In memory of Margaret ...

Carolyn (one of our volunteers) came today with some beautiful flowers, that were donated at her mother's funeral on Tuesday.  Carolyn, with some help from Eileen created lovely table arrangements for the home, in memory of Margaret who was an avid supporter of MEH and used to arrange sunday luncheon parties here in the games room, for her friends from chartwell lodge.  she will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

making music

 

 

 sing a long in the lounge, Sheila and Di provided the backing from Max Bygraves and the residents provided the percussion and the singing!

 

 

Pottery painting

mary and Sheila came to the pottery painting barn whilst the others were fishing, Sheila was happy to wander around and look at all the brilliant pottery on display, but mary was keen to paint something - we chose a heart that when fired, can be hung in her window.

 

the finished result, all ready for firing - we will collect it sometime next week.

and this is my effort, half finished, that I started with Sheila!!

http://www.slapndash.com/ 

 we had tea and scones out on the riverside café tea room, and encountered a duck nesting in one of the flower tubs on the patio!

Wild flower collection

mary p is more interested in wild flowers than fishing, so we took these photos along the way back to the pottery painting barn...she is going to look up the names later to confirm what she already thinks they are.

fishing at hawkhurst...

fabulous trip out today, to the fish farm at Hawkhurst fish farm in kent.  we hired rods from the marshall and he set up each with bait and then we waited............and waited.........................and waited....................but alas no-one had a bite! sorry chef, no trout for tea tonight.

http://hawkhurstfishfarm.co.uk

mary, Sheila, peggy, mary f and marise lined up for instructions, but mary p soon decided that she would rather look for wild flowers!

 

 

Sheila wasn't too impressed either, so I took them along to the pottery painting barn.............

A trip out ... In our own garden

today, for a change, we decided to go for a trip to the Summerhouse!  this structure has been in the garden for ever, but it transpired that some of the residents had never been in it!  our first group booking of the day was mary p, mary f, marie, jean, followed later by marise and lucille

 

we then took marie and mary f around to the 'folly' at the back of the garden, which has a 'look-out' onto the main road- a place to watch the world go by (must get a seat in there) and reflect!

 

 

mary and I walked around from the outside to see di and marie and (ellie, hiding) to take this photo.

Lucille and jean having a natter, wonder when coffee will arrive??

 

marie says she would prefer to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air.

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mary in the garden

this photo was taken for Mary's granddaughter - as she is interested in all things flora.

In the garden

 

 

a lovely display of flowers on the patio - mary f, peggy and mary p (with her family) came to sit outside friday afternoon, enjoying the sunshine while Christiane called the numbers for bingo in the games room (we couldn't persuade patty, Helen, susan, Philip or marie to play outside!)

Knit and natter!

 

our new 'knit and natter' group in the library today, all looking very serious. mary p came to join in but was soon whisked away by a friend coming to visit...

Patricia at the Piano

the photo on our new facebook page of Patricia's visit was not a very good one so I am not re-producing it here!  Patricia kindly came to play her favourite classical pieces to a very appreciative audience in the lounge (much more comfortable now that we have moved the piano) this afternoon and she finished just as the tea and biscuits arrived.

I then took her home and gave Hester a lift  to an appointment; by the time we got back, supper was about to be served and so I didn't get a chance to sit with Mary P and show her the messages that came yesterday (my day off) so ive promised her she will be first on the list tomorrow morning!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAZEL

 Hazel's birthday today- the family came to visit.

hairdresser, charity, was in the salon all day working hard and the chiropodist was around too.  still raining, so no coffee on the patio today. 

upon arrival this morning, I was handed a sheet of paper with a poem written on it entitled - The Cats of Mount Ephraim- created yesterday apparently during poetry club with Annette and Mary; my job was to type it up and after a couple of false starts (! )here it is...

The Cats of Mount Ephraim

 

 

Oh! what a lovely life they lead,

twenty-four-seven, they sleep and feed.

The morning, they spend in a comfy chair,

if the weather is sunny, they take the fresh air.

 

Loved by the residents and all of the staff,

de-flea’d and de-wormed, but not up for a bath!

If no-one is watching, they sneak into lunch,

any food on the floor, they will eagerly munch.

 

Ellie and Bess, Mount Ephraim, they rule,

life without them would not be so cool.

We will stroke them and fuss them both, every day,

for at Mount Ephraim, The Cats, they forever must stay!

 

Poem by:

Patty, Marie, Phyl, Mary P and Mary D

Tuesday ....

After keep fit and lunch, patty,Mary p, lucille retired to the library. Peggy,Marie and Mary f went to the cinema to see Liberace film at odeon tun wells ....

a stunning display of 'pick n mix'

 

Patchwork ...a work in progress!

 

Sheila and Di brought the patchwork in to show me today- its still a 'work in progress' but it is looking stunning.  it was the residents' idea to use octagonal shapes (which is really tricky) and now its all tacked together the next stage is sewing it all together!  the girls hope to have it finished in time for the summer garden party (craft stall) fingers crossed...

WELCOME BACK NIKITA!

Nikita's first day back at work after maternity leave; everyone was pleased to see her and it was almost like she had never been away!

sorry about the photo Nikita I was trying to find one with you and baby Evie.... still looking!

Monday -another busy start to the week

Monday started with interview panel - residents and senior staff interview prospective new staff and today we had applicants for carer and kitchen positions. marie, phyl and Eileen made up the panel this morning and peggy joined this afternoon in place of Eileen who was busy

Elizabeth and joan came to entertain residents in the library - over coffee, they recite poetry and read favourite passages and anecdotes - lots of laughter could be heard this morning...denis, marise, mary p and others, enjoy this fun start to the week.

 

mary f was out shopping and lunch with jenny and roy, and susan took communion.  ive been taking lots of photo's today of the garden - the mosaics were done by some of the residents a few months ago and I thought they would look nice along the wall.  Julian has put out some old butler sinks for residents to plant up with flowers - patty has decided on hers and we need to go to the garden centre soon to buy them.

 

after lunch, peggy continued to work on her collage (sorry no photo yet) patty got to work on her colouring and marise, mary and phyl came in for a chat.  Eileen is helping to sort out the library and we have made some progress today...then Lucille arrived to water her pots!  the water butt is full at the moment and makes life easier to fill the watering cans.

Garden chores

Marise braves the cold!

!

brave marise agreed to pose on the patio so I could show her the photo on the blog instantly- she is well impressed!

 

The sun has gone in...

And so have the residents!