Many of residents and staff celebrate Royal Ascot in our own way. Having such a well-known race course on our door step means over the years many of us have attended Ascot or watched Royal ascot week on the TV, so it is a fabulous week to celebrate at Hill House with so many stories to be shared. This week residents have spent time attending ladies’ day, placing bets on the races, crafting rosettes and playing a giant horse race floor game. We also celebrated Father’s Day over the weekend with two very popular events happening throughout the home.
Monday was a crafty start to the day; we were busy making Horse themed Rossettes for later in the week. Crafting, regardless of the medium you use, can bolster mood, improve self-confidence and reduce stress overall. In addition, crafting has also shown to improve mental agility, improves both gross and fine motor movements and also decreases cognitive decline.
We had a fabulous game of Jockey Bingo in our Garden view lounge, bringing everyone together to kick start our, At the race’s week. Researchers around the world have found that playing Bingo has multiple health benefits for older adults. You can build social connections, increase hand-eye coordination and maintain your cognitive abilities and focus.
That afternoon, we took on our ‘Opening Day at the Races’ floor game, racing around the board to be the first to complete the course. We cheered each other on as we took our turns hoping our horse was crowned the winner.
We followed this with a group brain training session, where we unscrambled “Royal Ascot” to see how many other words we could make as a group. It was lovely to see everyone getting involved.
In our garden view lounge, we took on a chalkboard sensory session. Bringing back memories of school black boards and the feared chalk rubber if you were naughty. We loved the concept of mark making. Mark-making maintains fine motor skills and finger dexterity as well as giving us a creative outlet for ideas, feelings and emotions.
Others opted for a singalong and enjoyed an afternoon dance, also a fun game of ball and bat.
Tuesday as the sun shone down as we took the opportunity to enjoy a Royal Ascot themed Quiz in the garden.
The afternoon was filled with laughter in our garden view lounge as we took our turn to play the giant horse racing floor game, we worked in pairs and raced around the board.
Board games can enhance memory formation and help exercise cognitive skills. A lot of games also tend to be low stress and can be calming, helping lower blood pressure. In many instances, games require some coordination and hand dexterity, which can be important for aging adults.
We adorned our best hat ready to watch an afternoon of racing on the TV as Royal Ascots first race lined up. We placed our bets for fun with the activities team hoping our horses would be the first to cross the finishing line.
Wednesday marked the official start of Summer at Hill House with our first BBQ of the season. We all came together in the front garden to attended the ‘Day at the Races’ themed event with our neighbours at Hill Brow. With the sun shining down it was the perfect start to summer enjoying scrumptious food and chatting with friends and loved ones outdoors.
The party was only just starting as we welcomed Lucy Lou to sing for us. Her beautiful voice got us up on our feet singing and dancing.
Thursday morning, Rev Tara visited the home to host our monthly service and communion.
We enjoy her visits the hymn singing and taking time for reflection.
Following the service, we joined for flower arranging club in the lounge.
That afternoon our court yard garden hosted ladies’ day at the races. Ladies of the home and gentlemen were invited to attend for cocktails, canapes and high fashion. Looking through photos of some sensational lady’s day head wear worn to Royal Ascot over the years as we shared stories of our trips out to the races.
Friday morning and the hottest day of the year so far reaching an incredible 34*, we opted to enjoy the aircon and cooler temperatures indoors. We crafted a horse shoe game, working together to cut our horseshoes. We then enjoyed playing our At the Races inspired Horse shoe toss game.
Horseshoe pitching may have derived from the game of quoits played by Roman officers during the Roman occupation of Britain (1st to 5th century). Their men, lacking quoits, presumably used horseshoes, though the existence of iron U-shaped horseshoes at that time remains undocumented.
Our garden view lounge enjoyed another game of the popular Race floor game.
Friday afternoon, a group of ladies joined the day lounge for an afternoon of jockey bingo. Playing bingo can improve your brain’s processing speeds, alertness and memory capabilities, according to studies. Bingo requires players to be skilful listeners and to have the ability to look for numbers quickly, many times across multiple cards.
We spent Saturday morning reading our morning paper in the sunshine, catching up on the day’s news while enjoying the sun before the incoming storm arrived.
When the rain fell it was the perfect time to come in for a virtual pop quiz.
That afternoon while some opted to watch Mary Poppin as part of Movie club others choose, small group games to enjoy from snap to Bananagram.
A special lady celebrated her birthday with a fabulous cake and cards and gifts.
Sunday morning, we gathered to listen to the live streamed Church of England service in the day lounge while our catholic mass was hosted in smaller groups or 1 to 1.
Alongside the church service, our fabulous Dad’s & Donut Cart visited all our dads for a morning of Father’s Day treats. Our Father’s Day celebrations where underway to mark this very special day as our activities team handed out cards and gifts along with a yummy donut.
That afternoon we were invited to attend a special ‘Public House Experience’ called the “Fathers Inn”, with a fantastic Bar backdrop bursting with spirits, beer, wine and anything else you could imagine and classic bar nibbles from scampi fries to bacon rashes there was something for everyone.
WE placed order with the bar staff who worked tirelessly throughout the afternoon keeping our glasses full.
We all know a British pub isn’t complete without a pool table in the corner and a juke box playing music, so with the buzz of classic pub songs playing as we enjoyed a drink with friends and family and a game or two of pool. We also enjoyed a slice of Father’s Day cake with a tea, coffee or Irish coffee.
