MOM'S NEW HOME

Last week I moved my Mom into a care home. She is transitioning well I think. There are lots of things for her to do and although she still complains she is bored, I think mostly it is a memory issue as she is participating in all kids of activities. Today I went to the Mother's Day tea. They encourage family members to take part in all these functions if they can. Next week there is a dinner social!
A man named George Ellenton was the entertainer at today's tea and he imitates Frank Sinatra and does a very nice job of it, the patients all seemed to be enjoying themselves and the staff members were going around and encouraging them to get up and dance!

 This photo was at Happy Hour last Thursday, the home has Hilary on piano and vocals and another fellow with a guitar who also sings. They serve soft drinks and chips and candy and cheezies and pass out hand held instruments and the patients all sing along. Mom really enjoyed it!

 This is Mom's room. She has her own room and we went a bought a comfortable chair and TV and telephone so she has many of the comforts of home. Not quite the same but more choices than at the hospital she came from.

 When I arrived today, loaded down with bags and bundles of food as usual, I went to Mom's room and put everything away. (Since her stroke she is always hungry and goes through massive amounts of food in addition to all that is available to her there)I had also taken her roses for Mother's Day so got them into water and then went to hunt for her. I couldn't find her anywhere! I ran into Hilary the music coordinator who was also looking for her and the hunt began...we searched all over the second floor and no one had seen her...hmmm....as she hasn't mastered the key codes to get off the floor yet, we couldn't figure out where she could have gone....someone suggested we check the first floor just in case.....and look who we found...immersed in a game of Bingo with the other patients in the main floor games room....hmmm....I never would have guessed that one...I asked her if she wanted to go to the tea for Mother's Day or stay and play bingo and she decided to go to the tea. One of the many, many volunteers came and said she had brought her down to play and would play her card and if she won anything, would have it put on her account...I guess they have small cash prizes. She also said she would come and get her on Saturday to play again.... Yeah...this means she is doing activities and that is such a good thing for my peace of mind.
This is a nonprofit society care home and they care for their patients using the Eden Alternative approach which addresses the three "plagues" of long term care, loneliness, helplessness and boredom. Each principal they use is developed to de-institutionalize care homes and to encourage a healthy human community for the elders living in long term care facilities. From what I have seen so far, their approach is very kind, supportive and caring and between the staff and the many volunteers, they are striving to make the lives of the elderly happy and give them a good quality of life in their later years.

 The Mother's Day Tea...that orange stuff was very "orange"....not quite sure what it was, a mousse of some kind I think. Then they had chocolate covered strawberries and of course tea!

 Behind the balloons is the entertainer George Ellenton, he did a fabulous job and he also had a great sense of humor...not sure if all the patients got his jokes but the family members in attendance did.

 This sweetheart of a lady is Marivic and she is wonderful. She gets the patients up and moving and she is full of bubbling energy. She always has a smile for them all and everyone loves her.She is also very encouraging to family members, she listens well and welcomes hints that help her to get the patient involved and active.

Mom enjoyed her dance! I hung out with her a little longer then left as they were getting ready to have their dinner in the dining room!

SPRING HAS SPRUNG....I hope!!

We seem to have had the winter that just never quits or ends once again this year. It wasn't especially cold or snowy just rain, wet and darned chilly and damp most of the time. Lately though ,the sun has been coming out now and then and this last few days have even brought a few warm days...well...for us warmish....  Today before my weekly trip to take my Mom from the hospital out on a outing I took one of my Chatty Cathy's out in the yard as my daffodils are in full bloom and my purple azalea's are as well and you just never know when the rain will come pouring down and wash all the blossoms away! I just love the purple azaleas.
Many, many years ago hubby was building a stone fortress around a prominent home and the landscapers working on the property were busy pulling out and cutting down all of the foliage so the stone walls could go up. They threw all the rhododendron and azaleas on the pile to go to recycling so hubby asked if he could take them. They were in pretty sad shape at that point having been dug up by the backhoe and sitting on a rubbish pile for days. Anyways, he brought them home and for lack of a better place at the time, planted them in the middle of the backyard. We didn't know if they would live or not but they did and now they are big and strong and have the prettiest flowers every spring!

APRIL BIRTHDAY'S MOM AND ANA!

We were invited to Ana's third birthday party today. She will turn 3 on April 4 and my Mom, her Gramma will turn 86 on the same day. It was a fun party and Mom enjoyed being invited and getting out of the hospital to go there. Ana's birthday had a darling Hello Kitty theme!

 The birthday girls!

 Ana wanted Gramma to wear a party hat like hers and Gramma was a good sport and wore one too!

 My Little Pony was a hit!

 The Hello Kitty Cake

 Ana's birthday bear, she liked the "Today's Your birthday" song it played much better than the traditional singing of Happy Birthday to You...LOL..and the red flashing Happy Birthday sign was another of her favorite things.

 Gramma and Ana trying to get one of her presents out of the packaging...so much packaging on kids stuff these days. Ana is a girly girl and always has the cutest little outfits on!

Even better than eating the cake is making mud pie out of the left over remnants of it! It was a delicious ice cream cake!

DEEP COVE

We went on a little field trip today to Deep Cove. It was a beautiful sunshiny day and a great day for an outing. We had donuts at Honey's and ice cream and walked and admired the ocean all around.

No wonder it is so cold out still, look at the snow still on the mountains!

Honey's donuts and sweets, num!

The marina

The Vancouver Flea market and my granddaughter who is a vendor there.

FIELD TRIP!

On Wednesday Loretta, Isabelle and I went on a field trip to the North Shore using skytrain and the bus,  to browse and eat at Murchies then we went downtown Vancouver and browsed a button shop. Dressew and a neat antique store that had some antique dolls in it! it was a very fun day! Below is a display at the chocolate store, so cute!

 Isn't she a cute doll? Only 130.00 for an antique seemed like a good deal but alas she was in a case so I didn't get to see what kind of body she had etc.and I am out of dolly dollars right now anyways! But she was darling!

This was a chocolate store in Park Royal shopping Center. The shopping center itself was absolutely empty! I don't ever remember being in a mall that had so few people in it! It was very odd and quite a change from Metrotown where I usually go and it is always crowded, doesn't matter the day or time it seems.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!

We celebrated our 31st Wedding Anniversary on March 13, wow where did the years go? And yes, for the curious, we did get married on Friday the 13th....it was my Grandma's favorite day during her life as she was born on a Friday the 13th but in May not March. We decided a few days ago that we would go to one of our favorite places to eat to celebrate. It isn't fancy or high class or anything but it is steeped in history for me because I have been eating there since I was 2 years old. Through the years they have had different owners and even moved down the block a bit following a fire many years ago but their recipe follows where ever they go and I think they are the best fish and chip restaurant anywhere. I remember going there when I was really young, in the days when they were down the block a bit and had a counter with stools to sit on. We rarely had pop at home in those days but when we went to eat fish and chips, my mom would let me have Crush Creme Soda and there was something so special about that fizzy sweet pink pop!

So today we set off on our field trip to White Rock...our weather has been less than optimal for several years now and this year is no exception. As we headed across the Alex Fraser Bridge, snow was pelting down on the windshield. But we were on a mission and we weren't at freezing temperatures so we continued. For years Surrey has been known as "Sunny Surrey" and once we got over the bridge it was clear why as we could see the sun in the distance...that orb in the sky seemed so foreign as we rarely see it anymore. And the further we went, the sunnier it was and the ground was DRY.....no snow, no rain...lovely! When we arrived it was evident why Sunny Surrey is called that as the flowers are in bloom, some of the flowering trees are blooming and the weather is so much nicer than ours and we are only a half hour away!

This is Coney Island Fish and Chips...makers of the best fish and chips anywhere I think, they hand batter their cod fish and they cut all their own potatoes and make home made fries, the best fries and reminiscent of the "olden" days when these were the norm and frozen processed ones you find everywhere now were unheard of. The taste is like nothing I can explain, always fabulous and always consistently excellent.

This is what you receive when you ask for 2 pieces of cod and chips! Add malt vinegar and ketchup and it is the best tasting meal around!

Following our meal we went for a short walk along the sea wall and looked at the ocean. There were some brave little children all bundled up in their winter coats playing in the sand at water's edge. Hopefully the next outing we take to White Rock our weather will be warmer and nicer!    

VALENTINE'S DAY 2012

On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a special Valentine's tea party at my friend Loretta's House...I often refer to her as Martha Stewart of the North as she has such a flair for creating beautiful, visually stimulating, delicious tasting, tea parties. She always has her home decorated for whichever holiday we are celebrating and she decorates with such flair. Saturday was no exception, from the banner on the front doorstep to the fancy decorated table setting and Valentine tree, everything was perfect. This time Loretta challenged our friend Isabelle and I to each make two dresses for our bleuette dolls and we would have a dress exchange. The dresses we each received in return are just gorgeous. Loretta had her gifts packaged in very special Valentine's day suitcases that will be perfect to store Bleuette's Valentine dresses from year to year! Isabelle knitted us each a doll cape as well as the dresses she gave and I was tickled as they are so cute and I don't knit at all!!

Yum, look at all the goodies! The things above were bought at the store but Loretta had baked the most delicious heart shaped Cherry Scones which we topped with Devon Creme from England...oh my they were decadent!!!

Our party girls!

OK, now here is something I just bet you don't see everyday!! Loretta has a Valentine tree and it is so cute! Sitting under the tree is Chatty Cathy and Helena, Loretta's Bleuette doll that was made by Sylvia. She is such a cute doll! She was the one Loretta picked to wear the outfit I had made for the dress exchange.

This is Yvette Marie, the Bleuette who came to live at Loretta's and started it all...lol..prior to her arrival neither Isabelle nor I collected Bleuette's. Yvette Marie is wearing a dress I made last year when we had another dress exchange.

Our hostess had a craft planned for us to do...so we giggled and glued and finally ended up with the prettiest Valentine wreaths made out of Lacy paper doilies and hearts. Aren't they cute?

Here is the Valentine table setting. Isn't it pretty? I am on the left, Leona is at the far end of the table and Isabelle is on the right.

The Valentine table with Loretta now seated at the end! On the tray close to the front of the picture is the Cherry Scones...Loretta has promised to share the recipe because they are so good!

Now isn't this the cutest presentation? My Valentine dress Loretta made and then placed in a Valentine theme little suitcase with a lace doilies and hearts and buttons. So sweet!

The girls socializing, they love it when we get together too! The girl on the far right arrived just in time for tea, I picked her up at the post office on Friday. She is a 251 mold made by the fabulous doll artist Candy Anderson, the Doll Lady. She does such beautiful work.

The table from another angle.

OK, now I am sure she isn't going to like the picture but I just had to include it because Leona is not a doll collector despite the fact we have been working on her for years...she does seem to enjoy being with us or maybe she just tolerates her sister and her doll crazy friends...lol...but as you can see by the picture below...I think she is weakening...she is holding Madeline and fussing with her cape...we will convert her yet!

This lovely dress in front of Robinette the resin bleuette from the Ruby Red Galleria is the dress that Isabelle made for each of us. Isn't it pretty? It is so difficult to find patterns in small scale suitable for bleuette. I think we all did pretty well this time! I will try and post a picture soon of the dresses I received on the dolls because they look so cute in them! I just have to get dolls and camera all in the same place to take one! Thanks for a fabulous tea party Loretta!