garden renovations are underway

julian, our gardener, has taken these photos to show the progress of the current garden transformation- new fruit trees, an extension of the garden path so that residents can do a circular tour without any steps or 'dead-ends' and the new water butt installed to conserve water.  really exciting work going on and should all be ready in time for the summer! 

friday march 14th

wet and windy today, but didnt stop the gardeners cracking on with the garden renovations - they were pressure hosing the patio and getting the vegetable garden ready for sowing...Thomas our 'PAT' dog paid a visit and anne tried her hand at some painting. mary said she had forgotten how to play the piano (she was right) and then announced she would like to learn to play the yukele (any offers?) christiane our friday volunteer came to call the bingo followed by a general knowledge quiz which is always popular.  Izzie and James came from school to visit the residents - they ended up playing scrabble with mary and i think james won this time!

and this is how anne's picture turned out, amazing.

happy christmas karen!

...karen's christmas present was delivered by hand today ....better late than never....

watercolour collage

julie visited today for an art session. she was joined by phyl, patty, marise, marie, eileen,ken and lucille - all enjoyed playing with paint and trying out new techniques.  this is the basis of a collage entitled  'living by design' which residents will finish over the next few weeks.

meanwhile, jane was in the library, giving computer lessons to hester & iris, and later, after their art session, marie, eileen and ken. Marie was keen to find (out using google) what  the 'Aintree Iron' was/is.There are so many possibilities but she is not sure which one she prefers!  Hester has found lots more long lost relatives...sorry denis, you didn't get a turn today but jane will see you next time and you will be first in the queue!!

charity was here in the salon, with a full client list and audrey, joan and helen p had visits from their daughters' today; wins' son came by too...

keeping the students amused!

on wednesday afternoons, our lovely students from the local schools,come to visit residents.  Joan, Jean and Phyl are good fun and enjoy trying to beat Beth and Anthony at connect 4 or pin-ball.Then its time for a cup of tea and a chat before they head home to do their homework...

elizabeth comes to play...

one of Joan's favourite games is connect 4 - elizabeth, one of our volunteers from school, came to play with joan and helen joined in too - jean was happy to read her paper!  afterwards,elizabeth played the piano for helen as she loves listening to music.

in memory of peggy james...

Peggy James' family chose to have her' wake' at mount ephraim house yesterday and we were very happy to oblige. sheila,daniel and carol prepared a fantastic buffet luncheon for  family and friends.  Peggys' daughters, Caroline and Jenny, invited the residents to join in too, as they have enjoyed many happy hours around the piano together over the time Peggy has lived at MEH.
R.I.P. Peggy James.

pictured - the lovely flowers, the order of service (we learnt that Peggy's real name was Florence!) and a collage (made by caroline) of all the residents who helped celebrate her 92nd birthday recently.

monday reminisence

we were pleased to welcome back Beth after a short break - she is a volunteer at meh and visits once a month to reminisce with a small group of residents.  today it was the turn of susan, helen and jean and the subject was art and craft.  beth brought some books and pictures of art and things to make - all three residents were very artistic in their former lives, and they found the topic very interesting.

MEH Bowling Challenge 2013

The first ever MEH ten pin bowling challenge on sunday 3rd march at the Bowlplex, tunbridge wells,  was WON by 'the Aches and Pains' team in lane 4, led by our very own handyman, Tim Brewer; he was  just pipped at the post for overall highest score, by Garry Jeffries of Printwells.

we have yet to calculate how much money was raised on the night for the residents amenities fund, but we will keep you posted.  the evening was great fun and we plan to do it again, later in the year.

(pictured:the 'mad hatters' team behind the raffle table, gerry in action and top scorer Garry)

pictured: karen and her mum, garry and family, sally furlong & team, heidi and family and Claire from Printwells with her team.

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.