1. Oaklands Residential Care Home Newsletter January/February 2012 Westfield Avenue, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 2DY Tel: 01271 374231 email: oaklands-care-home@hotmail.co.ukoaklands-care-home@hotmail.co.uk www.oaklands-care-home.com Welcome to Oaklands second newsletter. We would love to hear from you with suggestions of what you would like to see on the newsletters in the future by sending your ideas to the email address above. This is a very useful way of communication between Residents, staff, families, carers and visitors. The new luxury lounge chairs have arrived and have proved to be very popular. All the residents and visitors have enjoyed how comfortable they are. They have made the lounge look really smart, vibrant and cosy. Oaklands would like to welcome to the staff team Jamie Sewell, our new cook, Sarah Hewitt and Leanne Slade as carers. The Christmas Fayre was once again another great event held at Oaklands Care Home. It was lovely to see so many members of resident’s families plus staff with their families and also some old staff. We were able to raise £208.20 which was used to buy Christmas presents for the Residents. These presents were opened actually on Christmas day, making it a more special occasion. A big thank you to everybody who supported us with either donations (we had some amazing prizes) or giving up their spare time by helping to run the day so smoothly. These events can only be a success if everybody joins in, so once again thank you very much. The Big Christmas Party also proved to be a very popular day. We had so many Resident’s families singing along with the fabulous duo ‘Rolynco’ some of the most favourites Christmas Carols. Afterwards tea was served with lots of delicious festive treats, everybody was welcome to join in. The highlight of the day was certainly the great appearance of Father Christmas (or his wife…) carrying his sack full of lovely gifts bought by the very generous staff and management of Oaklands for the Residents. All in all it was a great day for the Residents, their families and the staff bringing us all together as a big family. We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to our residents: Betty Miller (08/01), Betsy Airley (30/01), Dorothy Bull who will be 100 years old on 21/02 and Mary Vince (25/02). and to our staff: Jonathan Carbonel (03/01), Malou Mortos (09/01), Lisa Brown (18/01), Barbara Allen (24/01), Sue York (05/02) and Sarah Carter (22/02). Please let us know your email address to receive future newsletters. Don’t forget to look at our website, where we keep updating it with photos of recent events. February will bring us with some lovely days. Starting with, for all the romantics out there, 14 th February with Valentines Day. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards. The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. Did you know that approximately 141 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas? Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day,(21 st February) is a term used for the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of fasting and prayer called Lent. Pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent because they were a way to use up rich foodstuffs such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. The liturgical fasting emphasized eating plainer food and refraining from food that would give pleasure: In many cultures, this means no meat, dairy, or eggs. INGREDIENTS 1/2 Ib (220g) self raising flour,1 pint (500 ml)milk, 2 eggs, pinch salt,1 1/2 oz (40 g) lard,1 lemon, sugar for sprinkling METHOD Sieve the flour and salt into a basin, making a well in the centre. Break the eggs one at a time and pour into the well. Gradually beat the eggs and flour together, adding the milk little by little until creamy consistency has been reached. Beat the batter for a few minutes to aerate it, and leave to stand for an hour or so if possible. Heat the frying pan or griddle with a little lard and pour enough batter to cover the area needed. Cook until the top is dry, and then either toss or turn the pancake and cook the other side until brown. Turn out onto a greaseproof paper, sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice as desired and roll up before serving.