Activities at Iddenshall Hall Care Home

On the evening of Friday 28th October, we held our much-anticipated book launch for 'Pearls and Wisdom'. This is the book we have had published which is full of stories from residents' lives, past and present. It had been over a year in the making and we have been looking forward to celebrating our creation.

There was a great turn out for the event and we received a lot of support from residents and their families. We had a champagne toast and enjoyed canapés whilst we all looked at copies of the book.

Each resident who contributed to 'Pearls and Wisdom' received their own copy of the book and there are also extra copies available for those who would like to purchase one. Some residents read out excerpts from the book for everyone to listen to on the night. It was an evening full of celebration and conversation, which was enjoyed by all those who came along.

On 20th October, we held our USA Day here at Iddenshall Hall. Our talented kitchen staff created an American-themed menu for the day, which included bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, fried chicken with chips, followed by pancakes, ice-cream and maple syrup for lunch and hot dogs and burgers with key lime pie for tea. Afternoon snacks consisted of twinkies, pretzels, marshmallows and Hershey Kisses, which went down a treat with the residents.

We held a themed quiz in the afternoon and the home was decorated with flags from all the American states, as well as pictures from around the US. We also adorned the home with some interesting facts about the good old US of A, including a full list of all the American presidents - past and present - which was a talking point throughout.

We recently took some Iddenshall Hall Residents to Bridgemere Garden Centre, just outside Nantwich.

It is the largest garden centre in the North West with 6 acres of gardens to walk around and enjoy. We were very lucky with the weather and the sun was shining, so we were able to take our time looking around the gardens and enjoying all the lovely flowers and plants that there were to see. We had a picnic lunch on our way to the garden centre and once there we enjoyed a cuppa in the coffee shop. There is so much to see there, with lots of shops and everything you could possibly need for your garden.

The residents all had a lovely day and we look forward to returning again soon.

We held our Macmillan Coffee Afternoon at Beeston View this month. We had plenty of different types of cakes available for residents and visitors to sample, including lemon and prosecco cheesecake, white chocolate and cranberry cheesecake, gingerbread cheesecake, cherry bakewells, apple pies and chocolate brownies, all of which went down very well with folks at the home.

We had support from some families who came along and donated whilst enjoying coffee, tea and cake.

On 15th September, we held our 'Africa Day' at Iddenshall Hall. We decorated the unit with pictures chosen by residents, as well as African flags and maps. Our Chef, John, and his team, prepared some African dishes for the day, including Babute (a ground beef dish baked with spices and apricots) and Tunisian Lamb Chakchouka (lamb pieces and egg cooked in a spiced tomato sauce), which were a great success. These were both served with rice and a bean salad.

We held an African quiz in the afternoon and also shared some interesting facts about Africa itself, as well as the people who live there. It was an educational, yet fun afternoon, and we had African music playing in the background from Ladysmith Black Mombasa.

Residents at Iddenshall Hall have spent a lot of time decorating cupcakes. They loved choosing different coloured icing and toppings for their cupcakes and were able to enjoy the fruits of their labour, as we served them for pudding that evening after tea.