high tea in Brenchley

 eric, susan, helen p, helen c, ken, marie, marise, phyl, patty,peggy w, lucille, jean and mary f

our 'monday club' volunteers arranged a fabulous tea party today for residents and staff at elizabeth & David's beautiful home in brenchley. Joan and Elizabeth baked delicious cakes and scones and meringues, and treated us to their wonderful hospitality - everyone enjoyed themselves and we would like to say a huge thankyou for a truly special afternoon!

card making with a difference...

while half the residents were making music with heather (music for health) in the lounge, marian, iris, christine, marie, marise and patty were making cards with tutor, julie in the games room.  as usual, she has exciting new ideas to try and lots of interesting art materials to play with!

everyone was very impressed with their finished projects.  next session we will be making jewellery with fimo clay...in time to sell at the xmas fayre on 15th november.

residents on top of the world....

 

a very exciting trip to the London Eye yesterday - marise, ken, dennis, joyce, iris, peggy w, hester and jean, together with some of the meh team, took off in pod number 21 to see the sights! 

having fun at hobbycraft!

we had a lovely afternoon at hobbycraft yesterday; marise, marie, helen p, helen c and patty joined annie and I for a collage session organized by hobbycraft manager, Louise, in their tunbridge wells store.  the works of art our residents completed will be on show in our art studio at MEH

hello win!

just updating the blog today - win agreed to pose for us....

afternoon stroll along mount ephraim!

after a hectic and enjoyable afternoon with Heather and her 'Music for Health' class, several residents decided to get some fresh air - Marian and Marie went for a walk on the common, some prefered to sit in the garden, but Iris, Mary and I opted to walk along Mount Ephraim and stop for a chat on a bench...

getting ready for the exhibition

following on from the David Hockney Exhibition earlier this year which we were unable to take our residents to - we are planning our own art show featuring his work at MEH. made a start today - hopefully we will be ready in time for the autumn/christmas fayre in november.

fashion show

vicky and her team from Bon Marche in Tonbridge came along to show the store's latest collection - modelled by the team and our own residents! on offer were dresses, skirts and jumpers etc, plus nightwear and slippers - in fact something for everyone.

keep fit with a difference!

 

 

sue devised some games for residents today during keep fit - add variety and fun to the weekly class. judging by the happy faces i think it was a great success!

a very glamorous great grandmother!

Charity suggested we take a photo of the newly styled Dorothy today - she looks amazing!

zumba golden thursday!

antonia arrived to find the lounge full of residents ready and willing to get into the zumba mode - latin american music and gentle exercise is good for the mind, body and soul!

Residents' Accolades 2012

an afternoon of celebration today - Doug WaKe providing the entertainment! Many of our residents received a Certificate from Karen, in recognition of the contribution they have made to the day to day running of life at Mount Ephraim House - from Marie who is on the residents' committee and the interview panel, to Doreen who every morning helps her fellow residents with their breakfast..  Dorothy attends to the plants in the garden and Lucille waters the indoor plants on the windowsills. Patty is always available to produce posters for upcoming events at the home, and Grace received a Certicate for all the knitting she does!

fresh air and exercise...

a walk on the common with iris, denis, mary and marie - hollie was just on her way to work and was happy to pose with iris so we can send a copy of the photo to hugh...

SUNNY EASTBOURNE FOR THE DAY!

just to let you know we went to Eastbourne for the day with jean, ken, mary, hester, grace, dennis plus lilo, claire looking after everyone!  the minibus dropped us off at the Hydro Hotel which was amazing - service brilliant, surroundings opulent and seaview. to top it off, we had gorgeous weather and sat outside on the lawn most of the time, playing croquet and having a go on the putting green...eating eat cream and taking in the sea air!

a day out in bexhill...

today, friday 10th august - visit to the DE LA Warr pavillion for coffee, trip to the shops, fish 'n chip lunch on the seafront and walk along the promenade- gorgeous weather- sea air and sunshine.

ZUMBA GOLD

antonia visits us again for another session of zumba gold - a special zumba routine devised around armchair exercises - the music is fun and uplifting and the moves great for co-ordination and strength!  karen has booked a zumba  session next week  for the staff - lets hope we can keep up!! (we wont be in the armchairs i dont suppose)

classical music morning...

residents were treated to a concert from 'music in hospitals' duo Vocal Harum and Judith Flint, two professional musicians from london.  their slogan is 'creating joy through live music' which was certainly the case today.

a memorial for margaret

the family of margaret mills came to meh this week to place a beautiful bird bath in the garden in her memory.  it stands in the patio garden, next to the water feature and can be seen from the library and anyone sitting out on the patio; a lovely gesture which will be appreciated by all the residents (and the birds!) and is a lasting memorial to a very lovely lady.

special birthday lunch for Lucille today...

at the Spa Hotel organized by her lovely family.  Happy Birthday Lucille, you were a star today!

summer evening BBQ

making the most of the long summer evenings  - chef daniel got out the BBQ and cooked burgers, chicken, lamb kebabs and prepared hot dogs for the residents (and some family members) & staff. sadly, not all residents thought it was a good idea to eat outside but for those who did we had a lovley evening!! Daniel brought out Lucille's birthday cake - she made a wish and blew out her candles - and we enjoyed a slice with our ice cream. 

Happy Birthday Lucille!

Residents and staff enjoyed the proceedings ..........

trip to hadlow

tuesday afternoon trip out to Hadlow College Garden Centre  - Hester wanted to buy some cards, mary,ken and sylvia had a walk around the garden, marie and joyce enjoyed the shop and gardens and we all welcomed a cup of tea in the cool and comfortable tea room. 

the opening ceremony was performed by...

...Marise McVey, much to her surprise and delight of her family. 

Our Garden Party!

Saturday the 21st of July.
Fun was had by all and the weather was wonderful.
Thank you to everybody who came, we hope you enjoyed it.
Here are some pictures......

Olympic Torch procession enjoyed by all.....

preparing for the summer fayre...

all hands on deck now, preparing things for our art & craft stall - marian, marie, patty (in the studio) phyl, iris, mary and helen keeping watch - it was a busy creative and enjoyable afternoon. 

dont forget - our summer fayre is on saturday 21st july at 2.30 - everyone is invited.

'going for gold' challenge week comes to a close

after a busy week, karen presented certificates and medals to all the residents who took part in the various challenges, and gave medals to individual winners, at a lunch time ceremony today. Pictured is joyce who took part in many of the activities this week but excelled in croquet and also won a prize in our mini Olympic games!!

The NAPA 'going for gold' challenge was designed to encourage residents from homes all around the country to get fit by trying out different activites - this week we tried Zumba Gold - a very exciting (seated) dance routine to latin american music, guaranteed to bring a smile.  we have now booked Antonia the instructor to come to MEH on a a regular basis!  sue our keep fit instructor is now going to design a keep fit routine incorporating 'fall prevention' exercises that everyone can get involved in and do every day...

Motivation with Cathy as part of Going for Gold week...

Going for Gold week........

Residents and staff enjoying Zumba in the lounge fun was had by all...

Introducing Jess 's handsome little baby boy awwwww who came to visit staff and residents today it was lovely meeting him   

trip to tonbridge for shopping...

john, audrey, marie, patty and mary were joined by olivia & me for a shopping expedition to the high street in tonbridge and for coffee in cafe nero which was air conditioned and very comfortable!

Wendy visited with her two Border Terriers Milo and Mia we all love seeing them

The Big Care Home Conversation - coffee morning

"The Big Care Home Conversaton, led by 'my Home life'  offers a unique opportunity to be part of a bold and exciting public awareness project.  From mid May to mid June, care homes across the UK will be opening up a dialogue between residents, relatives, staff and the public about:"

"what makes life good in care homes now, what could

 make them better - and how might we get there?"

today we held a coffee morning, with delicous home made cakes, to talk about what makes a good care home environment and what can be improved.  we had input from residents, volunteers, staff and guest from nearby chartwell lodge and ideas were noted down on the cards (or leaves as they are known) provided by 'My Home Life' - these will be sent to My Home Life HQ at the end of July and will then be analysed with everyones comments from across the Uk. This information will help create a book for the public on best practice in Care homes.  The 'leaves' will be put in a wheelbarrow and delivered to Downing Street, with a message about working in better partnership with Care Homes - we need the Government to start Listening.

if you want to join in, please pick up a 'leaf' from our foyer and fill in your comments - by capturing the views expressed 'My Home Life' can tell the world what people want from care homes...!

Our coffee morning conversation today was a great success - here are some of the pictures...