What a beautiful day...

The annual summer garden party yesterday was great fun. So grateful to all the kind and generous people who supported the event and helped on the day, especially our gardener Julian and his family - we couldn't do it without you!

Doreen enjoyed the music, and was up dancing to Doug Wake on the keyboard!

Heidi in charge of refreshments and ice creams, had a nice shady spot under the trees....

the kid's zone just gets bigger and better every year (glad I didn't have to pick up all those balls at the end!) thanks to Ross and his family.

roy and jenny looked after the bric a brac this year, and jenny (above) made some gorgeous cushions for us to sell on the craft stall....

 

mary and granddaughter ruby, created an amazing sweet stall and almost ran out of stock!!

 

 

 

The event was officially opened this year by the twins, Sheila and Di, who as the longest serving employee's of MEH, have contributed so much over the years.

 

 

 

 

Less than 24 hours til gates open!

The gardening team have been hard at work today to make things lovely for tomorrow!

Preparations for garden party

Everyone is joining in, happy to help! Only one more day to go ...

Thursday news...happy birthday Susan!

It's Susan's birthday - here she is opening her presents and cards ....

 

3 more days to go...

To our summer garden party... Lots of preparations afoot - at least we don't have to worry about the weather !!

Tuesday

Another gorgeous hot day - working on planning the garden party. Sue came to take keep fit but she devised some special fun exercises for the residents to keep cool. It was music for health with heather this afternoon - nearly a full house but Peggy and Mary f came out to sit on the garden - while Mary had a nap, Peggy painted a sign for the sweet stall ...then Hester came out to work on her canvas which she really enjoyed ...so much so the carers had to come find her for supper!! Forgot to take photos though ...

shopping at Barsleys

www.barsleys.co.uk 

 

 

a shopping trip was arranged today- to paddock wood and our favourite department store. the service there is so brilliant - the store manager opened up a special entrance for us and even arranged a parking space for our minibus driver!  our residents enjoyed a look around the store, tea and cake in the upstairs café and then posed for photos on the street corner before heading for home.

going greek

Amanda our chef decided to create a 'greek themed day' - devising special dishes for lunch and supper. we all joined in- with gary dressing in a toga,  flags on the dining tables, greek music to get everyone in the mood and we even arranged some 'Olympic games' in the back garden...

 

PRIVATE TOUR OF THE BIG CAT SANCTUARY

 our intrepid residents and staff visited the Big Cat Sanctuary at Smarden today for a private tour and the chance to 'adopt' a big cat.

The Big Cat Sanctuary is located at Headcorn Road, Smarden, Kent. The site is 38 acres in size and is quite open with large grass expanses.

Parkside Leisure and Paradise Wildlife Park have committed substantial resources in both time and money to help expand the Big Cat Sanctuary and establish the Wildlife Heritage Foundation. The aim from the outset was to establish the Sanctuary  as a Conservation Centre of Excellence. 

visit their website for more details

 

whf.org.uk

 

all we have to do now is decide which animal to adopt - they were all magnificent!

 

 

sunny july day

the patio garden was quite a hub of activity today, in between Elizabeth and Joan's Monday get together in the library (reading Claire balding's autobiography today which had some residents lol) and sue's reminiscence group this afternoon. 

we had a new girl over the weekend, her name is Joan (2) and she is settling in very well.  patty found some time to draw in the studio and hester wanted to catch up on a programme she missed last week on iplayer...Helen p had lunch with her daughter today in the library and then they sat out on the patio under the purple parasol - a sudden breeze nearly took the shade away!!  quick thinking by Helen's daughter saved the day.

 

after the sun had gone down a bit, patty ventured into the studio to draw...she had the windows open and there was a lovely breeze

Friday heat wave!

Perhaps a bit too hot for some today,but it was also quite exciting with the tennis on in the lounge and many stayed put for that!  Christiane our volunteer did drag herself away from the tv to call the bingo and host the quiz for which we are very grateful!

this morning, Pam arrived with Thomas (the PAT dog) and she did the rounds, stopping off for coffee on the patio with mary and peggy.

knit and natter in the library today - a lot of nattering but not a lot of knitting! mary p had a friend visit so I think Eileen and marie did most of the work!

Pam brought in some dog'cardigans' and a pattern which she thinks we may be able to knit - maybe in time for the autumn/xmas fayre!  tigger is seen here modelling the cardigan - looks very good on him - do you think they will catch on?

a trip to sainsbury's today for john to do some shopping and then a well deserved strong, black filtered coffee!

late afternoon, and patty, marie and phyl take a stroll around the back garden, inspecting the veg patch before supper.  end of a perfect summer day!

Thursday celebrations!

American independence day - cakes, flags and bunting, but didn't get a chance to do the 'quiz' as it was tennis from Wimbledon on the tv ......exciting matches!

Annette's last day - she gave us a big box of chocs to share..............

jean had her hair done today.............looks lovely

Annette presented a card to the staff (and one for the residents) to show her appreciation for her time at MEH while on her social worker placement. we have enjoyed having her and she will be sorely missed

patty and I inspected the vegetable patch this afternoon...........

and then patty decided to sit in the cool sun of the late afternoon and sketch some plants

and was later joined by the latest new resident (mary h) for a chat

a view of the sundial and veg plot

a cheery delivery chap- bring supplies to the kitchen................

a view of the art studio from a different perspective

 

this morning started with computer lesson for Eileen, on her own laptop