It’s been lovely to be outside as much as possible enjoying our garden through the summer. We have had all the tables, chairs and parasols out of the summer house, plus our giant Connect Four and other games. Perfect at our regular garden parties, with summer refreshments and visiting family and friends.
Garden parties
We enjoyed the Wimbledon fortnight, especially our strawberry afternoon tea. We also celebrated World Chocolate Day in July – any excuse! And of course, we marked National Prosecco Day in the only way possible! Lots of giggling at corks being popped and flying across the garden!
We rounded off the summer by bringing the seaside to Astley. Lots of sand so residents could build sandcastles with the buckets and spades. We had a paddling pool and fun games including hoopla with an inflatable cactus. And lots of refreshing drinks, snacks and ice creams. Everyone worn floral garlands and straw skirts.
Garden sport and animals
It’s been such a summer of sport, starting with the Euros. We had a brilliant music therapy session with Ray, singing along and waving our England flags to get us in the mood for the finals.
Then the Olympics. There has been lots of chat about the sport and we followed avidly the successes of our Olympians. We had a mini-Olympics of our own with bowling, ball games, grounded parachuting and a favourite, ice cream eating! Hurray for the ice-cream van visiting!
The Good Day Farm came to visit and brought all sorts of animals. There were pigs, goats, lambs, chickens, ducks, Guinea pigs, their dog and a tortoise. Laura and Emily set up a mini farm with hurdle pens in our garden. Some residents loved being outside amongst the animals in spite of the drizzly weather. Laura and Emily also took the animals indoors to meet residents in the lounge or in their rooms. We are used to seeing lambs gambolling in fields, but it’s not often you get to cuddle one. Our residents had that treat by their bedsides – such a special experience. Mirabelle was an 8-week-old lamb and has been hand reared so was very tame and affectionate. She lived in her owner’s kitchen, so is also pretty housetrained!
In other news
We also threw a farewell party for Nirosha. We are sad to see her go but are thankful she has been part of our Astley family and wish her every success for the future.
Thank you to Corrie for kindly gifting us an old Lavette oak-cased gramophone. It has brought so much joy and reminiscing for our residents. Especially winding up the gramophone and positioning the needle on each record (very carefully!) and then – the favourite memory – the crackling before the music begins, that only an old gramophone can make. There have been some lovely magic moments with residents. Music is always a wonderful way to connect – thank you also to Kim for more fun afternoons of musical entertainment, singing and dancing.
Some of our residents like to get involved in the day to day running of our home. Judy loves to help out and paired a whole basket of socks! Others recently worked together to make homemade birthday cards for a resident. Christine likes to bake and whipped up a batch of cupcakes for afternoon tea.
Our residents love seeing the Debutots children and hearing their stories. Now we are into the new school term we have resumed our sessions with them. In their first visit we had a lovely story about a mole that lived in a hole. Lots of actions, props and puppets, the bubble machine, fun and laughter.
We have also started a painting club and there has been a lot of concentration, with residents very proud of their artwork.
