Activities at Ashcombe House Care Home

Our Christmas cake, which we lovingly baked at our last ‘Baking for Fun’ session, enjoyed a cheeky brandy or two while we decided how to decorate it!

It didn’t take us long to choose the theme. In honour of Widget and Two Dots, the penguins who visited, we thought it would be fun to make and decorate our Christmas cake with penguins!

We spent a fun morning covering our cake, which smelt amazing, with apricot jam and marzipan.  Then we rolled out the blue and white icing to make a snow/sea scene for the penguins.  We made the penguins using orange, black and white fondant icing.  The penguins were placed on the cake, two are in the water having a swim!

We are all very proud of our residents’ entry to the Barchester Christmas Cake Competition.

We were delighted to welcome two special guests, adorable Humboldt penguins Widget and Two Dots, for a heart-warming visit just in time for Christmas.

Widget and Two Dots charmed everyone as they strolled around our home, stopping for cuddles on the laps of our residents, visitors and staff. Their gentle nature brought so much joy to us all and their favourite snack of sprats made sure they were happy penguins!

Joan said that seeing the penguins was superb, wonderful and the greatest thing imaginable. 

Lillian, at nearly 103 years old, expressed her amazement: “I never thought I’d be holding a penguin.”

General Manager Louise Lambert shared, “It was such a joy to see our residents light up around these wonderful creatures. The penguins’ cuddles made it a truly magical afternoon to kick off the festive season. All we’re missing now is a sprinkle of snow to complete the scene!"

Remembrance Sunday is a national opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life.  

Our weekly Knit and Natter group worked very hard knitting so many beautiful poppies which we proudly displayed outside our home, we even had a little poppy field.

We observed the two minute silence at 11am to reflect on the service and sacrifices the Armed Forces make on our behalf.  Then the D Day Dollies entertained us with songs from the 1940’s. We thoroughly enjoyed singing along to songs which hold special memories.

General Manager Louise Lambert said: "We have many residents with personal ties to the military and many who have experienced conflict either at home or abroad, so it was important to us to mark Remembrance Day and honour the contribution of everyone involved in the World Wars and in subsequent conflicts."

Flower arranging in pumpkins gave our families and residents a fun and creative way to work together and make the perfect decorations to display around our home!

Our autumn flower arranging involved hollowing out the pumpkins before filling them with fresh flowers, creating unique floral arrangements.

Residents and family members enjoyed selecting their favourite flowers, arranging them in the pumpkin and admiring the finished product.

Bianca, our deputy manager, had the hard job of judging the beautiful pumpkins arrangements and said that the thought and care that had gone into each one was obvious.

We all agreed that they looked amazing, Gerry suggested we open a florist shop! 

Shirley told us that she has fond memories of living in Bournemouth and would really like to visit there with her daughter.  

Shirley also said that she would love to walk along the beach in the sea air and have a fish and chip lunch.

How could we resist!

We arranged to take Shirley and her daughter to Bournemouth for the day.  It was an amazing day out.  We started the day with a coffee in a hotel by Bournemouth beach, then we wrapped up warm to take a walk along the sea front. 

Shirley pointed out where she used to sit with a coffee looking out at the sea.  

Harry Ramsdens not only provided a fantastic fish and chip lunch but a beautiful view to enjoy. 

We walked back through the Bournemouth gardens where they were busy putting up the festive Christmas lights.

Shirley said that she loves Bournemouth and had the most lovely day!

The best thing about baking is that all the residents get a chance to taste test!  Our honey biscuits were a big hit with a cup of tea in the afternoon.  Although next time we need to make a bigger batch of cheese scones as residents were asking for more the next day!

We worked together to make the honey biscuits, using honey, flour, eggs, sugar and cinnamon.  We measured, mixed, shaped and chatted.  The conversation led to rationing during the war and the lack of bananas! Gerry said “If you got a banana, you’d eat it quick… and hide the evidence.”

The following week we decided to make some cheese scones.  The special ingredient in our cheese scones is…….a little bit of mustard!  We really had to use our muscles to mix the ingredients together but with a bit of team work it was soon ready to roll out.  We each rolled and cut out the scones ready for the oven.

Peggy told us that she used to enjoy making date and walnut cakes, so that will be our next baking for fun bake!