THE MINSTRELS
DECEMBER 2009 UPDATE
Oh yes we did!
We had a wonderful afternoon here when travelling theatre company Carousel bought their own production of Cinderella to The Minstrels for us to enjoy. It was a couple of hours of pure pantomime with the ugly sisters, Buttons and of course the fairy godmother all putting in an appearance.
We joined in with the ‘oh yes we did’ bits – it was like being children again! It certainly helped us get into the Christmas spirit.
School singing sensations
The relationship we have built up with some of the schools near us in Boston has been wonderful over recent years. It’s always a delight to welcome visitors but children hold a special place.
We’ve welcomed two schools in over the past fortnight - Boston West and Hawthorn Tree. The pupils have come in and sung carols for us. They sang like angels and there were a few damp eyes among our residents by the time they’d finished!
Teenagers shout ‘legs 11’
Some children from one of our secondary schools in the area – Haven High School – are busy organising a bingo session for later this month. They’re doing it as part of a project and we’re the lucky beneficiaries!
They’ll be calling the numbers – ‘legs 11’, ‘two little ducks’ and all that! The teenagers are organising hamper prizes too – so the competition will be hotting up!
NOVEMBER 2009 UPDATE
In the pink
Wear It Pink Day was a lot of fun, with staff and residents of both the nursing and residential homes joining in the fun and wearing a wide variety of pink items.
Each home had an entertainer in during the day, there was a raffle, and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day. We charged £1 for the pleasure of wearing pink, and managed to raise more than £160 for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Our home’s a stage
While many of us remain very active and enjoy regular outings, some of us, especially in the nursing home, struggle to get out very often. So it’s wonderful to have people coming to us.
A visiting theatre group is the latest addition to our social calendar. The actors are coming in during November to perform Cinderella – a lovely early Christmas treat for us all and something to stir those childhood memories too!
Rumours of the man in red…
Rumours are rife around The Minstrels that a certain man in a red coat is going to be visiting us during our Christmas parties next month. There’s definitely going to be a singer leading us all in some Christmas carols and our families and friends are going to be joining us too for the games and buffet.
Tree of remembrance
For the first time this year we are going to be decorating our Christmas trees with memorial baubles. All residents, staff and visitors can use the trees to dedicate a message to a loved one. The messages will be put on a bauble which will then be hung on the tree. Each message will cost just 50p with all the money going to a good cause.
OCTOBER 2009 UPDATE
Plum bread
It’s amazing what sparks memories. We held a Macmillan Coffee Morning here on September 25th – part of the charity’s national fund raising drive. We raised more than £130 which we were rather pleased with.
As we chatted over coffee and cake someone mentioned plum bread. It seems lots of us Lincolnshire lasses love plum bread. But those who’ve moved here from elsewhere in the country hadn’t a clue what we were talking about!
So now our village manager Geraldine is on a mission to track down some plum bread for our next coffee morning. It made our mouth water just talking about it – we had a lovely conversation about food memories!
Christmas cards already?
We know it’s only October but our thoughts are already turning to Christmas. Retirement Villages is holding a Christmas card competition for residents – and there’s another similar competition being held in Boston.
So now we’re all drawing, painting, sticking and sewing to try to come up with the most unique Christmas card in the hope of winning a prize. Only 11 weeks to go!
In the pink
There’s a lot of shopping going on at the moment – and an awful lot of pink items poking out from carrier bags! This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month – a very good cause.
Wear It Pink Day is Friday, October 30. All of us in the residential and nursing home are hoping to take part in one way or another. There’s bound to be lots of pink jumpers, pink socks and pink hairclips!
We’re holding a raffle and a pink-clad singer is going to be entertaining us. We’ll let you know how much we raise for the cause afterwards.
SEPTEMBER 2009 UPDATE
A show of hands
Our most recent residents meeting proved particularly popular – and useful. With a really god turn out there was lots of input, ideas and thoughts being shared. We’ve come up with a good list of new activities we’d like to try out here and some ideas for days out and visits.
A show of hands sorted out the most popular. As ever, the staff were great, and have taken on board our suggestions so we’re now looking forward to an autumn of fun new activities.
Welcome back Mettie
Mettie Robinson lived here for a few months before heading off elsewhere for a little while. But she’s now back and settled in and we’re delighted to have her with us again.
And it’s a welcome to Marjorie Gregory who has recently moved into the nursing home. She’s a Boston lady so knows the area very well. She’s already made herself known to lots of us and she’s enjoying some of the activities we do here.
We wish her a long and happy stay.
The kettle’s on
Just a couple of weeks to go now until the Macmillan Biggest Coffee Morning which we’re hosting here at The Minstrels. This has become one of those annual charity events which more and more people nationwide join in every time – and it raises money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
It’s a wonderful charity and one which several of us here have had direct experience of so we’re very pleased to be supporting it this year. We’re hoping to get as many people as possible from the nursing home, residential home and independent apartments to come along on September 25 to raise a good amount of money for the cause. We’ll let you know how it goes.
AUGUST 2009 UPDATE
Winifred celebrates 103rd birthday
There must be something in the water that helps us all live to such a good age here - the latest in a string of centenary celebrations is Winifred Hudson who’s lived in the residential home for almost three years.
Incredibly, she lived on her own in Boston right up until she was 100.
She was 103 at the beginning of August. Apart from having a bit of trouble with her hearing she’s very fit and healthy, getting around all over the place with her walking frame.
Her niece and a few friends joined us for a special birthday tea and, as usual, Tracey Burford our kitchen manager, baked a beautiful cake. Winifred says the way to stay young is to ‘be a normal person’. There’s a lesson for us all.
Arts and crafts on a Monday
It’s lovely to have some of the people who live in The Minstrels’ apartments joining us for our new arts and crafts morning each Monday. The activities co-ordinators here are concentrating on a different craft every week. So far we’ve learnt about flower arranging and card making. We’re very pleased with our efforts so far and look forward to trying out even more new things in the coming weeks.
Welcome!
Our new Village Manager Geraldine Andrews was the hostess with the most-ess at a special cheese and wine evening. Geraldine only came here a couple of months ago as the nursing home manager but has already been promoted to Village Manager.
She organised a cheese and wine evening for all the residents and our families to say a proper hello. It was a lovely evening and we hear she’s hoping to make it a regular event which we shall all look forward to!
JULY 2009 UPDATE
Summer fete success
This is Merlin the Owl (click picture to enlarge) who was the special guest at our first ever Summer fete. The sun shone – thankfully – which meant all of us residents as well as our family and friends who came, could enjoy the fun and the lovely gardens we have here.
The choir from a nearby school – Carlton Road Primary School – came along and sang beautifully for us. A singer who has been to The Minstrels before, Jenny Webb, entertained us too. Some of our grandchildren, great grandchildren and even great great grandchildren loved the bouncy castle and face painting.
There was plenty of debate going on around the Guess the Weight of the cake stall and the Name the Teddy – it was called Lily in the end! Thanks to everyone who came for helping us raise more than £600. We’re going to use the money to organise some days out – fish and chips on the prom at Skegness is top of the list!
Happy 101st birthday
Five generations of Edith Skelton’s family joined in wishing her a happy birthday – she was 101 this month! Edith (click picture to enlarge)
moved to The Minstrels eight years ago from Leeds. Her family are down here so she came to be nearer them.
She has lots of friends at The Minstrels now and she received some lovely presents, including lots of books – she’s a keen reader. We all joined in singing her happy birthday and she got a special cuddle form her newest – and fifth – great great grandchild, four week old Jessica Scott.
JUNE 2009 UPDATE
Summer Fete
It’s summer – and that means it’s summer fete time. Ours is planned for July 11 and there’s lots of time and effort going into organising it. We’re hoping some of our neighbours from the wider community in Boston will come along, as well as our friends and family to make it a day to remember.
We’ve already got various stalls planned and we’re hoping to have some entertainers and maybe even a bouncy castle – our grandchildren will love that! The Minstrels has a gorgeous garden which our visitors will be able to enjoy. It should be a great day for all the family.
Activities
Our activities co-ordinators are wonderful, organising lots of different things for us to do. We regularly enjoy film nights, there’s bingo, quiz and game evenings, shopping trips into Boston which are very popular, and dances. We have church services held here and music nights. They even organise for us to be pampered and give us manicures.
Keeping it in the family
This is Tracey Burford the kitchen manager at The Minstrels. Tracey bakes the most delicious cakes fresh every day for us to have with our tea and coffee. By chance, her auntie Doris Moses lives here in the residential home.