Activities at South Chowdene Care Home

Keeping up with the outside world has been very important for Residents of South Chowdene and one of the best ways has been by postcard and letter. Some residents have received some lovely cards which have helped brighten the place up whilst we can’t get out and about.  Post cards were sent to friends and Penpals to mark Friendship day to let them know that their continued contact and support has been invaluable.

Residents at South Chowdene said ‘bonjour’ to 14th July with croissants and discussions about what they think of when France is mentioned, a number of French themed images were displayed throughout the home.  The morning continued with a virtual tour of Paris including a trip up the Eiffel Tower and a quick peek in La Louvre. We enjoyed French raspberry tartlets and Madeleines for mid morning snacks and the kitchen made a wonderful Boeuf Bourguingnon followed by Tricolour meringue for lunch. During the afternoon, residents enjoyed playing in teams whilst learning the French game of Petanque and the day finished with French omelette for tea.

Well, let’s face it, this one isn’t hard to do although the quiz in the morning really did test our brains and everyone learnt something they didn’t already know about chocolate. Residents had a good reminisce around the chocolate wrapper designs of yesteryear but the real interest started when the chocolate fountain came round and it was time to have a very healthy tasting session with blueberries, grapes and raspberries to dip in the fountain. MMMmmmm!

The bakers amongst Residents at South Chowdene had a fantastic time on 1st July making a few batches of ginger biscuits (which needed to be tasted as they went along). Weighing, sifting, mixing and melting all brought back warm family memories – as did timing the biscuits in the oven and the big decision on everyone's lips were as to whether they really were ready. Anyone who hadn’t had a chance to be involved in the making, made up for it by tasting the finished products and no one heard any complaints on that score!

1st July is also Joke day so we also had fun rolling out the 1 liners as we baked and tasted.

South Chowdene residents took advantage of both Picnic and Cupcake day at the same time starting with cupcake decoration in the morning where residents chose to top their cupcakes with chocolate or icing and designed the pattern showing some talent in ‘feathering’ and imagination in lovely bright colours.

At lunchtime, bright picnic boxes were ready full of traditional picnic fare to be taken to each resident’s chosen spot where we had some great conversations about where and with who they used to picnic. There were some treasured memories and some very funny stories!    The decorated cupcakes went round on the Tea Trolley in the afternoon and were admired and enjoyed by all.

In the current circumstances, we couldn’t do all we wanted to do to show our volunteers how much we treasure their visits, but residents made cards and wrote their messages in them and we hope that these brightened both Mandy and Jane’s days when they received them! We are hoping that we will soon be able to show our appreciation properly.

We have been able to sort out Skype to see Annie from time to time and Evelyn Wright the Resident Ambassador awarded her the Volunteer Certificate however, we can’t wait to be feeding Annie her beloved carrots again soon.