Taunton School

We had a trip down memory and went back to school! We had a tour around Taunton School recently with Joan and Margaret. Joan worked at the school many years ago in the office and it was lovely for her to be able to go back and see how the school has changed over the years. We went into the drama room, canteen and the French classroom where Margaret spoke some French to the French teacher! We also spoke to some of the students, saw the Cadets and visited the chapel where a student was playing the organ. Both residents really enjoyed their visit even if it did pour down with rain!

Hestercombe Gardens

We took Mary and Betty down to Hestercombe gardens for the morning followed by a pub lunch at the Crosskeys Pub. Mary read the map and gave us the route to take us around the stunning gardens and manor house. We saw, smelt and touched all the beautiful flowers and a lovely time. Mary enjoyed spotting all the foxgloves and Betty named nearly every flower we passed by! We also saw some stunning waterfalls and went into the manor house. We had lots of fun and finished with a lovely lunch where Mary and Betty both had lasagne and a cup of tea each!

Manicure pamper session

Our lovely activities co-ordinator Jo gave Doris a pamper session! Whilst relaxing in bed, Doris had her hands soaking in a bowl of warm soapy water along with a hand massage. She then had a choice of many colours to choose from and she picked a beautiful purple. Playing in the background was Doris’s favourite song, ‘Danny Boy’ by Daniel O’Donnell. Afterwards, Doris said she felt really relaxed and was delighted with her fresh nails!

Making biscuits with Taunton School

We have been busy with our cookery class where we baked biscuits with white chocolate chips and raisins. Angela, a student from Taunton School, joined in with us and Jim’s wife Rose came along too! All the residents weighed out their own ingredients, rolled out the dough and used cutters to cut out shapes of flowers and circles. After they were baked and cooled down, we all enjoyed eating them and so did the staff too!

Mini concert with Taunton School students

The very talented students from Taunton School came to see us and performed a mini concert. There were around 12 students in total. Some played the guitar and sang some songs including everyone’s favourite ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’. We enjoyed listening to the beautiful voices along with cups of tea and cake.

Margaret played ‘Hallelujah’ on the piano!

Margaret used to play the piano and told that although she lacked some confidence and has poor feeling in her hands, she would really love to try and play it again! Jo printed off some different music sheets and Margaret chose to play ‘Hallelujah’. As Margaret played the tune, Jo sang the song. Margaret did extremely well and is aiming to play every day for a short period of time to help build her confidence back up and to also help exercise her fingers too. Margaret was so proud of herself for getting back to the piano and reliving her younger years!

A visit to the pond

Fran, Jim and Margaret enjoyed a trip over to the pond where they saw some fish and geese with their six goslings. Fran’s friend came along with us too and we enjoyed tea and biscuits sat next to the pond while watching the fish and geese swim around and the goslings have a little play!

Trip through the decades

We took a trip through the decades where we enjoyed lots of different music from the 1920s up to today’s era. There were lots of people dressed up, memorabilia and fun. We had a buffet and tokens to get a milkshake and some sweets. All the residents really enjoyed themselves with lots of singing and dancing and Neil’s family came along to join in with us too! All the residents had a great time with lots of singing and dancing. We would like to thank Reminiscence Learning for organizing such a good event and we are already looking forward to the next one!

Visit from Green Days

The lovely group from Green Days daycare came to perform for us. They did lots of singing and dancing and our residents enjoyed joining in as well! We give our thanks to Green Days for coming to see us and our residents are already talking about the next visit.

Redecorating the home.

We are currently in the process of redecorating the home starting in the main communal areas. Lots of us gave some of our spare time voluntarily to help make a start on the dining room. Our new manager Meghann came along with her daughter Lily, along with activities co-ordinators Jo and Tracey. One of our residents, Derry, also got involved with sanding the walls down and he really enjoyed helping us out. We painted the room white and grey for a more modern fresh look and soon we will be accessorising with splashes of colour to brighten up the home. Our residents’ relatives and visitors are already commenting on how Meghann has already begun to make some great changes within the home and that she has been a breath of fresh air!

Upcoming events for your diary!

Armchair Ballroom Dancing in the main lounge, 11:00am on Thursday 25th July Amanda Singing Angel & Afternoon Cream Tea on Thursday 8th August at 2:30pm (£3 entry)