Brylyn Residential Care

December 2020

We hope you have had a wonderful festive season and here’s wishing you all the very best for 2021.

Birthdays for the month of December were for Robert Brough on the 12^th, Lindsey Jordan on the 20^th and Glenys Alexander on the 21^st. A cake was provided from our kitchen for morning tea with all the residents.

Sadly, two of our residents passed away, our condolences go out to the families of Bruce Ogilvie and Lindsey Jordan.

We welcome Lena ‘Billy’ Phillips for a short stay with us.

Christmas decorations went up and on the 4^th we took photos of our residents by our new Christmas tree with a copy given out to both residents and family. They are beautiful photos and well done to our caregiver, Vidhi, who did a splendid job!

Peter Whalley was in on the 9^th to entertain in the morning getting everyone to sing along with him.

A morning tea was held on the 10^th where we thanked our Volunteers and handed out gifts, not forgetting the two doggies that visit our residents, Boomer and Cookie. Some of our residents stood up to say their thanks including one of our Registered Nurses, Thelma. There as a delicious spread afterwards which turned out to be a good social event.

Entertainment with Charlie and Marlene went well on the 11^th where they also got residents to join in and sing along. Charlie sang the favourites with some wonderful news songs, ending with a medley of well-known Christmas carols.

The bus trip on the 11^th residents went to Palmers Garden Centre Café for coffee and cake and then a walk in the plants garden.

Our new vinyl was installed in the lounge and dining areas on the weekend of the 12^th and 13^th. This went well. We thank our residents and staff for their patience and understanding with this major disruption. The staff were amazing with serving meals in the rooms and taking extra care of our residents.

Residents went out in the evening on the 17^th in two buses to see the Christmas lights. It is wonderful to see the effort that people make to decorate their houses and gardens.

We invited family to come in and join our residents for a shared family lunch. Staff put on a show, dancing to ‘Jingle Bells’ and then showed a video they had made of all the residents doing dance movements to the same song; an occasion enjoyed by all. Well done staff!

On the 24^th we had our Christmas Happy Hour with Glen Carley entertaining. Residents were given their Christmas presents and photos from Brylyn by Santa with staff dressing up in ‘mufti.’

We had a special Christmas menu for lunch on Christmas day:

Starter: Italian Antipasto Platter: Prosciutto, Salami, Ham, Blue Cheese, Aged Cheddar Cheese, Brie Cheese, Grapes, Olives and Crackers. Prawn Twisters & Lemon Pepper Squid.

Mains: Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce & Gravy. Roast Turkey with Cranberry Jam. Roasted Vegetables -Baby Potatoes, Golden Kumara and Carrots. Fresh Mini Bread Rolls.

Green Salad – Mesclun, Rocket, Tomato, Capsicum, Alfalfa served with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing.

Dessert: Christmas Pudding and Custard. Mini Lemon Curd Tart. Mini Peach & Passion Fruit Tart.

L & P came in on the 31^st to entertain our residents for the last day of the year with some wonderful music and singing.

Our religious service is held twice a month and a religious discussion in the alternate weeks.

David comes in weekly to do quizzes. We have daily exercises and Bingo sessions twice a week which draws a big crowd. There are games mornings and walks in the fresh air and sunshine. Thank you to our weekend entertainer, Louise.

Keep well everyone, until next month

Regards from all at Brylyn.

November 2020

We are well into spring with summer just around the corner and on the countdown to Christmas!

Our Christmas decorations are up making the facility look very festive.

 We welcome our new resident from Christchurch, Ashley Connor, and hope he will be happy here with us. Ashley celebrated his birthday on the 10^th with a cake from our kitchen to share with all our residents. Happy Birthday Ashley!

On Friday 13^th we had Peter Mudie and his wife in to talk about Bonsai growing where they also displayed some bonsai trees and in the evening the staff celebrated Diwali. We provided Indian food and some staff brought in Indian desserts. There was dancing and the occasion was enjoyed by both residents and staff.

Our surprise lunch on 25^th was Kentucky Fried Chicken (Chicken and Chips in individual boxes) and served with rolls, followed by Brandy Snap and Toffee Sauce pudding.

Happy Hour on the 27^th was a joyous ‘singalong’ occasion with Tipene while he sang and played his guitar with a good variety of songs.

Some of the residents went for a van drive on 30^th to the Jukebox Diner Cafe for coffee and a scone.

Our religious service is held twice a month and a religious discussion in the alternate weeks.

David comes in weekly to do quizzes. We have daily exercises and Bingo sessions twice a week which draws a big crowd now. There are games mornings and walks in the fresh air and sunshine. Our weekend entertainers were Charlie, George, Wendy, Peter and Roy.

Just a friendly note that if you are visiting on the weekend of the 12^th and 13^th of December, we are having new floor vinyl fitted in the lounge and dining room. There will be major disruptions and noise and no entry around that area. Thank you for understanding while this is being done.

Every year we cook a special Christmas lunch here for our Residents and just a friendly reminder that we will be unable to accommodate any family to join us as the facility is full. Good news though that we are full!

Please can you let us know, once you have made your arrangements, if Mum or Dad will be in or out for lunch on the 25^th and what time you will pick them up. Thank you.

Keep well everyone, until next month

Regards from all at Brylyn.

October 2020

We are having such lovely warm spring days, it is certainly good to be out of winter and almost into summer!

This month we celebrated birthdays with a cake from our kitchen for morning tea for Ross Roulston on the 4^th and Wayne Rolton on the 23^rd – Happy Birthday to both gentlemen.

We say thanks to Len who plays the piano for the hymns in the religious services with Reg and Jan and thanks to David who takes religious service and does a quiz with the residents on alternative weeks.

To make it easier for our residents to vote, the ‘special voting box’ was organised here at the facility during the month which proved to be a success.

Residents loved the bus drive on the 9th out to Woodlands and then to Jasen Park. Our second drive of the month on Friday 30^th was out to the Punnet café in Tamahere for coffee.

On the 14^th was our surprise meal and this time it was ‘take out’ pizza followed by a delicious fresh fruit salad and cream. This monthly event proves to be popular with our residents and keeps them guessing as to what the meal could be!

Neil Curgenven came in on the 16^th and gave an interesting talk about the styles of housing in Hamilton going right back in time to the present day. We will certainly get Neil back at a later stage as he has much more to share on various subjects.

Happy hour was on Friday 30^th when we were entertained by Charlie and Marlene – a fun time was had by all.

Bingo remains popular as does the games mornings. Residents are taken outside to enjoy the warm weather days as much as possible. They did a little bit of gardening using the New World miniature potting of the vegetable seeds, had an exercise session outside and went for walks too.

Keep well everyone, until next month

Regards from all at Brylyn.

September 2020

It is just wonderful to be back at level 1.

We are well into the second half of the year and spring is in the air with some wonderful warm days.

This month we celebrated birthdays for Olive Begley on the 14^th, Joyce Park on the 18^th and Ian Stewart on the 21^st with a cake baked in our kitchen - a happy birthday to you all.

On the 1^st we had our spring day celebration with everything yellow. For morning tea we had yellow cupcakes, afternoon tea a yellow cake, at lunch there was a yellow dessert, cold drinks, serviettes and placemats! It turned out to be a lovely sunny day too which was a bonus.

We had a Father’s Day event a little earlier on the 3^rd where we purchased a special morning tea cake, gave out gift bags with a shower and a shaving gel in each and then for all the residents, a small chocolate. The men all sat together at one table. “Parkie” (Raymond Park) cut the cake. After lunch we had the ‘Father’s Day’ Happy Hour. In all it was a special day.

We have had the religious services resumed with Reg and Jan and with David too, who also does a quiz with the residents.

Tipene entertained at our Happy Hour with his wonderful array of songs. Residents are very happy too to have our weekend entertainers back. On the weekend after lockdown we had George and Roy in to entertain.

The monthly surprise lunch meal was held on the 17^th with a meal of pies, chips, peas and gravy. The pies were from Jesters, followed by a new dessert, Banoffee pie. This occasion always goes down well with our ‘family.’

We have introduced a small ‘shopping’ cabinet in the reception area for residents to view and purchase any toiletry items they may need or cold drinks and snacks.

We are getting a good turnout for the Bingo and games mornings, and with some of the lovely winter days we have had the staff  have taken residents outside to enjoy the sunshine - there is nothing like fresh air and feeling the sun on our bodies.

Keep well everyone, until next month

Regards from all at Brylyn.

August 2020

It was so wonderful to have life back to normal even if it was for a short time and to be out of the Covid-19 lockdown. Unfortunately, we are experiencing another lockdown and being a rest home, we have your family and loved ones in our best interest and have therefore stopped all visitors coming in for the present.

We are well into the second half of the year and spring is in the air with some wonderful warm days.

Birthdays this month were for Susan Harvey on the 2nd, Colin Brewer on the 28^th and Annette Coombs on the 30^th. Happy Birthday to you.

Before the lockdown we had:

Jan and her dog, Macey, from the SPCA, come in for a visit. Residents always love the interaction with the dogs.

We had our religious services and the quizzes with David.

There was entertainment on the weekends by George, Peter and Wendy.

Some of our residents went on the bus outing to Morrinsville on the 7th to spot all the ‘cow’ icons in the streets and to take photos.

The trainee Occupational Therapists were doing well and enjoyed being with our residents, hopefully we can get them back soon.

The surprise lunch meal was on Friday 21^st when we had a movie morning to watch “Young at Heart”  followed by Fish, Chips and Salad packed as a ‘take out’ meal in take-away containers followed by an ice cream sundae. Residents were pleasantly surprised and extremely happy not to miss their Friday ‘fish and chips.’

We are getting a good turnout for the Bingo and games mornings, and with some of the lovely winter days we have managed to take some of our residents outside to enjoy the sunshine - well done Mahi.

Keep well and stay safe, until next month

Regards from all at Brylyn.