1st march 2013

spring is on its way at last!

the painter is hard at work brightening up the interior of mount ephraim house,
we are making plans for the Garden Party in july, Golf Day in september and looking forward to our first 'Charity Ten Pin Bowling Challenge' on sunday 3rd march.  Julian and his team have been busy in the garden and we are lucky to welcome new volunteers from local schools.

 

the art experts!

this was our trip to the trinity art gallery in twells last thursday - bitterly cold day, but peggy, mary, hester and ken braved the weather.  we dropped off marie and eileen in the town centre to do some shopping.  i suddenly remembered id left patty behind so hilary is on the phone, asking if she wants me to go and pick her up!  after the exhibition, we had tea and cake in the cafe there and hester bought some cards in the gift shop.  i hope patty has forgiven me!!

mary plays host...

yesterday, we were visited by a group students from the University of Greenwich who came to see how life is for residents in an 'eden centred 'home. 

They spent the day talking to residents and joining in activities. pictured are all the students with Mary in the background who organized scrabble in the library!

make do and mend

we had a new workshop today, hosted by caroline who studied textiles at university and came along today to share her ideas and expertise. ken,joan,(and her daughter maureen)phyl.patty,and eileen had a lovely morning being inspired and all made a brooch to wear on their lapel...

sheila's Jukebox

sheila and Di's wednesday club is a fixture at MEH now and this week sheila brought along her very own jukebox for residents to sing- a -long to some well known tunes.  they provided home made cakes with the coffee and we were joined today by some students from the university of greenwich - carly, emma, laura, tanya, rachel and nicole.

abigail - a future star?

mount ephraim residents were treated to a one-off mini concert today by rising star Abigail (aged 13) pictured here with her 'roadies' twin brothers oliver and samuel. 
Abigail has entered a singing competition where she will have to perform to a live audience and so what better way to test her skills than in front of our very own discerning music critics!  luckily they were overwhelmed with her presentation and musical prowess - she writes all her own material too!
looking forward to hearing how she gets on....

happy valentines day

we decorated the corridors a couple of weeks ago; some of the residents cut out and painted paper hearts to hang on our sparkly tree's around the home, karen bought everyone a chocolate heart and we ordered a dvd copy of 'brief encounter' to show in the lounge this afternoon for the romantics amongst us!  of course, everyone has seen it before, but a long time ago... choc ices were served half way through but tea didnt come til the very end so as not to spoil the finale!  some residents received visitors today and some even had flowers delivered!

where is everyone today?

all seemed quiet this morning...but on further investigation I found marie,eric, philip, helen,patty,marise,hester,eileen,etc in the library for monthly communion; Paula,the manicurist was in the salon to do mary's nails, followed by Joan; janet the masseuse was visiting audrey, iris and lucille today and win was enjoying coffee in the foyer (in peace) meanwhile, in the lounge Di and Sheila were entertaining denis, susan, helen c and helen d, olive, jean, doreen, anne, marjorie and dorothy with a sing-a-long session where tea and cakes were provided along with the marracas! later, we brought out the sherry but it didnt improve the singing!

tea party on shrove tuesday....

...with special guests Vivienne and Joan.

SHROVE TUESDAY.....

....means pancakes!

2013 - the year of the snake

To mark the beginning of the chinese new year, the residents found a fortune cookie on their side plate at supper tonight - lets hope their wishes come true!

"the snake is an interesting person, sexy and seductive with a hint of danger behind that beauty.
So watch out for that snake person - one of the most popular of the 12 chinese zodiac animals!
if you are lucky enough to be a snake person, use your talents to have a great 2013"

without giving away their dates of birth, we apparently have four 'snake' people at mount ephraim, grace, marise, lucille and olive.

Thank You Asda ......

Asda supermarket located on the Industrial estate in Tunbridge Wells raised us £25.00 with their Community Life appeal.
We were the chosen charity of the month and were very pleased to accept the cheque.
Thank You to everyone who contributed and to all at Asda!

                         Its a cat's life

Elle and Bess show us some sisterly love and a united front bless them......

happy birthday joan!

92 years young, Joan celebrated her birthday with a family lunch in the library, followed by birthday cake and candles.

snowbound at meh

looks very pretty, but the residents not too keen on going outside for a snowball fight!  maybe we will use the pictures for our next christmas cards...

Farewell to Pat Knight

 

(taken from the eulogy written by Pat's family and read at her service on 22nd January 2013)

Daughter of Kathleen and Lesley Gentry, Pat was born at Tunbridge Wells Maternity Home on 28 October 1935. She spent her whole life in and around the town, ending her days at Mount Ephraim House, aged 77.

A huge fan of Elvis Presley, Pat loved music and enjoyed going dancing with husband Vic at the village hall.

Pat moved to Mount Ephraim House in January 2006, that provided her with loving and genuinely caring surroundings. Tim and Rachel are extremely grateful to the amazing staff who not only cared for her basic needs, but also provided her with a fun and stimulating environment - bingo and craft sessions were particular favourites. Carer Michelle, known to Pat as ‘little Shrimp’, recalled their trips into Tunbridge Wells town centre, coffees at Sainsbury’s and visits to the pet shop where Pat could see the animals she loved.

Her son Tim and daughter in law Rachel remember Pat as a sharp, vibrant, wickedly funny woman - and that’s how we should all remember her.

 

 

 

 

In Memory of Christine

we said a fond farewell to Christine on the 15th January 2013, at the Culverden Evangelical Church in Tunbridge Wells.  family, friends, staff and residents from MEH attended the service of thanksgiving for a very special lady.  Christine did not want her photo on the order of service so we will respect her wishes and not put a photo on the blog, but she was a very popular lady who enjoyed her time with us and made many friends.  she will be sadly missed.

afternoon tea

any one for Jenga?

shopping at ASDA?

if you go to ASDA tunbridge wells, be sure to put your green tokens in the MOUNT EPHRAIM box please - one of the chosen charities this month!  Karen shows how its done, yesterday at ASDA after she bought some storage boxes for MEH.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE 2013

reflecting on 2012 - a busy, interesting year...

we celebrated the queens diamond jubilee, st patricks day, valentines, the olympics as well as all the residents birthdays;we visited the london eye, burrswood, hadlow gardens, bexhill on sea and eastbourne and hastings; the residents got involved in lots of art and craft projects from mosaic to collage- we put on our own david hockney exhibition, made cards, visited hobbycraft for an art session; residents got involved with scrabble, computer lessons, magic tricks, walking in the garden and on the common, going out for tea, visiting the town centre for retail therapy; we had new volunteers, celebrated and thanked our regular wonderful volunteers with a luncheon, raised money at the spring and autumn fayres, plus the annual garden party and charity golf day; introduced 'my home life'-had reminisence hours, sing-a-longs, music of all sorts, welcomed Thomas the PAT dog, fed the chickens, stroked the cats,said goodbye to some beloved residents and welcomed in some new ones...

thankyou to everyone who has volunteered their time, donated money and prizes and helped in any way to make all this possible - we could not do it without you, but especially Manager Karen who believes in activity provision as key to a happy and healthy life for residents at mount ephraim house.

hilary was promoted to deputy manager, tim, mary, sheila, di, diane, hilary - all received long service medals presented by head office; meh were nominated for lots of awards and many staff recognized for their service - linda, lillo, sheila and di, to name a few... nikita had a beautiful baby girl called evie and brought her in to meet the residents, jess introduced her gorgeous baby boy, olivia announced she was expecting and daniel got married in the summer.  Our gardener Julian has done an amazing job through the year and the garden has never looked so fantastic - especially with the red, blue and white theme for the jubilee year! 

our residents have kept their minds, bodies and souls fit with Sonas, keep fit on tuesdays, walking in the grounds, communion and church visits, zumba, crosswords and jigsaw puzzles, bingo and quizzes, music and films,shopping,listening to music, singing and dancing (!) visitng the hairdresser, chirpodist, manicurist, masseur,opticians and dentists - & occasionally the doctors and nurses!!

highlights of the year include the 'going for gold' challenge, the garden party in july when marise cut the ribbon, patty and dorothy celebrating their 99th birthdays, trip on the london eye, hilary becoming deputy manager, the volunteer's lunch, trips to the coast, iris learning how to use her ipad.......the olympic torch coming past our door......

celebrating christmas MEH style

the staff and volunteer Vivienne helped to make christmas day special for our residents; good food, fun and a festive drink put a smile on everyone's faces!

the court jester and marian...

he has put a smile on her face! merry christmas from marian and gary...

FATHER CHRISTMAS HAS DELIVERED EARLY..

the presents have landed on top of the fireplace - father christmas and rudolph made a special stop to MEH

we are all ready now for the residents to open their gifts tomorrow on christmas morning over sherry and mince pies.  If any family or friends wish to share in the event you are most welcome...

karen gets her christmas wish!

poor karen had run out of time to get her tree so her trusty elves (di, mary and michelle) came to the rescue! after mother christmas (alias debbie) helped to fix the lights, she somehow got it into her car, and now her christmas is complete!!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE.

st paul's choir visit MEH

The MEH Residents CHRISTMAS PARTY....

 

....on the 13th December was great fun for our Residents - thankyou to everyone for attending- especially the Rotary Club singers who came along to sing carols and encouraged us all to join in!  The buffet was amazing, courtesy of Amanda and Daniel and Jonathan provided the entertainment which was excellent. We had a raffle (thanks to Sheila and Di) with some great prizes donated by very generous people, and Heidi, Michelle and Eileen ran the bar which we are happy to say did not run dry! 

reminder...

...dont forget, its the Mount Ephraim House Residents' christmas party on thursday 13th december. if you have not already RSVP'd please do before monday!

P.S. latest  newsletter on its way.

happy birthday denis

70 not out! the theme of the day.  denis organized a special birthday bash for his closest family, friends and residents today. amanda provided an amazing buffet lunch,sheila and di made denis a special 'cricket' cake which was delicious, karen stocked the bar and our lovely volunteers from TWGS decorated the rooms and blew up loads of balloons!! big thankyou to heidi, holly and everyone else who helped make the day go smoothly..special mention to Jonathan Pursell who performed on the guitar and sang; the highlight of which was a song he had written especially for denis. he had even printed out the words so that everyone could join in with the sing-a-long.  the caricature artwork was also a gift from Jonathan who created it from a photograh of denis!

thank you to everyone who came to the party and made this a very special day for denis.

our vintage xmas fayre

a big thankyou to everyone who helped make our vintage christmas fayre so successful today; our stall holders, marie, heidi, nirali, jenny and roy, christiane, marian and carolyn;

to di and sheila and the residents who made special things for our craft stalls,
jenny for all the decorations and knitting she has done and to
karens niece for the gorgeous cup cakes.

to the relatives & friends who donated gifts and items for sale...and
also big thankyou to everyone who visited our fayre and helped us to raise nearly £200 for our residents amenities fund.

it was a beautiful day and we even had our bric a brac stall on the patio! in november!!

lesley's classical ballet music selection...

we were lucky to have Lesley Orson today here today, to play a selection of musical pieces from the ballet  - she tells the story of the music first and then plays it from her repertoire of cd's. the residents are always so appreciative of the time she gives them.  thankyou Lesley.

jewellery making for the vintage fayre

joyce,marise,lucille,marie, peggy and patti were busy today making necklaces and earrings for our xmas fayre on thursday; helen obligingly modelled them for us!