Category: Friends Group

We were very pleased to see our regulars today – and some returners. Dot and Jen managed to squeeze in a sandwich and cup of tea before we got busy…

Holidays were the theme of the day.

We asked everyone where and when they had their favourite holiday – they came up with a wide variety of answers – Egypt was popular, even though for one person it was during their military service.

We spent some time in discussions in small groups. One group of carers took the opportunity to discuss some serious matters. Others came up with schooldays pranks. A few even talked about holidays.

Gyda’s craft was a big fish!

This one was simple enough for most of us to master.

Gyda suggested those of us who were a bit slow (me) should consider it homework.

Pearl entertained us with three songs, including a karaoke version of “Summer Holiday”. Cliff (aka The King of Rock & Roll) would be proud.

Pearl’s pains were nothing compared to these panes:

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No quiz from Lynne. In fact, no Lynne. She was off doing something important elsewhere. Danny was awol too, he had work to do. Both will be back with us next week.

David recited his latest highly topical poem:

David had been practicing some of Gyda’s craft ideas. I managed to come-up with my version of a day-in-the-life booklet, as demonstrated last week.

Gerry’s poem on the theme of holidays was “Day Tripper”:

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We had a couple of people who asked for a chat with Sharon, from the Carers Centre. She couldn’t be with us today, but had arranged to follow-up with people after the meeting.

Gyda’s was back with an exercise for the 5 senses:

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Pearl had some more rib-tickling jokes, which we managed to squeeze in before…

Gyda was feeling good and so were we after this thought for today:

Janet introduced the singing.

We had another new song from Tony. This is Janet’s favourite: “Ring of Fire”, complete with Mariachi band.

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We were still chatting at 3:20 – but then everyone agreed it was time for tea.

We had a team briefing before the group started, as it was Eric and Ernie’s first session on Zoom. Everyone seemed pleased to see them and they were very well behaved.

Today we were talking about childhood. We all took the opportunity to sort out some pictures of when we were children, and some people were willing to show the group what they found.

The polls this week were about being in school. Most people had not enjoyed their time at school and even more disliked school dinners (one agreed with me that the dinners were ok, except for the lumpy custard).

We all joined-in the discussions in small groups. I think David came up with another dubious story about his youth, but I only managed to catch his mischievous smile at the end.

Geny joined us again for a (mainly) seated yoga session.

You may find more information about Geny, including her yoga classes, by clicking the link below

Geny’s page

The small group who didn’t join the yoga had the benefit of rather a long chat – Geny’s signal (from her seaside location) had a bit of a pause, so we restarted and had the full session. Thanks Geny.

Gyda have us a rather testing craft today.

We made a book by folding and cutting an A4 piece of paper.

It’s mainly for drawing your day, as it’s easier, but you can add words too.

Set up the book by writing the following: Front cover “Tell me about your day” and “Name” at the bottom – Page 1 “WHO” at the top and “WHAT” at the bottom – Page 2  “WHERE”  at the top and “WHEN”  at the bottom – Page 3 “AND HOW” at the top – Page 4  blank – Page  5 “THE  WHOLE DAY” at the top  – Page 6 “TURNED OUT” at the bottom. Then you can fill it in with drawings of your day.

Pearl entertained us with some songs. She sang the single bed version of “There were 10 in the bed” – this time there were only 6 in the bed.

Danny’s talk today was on the importance of daylight on our wellbeing..

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Danny told us how daylight affects our circadian rhythm and helps with metabolising food. He advised spending time in the rooms with good light, maybe changing rooms throughout the day if necessary. He also advised of the importance of going outside, to get the maximum daylight and make a connection with the outdoors.

Here are two of Pearl’s best jokes.

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There was so much to do this week that Lynne’s quiz has needed to be pushed back to next week.

Gerry recited the poem “I remember, I remember”

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Roxana joined us on behalf of BLG Mind again. She had the chance to help a couple of people – and produce the best book in Gyda’s craft window.

The group ended with Gyda’s reflection piece on patience.

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The group over ran a bit. We had rather a lot of people popping in and out – including another first for us – a Korean carer in PPE gear!

Our last song was very appropriate, given Eric and Earnie were with us. Tony had sent us his newly recorded version of “Bring me sunshine” at 2:39am today. Reflections, and our friends, are 24/7 not 9 to 5. We can all sing-a-long to this one.

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At the beginning we thought it might prove challenging to fill 2 hours with our virtual Friendship Group. Instead, we are finding there is more than we can fit in each week, which is wonderful.

This week the theme was cooking. We were impressed to see people had been baking – unfortunately we couldn’t sample each other’s efforts (and David had eaten most of his).

Nice presentation

Sadly, not much left here! We should have come earlier

Cakes were sliding off the plate

We were very pleased to welcome back two long-standing members of the group, who had moved to Exeter. Running our group online means we can welcome visitors from anywhere in the world.

Following Janet’s introductions, we moved into our conversation rooms for 30 minutes. The small groups seem much more chatty now people are more relaxed with Zooming. Sharon, from the Carers Centre, gave some professional advice and guidance to two people at either end of the meeting (in private rooms).

Gyda was on top form with her crafts.

She showed us how to create an ice-cream using paper/cake cases, pens and scissors. Watching Gyda and hearing her detailed instructions encouraged us to produce high quality results. We can all practice and, if successful, show our creations next week.

Lynne’s quiz stretched our brains. If only I could have found a pen, I would have got 10/10.

Danny launched his “Homes for Wellbeing” window with some informed thought on reducing visual clutter.

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Danny introduced his window with this: “Visual clutter becomes a problem when the eye can see too many things which causes a distraction in what you are doing. Even if you are not aware of these distractions, it can happen subconsciously. When there is too much visual clutter, it can make it harder to concentrate on carrying out a task or to find something in a room.

Pearl gave us a topical joke, just as coronavirus restrictions on the number of people meeting together were eased.

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Our weekly polls confirmed that the group were keen on cooking and eating. Not everyone seemed to have the best approach to regular meals (Sharon’s snacks) – but perhaps we need to find out more, there could be some interesting dietary planning at work.

Gerry recited the poem “Baking distress”

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The singing was of its regular high standard. I always enjoy the slight delay between the music and each person’s singing. We are all on “mute”, so this isn’t a problem, but the collective movement from each person’s is delightful.

The group ended with Gyda’s reflection piece on the power of thought.

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We are so pleased that our group members continue to pop into these Friendship Group sessions. We know not everyone will be able to come every week, or for the whole meeting. It is wonderful that people come when they can. I have trial runs on Mondays for those wishing to join-in and new to Zoom. This week another couple set up Zoom on their smart-phone and should be joining us next week. If you want you know more about our groups please contact us.

Our last song of the session was a tune with a special message from our friend the talented Tony. This is an appropriate song for the current times. It is now our new group song.

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It is Volunteers Week from 1-7 June. A big thank you to all our wonderful team, without whom we couldn’t do what we do. There are no paid staff in Reflections everyone volunteers their time. We are very grateful for all they do to make our groups a success.

Today’s theme was Hobbies. Most of us have enjoyed the chance to immerse ourselves in something we want to do, be it stamp collecting, knitting, belly dancing, sewing, singing in a choir etc. It’s never too late to start a new hobby.

You may remember these books from your childhood. I loved the Ladybird books.

The group chatted about their hobbies in the Zoom rooms. There were some interesting examples and some group members had even made money from their hobby. Joyce showed us one of her many scrap-books from over 40 years ago.

David’s painting hobby is rapidly filling his house. Luckily his other hobby is cycling, which gets him out and about!

Janet is always keen on a quiz and today was no exception. Everyone wracked their brains to find answers to questions about May. The exception was Mary, who had done the quiz before and got all the questions right.

Pearl gave us some cracking jokes – like this one.

I was very pleased to see that some members of the group managed to join us live and direct from their gardens. Fortunately, the sun was shinning. Gyda’s craft window was a bit tricky today – drawing a word with outlined letters, then cutting them out, cutting each letter in half, then trying to reassemble the original word – an instant jigsaw! Gyda gave us the suggestion for homework of repeating the craft, by writing our name on a piece of card and colouring it in, before cutting it up and bringing it along next week to share with the group.

Gerry entertained us with the poem “I don’t like hobbies”

Every session has singing and, for once, we managed to have a reasonable sound quality. Everyone was particularly pleased when they could make out all the words to Tony Chestnut.

Towards the end of an extended group meeting, Gyda led us through a hand massage.

Every week we find out more interesting snippets about our group. Danny was very chatty about his architecture studies in one of our chat rooms. Next week he has promised to start a short weekly window about how we can improve our homes to improve our lives – particularly for those affected by dementia.