Activities at Orchard House Care Home

Orchard House celebrated World Cocktail Day being shaken not stirred. Mixologist, Connor Seddon, who is the Bar Manager at the Brunswick Hotel in Shanklin, visited residents and gave them a wonderful demonstration of his cocktail making skills. He amazed them all with his bottle throwing and catching, and wowed them with his use of a flame torch to make the herbs in the drink just right. They all got to sample 2 cocktails, a Bramble – which is a gin based cocktail and bright red in colour, and a Caramel Saltini – which is a coffee liqueur and Baileys based cocktail.  Residents loved them both but the Saltini was just that little bit more popular and they asked Connor make a second round for them!

Residents really enjoyed Easter this year, not only were their families and friends allowed in to see them, but the sun was shining, and many of them took full advantage of this and sat out in the garden.

The fun carried on with a visit from the Easter Bunny, who bounced around the home delivering chocolate treats to all. The selection of treats brought a smile to everyone’s faces. Our Head Chef, Claire Daffern, made the most delicious looking (and tasting) Easter Cake for the residents, who couldn’t believe their eyes!

In honor of the patron saint of England, residents marked the day by creating some lovely clothes peg dragons. They relaxed in the sun and joined in with a quiz about England and St George whilst making their cute dragons. They also learned some fun facts about St George, such as he never actually slayed a dragon. In Medieval times the Devil was portrayed by a dragon, and it is most likely that this is where the myth originated from. 

The home purchased 2 red squirrel feeders from the Squirrel Trust which residents painted to protect it from the weather. Since filling them with hazelnuts and walnuts many of the cheeky chappies have been spotted opening the lids and running off with their bounty. Residents have been absolutely thrilled to see the squirrels every day and have managed to differentiate between 5 of them, so they know they are feeding at least that number.

Residents and staff have been shocked by the events between Russia and the Ukraine and wanted to help. Orchard House set themselves up as a donation station for aid for the Ukraine. We have been collecting food, medicine, toys, blankets, nappies and baby clothes. We were inundated with so many donations that it was hard to keep on top of, we have all been amazed and overwhelmed with the amount of support for this crisis. 

Residents had a fantastic time celebrating National Bread Week. They sampled a wide variety of speciality breads to see which ones were the favorites, good old crusty bloomer won the day!  Resident Wilf’s eyes lit up when he saw our bread selection! Another of our residents enjoyed every single style he tried and ate so much that he didn’t want his afternoon cake!