Celebrating life at Barchester

How could we resist that beautiful breeze today! Plans were put on hold in favour of an impromptu Ice Cream Social, with an opportunity to cool off in the pool. 
Residents loved sitting in the shade of our majestic trees talking and listening to the chatter of our resident jackdaws. Ann said "we really do live in privilege!"

Dawn has been with us since the very beginning of Tennyson Wharf, a total of 11 ½ years. She has contributed so much to the lives of all at Tennyson Wharf, from raising funds for the Barchester Charity Foundation with sponsored races to being nominated for awards.     

She estimates that in her time here she has cracked close to 50,000 eggs for breakfasts and cakes! She will be sadly missed, and we wish her well with her new endeavours and hope she will pop in to see us from time to time.  

This month we hosted our very own Mad Hatters Tea Party to celebrate Alice in Wonderland Day. It was mad, fun and curious; and everyone was late except for the White Rabbit! Delicious treats and plenty of tea kept everyone 
entertained all afternoon!

We were thrilled to be invited to watch Bourne Abbey C of E Primary Academy production of Ali Baba and the Bongo Bandits yesterday.

The children were incredible, performing with confidence and skill; the music was superb and the vocal skills of both the soloists and group songs were perfect. Margaret, Bert, Sheila and Doreen were clapping, laughing and singing along with genuine enjoyment.

Doreen said 'I wouldn't have missed it, it was great!'

We were so grateful for the kindness shown to us from the beginning to the end- thank you Mrs Seymour and Mrs Thomas for inviting us, and to all of the children and staff for a truly magical afternoon.

We had such a blast over the weekend as we were entertained by Jules and Jay, enjoyed pony rides from Comfort Horse Therapy, ate delicious treats from Bakes by Natalie and drank the most amazing lemonade from Ginger Lemonade. There were craft stalls, raffles, tombola and even a visit from the Bomber Command Mini club and classic cars. 

We had been working with Samantha in our armchair exercise classes to create a dance routine that we could show our families. Jules and Jay sang 'Summer Holiday' as we proudly showed off our moves.
All in all, a wonderful day and money raised for our Residents’ Fund and a donation made to St Barnabas Hospice to boot! 

We could not have done it without all of our providers, friends, church groups and families. We are really grateful.

Sometimes the simplest activities bring the biggest smiles and the loudest giggles!

Our residents and their families had so much fun putting their aim to the test, using water spray bottles to spray the colourful balloons down from the cups. There was plenty of laughter, friendly competition, and lots of cheering each other on.

A wonderful reminder that simple games can create the happiest memories together.       

To kick off the start of Wimbledon, we held our own tournament!

With the teams arranged, games were played, semi-finals were matched, and the final was in play.  

Well done to Lionel, who won hands down and even shook hands with his fellow player. What good sportsmanship. Once we all finished, we ended the afternoon with strawberries and cream.     

With this wonderful weather we have been having, it would be rude not to make the best of it. We visited Waterloo Park and the Waterloo Park Pavilion Cafe – The Feed – which, of course, didn't disappoint. We had cake, we had drinks, and we had a wonderful chat about all sorts.     

After the drinks, we decided to have a stroll through the park and took advantage of the cooling splash pad.

We took off our socks and shoes, rolled up our trousers and off we went. Shirley had the best time, we cooled down for a treat by dipping our toes in the water, and we did get a little surprise when one of the fountains went off that we were not expecting. We did a little jump but soon dried off in the sun. All of a sudden we were kids again having such a laugh.      

Today we marked American Independence Day. We had a food tasting and tried Beef Jerky, some Hot Raspberry Popcorn and some Salted Caramel peanut bars. We also held a donut eating competition with no licking lips or fingers until eaten.   

Sadly, Paul failed at the first hurdle and licked his lips on the first bite.  

Well done to Roger, who had clearly done it before and went in for a 2nd Donut too. We also held a "Be the statue of Liberty for the day" and seriously some of these faces pulled. It was like she was in the room. It was all silly and we laughed a lot. I love it that our residents are always game for a laugh at the things we suggest.