Activities at Rivermead Care Home

“Appen as on Sunday ‘twere ‘Yorkshire Day’, celebrated all over God’s Own County by the good folk. Over a brew and some butties at Rivermead we ‘ad a look at some of Yorkshire’s finest, b’which we mean famous firms founded ‘ere, an’ the like, such as M&S, Morrisons and Asda for starters! ‘Course, if we ‘ad t’name all the world-beatin’ Yorkshiremen and women, why, the list’d stretch from Scarborough to Skipton! 

Now, theer’s nowt s’queer as folk, an’ next we ‘ad a quiz on what furriners call ‘The Yorkshire Dialect’, which be a way sayin’ that they don’t know ‘ow to speak proper! Eeh by gum, some of ar residents were proper flummoxed by posers such as, ‘What are Liggers?’* or ‘Mithering’.** or ‘Nang,’*** or ’Shiverthewink’!****

It were a reet grand afternoon, ducks, and despite some silin’ the scran were champion and we filled ar cake’oles! I tell ye, we was reet chuffed!

The cheerful orchestral sounds of the old fairgrounds of our distant youth filled Rivermead on Wednesday afternoon when a local business kindly brought a magnificent old fairground organ up the drive to entertain the residents and staff.

The ornate organ, carried on a lorry, looked superb with its florid fairground decoration, its carved, brightly coloured, moving figures and folk-art floral decorations. The repertoire was well-known to the residents, who sang along with ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’, ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’, ‘It’s a Long Way to Tippererary’, ‘Keep the Homes Fires Burning’ and many more WWII era classics. The rich sounds kept us entertained all afternoon and filled the home. The manager, nurses and careers soon appeared and danced energetically to the non-stop melodies. ‘Please bring it back again next year,’ said resident Vivien, as another resident happily conducted the invisible mechanical orchestra of trumpets, reeds, warbling flutes, glockenspiels and percussion.

The cat competition announced last Sunday excited cat-owners for miles around, and the Rivermead residents and staff loved seeing your ‘clowder’* of cats. There was the well-covered ’Seven-Dinner Sid’, a sleeping cat cuddling a sleeping baby, a white cat with one blue and one green eye, a cat climbing from a washing machine, cats in boxes, an incredibly cute kitten called ‘Archie’, a mother and kitten, tabbies, ginger, black and black and white purrers, and all of them beautiful in their own way. That is why on Wednesday last, the residents took quite a while to make their choices. The result would be based on which pouncer got the most votes… 

…And the winner, by a whisker, was black and white Stitch! She is a one-year-old, nervous of temperament but probably destined to get used to the limelight and early stardom. Can owner Nicole get in touch next week with Rivermead to claim her Marks & Spencers Gift Voucher!

Manager Sarah Jackson thought this was the best competition yet, and resident Vivien asked if we would be having a Dog Competition next? Well, why not! Watch this space for news.

We had a lovely time joining V&A Dundee curator, Kirsty Hassard, as she introduced us virtually to the history and design of night clubs and the club culture from the 1960s to present day.

We explored the evolution and development of night clubs around the world, from Italy to America, and closer to home, looked at their importance as cultural venues and designed spaces.

This current exhibition celebrates night clubs at a very important moment, as we all look to a brighter future where everyone can come back together, to dance and to enjoy nights out once again.

We all enjoyed the virtual talk.

We enjoyed a wonderful virtual introduction to the world of robots with V&A Dundee Curator, Kirsty Hassard.

Kirsty talked us through the history of robots and their early beginnings, the presentation traced the fascination of all things wired and wonderful and considered what the future might hold for our relationship with a multitude of mechanical machines.

It was absolutely thrilling to learn what robots can do now and what they might be able to do in the future.

We had a lovely time exploring the amazing gardens of Blenheim Palace through a virtual talk, hosted by the Historian - Antonia Keaney.

We enjoyed a virtual look at how the gardens at Blenheim have developed over the past 300 years - from the formality of Henry Wise through to the ‘natural’ landscape created by Capability Brown and beyond.

Everyone was very impressed by the many jewels hidden within the 150 acres of beautiful gardens.