Pets were very popular today. There were 2 dogs, 1 cat and 3 animatronic cats (Eric, Ernie and the newly arrived Mr Preview). Unfortunately, most were camera shy.
Here is Janet with one that didn’t get away. You might spot a likeness to Janet – see Gyda’s craft session below.
Our chats in small groups focused mainly on animals. Pearl told us about her pet cat who (to his surprise) came on a delivery van from Liverpool. Ron had a tale about a camel being shot, but I missed the full story, so it might have been shot with a camera or a gun.
Gyda’s guided us through drawing ourselves as a cat.
Roxana, from BLG Mind, joined in and came up with a cat of character.
Some of us are slacking with Gyda’s homework. Mary reminded us that we should be doing more.
Pearl had searched out a substantial list of animal sing-a-long tunes. A highlight of her audience participation session was the golden oldie: “Nellie the Elephant“
Pearl’s ducks and cows:
Does anyone remember ‘Uncle Mac”? Pearl does, but she might be on her own.
For nostalgia buffs: Uncle Mac appeared on the BBC’s Home Service in ‘Children’s hour”. He had a strict philosophy: “Our established policy is that nothing but the best is good enough for children … our wish is to stimulate their imagination, direct their reading, encourage their various interests, widen their outlook, and inculcate the Christian principles of love of God and their neighbour.” [BBC Quarterly, Jan 1948].
Danny gave us tips about finding things in our home. His tips were based on those suggested by Wendy Mitchell, who was diagnosed with young onset dementia. There are simple things you can do to make it easier for a person living with dementia to find things in their home. Wendy explains her tips in a video which you can find on Danny’s page.
Still no Lynne – she hopes to be back next week – the excitement is building.
Gerry’s poetry reading – “5 cats”:
By this time we had enough cats for a catalogue.
Gyda led a finger stretching exercise:
The stretching proved very popular
Janet led us through: “Tony Chestnut” and Tony Martin‘s “Three Little Birds”
Gyda suggests we have less unease:
Roxana stayed on at the end of the session to provide some advice and guidance to a group member. We are very pleased to continue our links with BLG Mind. You may see more information about their services on their website here.
Janet finished the session with some notices. Readers will be interested to see the Alzheimer’s Show 2020 will be online and you can register for free information webinars here. Our report on last year’s show is here.
For those interested in further reading The Recovery College magazine provides interesting and thought provoking articles as well as things to do. You can sample the latest edition here.
Reflections 