Bob’s Blog 19 – Frilly knickers and Tour Eiffle
17 June 2024
On incoming Mondays, one of the senior carers asks each guest what their holiday expectations are. I always say I would like to make new friends and meet old ones. This is a great group and those expectations had already been met by the end of day 3.
We were also welcomed on that day by the two QMU physio students. As usual, they were super enthusiastic! Nicole from Toronto and Rio from Barnoldswick. I remember when I was in that area, it was referred to as Barlick. This is about as strange as Milngavie being pronounced Millguy, to someone from Linlithgow !
I asked Rio about her unusual Christian name, very non-PC of me, but she said her mum had seen a can of the carbonated fruit juice in the labour room and thought that would be a good name to give her new born! We always knew when she was around because of her totally unmistakable broad Yorkshire accent. They were great to work with especially on the Vibrogym when they got as tingly an enjoyment in their fingers as I did in my toes!
Just chatting to the students makes me exhausted. They spend their spare time either serious mountain biking or running half marathons. But they are young. I’m sure if I had my time back, I would be doing the same (I wish!)
I was in my room after lunch on Wednesday and saw, out of the corner of my eye, the door opening and laundry being delivered. On closer inspection I spotted a really, fancy top and some frilly knickers. I surmised that Angie had thought she was delivering to Bobbie, not me. Housekeeping, I think, found the right owner and I got my unmistakable boxers repatriated!!
On Wednesday Margaret had cooked beautifully poached salmon followed by profiteroles for dinner. Formidable. Continuing the French theme, I was pushed through into the Quiet Room where Carol and Kim had laid out a fantastic spread of cheeses and wine from the Auld Alliance. I had just been told by a carer that I had to eat snacks in between meals as I had allegedly lost a lot of weight since my last visit two months ago… I don’t think that meant eating another meal! To top it off we had music by French singer and guitarist, Sasha Distel, courtesy of Alexa. Kirsty said the cheeses were okay but really enjoyed her sips of wine! She announced at ten to eight that she was “wined out” and had to revert to Shloer though asked for slurr.
The first week’s weather was great but the haar came in most evenings. On Saturday it got to 23°C by 11:30 before the haar came down and by midday it was 11°C. Jackie (1) had organised a visit of a Pimms cart. The plan was to have it on the lawn after dinner but the cart ended up in the hall. It didn’t dampen our spirits though!
Colin enjoyed his favourite pastime of cutting the grass when the sun was out. It must have been a bit of a spectator sport as Damien took a video of him! When the video was played back you could see Colin singing away to whatever was playing on his AirPods.
There’s yet another gadget down in the basement. Anna took Damien and I down and strapped us into MOTOmeds in front of a big screen. We started cycling and Anna asked us where we’d like to cycle. We both chose Berlin. Anna then asked what part of Berlin, so we opted for a random location and up came the start…. It was fascinating! After that we chose Paris, walking towards the Tour Eiffle. We missed all the pedestrians but some of them had to quickly jump out of the way. I don’t think we ran anyone over!
Motiview has been developed by Motitech for use with MOTOmeds and it makes it more interesting than just looking out the window of the Quiet Room. It was developed for care homes to keep people active whilst socialising and having the opportunity to reminisce about cities they have visited. Motiview is used globally and there are over 2000 videos from around the world. Leuchie have now signed up to Motiview, and I hope the developers will visit the local area and create new videos. A trip down North Berwick High Street would be a real challenge for us cyclists! You must try Motiview when you next visit Leuchie.
In February I received a text from Jackie (2) asking if I would like to go to the theatre this holiday. My default answer is yes. Jackie has only chosen one show that wasn’t great, in all the time I have known her so I respect her suggestions for a great evening out. The Music Man was a stage adaptation of a film released in 1962. Jackie had seen an amateur production in 2012 and thought the story was great. Stevie took three carers and four guests to the Festival Theatre. There was a fifty strong cast of professional singers and dancers supported by students from a stage school. It was non-stop action and the audience gave enthusiastic applause after each song. I’m looking forward to Jackie’s next choice of show for October, The Book of Mormon.
Thanks, as usual, to all the care assistants, whose nimble fingers and thumbs raced across the keyboard on my phone to start the blog off. And to Kate for transcribing onto her laptop, editing it into something readable and publishing on the website for sharing across all of Leuchie’s social platforms.
Editors Notes:
(1) Jackie the General Assistant not to be confused with Jackie the guest!
(2) Jackie the guest is an avid theatre goer and scans the listings to see what’s on at The Playhouse and Festival Theatre. This is done long before the holiday. She also checks advance announcements to see if there is anything worth going to. This will help choose the dates of future holidays.
Cast: Nicol & Rio, Queen Margaret University Physio Students; Angie, Housekeeping; Margaret, Catering Manager; Carol & Kim, Guest Engagement Assistants; Colin, Facilities Manager; Kirsty, Guest; Damien, Guest; Anna, Physiotherapy Assistant; Jackie, Guest and Social Secretary (Blog 2); Stevie, Facilities; Kate, Digital Marketing.