After the great success of the Talitha workshops we enjoyed earlier this year, we have been delighted to welcome back our friends at Talitha. We have thoroughly enjoyed six more excellent workshops jam packed with joyful creative experiences! Another activity which has been new to us at Dalemead and also very enjoyable is Tai chi lessons. We are always keen to try out new things and are enjoying keeping fit with the help of our instructor, Paul. Christmas was full of many festive activities; our friends of Richmond Community Choir treated us to a wonderful Christmas concert, “Partytime Productions” provided us with an excellent pantomime, we had a number of entertainers who sang us Christmas songs and we thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas party. It was brilliant to celebrate with so many of the resident’s family and friends. This year we were treated to a selection of carols from our recently formed Dalemead choir. We look forward to this becoming a Dalemead tradition! In addition to the Christmas activities programme, we had all the usual activities; John’s music afternoons, poetry readings with Valerie, Jigsaws and games with Teresa, current affairs chats with Phillippa, piano recitals with Dr. Higgins and music and movement with Serena. This provides us with a variety of activities which all residents and their visitors are welcome to join us for.
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We have had a most enjoyable few months with lots to keep us busy. We are making the most of our new Orangery. It’s a perfect home for our activities and events. We have been very lucky to have a series of fantastic creative workshops courtesy of our friends at Talitha. Every workshop is tailor made to appeal to the likes and interests of those attending. The sessions provide the residents with meaningful activity, friendship and fun. We had a super time at the annual cream tea; enjoying cakes, scones and tea in the garden and orangery. Water colour class is a great success, with residents continuing to be artistic or pursuing a new interest. The results have been very impressive! We were also extremely pleased to welcome back the children of Twickenham Park nursery and St. Margaret’s Beavers. It’s always great fun to have them with us!
We had a packed activities programme over the Christmas period and thoroughly enjoyed the festivities! We had a great start with a wonderful Christmas party, the residents invited their friends and family to celebrate Christmas with them. It was a super event with delicious food and lots of Christmas cheer and laughter.
We were entertained by Rietta and Kat; two talented singers who helped us get into the Christmas spirit. There was also a fabulous pantomime, this year it was “Jack and the Beanstalk” performed by “PARTYTIME PRODUCTIONS”. We were very impressed by the show and look forward to welcoming them back next year.
A high point of December was trips around Zone 1 to see the Christmas lights and sights of central London. We drove around lots of landmarks and enjoyed reminiscing, sharing fond memories of London and the festive season.
Valerie read us her and the resident’s favourite seasonal poetry and we made pomanders with Phillippa during our Christmas reminiscence workshop.
We had a fantastic carol concert held in our Orangery performed by our friends at Richmond Community Choir, this was a real highlight.
We have lots planned for coming months and New Year. We have already had a delightful concert provided by Live Music Now and look forward to our friend Brian coming to play the saxophone for us, farm visits and visits from the children who attend the local Beavers.
All the regular weekly activities continue, including Rock and Roll guitar with John, Music and Movement with Serena, jigsaws and games with Teresa, piano recitals with Dr Higgins and art class with Sadia. Fortnightly poetry with Valerie and monthly “News and Reviews” with Phillippa and concerts are also in our diary.
Here’s to a happy and active 2016!
It’s been an exciting time at Dalemead… In December, the brand new Orangery was completed. It is a wonderful space which residents and their visitors can enjoy the view of the garden. It also makes a great performance area for our musical activities. The Christmas party was the first extra-special event to be held in the Orangery. It was a lovely evening for residents to celebrate with their loved ones and staff. We had a packed activities schedule with trips to the centre of London to see the sights and Christmas lights, a performance of “Puss in Boots”, a super concert performed by Richmond Community Choir and Christmas poetry to name a few.
The New Year brought with it fantastic opportunities for us. In January we were treated to a concert at Dalemead, performed by Albert’s Band (The in house band at the Royal Albert Hall). We waved our Union Jack flags, sang along and sipped gin and tonics. A very good time was had by all. We were very lucky to be offered a residency from LIVE MUSIC NOW. We had eight fabulous concerts courtesy of the “Jacquin Trio” during January, February and March.
We were very pleased to be asked if we would be interested in a visit from Nick Grant. Nick is a candidate for the Labour party in our area. We thoroughly enjoyed chatting with him and our question and answer session.
Watercolour Class … As well as doing Still Life we have been discovering the delights of Constable, Van Gogh and Monet.
The Easter bonnet competition was very enjoyable. Residents and staff imaginatively decorated bonnets. Residents also beautifully decorated papier mache eggs. Here are some of the results:
We continue to enjoy all the usual activities: poetry, art and craft, news and reviews, music and movement, quizzes, art class with Sadia and piano concerts with Dr Higgins.
We look forward now to the coming months when we can enjoy the sunshine from the Orangery, take trips to the river to feed the ducks/visit the ice cream van and have outside events such as the BBQ and cream tea.
We had a visit from “Zoo lab”, who brought an impressive collection of animals; including a giant African land snail, an Australian green tree frog, giant African millipede, a corn snake and a huge tortoise! Residents, visitors and staff had a super afternoon handling the animals and learning about them.
We are very lucky to have made a new friend, Dr Higgins is a very talented pianist who has been entertaining us with his large repertoire of toe tapping music every Thursday morning.
All of the usual activities are continuing to take place, including music and movement, poetry, activity workshops with Dan, news and reviews, entertainment afternoons and dance displays to name a few.
As we approach Christmas there is lots to look forward to; our Dalemead Christmas party will take place on Saturday 13th December. It will be the perfect occasion to celebrate the season with residents; their families, friends and staff.
The pantomime this year will be “Puss in Boots” and there will be our annual concert from Richmond Community Choir to get us in the Christmas spirit!
Dalemead had a variety of activities of late, chances to socialise and enjoy ourselves.
We had wonderful trips to Kew Palace and Hampton Court Palace to revel in the talents of the Connaught Opera!
It was lovely to hear the music and watch all the fabulous costume changes with the historic backdrop of the Royal Palaces. We were thrilled to meet the Mayor of Richmond, Councillor Jane Boulton.
It’s been an exciting few months at Dalemead Care home
The Orangery is almost complete! We are really looking forward to reaping the rewards of the extra space that the orangery will provide. It will be an excellent opportunity to enjoy the palatial garden from the warmth of indoors.
Dalemead is located in a quiet, leafy residential area on the Twickenham side of Richmond Bridge close to the River Thames.
Christmas Party 14th December 2013
We had a fabulous Christmas party. It was a wonderful occasion where relatives welcomed there friends and family to share in the festivities; as ever there was a plethora of wonderful food , Simon and Beth provided the musical entertainment which went down very well.
BELL RINGERS
“Spelthorne” U3A provided us with our annual bell ringer afternoon. This was a great opportunity to get us in the festive spirit.
“It’s behind you”
… Partytime provided us with an excellent production of Mother Goose. It was an opportunity to revisit our memories of going to the pantomime with our nearest and dearest.
A Day Trip to London
We christened Dalemead’s new vehicle by hitting the Big Smoke to take in the Christmas Lights and sights.
Geometry Printing Workshop
We found our creative side when we took part in a printing workshop with our Resident Artist. We are pleased to display our efforts to celebrate our achievements.
We have enjoyed monthly entertainment afternoons including … An actress from the Cats Pyjamas Production … She enthralled us with a myriad of musical songs through the decades … It was a great opportunity for us to sing along with some of our favourite tunes.
Pat Dog
We have recently welcomed a new Pat Dog to Dalemead. Molly is an adorable Jack Russell and with her owner Jill they have made a wonderful addition to our activities programme at Dalemead.
We have also enjoyed the usual selection of regular activities poetry,musical entertainment, dance spectacles, music & movement, art & craft, News & Reviews & Dan’s Activities Workshops.
We have our fingers crossed for wonderful weather this spring so we can take full advantage of our well tended garden and fantastic loction of being near the River Thames & Local Ammenities.
Good Friday saw the beginning of our Easters activities with many residents partaking in a Easter Cookie decorating workshop.
Easter Monday we will hold our Annual “All Winners” Easter Bonnett competition.
We eagerly await the construction of the Orangery. The orangery will combine the light, airy feel of a conservatory with the practicality of a sunroom, creating a beautiful addition to Dalemead with a style and charm of its own. This new structure will enable residents to enjoy the views of the gardens and will hopefully host plethora of events … Please watch this space!!!
We had a busy summer and made the most of the sunshine. We spent many happy mornings in the garden listening to our favourite music, eating ice lollies and playing garden games; such as skittles and hoopla. We were very lucky with the weather on the day of our cream tea. Residents welcomed their families and friends to the annual event. We spent the afternoon eating delicious scones and cake whilst sipping tea and enjoying each other’s company. We weren’t as lucky with the weather for our BBQ. However the show went on and we had an indoor feast and musical entertainment from Simon and Beth.
We enjoyed two wonderful concerts performed by the “Connaught Opera”. One at Hampton Court Palace and the other at Orleans House Gallery. We look forward to seeing the “Connaught Opera” again in the coming weeks at Kew Palace. We always absolutely love their concerts and welcome the opportunity to hear our favourite songs performed so beautifully in the picturesque settings of London beauty spots.
We have been very lucky to welcome Millie and Dan for activity workshops every Wednesday morning. During the sessions we enjoy many activities: discussing poetry and literature, quizzes, games, reminiscence, themed sessions and lots of laughter! They are a breath of fresh air and we thoroughly enjoy their sessions!
We had a morning of magic, performed by David who has a fantastic repertoire of impressive tricks.
Lynette from “Zoo lab” joined us for an afternoon and brought with her lots of things for us to look at and touch. She brought snakes and millipedes, massive snails and a tarantula to name a few.
Alongside these events we have also been enjoying our usual activities: Poetry with Valerie, visits from our P.A.T “Foo” and Roz, “News and Reviews” with Phillippa, music and movement and art and craft.
We have a packed programme during the approach to Christmas. The main event will be our Christmas party which this year will be held on the 14th December. We also look forward to hosting a pantomime (“Mother Goose”) at Dalemead in the morning on 11th December. There will be a visit from “Spelthorne” the bell ringers to get us in the festive mood, dancing with Janice and Eric from “Jerico” and lots of Christmas themed musical afternoons
We’ve had a busy few weeks…We have enjoyed all of the usual activities (music and movement, poetry afternoons, art and craft sessions, resident’s meetings, quizzes, visits from our “Pets as therapy” dog, the fortnightly church service and a variety of games). We had our first florist workshop with visiting florists who assisted us in creating beautiful floral displays. Phillippa from Richmond museum brought us some fascinating objects to look at and discuss during our monthly reminiscence afternoon. We have had some wonderful musical activities; Patrick provided us with a fantastic recital of our favourite tunes on the piano and we were enchanted by a visit from Roweena and Adam, very talented musicians who played their violins for us during a fabulous concert. Another highpoint was our annual Easter bonnet competition. As always the standard was very high and a good time was had by all! Janice and Eric performing as “Jerico” gave us a super afternoon with their dance displays. Many residents joined them on the dance floor.
At Dalemead we consider it to be very important to provide a person centred, varied programme of activities taking into account the hobbies and interests of our residents. Our main aims are to have fun, to keep learning and be involved and interested in life.
We have lots pencilled in to our social calendar for the coming months…
• Matt Bond will be here to sing songs from the 1920’s – 1960’s for us at 3pm on 10th April.
• We look forward to welcoming Patrick back for a piano recital at 3pm on 11th April.
• Music and movement every Monday afternoon at 1.30pm. The trained teacher provides us with an hour of exercise which is both enjoyable and an opportunity to continue to be physically active.
• Art and craft Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings.
• Church services planned for the next few months will take place at 5.30pm on 21st April, 5th May and 2nd June.
• Reminiscence workshop with Phillippa from Richmond museum date to be arranged – see posters on Activities boards to discuss the topic of travel. At the end of each session the residents decide as a group which topic they would like to discuss in our next session. It is an interesting way for the residents to remember and celebrate the past and further their already extensive knowledge.