A superb sunflower in the garden at Wardington House.
“Fields of yellow faces following the sun
Impossible to count them each and every one,
Waving gently in the breeze they make a sunny sigh.
Stretching up their heads they smile at passers by.”
(The Sunflower Fairy Poem)
Welcome to Wardington House’s latest newsletter.
Have you had a stroll around the garden at Wardington House recently? It is a summer sanctuary of splendor! The grass may not be its usual lush green, but the flowers and plants are certainly making up for any lack of colour. The towering zesty yellow of the sunflowers certainly catches our attention and the poem above perfectly describes the warm welcome they give everyone enjoying them in the splendid sunshine.
The garden looking gorgeous despite the dry weather.
The Garden Party
What a marvellous time we all had at the annual Garden Party! The weather was glorious, the refreshments were delicious, the band was uplifting and the stalls and games were a joy! It was truly wonderful to see everyone having a lovely time. Thank you to everyone who made this day so special and generously donated. We are pleased to say we raised £2528.91 for the Alzheimer’s society! Thank you!
Activities
The Garden Party may be over but the fun in the garden hasn’t stopped. When it hasn’t been too hot we have enjoyed singing along with Tristan Jackson-Pate out on the patio. Have you had the joy of experiencing one of these singing sessions? You can’t help but join in, have a good sing and afterwards have a smile on your face for the rest of the day.
The residents enjoy a sing-along on the patio with Tristan Jackson-Pate.
More fun has also been taking place in the garden as we welcomed back the ponies Reuben and Mungo. They enjoyed a tour of the garden with some of the residents as well as enjoying all the lovely attention from the residents inside the home.
A resident enjoying the company of Reuben, the pony.
A resident showing Mungo, the pony around the garden.
The ponies visited residents in the main sitting room.
We have also been enjoying time outside, at the front of the house, when the British Motor Museum visited not only with their memorabilia but an actual car! We enjoyed looking at and sitting in the super Standard Ensign. Inside the house the residents had the opportunity to look at a selection of memorabilia and talk to the volunteers about their motor experiences.
The Standard Ensign on the drive at Wardington House.
Residents looking at memorabilia from the British Motor Museum.
An activity we certainly did not consider doing outside, for obvious melting reasons, was chocolate trifle making for World Chocolate Day. As you can imagine this activity went down a treat – the creating and the tasting!
Ingredients ready for chocolate trifles.
Chocolate trifles made by the residents.
We also enjoyed some sweet treats at the Scottish themed Coffee Morning. No it’s not St Andrew’s Day yet, the Scottish theme was due to the current Commonwealth Games taking place in Scotland. The residents enjoyed some shortbread, flapjack and Dundee cake whilst listening to some traditional Scottish songs and the bagpipes of course.
All ready for the Scottish themed Coffee Morning.
Emma’s Update
Is anyone else missing lush green lawns, full rivers and the smell of summer rain? The lawn is crispy, the plants look sad and the earth is like dust. It just doesn’t feel British, we should be moaning about the rain not the heat. It normally rains quite a bit during the school summer holidays so I’m hoping we keep that tradition this year (sorry kids).
Not all the plants suffer in the extreme dry and if our climate continues on in the same trend of hot dry summers we may have to start choosing plants that will cope better with those conditions. There are some great plants that once established grow well and flower with little intervention.
Some examples of plants doing well in the garden at the moment are: Achillea (yarrow) a really tough plant happy in the dry, great for cut flowers too and Echinops (globe thistle) gorgeous blue spheres, loved by the bees.
Achillea in the garden.
A bee enjoying an Echinops in the garden.
Buddleja (butterfly bush) also grow really well and flower for ages, they come alive on sunny days attracting a wide range of insects. We have quite a few at Wardington in white, lilac and deep purple. They do also grow in places they shouldn’t and we’ve had to remove a few in the wrong place, including one growing in the guttering.
An Admiral Butterfly on a buddleja.
Herbs – most come from a Mediterranean climate and thrive on poor dry soil. The lavender, up until recently, has been looking glorious in the sun, the rosemary and thyme have also had a great year and have the added bonus of being very tasty and useful in the kitchen.
Luscious Lavender towards the lawn.
Also worth keeping an eye out for are Hummingbird Hawk Moths – as the name suggests is a moth whose flight is uncannily similar to a hummingbird. We have seen quite a few this month and they seem very keen on salvias, buddleja and red valerian.
Hummingbird Hawk Moth seen in the garden.
There are still some fledglings about too, the little one below is a thrush but I’m not sure which as we have both Mistle Thrush and Song Thrush at Wardington – let us know if you know!”
A fledgling exploring the grounds.
The Month Ahead
‘Holidays’ will be our theme for August whether that be a traditional English seaside holiday or ventures further afield to more exotic locations – we will try and cover it all.
We will start with a more European experience with a Continental Breakfast Coffee Morning on Monday 3rd August.
We will then experience a bit of Africa with African Drumming taking place on the afternoon of the 10th August.
The beach is always a popular holiday experience no matter where you are in the world. There will be sand and shell activities giving the residents an opportunity to reminisce as well as show their creative side with a bucket and spade!
Holidays can also be a good excuse to sample a cocktail or two therefore we will be creating our own non-alcoholic cocktails.
For those of us that do like a tipple now and again and with International Beer Day taking place early in the month, a few of us will be visiting a local pub for a beverage.
For those of us that like something a little sweeter, Cupcake Day takes place mid month so we will be decorating some cupcakes and then enjoy the delights at the Cupcake Coffee Morning on the 17th August.
Towards the end of the month is National Banana Split Day – everyone always enjoys these scrumptious snacks so we will be having a banana split afternoon tea on the 27th August.
The following regular activities will also take place this month: singing with Tristan Pate (weekly) and Katie Holland (monthly); Exercise Classes with Alfie (fortnightly); Josie the PAT dog (fortnightly); afternoon tea at Harley Equestrian Cafe (monthly); morning coffee and cake at Wardington Garden Centre (fortnightly); in-house Church Services (weekly) and Pamper Mornings.
Care at Wardington House
If there is anyone you know, who might need our care, please tell them about us and we will be happy to help.
Wardington House Contact Information:
Telephone: 01295 750622
This goes to the office during the working day, or to the nurses’ office during evenings and weekends.
For general or administration queries, please email [email protected].
For Accounts, please email Julie Linzey at: [email protected]
For George Tuthill, please email: [email protected]
P.S If you wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter please contact Gemma Shaw at [email protected]
Compiled and edited by Gemma Shaw
