We asked which was the most stylish decade for fashion. The 1950s beat the 60s and 70s.
50s style, 60s pop, 70s mistakes
Everyone went off for chats in smaller groups. The conversations included revelations of who had worn mini-skirts and other fashion statements (like tank-tops and canary yellow flared trousers).
Gyda was not with us this week. She would have been very pleased that David had done his homework and produced these pirate friendly parrots.
Pearl’s tune for a member of the group was “Come on Aileen (Eileen)” (by Dexy’s Midnight Runners). It was good to have Aileen back with us and she would have been pleased with the song, but her audio wasn’t working. We did our best by singing and dancing along.
Roxana told us the weather, where she was, in Romania was 35 degrees. We told her it was cooler and very windy here. She said she was not sure what to do with all the summer dresses she had bought for her return here. Life can be tough.
For this who didn’t want to do yoga, Janet had an easy quiz (easy for those who knew the answers). Here are some example questions (answers further down the page):
Did pirates have parrots on board their ships?
Did all pirate ships have black flags with skulls?
What is a crow’s nest and where on a ship
We all came back together for a quick craft with Gyda.
Gyda guided us in making a paper parrot.
Homework is necessary to finish them. We hope to see some finished articles next week.
I’m sure these crafts are getting more technical.
In addition to this homework, Gyda invited us to look at the chart below and, by next week, write our name in the secret code.
Pearl’s tune for a member of the group was “Martha my dear” (by Paul McCartney). Martha was pleased…
Pearl’s bed, Fins and tinned meat jokes raised the roof:
The group members popped in and out during the session. Drinks and comfort breaks are expected. Even so, it wasn’t clear why Sharon was hiding behind her sofa – she managed to leap up for this snap.
We should have left the high seas behind us by next week.
It was just too hot! The BBC said it was 32 degrees in Greenwich, but it was hotter in our Zoom room. Roxana told us it was hotter where she was (somewhere in Romania). Danny was cooler in Estonia. But, we agreed – it was certainly Hot!!!
All the group had fond memories of toys and games in their youth.
Lynne showed us a book she had found when she recently moved home. It meant a lot to her, with many childhood memories. Other group members had fond memories of yo-yos, dolls and unfortunate experiences with pots of white paint.
Lynne had come prepared today. As well as her book, she had a quiz and brought her support team – her grand daughters Brooke and Laila.
Gyda came up with a do-dah that we all remembered from our youth, but she couldn’t remember it’s name.
Brooke told us this was called a ‘chatterbox’. I looked up how-to-make-one on Wikipedia and found out it is also called a ‘fortune teller’, ‘salt cellar’,‘whirlybird’, or ‘paku-paku’.
Roxana explained a game she played when she was a child. It seemed rather complicated involving building piles of stones, knocking them down, generally running around and hitting your opponents with a ball.
We are very pleased that Gerry has a poem for all occasions.
Lynne had a rather difficult quiz for us. Her support team ensured the quiz ran smoothy. We all struggled. The best marks in the first half was only 3+ out of 10. Brooke read the questions in the second half – they were intended to be easier, but I thought them difficult (I find all quiz questions difficult).
As we reached the end of the session Janet led us in “Tony Chestnut” followed by “Three Little Birds”
Janet and I were pleased to welcome more new members today. A mother and son joined us for the very first time and a long-term Friendship group couple finally managed to sort out Zoom and join the fun.
This session asked members to consider their claims to fame. There was quite a lot of thought, then…
Our group seem to have a limitless supply of anecdotes and claims to fame:
Meeting: Ed Sheeran, the Queen, and Boris Johnson
Teaching Chris Ewbanks
Singing on stage at the Royal Albert Hall
Meeting Eamonn Andrews
Appearing on the Paul O’Grady show
Having a tall handsome father
Meeting Chris Akabusi
Dancing (on stage) at the Orchard Theatre
Receiving a medal 50 years after his army service
Staring in a “Kwik-fit” advert
Being part of an audience for a James Corden show (and meeting him)
Doing an army assault course & swaming 52 lengths, for charity (in their 40s)
Taking part in Alan Sugar’s “Apprentice”
Meeting Linda Lusardi
Gyda was looking particularly well today.
She had us making a 3D star.
Mary was clearly full of enthusiasm.
Pearl popped up with the first of her tunes “Proud Mary” (for our two Marys) and kept the dancing going with “The Locomotion”.
“Movies” was a popular choice for the theme of the day. Fortunately, we had time to chat about our top films and film stars.
We did have a packed programme to get through – including Thaumatopes, more on them later…
Everyone was keen to tell us about their favourite film. It helped to pay attention to the discussions, as they included the answers to some of Janet’s quiz questions later.
We had lots to talk about when we moved into our discussion rooms. Janet was in the cosmopolitan room with Danny joining us from Finland and Roxana linking-in from Romania. She also had Mario, who comes from Italy and Stella, who comes from Spain. Janet discovered that while Spain had Saturday morning pictures (like the UK), Italy had Sunday afternoon pictures.
Gyda’s craft was making a Thaumatope.
The aim is to make a paper spinner, with pictures on both sides – such as a bowl and a fish. When you spin the paper it looks like the fish is in the bowl. Genius.
Gyda suggested that, for homework, we come up with some other thaumatopes. No pressure!
Pearl’s jokes raised a titter or two. Here is one that had all our ears:
Janet had a book themed quiz ready for us. Our newest member did very well. If we ever set up a Reflections quiz team, I think we have at least one member with a good knowledge of books.
Danny gave us some tips for being comfortable (from his log cabin in Finland):
Janet and I were very pleased to welcome a new member to the group today. We are keen for more new members to join us – if you are interested and want to know more, please contact us on 07981 741 499.
This session focused on books and reading. First, we asked early arrivers at the group about reading at school and in later life. There was a quick and lively response.
Our final poll was about books members would recommend. By this time there were more people participating and they not only came up with names – but some also had books to hand.
A couple of members said they could not settle to read, as their partners kept interrupting them. Others came up with further recommendations:
Diane Settafield – “Once upon a river”
Anything about Mary Queen of Scots
Various authors – “The family poetry book”
Evelyn Waugh – “Brideshead revisited”
F Scott Fitzgerald – “The Great Gatsby”
Danny Ellis – “Boy at the gate”
Karen Casey – “The promise of a new day”
Alan Moore – “Watchmen”
Geny then arrived to stretch us and chill us out.
Zoom turbulence meant we lost Geny for a couple of minutes, but she picked up where she left off – and we were away again.
The non-yogis spent the time discussing their gardens. Our resident artist had produced another masterpiece.
We all came back together for a quick craft with Gyda.
Gyda had us making a bookmark.
I was a bit slow again – so – more homework!
Gyda invited the group to decorate their bookmarks and bring them back next week.
Pearl popped up with the first of her tunes with a name of a member of the group. We all sang “Oh! Carol” (by Neil Sedaka) to Carole. She was most pleased… Next week another tune (incidentally, does anyone know a song with Peter in the title?)
Janet had a book themed quiz ready for us. Our newest member did very well. If we ever set up a Reflections quiz team, I think we have at least one member with a good knowledge of books.
Gerry told us he joins his extended family online for quizzes each week. He didn’t take much persuading to agree to come up with a quiz for us next week. I hope it’s not too difficult.
Janet and I were very pleased to welcome a record turn-out of group members, volunteers and special guests.
Our guest of honour was The Mayor of Royal Greenwich, councillor Linda Bird. We were very pleased that Linda had entered into the spirit of “dressing up and making your own hat” for the birthday celebrations.
We asked the group about their most memorable milestone birthday (winner: 60th) and their favourite way to celebrate a milestone birthday (winner: a holiday somewhere special). We then adjourned to rooms with smaller groups. Mayor Linda circulated the rooms and enjoyed a few anecdotes from members.
Guests: Roxana, BLG Mind – Sharon, Carers Centre – Angelika, Dementia Action Group
By 2pm it was showtime! We welcomed back Emma – the group’s friend and the person who, without the pandemic, would have been running our Reflections Singing Group since March 2020.
Emma led us in some warm-up exercises, then ran through a wide selection of sing-a-long tunes.
The group’s energy rose and we started to dance. The mayor was jiving with her partner Tom – and they were not alone.
We tried some clever Zoom options – like sharing our Treasure Map, created by Gyda.
Gyda ran our first ever interactive on-line treasure hunt. We were given a series of rhyming clues to the locations of the candles we needed to collect (in the right order).
The Hunt was popular and, to Gyda’s surprise, the group asked for more interactive activities in the future.
It was a very busy afternoon
Gyda gave us “Gratitude” to reflect on, at the end:
Janet thanked the group members, guests and volunteers for coming today and their support in making Reflections the success it is. We all thank Janet for her hard work, inspiration and leadership.
Here’s to another successful year for Reflections.
A busy afternoon at the Friendship Group. Fortunately, at least one member of the group was keen to keep us focused on the essentials.
Janet asked the group about whether they enjoyed their school sports. There was mixed feedback – Danny said he liked them because they got him our of boring lessons! We also had a poll about members fitness activities in adult life. Two people picked belly dancing, the others brought up cycling, dancing, running, Nordic stick walking and more.
Everyone went into their rooms for a chat and Roxana had the first of her one-to-one information discussions. Our late arrivals, who are Irish, took the opportunity to discus “Irish things” (whatever they are).
Danny led a discussion about how we have been using the information from his regular sessions on “Homes for Wellbeing”
Due the wonders of Zoom, Danny joined us from his holiday in Estonia. Here he is in the local swamp.
If you want to know more about Estonian swamps (or “Bogs”) I have found a guide here.
If you want to see more about Estonia read more here.
Pearl had lined-up some more great songs for us to sing: “Football Crazy” and “Walk Tall”
Gyda gave us our toughest craft challenge so far. With card, pen, scissors, and a lot of concentration – some of us managed to make a trophy cup. Gyda suggested decorating it with our own words/pictures.
Janet had created her own quiz about sport. It was a bit easier than some of our recent quizzes and I managed to do well – but not as good as a couple of members who managed to get 19/20 right!
Janet started the countdown to Reflection’s 4th Birthday Party next week. It should be fun, with special guests, new activities and Emma leading a singing session.
We had a record turn-out for one of our Zoom meetings. We were very pleased that 21 people popped-in for a chat. There were also 7 volunteers, plus Sharon from the Carers Centre and Roxana from BLG Mind. A packed afternoon. Janet started us off with a question about shops we remember.
Not everyone voted, but Woolworth was popular, as were a few department stores from the local area such as Hinds of Eltham and Chiesmans of Lewisham. The Independent local shop remembered was in Liverpool – a “Pound Shop“, that in those days sold items for pennies.
We split into rooms for more discussions. As we chatted, we were pleasantly surprised to be joined by some new Zoomers who managed to sign-in for the first time. Roxana had a one-to-one with a member who wanted some advice.
Geny returned for some more seated yoga.
This week’s session was particularly popular. The group enjoyed the arm exercises.
Janet had compiled her own quiz based on well known TV adverts from years ago. We did remember most of the adverts, but not all the details about the products and makes. The “Shake and vac” advert led to some singing – and I believe Sharon said she still uses it. 17/20 was the best score for the quiz.
Lynne was almost back – we are very sure she will probably resurface next time.
It was time for tea, so most of us went home. It was great to see some members who hadn’t seen each other since the beginning of lock-down stay on for a bit more of a chat after the session had ended.
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“
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.
I think this could be the pre-breakfast exercise for everyone
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 