Thursday has become our regular out and about excursion day, which allows us to once again make great use of the Brunel House minibus.

Today we made salt dough and had great fun making shapes and kneading the dough. This is great for circulation and exercising the hands and fingers and can also be a cause for much laughter. 

Our activities theme for the month of May is 'All About Me' so we spent time during this Dementia Awareness Week reminiscing and listening to old familiar songs. We also painted forget-me-not flowers that represent remembrance and are long-associated with dementia. They are also a symbol of the Alzheimer's Society. 

Continuing with our fundraising for the Stroke Association we held a purple day here at Bowerfield Court. Everyone wore a purple ribbon and enjoyed the variety of purple sweets and cupcakes that were on offer. We took part in the quiz made by the charity itself and especially joined in the 'Catchphrases' section. 

Residents have been busy making colourful shakers and masquerade masks for our Mardi Gras themed party scheduled for the 26th of May. The carnival shakers were made from loo roll, paper towel and Pringle tubes. These were then filled with dried rice, decorated with free wallpaper samples and embellished with feathers, flowers, coloured tape and gems. We had a donation of black masquerade masks which we painted with coloured glitter glue and decorated with bright feathers and coloured gems. 

Everyone who lives and works at Princess Lodge celebrated International Nurses Day with style with gifts and pizza. It was a day to thank all of the amazing nurses, not just at Princess Lodge but across the world for their continued support, dedication and kindness. 

There has to be a special mention to the fabulous Head Chef Shushma Gurung for making this stunning cake. 

With International Nurses Day falling in the same week as Mental Health Awareness Week, we have everyone's mental health in our hearts. We have touched base with everyone to ask 'How are you?'. We also handed out lots of little sweet treats to remind everyone - 'YOU ARE NOT ALONE'. Now more than ever we need to find ways to stay connected with our friends. No one should feel alone, or without the information, support and help they need. Happy Nurses Day. 

Riverview are excited to announce that they were runners up in a competition to find the best Care Home in Reading. The competition was organised by Dunelm who invited the community to vote for the best home. It was a tough competition but Riverview are proud to announce that they were awarded second place. A representative from Dunelm visited to deliver a prize which included garden games. 

We have another great artist among our residents - Hilda (also known as Babs) often draws in her room and recently her friend delivered some of her paintings to her that she has done over the years. I think you will agree she is amazing! We will proudly display her paintings around the home.

We had a pamper nail day here at Clarendon Court. It went down well, everybody loves a pamper.