No sooner had we packed away the Christmas decorations than residents and staff at
Arlington House were celebrating Burns night. Michelle, who coordinates activities held a Scottish quiz followed by readings of Scottish poems while Dora our cook prepared Haggis for us all to try… actually, it was very tasty … although we went with the vegetarian option to be safe!
It was a really enjoyable occasion and one of a series of stimulating and varied activities we have planned for 2019, with each month following a theme. Activities are an integral part of the care and support we provide to the residents.
Our first Christmas at Arlington House was a happy, joyful experience. Celebrations began the week before with an evening of music – all the old favourites sung by residents, loved ones and staff accompanied by a pair of Violins and the Piano. It turns out we have quite a few former choir boys and girls amongst us. There were two performances in the conservatory and another in the homes pub – it was a wonderful coming together for all of us, filling the home with joy …. a bit emotional actually.
All the residents eagerly opened their presents on Christmas morning – carefully selected toiletries, socks, pyjamas, slippers etc. Lunch was to follow, which was traditional Christmas fare. It was particularly nice to have members of our local community join us for the day who would have otherwise been alone and a compliment to the cook they returned on Boxing day!
A bit of a do
The staff Christmas do also went well with some being particularly lucky with their raffle tickets! Roxana and I cooked for everyone – they’re still talking about it to this day – that’s a good thing right?
Leeks
Well ok leaks, we’ve a few over the past seven months – in walls, ceilings even underground in the back garden. Our fantastic plumbers have been quick to respond – they’ve been here nearly every week since we took over, much longer and I’ll have to put them on the payroll! There’ve been various water related challenges with the old central heating and hot water systems (all four of them) needing to be addressed. We’ve also been busy with the addition of two new bedrooms complete with ensuites. One is a renovated top floor bedroom, the other formed from part of a mostly unused double aspect first floor lounge.
A warm welcome to Chilie!
November saw us welcome Chilie Sibelo to our management team, joining us as Care Manager to work alongside our Registered Manager – Shelly Guay. With many years’ experience in Care Home settings Chilie is a valued addition and shares our passion and drive to provide exemplary care to all those residing at Arlington House.
Chilie is the lead with implementing our new software, which will transform how we go about providing care and support – more about “Care Control” in our next newsletter – but I can tell you it has more bells and whistles than you would have found in Fred Dibnahs lock up.
Well it wasn’t there yesterday!
November also saw the arrival of our new garden office. The pod was carried through the home as small panels to be constructed in just one day – much to the amazement of all those watching.
One resident was particularly impressed at the speed of the build and quality of the materials used – the two of us stood together as former builders commenting on the quality of the wood and the rather handy looking power tools.
Congratulations
Congratulation to Maki our amazing House keeper. In recognition of her hard work and high standards Maki has been promoted to Head Housekeeper. Maki is not only terrific at her job; she is also particularly good with the residents and a real pleasure to have around. Thank you for everything you do Maki!
