August is always a special month and this year it began with something rather special as we welcomed talented musician, Rongrong Li with her traditional ‘Chinese Piper’.  Rongrong is a talented musician who has played this complicated instrument from childhood and she shared her love of traditional Chinese dance music with residents, mixing it up with some well-known Scottish favourites which we could all sing along to. The post-event evaluation gave this world music concert a resounding thumbs up with a request for more!

The warm, balmy summer days provided the perfect excuse to take our regular Yoga class outdoors.  These yoga sessions, led by qualified Yoga Teacher Angie Harron, form part of our ‘wellbeing’ program and are open to residents and staff members alike.  Enabling staff to exercise alongside residents in this way encourages uptake and enhances resident’s enjoyment of these sessions.  It also provides a good source of conversation for later in the day.  These gentle chair-based exercises aim to build strength and promote joint mobility through gentle stretching whilst calming breath work encourages relaxation and lifts mood.

Our regular excursions continued, allowing residents opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors using various means:

We took to the trishaws again with our friends at Cycling Without Age Scotland, this time exploring the gardens and grounds of the historic Callendar House.  After a brief pause to enjoy some cooling refreshments, our adventures continued as we lapped the lake and wandered through the woodland of this beautiful park.

We celebrated the summer by holding a ‘Ladies Who Launch’ day, and we packed a picnic hamper with some delicious treats to enjoy as we messed about on the water of the Union Canal aboard a Seagull Trust Cruise.  The conditions were perfect and this proved to be the  day when one lady's dream came true as, under the careful supervision of our skipper, she took charge of the controls and cruised our boat gently along the canal!  

Although the fine weather broke on the day of our regular fishing trip, it didn't dampen our fishermen's spirits.  The gents simply moved under the cover or our portable tent and carried on with another great day's sport at the Wellsfield Farm Trout Fishery.  They are hardy chaps these fishermen!

But it's not just the amazing excursions which have made this an utterly awesome August, it's been the everyday activities which have taken place within the Home:

It's the ladies getting together to chat whilst they sift through beads to make their own bespoke jewellery;  the good-natured banter from the boys on the terraces as they encourage their friends on the walking football field. It's the careful concentration and the thrill of a Bingo win and it's the joy that is spread with every wag of our VIP's hairy tails!

What better way can there be to round off such a great month than to finish the same way we started, with some amazing music played live within the Home.  Our thanks go to the superb Sean and Chantelle who sang the 'Sounds of Summer' to round off and amazing awesome August month!