Celebrating life at Barchester

We held a Country-Themed Day at Hawthorns. The residents and staff had a brilliant time. We dressed up in Cowboy hats and had an amazing country and western singer, Danielle Lincoln. There was lots of dancing and singing. We also had a fabulous visit from Shelly, an equine assisted therapy pony, who visited all units. There were big smiles all round. 

This day truly was a wonderful day filled with lots of fun and laughter and making memories.     

In August, we held a Hawaiian day. We prepared all month by building a tiki bar and decorating the dining area. We started the afternoon with welcome music and drinks. 

We then went on to having a BBQ in the garden where the bar was located with soft drinks and cocktails. We then had an African drummer, then, at the end of the afternoon, we had the fabulous singer Gary James. Families, residents and staff really enjoyed the day.    

We have been enjoying ourselves immensely while painting with watercolours. We actually started from scratch by tracing the images we wanted to paint. 

We enjoy our watercolour painting as it induces mindfulness as it makes us focus on the current moment while spending time together. We can't wait for our next session.

One of our wonderful carers found homes for three of our hatched ducklings, and we had a great afternoon hearing about their development. The ducklings adore watermelon! As our carer showed us pictures and videos, we had carved a watermelon duck for everyone to enjoy.

This was incredibly fascinating and helped us understand how much work and love our carer and her hubby put into their ducklings. Noodles, Plum and Crispy.  

We expressed our sincere gratitude to Judge Dr. Ben Vans-Collina of Quarry House Vets for giving up his precious time to judge our competitors, who put on an amazing display.

We had a terrific afternoon at Mount Tryon for our dog show. Followed by a Cream Tea with our freshly made scones.  

We had another successful minibus trip this week when we went to The Livermead Cliff Hotel for a Cream Tea. We ate our warm scones, jam and clotted cream and sipped our tea whilst overlooking the sea! We cannot wait to return.    

This month we celebrated Housekeeping week. Our residents wanted to share how grateful they are for the hard work and it does not go unnoticed. This is a national day to celebrate all housekeepers. We would be lost without their support and dedication. 

We treated our team to fresh flowers and some chocolates as a small token to say Thankyou for everything they do.    

We headed off to one of our very magical tea rooms the Mad Hatterz. This is a themed tea room which was a sensory experience with lots of decoration and lights. It reminded us all of the traditional story of Alice in wonderland. 

Whilst we were there we enjoyed fresh cakes and lovely coffee. We really enjoy getting out and about exploring new places in our local community.    

This month, as part of our Round the World day, we visited Italy as requested by one of our residents who taught English in Italy. Our Head Chef and his team prepared a wonderful meal including Prosciutto e Melone, Creamy Tuscan chicken, Spaghetti AI Fruitti mare and a Raspberry and Lemon Polenta cake. This was enjoyed by all. We have even added Creamy Tuscan chicken to our regular menu as requested. 

Later on in the day, Vicky and Craig hosted a pizza-making activity where the residents made their own dough and topped them with their favourites. This was a lovely sensory experience which involved sharing memories and different ways to make different foods.