Spring arrived in March with some specially themed activities such as seasonal planting and wine tasting, plus a lot of celebratory tea parties amongst our usual outings to the pub and the local garden centres.
Here is what our residents enjoyed the most:
On the afternoon of Wednesday 1st March residents celebrated all things Welsh as it was St. David’s day. Proceedings started with a lively quiz, and the story of St. David himself, legend and history. A couple of residents who were born and raised in Wales then went onto share some of their memories whilst others reminisced about holidays spent in Wales as children. The afternoon concluded with music by some famous welsh songsters, Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey whilst the residents enjoyed daffodil yellow iced cakes with their tea and coffee.
On the morning of Wednesday 8th March residents enjoyed the monthly church service with Vicar Tara and particularly liked singing ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ as well as ‘Amazing grace’ as part of the Holy Communion. Afterwards Vicar Tara chatted to some residents over tea.
On the afternoon of Wednesday 15th March Lilly from Majestic Wine in Farnham visited the home for a spring wine tasting. Residents and some relatives and friends sampled both white and red wines and learnt about their countries of origin and how to sample wine properly by sniffing the bouquet first before sipping. The wine most enjoyed was a white wine from Slovenia, although fairly new to wine making, the country already boasts 52 different types of wine making grape! Residents enjoyed tasting different cheeses and biscuits with the wine, and even ended up in a chorus of ‘What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor!’ at the end of the afternoon.
On the afternoon of Friday 17th March residents came together in the main lounge to celebrate St. Patrick’s day. They learnt a little of the history of St. Patrick as well as some interesting facts about Ireland itself. Then followed a quiz interspersed with some singing and Irish music, some residents taking to the floor to join the dancing.
On Monday 20th March, residents from across all three homes came together to celebrate the 100th birthday of Dame Vera Lynn. Dressed in 1940’s clothes the Activity Leaders welcomed Patricia – a singer with a wonderful trained operatic voice. She delighted the residents with a performance of songs made famous by Vera Lynn, interspersed by other uplifting British tunes. Residents sang along heartily to tunes such as ‘We’ll Meet Again’ and ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ before enjoying a traditional afternoon tea with sandwiches, cupcakes and scones with jam and cream.
Friday 24th March was ‘Red Nose Comic Relief Charity and Sing-A-Song Day.’ For Red Nose day all three homes encouraged staff and residents alike to ‘Wear it Red’ for Comic Relief and make a small donation to the charity. Additionally, a cake sale was held with some delicious home-made cupcakes and tray bakes being donated by staff to raise money.
Residents came together to sing in the nationwide NAPA ‘Sing-A-Song’ challenge for Comic Relief. Residents and some relatives first enjoyed an upbeat sing-a-long with piano accompaniment by Louis and then at 3.00 pm precisely residents in all three homes sung ‘Sing, Sing a Song’ by the Carpenters. Afterwards residents enjoyed tea and ‘Red nosed’ cherry cupcakes!
Sunday 26th March was Mother’s Day a special day for all our Mothers, Grandmothers and even Great Grandmothers! Residents enjoyed some sweet poems and uplifting sing-song with the piano accompaniment by Louis. Each Mother received a fresh tulip flower and chocolates, whilst the men had chocolates too. The sherry flowed in celebration of all Mothers, as well as tea at afternoon teatime.
March ended with a celebration of everything Portuguese on Friday 31st. Residents learnt some topical facts about Portugal from our very own Portuguese lady and Activity Coordinator Ana-Maria, dressed in colourful traditional Portuguese clothes. They learnt about the famous Portuguese ‘Cockerel of Barcelos’ and the legend associated with his saving the life of a condemned man, and other interesting information. They also enjoyed listening to the Fado music so popular in Portugal, and learnt a little about the most famous Fado singers. They were invited to sample all manner of delicious and authentic Portuguese food. This included ‘Pastel de Nata’ (custard tarts) and ‘Bolinhos de Bacalhau’ (salted cod rissoles). Residents could also sample traditional Port wine. It’s fair to say residents had a truly continental afternoon! 🙂
