so no parking possible at MEH for the next few weeks, but there is plenty of free parking around.

monday march 14th - sitll life

left patty happily drawing in the library yesterday after a busy day, giving piano lessons to karen, listening to poetry with elizabeth and joan (in monday group) and Variety hour in the lounge with sue joining in with the quiz!

it was a lovely day for walking in the grounds, receiving visitors and enjoying ham egg and chips for lunch.

John had a local history tutorial at tunbridge wells library - a volunteer who is an expert on tracing local history on the computer spent an hour helping john with his research.

This is patty's still life picture from last week - looking forward to seeing her new picture!

volunteers needed!!

 Christianne, a volunteer who was recommended to MEH by another of our long term volunteers Lesley Orsen.  has now been coming to 'do the bingo' for a year now and is very popular with the residents.

If any relatives out there can spare a couple of hours (a week, a month or just now and again) please get in touch and share your skills, interests or passions with the lovely residents of meh! Alternatively, you may know of someone is perhaps retired and could spare some time to help; music, art, local history, crafts - or just a chat over tea and biscuits!!

full house!

christianne our lovely volunteer arrived friday to call the numbers - the residents look forward to her visit as she always make sure everyone wins a prize!! after bingo she hosts a quiz and then a few residents stay to chat and help her with the clearing up...
today's group included helen p, helen d, grace, susan, madge, marie, phyll, doreen, gordon and robert (who had some help from a little visitor!)

sheila and dorothy went for a walk in the grounds, and pat helped with the flowers, and ursula got the pastels out; tried to get patti to join us but she wanted a cat nap instead...
Peggy J had some visitors and enjoyed a g&t in the library!!