Woodpeckers Residential and Nursing Home

Full PPE

This afternoon we joined Elizabeth and Danni at Woodpeckers for a visit to Mum. Pre-Christmas limited four-fold family visits have been arranged by Colten Care.

On arrival we were issued with the usual forms explaining who we are with our temperature recorded. We were also required to sanitise our hands and don face masks, gloves, and aprons. Our own masks, etc. had to be changed for those available at reception. On departure the supplied PPE were disposed of in a bin provided.

Chairs were spread out in the allocated room, ensuring that we kept the correct distances. Teas, coffee, sausage rolls, mince pies, and Christmas cake were brought in for us.

The visit was timed for an hour, but we were given an extra ten minutes.

Jackie photographed the rest of us. The second picture shows Mum nursing our present.

Danni added by e-mail the Assistant Photographer and me, and Mum. The second photograph demonstrates the problem with social distancing which made it difficult for her to see us clearly. In the circumstances this could not be avoided.

Afterwards my Chauffeuse drove me through driving rain to catch the sunset at Barton.

For a while I stayed in the car before battling with gusting winds when the rain ceased.

Jackie captured me near the clifftop where the wind was throwing me about a bit. I was somewhat further from the edge than this perspective suggests, and refrained from picturing the strip just in front of me which was rent by a deep cleft suggesting it will be the next stretch to fall. I just couldn’t be stable enough to risk it;

neither could I get near enough to focus on the very choppy waves,

so I settled for some longer distance sunset shots.

As I walked back to the car a woman came into view with three small children and a dog excitedly running towards her. The pooch, as they do, raced towards the cleft. I called to the woman and warned her. She gathered up her brood and led them further inland.

Yesterday I pictured Jackie’s beef and mushroom pie with unbroken crust.

Today we enjoyed a second helping complete with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, and gravy, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Malbec.

A Few Drops

This morning we enjoyed our first visit to Mum at Woodpeckers since the beginning of coronavirus lockdown. Limited to half hour pre-booked, after our temperatures had been taken, our hands sanitised, and safety questionnaires completed, we were able to converse through a screen, without masks. We didn’t enter the building, but were led round the outside to room 10 where the visit took place. Jane, the activities organiser, was doubling as receptionist today and expressed fondness for Mum, whom she clearly knew well. She delivered our mother to and collected her from the other side of the screen, with a generous 5 minute leeway either side.

Our second enjoyment of the day came for a brief 5 minutes or so after lunch, in the form of a heavy shower which did nothing to relieve the heat and humidity but did leave

a few drops for me to photograph on pelargoniums; California poppy; roses Special Anniversary, Mamma Mia, Twice in a Blue Moon, Festive Jewel, and osteospermum.

This evening we dined on a second sitting of Hordle Chinese Take Away fare with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Malbec.

The Still Before The Storm

This morning, fearing for the garden during the very heavy storm we are due to experience tomorrow, Jackie wandered around our plot with her camera in order to record such an unusual array of blooms for this time of the year.

First, she had to pander to Nugget who was convinced that his fans would like to admire his back view.

Tete-a-tetes and irises were doing well,

as were snowdrops, primulas, and bergenias.

We hope a variety of camellias will survive.

The autumn sculpture has sprouted lichen curls to blend with his mottled skin.

Dragons and hellebores are hoping for the best.

Daphne odorata marginata,

wood anemones,

crocuses,

pulmonarias,

and euphorbias all add their splashes of colour which we hope will not be watered down.

For lunch we joined Mum and Elizabeth at Woodpeckers, Colton Care home.

It is my sister’s birthday.

She complimented our mother on

enjoying lasagna which is ‘foreign food’ to someone of her generation. The others also chose lasagna; my choice was cod in parsley sauce. We all enjoyed lemon tart with cream or ice cream.

After the meal Elizabeth drove Mum on a trip into the forest while we

left the birthday present on the Pilley doorstep.

A little later the two ladies arrived at our house to finish the afternoon with tea and Victoria sponge.

Jackie and I dined this evening from bowls of Hordle Chinese Take Away’s delicious fare on trays on our laps while watching recordings of the afternoon’s Six Nations rugby Internationals between Wales and Ireland and between England and Scotland. The second match took place in swirling gales and lashing rain such that neither side deserved to lose. It is a wonder that anyone could play at all. I drank Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2018.

Surfing The Solent

For lunch today, we joined Mum, Elizabeth, Danni, and Ella for lunch at Woodpeckers.

Ella seemed at home in her throne while she played with Mum’s finger;

afterwards she was happy to be passed around. Danni e-mailed these images to me.

We all enjoyed tender, lean, beef casserole; creamy mashed potatoes; tender carrots and green beans, followed by pear sponge and custard. Apple juice and red and white wines were on offer. Each of us chose our preferred beverage. Mum was given her requested orange juice. Teas and coffees were to follow.

Afterwards Jackie and I continued into the forest. As we left I wondered where else one would find

ponies wandering about outside a care home carrying the outstanding rating of the top 3% in the country?

On Furzey Lane, near Beaulieu, one chestnut pony waited patiently at a gate; and a thatcher’s donkey took a rooftop view.

“Ah. A donkey derby”, exclaimed Jackie as we reached East Boldre and encountered these animals on the road, some making their way to their job of trimming grassy areas and holly hedges, turning up their noses at as yet unripe blackberries equally within their reach.

One unfortunate child, missing a shoe, had been forced to hop home from there.

At the end of Tanners Lane strong winds whipped waves ashore, attracting

both sailboarders and kite-surfers.

I was able to watch a young man and his father set up his sailboard, and, whilst enjoying a conversation with the older man and younger boy,

watch an impressive display of sailboarding. As always, enlargement of these images may be obtained with clicks which will access the galleries.

This evening we dined on piquant cheese and bacon omelettes with toast. Jackie drank Blue Moon and I didn’t.

Lunchtime

Part of Mum’s deal at Woodpeckers Care home is that she can entertain guests to lunch once a week.

Elizabeth, Jackie, and I were her visitors today. My meal was Cajun chicken with Lyonnaise potatoes, carrots, and curly kale; the others opted for gammon. Mum chose stewed apricots with ice cream for dessert; the rest of us enjoyed plum crumble. We were served in our own quiet room. Service was friendly and efficient. The food was very good.

Afterwards, Jackie and I took a trip around the forest.

It is not unusual to see requests for information about hit and run accidents involving ponies. This, featuring a Shetland on the road to Beaulieu, was one of two we passed today.

Although much of it has been cut back by now, blackthorn has proliferated in the hedgerows for several weeks now.

As we rounded a bend on approaching East End we were struck by this fortuitous juxtaposition of maple and photinia.

Nearby one of a group of basking cattle suckled her calf which was enjoying its own lunchtime.

Donkeys were hard at work trimming the village’s hedgerows.

More cattle were serving themselves to lunch from the verges of Tanners Lane.

Beside Sowley Lane a flamboyant cock pheasant flashed across the road and fled beneath barbed wire fencing.

Another merged into hay stalks among scavenging crows beside a field of rape, many of which

are beginning to slash the landscape with sunlight.

More of the more colourful birds foraged in

this historic field with its

views across The Solent to the Isle of Wight.

This evening we dined on spicy Diablo pizza with plentiful fresh salad. Jackie drank more of the Sauvignon Blanc and I enjoyed Maipo Valley Carménere 2016 from the Majestic Definition range.

Woodpeckers

Elizabeth moved Mum into

Woodpeckers Residential Home early yesterday evening, so we paid our mother visit this afternoon. Notice the cattle grid at the entrance intended to deter hopeful ponies from obtaining treats from the residents.

Initial reactions are very good. The converted house is well appointed, and the staff caring and attentive, Mum appears relaxed and satisfied, although she does tear up the rather luxurious paper napkins into four smaller sections in the interests of economy. There were three this afternoon, for we were all given tea and cake. Jackie assisted with a pair of scissors.

As we left, Elizabeth was arriving to help sort some of Mum’s belongings.