This week residents have been immersed in all things floral as we take inspiration from the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show. We hosted our first ever Hill House Flower Show and awarded prizes to 3 lucky winners. Residents spent time playing new board games as well as getting some vitamin D out in the glorious sunshine.
Monday morning, we began preparations for our very own flower show, in our garden view lounge, we arranged artificial flowers into displays of our choosing from envelopes, possies to pots, we used wire cutters and floral tape to strengthen and shape the flowers into displays.
In our day lounge we spent the morning arranging hanging baskets and potted plants to be entered into the Hill House Flower Show. We chose our flowers from an array of brightly coloured plants and spent the morning arranging them and caring for their roots before planting.
It engages the senses, provides cognitive and sensory stimulation, improves motor skills, and instils a sense of independence and accomplishment.
That afternoon, we attended our weekly music therapy session in our garden view lounges. Music therapy and music-related activities bring enjoyment, socialization, well-being, and the improvement of mental health in older people.
Tuesday morning, we went out foraging in the court yard garden in garden View, then we challenged ourselves to name as many of our garden herbs as we could by using a variety of senses; touch, sight and smell.
Others opted for a game of indoor football as part of their daily exercises.
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. It can prevent or delay many of the health problems that seem to come with age. It also helps your muscles grow stronger so you can keep doing your day-to-day activities without becoming dependent on others.
Our day lounge took time to listen to classical music while painting the iconic garden gnome as part of our art and crafts club.
Others challenged themselves to learn to juggle, which saw balls flying all over the place causing a lot of laughter.
That afternoon, Physiotherapist Adam was in, encouraging us to get mobile and helping us achieve new goals.
Our floristry club gathered together in the afternoon to arrange their entries for the Hill House Flower Show, it built up a lot of excitement and enjoyment as we went to town with our floral arrangements.
Wednesday morning, we spent the morning taking on a variety of fabulous flower picture quizzes, this led to great conversations about our gardens and the plants we loved to grow.
That afternoon we went out into the beautiful sunshine and our men’s club enjoyed a pint of beer at the fishpond.
Thursday morning, we challenged ourselves with a new and fabulous game of boggle a word game that makes us connect words on the playing cards, we raced to get the highest word score on our boards.
Our garden view lounge completed the last of the floral displays ahead of the afternoons flower show, they picked flowers with bright and vibrant colours and arranged them into vases ready for judging.
What a beautiful afternoon out in the sunshine as we hosted our very first flower show inspired by the Chelsea Flower Show we have been watching on tv. After spending the week creating stunning arrangements from box envelopes, hanging baskets to vase arrangements we displayed them for everyone to look at.
The Flower Show was judged by our Home Manager Shabana, who had the tricky job of picking the winners! Congratulations everyone who entered the flower show.
The Flower Show finished with a floral themed afternoon tea party in the sunshine, we sat with friends chatting and enjoying the summer weather.
Friday morning the sky was as blue as the eye could see, we spent the morning enjoying the sunshine, our newspaper coffee morning took place in the conservatory with some spending time out on the patio, or up at the fishpond catching up with friends from Hillbrow.
These gentlemen spent the morning together playing a competitive game of scrabble.
A fabulous DIY project was underway that afternoon, we loved spending time in the conservatory together, with the warm sun beaming down some took part in our paint and sip club with wine and sparkling drinks all round.
What an incredible morning playing our new board game ‘Befuddled, Bemused & Bewildered’, we howled with laughter as we tried to either act out, draw or answer trivia questions from different years, as the game went on it drew a bigger and bigger crowd, joining in or simply watching the fun.
That afternoon, our interactive Omi system was played in our garden view lounges, we find the games are fun and imaginative. The splat games projected on the floor in front of us is our favourite, we loved working together to get every piece of fruit.
Sunday morning, while our streamed church service were played in the home, others took the opportunity to get out in the sunshine and play a game of flower bingo.
Staff joined us for a game of snakes and ladders in the main lounge in Hill House.
Snakes and Ladders game is an old favourite from childhood and so universal that the rules will be familiar, Snakes and Ladders is an ideal board game for dementia patients on many different levels. The bright colours make the board easy to see. It’s also great to encourage socialization.
