Karen relaxing with the very affectionate Ellie, who always loves a                                           good cuddle.

Thursday

Patricia came to play for us today, a lovely classical selection... After the Zumba routine at 2 it was at welcome relief

 

Wednesday

Communion today in the library, more shell painting in the games room and motivation class with Cathy ... Mary had a go on the drums and 5 of our school volunteers came along this afternoon to spend time with residents....

Busy Tuesday...

... With sonas, keep fit and a researcher from itv coming to talk to patty. Peggy started on her next project, painting seashells and Eileen started a new jigsaw.
Marie, Philip and lucille went for their morning walks but there is a definite nip in the air today. Heather arrived this afternoon for her 'music for health' session and it was not only well attended but we couldn't fit anyone else in!

Went around the garden this afternoon and took lots of autumn snaps!

Monday, the weeks starts...

with Joan visiting the residents in the library for poetry reading and gossiping over coffee and biscuits! quite a crowd in the library today, nearly ran out of seats!

after lunch it was Variety Hour with Sue - she had some quizzes and games to make the afternoon fun before tea.  Eileen and Hester waited for the session to finish and then I took them to the town ... Eileen had an errand to attend to and Hester needed to stock up on greeting cards in her favourite shop in the old high street.  we met up in a lovely café (part of Christchurch) and bumped into Vivienne who was pleased to see us!! (hello Vivienne if you are reading this!)

Manna is a café with a difference; they give all their profits to charity and justice causes and are involved in the 'suspended coffees' movement.  you can purchase something from the menu in advance for someone in need - it will then be 'suspended' and saved for a vulnerable person who would appreciate being looked after.

Eileen and Hester were really impressed with the presentation of  tea on the trays....

joan and Karen catch up after the morning session in the library, joined by the 'other cat' !!

 

she is as pretty as her sister............

Penny for the Guy?

He looks amazing! Made by carers deb and Gemma and resident Peggy, with help from Gloria ...and volunteer Beth ... He is now happily sitting in a wheelchair at the front door... Expectantly!!

Thursday

Computer lessons, hairdressing, Zumba art and craft, and scrabble with volunteers from school... And all while some of the residents were off at the Hop Farm in paddock wood visiting the animals, viewing the story of the hop farm and enjoying tea and cake in the tea room!

tuesday at meh

Karen back from her hols, with new friends for the library!! (not the owl he was already there!)

a record turn out for keepfit today- gorgeous weather so a few hardy souls took to the garden for a stroll in the sunshine. after lunch it was choir practice in the lounge

and painting shells in the games room.   we also made a start on the wine bottles, but that's another story.....

 

peggy with her 'jarlamp'

Friday

A mix of dogs and cats, visitors from home and abroad, art and craft, bingo , quizzes, scrabble, knitting, walks in the garden or across to the common, listening to the radio , trip to town, fish n chips for lunch, residents committee meeting, even a bash on the drums... Friday as always was busy

love the mix of colours here, from peggy's painted cones, to the decopatched jars and knitted squares

the autumn colours in the garden are stunning

Another puzzle completed!

This was a tricky one, lots of cats! But Eileen persevered and today proudly left it on the table - completed ... Onto the next one now Eileen.

Ping pong for grown ups!!

It was 'older people's day' today and head office presented us with a special 'ping pong' kit for us to introduce to the residents ... Good fun; staff and volunteers joined in ...perhaps it will be a regular thing at MEH

EASY FUNDRAISING!

EASYFUNDRAISING.ORG.UK

 

 

We have registered Greensleeves Homes Trust – Mount Ephraim House as a charity to support on the Easy Fundraising site.

 

If you do any online shopping all you need to do is:-

 

-       Log into easyfundraising.org.uk

 

-       Find a cause – (Greensleeves Mount Ephraim House)

 

-       Register your details

 

-       Start shopping

 

There are hundreds of shops connected to this site, one that I’m sure we all use is Amazon.  The Home will then receive a percentage of any money you spend.It doesn’t cost you anything.

 

All you have to remember is to always go to the site you want to shop at via the Easyfundraising site.

 

Last boat trip of the year!

Kingfisher 's last trip for the summer and so we celebrated Marie's birthday in style. Tea and cake on board, a gentle chug down the Medway and back to feed the swans and lovely ducks!!

 

marie feeding the swans and ducks.............Sheila and di brought along a loaf of bread for the job!

 

lovely sponge cake for marie's birthday made by Sheila, and the crew joined in to sing happy birthday!

Tea party at brenchley

Here we are at elizabeth and Joan's for tea and what a fabulous spread they put on - delicious meringues, scrummy scones with jam and cream, super chocolate cake, apple cake and lemon sponge - all washed down with cups of tea or coffee. The weather stayed fine so we were able to sit in the garden for a while, admiring the roses and lemon trees ...Gloria, Denis, Hester, Marie, Marise, patty, Doreen, Mary h, Eileen and mary p had a lovely time. A huge thank you to our excellent hosts.

You can find them in the garden!

 

peggy has been decopatching again today, joan painting pebbles, mary played scrabble with volunteer Cameron, and phyl came out for some fresh air...

 

meanwhile, Eileen was trying to finish her puzzle and to the rescue came volunteer Beth to lend a helping hand.  patty came to do some sketching in the art studio and Lucille felt like keeping her company - it is nice and cosy in the 'shed' as patty calls it!  even marise popped out for a walk around the garden - she had been watching Jon McDevitt performing this afternoon in the lounge (to a very appreciative audience) and then Ralph (another of our wonderful school volunteers) brought back a game of connect 4 that he had just enjoyed with Joan W ...

Jane came today from Compaid -she teaches residents how to use the computer - and I left Marie trying to figure out some clues on an on-line crossword - what is a dutch cheese beginning with 'M' none of us had any idea!

we have even found a new use for black bin liners and carrier bags....

 

radio kent comes to interview patty and Hilary.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01gcjb1

think if you move along to 2.23 minutes in you should hear start of the interview!

Patchwork quilting continues

Di and Sheila's quilt is taking shape and growing fast with a little help from our residents ...the plan is to auction the quilt at the next summer garden party ...it is certainly a labour of love.

A star in the making

BBC Radio Kent came to interview patty today for the morning show - she took it all in her stride, even managing to play a drum solo for the audience!

Show and tell...

An idea first mooted by one of our residents, we held our second session today and as it was another sunny afternoon so we decided to meet outside on the patio.

A very interesting array of items sparked lovely memories and discussions and the time went so quickly....first was Patty who showed us her bag!  she always carries a tote bag on her shoulder, with her bits and pieces in (newspaper, pens and pencils etc) and today she laid it out on the table to show us the design. to our amazement she told us that she had not only made the bag, but designed and embroidered the front panel.  apparently, after her husband died she took up embroidery classes (as well as painting) and this was the result.  we all agreed it was a stunning piece of work!  She also pulled out two pebbles she had painted recently which could be used as paperweights!! is there no end to her talents?

Eileen produced a little black cat ornament, which turned out to have been made of coal!  there was a lovely story about how she came to buy it.....then marie showed us a treasured possession - an amazing card, signed by Lord Mountbatten, which was given to her late brother for his service during the war....Marise shared a very old magazine with Oscar Wilde on the front cover which belonged to her father ....and mary p revealed her hidden talents - a beautifully bound book (in its own special box) that she had written some years ago & her husband had illustrated - all about the wildflowers of the Tunbridge wells common!

....meanwhile peggy had been working away while listening to everyone's stories, sorting  and testing out a huge box of pens - and inadvertently produced her own original piece of art which we have turned into some greeting cards!

 

 

After tea we did a bit of art therapy - using the colouring books and felt pens ...before one of our lovely volunteers from school arrived, so Mary F went off to play scrabble and Joan's family paid her a visit....

 

 

Rummikub in the sunshine

Joan's daughter had brought in one of her fav games to play and today Eileen and Hester joined her for a battle on the patio! Never played it before but it was good fun once all rules were explained...!