Genevieve's Blog begun March 21st 2020...

To be continued...

Sunday December 12th. Only 12 more days to Ho, Ho. Ho! We’ve had a good 😊 week. On Tuesday it was Christmas Carols and hot jacket potatoes 🥔 at Lunch Club which was fun 😄. In the afternoon I went to the bank with Mel and the guys and I drew out £100 to cover the week. This week’s star dish was chicken 🐔 curry 🍛 made by George and Jean. We had poppadoms and mango chutney on the side and it was scrummy! 

On Wednesday we all went to Dickens’ house 🏡 in Rochester with Amanda, Ophelia and Mark from SEC. It was very interesting and smelled of mulled 🍷 wine, so felt quite Christmassy. For lunch we went to Weatherspoon’s and I had 🍕 pizza and chips and a hot 🍫 chocolate.
On Thursday I spoke to dad first thing and he said he and mum were looking forward to our panto that afternoon which is ‘Jack and the beanstalk’. 2 o'clock arrived and so did mum and dad! The panto was very funny 😂 and everyone enjoyed it! Peter Linstead was very good as he stood in for Bob Downing as the giant because Bob wasn't feeling very well. Afterwards we had mince pies and ☕️ coffee before mum and dad had to go. 

On Friday Mel, Leah, Jean and Kim took us to ‘The Fighting Cocks’ for lunch which was good. 
On Saturday mum and dad took me to Sevenoaks to buy presents for Nina, Marie and Lucy, so we are now all prepared for Christmas! 🎄Ho, Ho, Ho! This afternoon we will wrap the staff's presents and deliver them to the house...

Saturday December 18th. A bit of a dramatic week this week as we have had a few residents test positive, including me! Velma spoke to mum and dad and they decided the best thing to do was for me to go and isolate at mum and dads! So on Thursday morning Kim drove me to Westerham, getting lost on the way! When we arrived mum and dad said to Kim that they would arrange to get more of my clothes and presents over from Longfield next week. In the afternoon Velma rang to ask how I was feeling, but I’m fine with no symptoms of Covid at all, thank goodness, so it’s weird that I have tested positive… Mum and dad have done PCR tests and I have done a lateral flow test which seemed to have a very faint second line on it, so who knows? It’s all very odd!
We spent all day Friday wrapping presents and making cards for my mates at Longfield. We’ll give that lot to Sara when she delivers my clothes and presents next Monday. Meanwhile I’m confined to barracks until Christmas Eve, bum! We’ll Skype Sam and Lucy in the morning and catch up on other news. Baby Ethan has started smiling now and he looks really cute! More later, and I'm still feeling fine…

Monday December 20th. Sara arrived from Longfield today with presents 🎁 from the guys and a bag full of clothes for me. We Skype’d Sam and Lucy yesterday and spoke about Christmas🎄. With the Covid situation as it is they are not going to come over, but we will Skype them, which will be safer for them and 👶 Ethan. It’s a bit gloomy, but we’ll make the most of it and drive over to theirs for present exchange on Tuesday after Boxing day. We have done most of the Christmas 🎄 shopping 🛒 apart from dad getting logs and coal from the garage. We had roast chicken 🐔 for Sunday tea last night and dad will cook a Thai red 🍛 curry with the leftovers tonight - yummy 😋 ! 🤤. Viv popped round for some 🥚 eggs last night and we have arranged to go to theirs for a Christmas 🎄 drink 🍹 on Saturday afternoon.

Sunday December 26th - Boxing Day 2021! We’ve had a bit of a different Christmas 🎄 due to Covid restrictions, as Sam and Lucy didn’t feel comfortable coming over so soon after my positive test at the house, so we decided to delay their visit until New Years Sunday. We did Skype them Xmas day and today though and had a good old chat! We had a traditional Xmas dinner with turkey and all the trimmings yesterday and will do the same today! I was pleased 😁 with my 🎁 presents, especially my Sea Salt dress which I’m wearing today and looks fab! We went to Vivian’s for a drink with her, Alexander and Ian last night, then watched ‘Call the Midwife’ which was very good 😊 but quite a bitter-sweet episode. I expect we will over-indulge again today so must start health-walks this coming week… Happy Christmas everyone!

Thursday December 30th. So much for going out for a walk, the weather has been terrible! We were due to have mum and dad’s neighbours Liz and Dudley over for drinks and nibbles on Tuesday, so mum and I went to the supermarket on Monday to buy little quiches, cheesy potatoes 🥔 and other nibbles and another visit to dad’s wine merchant…
The phone ☎️ rang on Tuesday morning and it was Liz to say she thought she had got Covid! She was feeling all 😖 achey, shivery and had a headache and a cough, so had done a lateral flow test which had shown as positive - no way they were coming to ours that evening! Luckily the nibbles were freezable, so we ate some and froze the rest.
On Wednesday mum and I drove to Teagan’s to have our hair cut and coloured which was nice 👍.Dad cooked a 🦃 ‘turkey spagbol’ for tea which was delicious and means we are half-way through the rolled and boned 👑 crown dad had bought from Richard the butcher… No guesses what we are having for tea tonight - it’ll be something involving turkey 🦃 - probably soup or Thai red curry 🍛 …

Saturday January 8th - Happy New Year and welcome to 2022! It’s been a quiet week at the house 🏡 in Longfield. Some of the day-services have shut down again, bum! Mum and dad took me back on Monday after a lovely overnight stay from Sam, Lucy and baby Ethan. We watched ‘Call the Midwife’ and ‘TheTourist’ on Sunday night then I gave my room to Sam and Lucy and I slept downstairs on the bed-settee. We had a lazy morning, then went for a walk to Farley Common which was 👍 nice.
On Tuesday I went to the bank with Gary and Jackie and I drew out £20 for essentials. We went to Nancy’s for a 🥓 bacon sandwich and carrot 🥕 🍰 cake, then watched some 📺 tv.
On Wednesday we all went to Dartford to meet the guys from SEC. We met Amanda at an art studio where we did drawing which was fun. We’d all taken a packed-lunch and coffee and tea were available locally.
On Thursday dad rang me first thing and we talked about our week. After that we all went to Bluewater💧for a day-out and I had a sausage-roll and a cup ☕️ of tea. Michael had a cheese 🧀 toastie which looked good 😊. Jean and I were star cooks for the week with our chicken 🐔 casserole with dumplings on Friday night!
Saturday was Gary’s 50th birthday and he threw a buffet 🎉 party which I missed because of going back to mum and dad’s, but we’ll celebrate it next week with a take-away Turkish meal from 'Efsane' next door to the 🏡 house. 

Saturday January 15th. Already half-way through the first month of 2022! Day-services are starting to come back with Edenbridge Thursday’s beginning next week - yippee! Then Monday’s will happen in a few weeks. We started back at PHAB this week on Wednesday night with Rita covering for Eileen who is still in hospital.
On Tuesday we did our first health-walk of the week and went to lunch-club where we had 🐔 chicken Kiev, potatoes and beans for lunch. I sat next to Roger, Stephanie’s husband, who talked about his Christmas socks!
On Wednesday we went to Weatherspoon’s in Rochester with SEC for lunch and I had a jacket potato 🥔 with cheese and beans and salad 🥗 washed down with a cup of tea ☕️.
On Thursday dad rang me and we talked about our week. We went to Macdonald’s for lunch and I had a cheeseburger 🍔 with chips and a coke. In the afternoon we watched ‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘Peter Rabbit 🐰 2’ which we all loved, even though we had seen it before at the cinema.
On Friday we did another health-walk up to the country park. It was very muddy, but nice to get out again! In the afternoon we watched 'Save the Cinema' which was very funny. In the evening, Jean and I were star 👩‍🍳 cooks of the week with our spaghetti 🍝 Bolognese. Michael wouldn’t eat his, saying he was not hungry, so he had a yogurt 🍦 instead.
On Saturday I went to Sevenoaks with mum and dad and we went to Gail’s, our favourite artisan cafe, where we had chicken brioche burgers with dill pickle, tomatoes, lettuce and chilli-pesto and they were delicious 😋! We then went to Marks and Spencer’s where dad bought some skinny jeans and I bought some new trainers in the sales. We will have an Indian take-away tonight from ‘Tulsi’ - my treat! Tomorrow we will Skype Sam and Lucy to catch-up on the news and see baby Ethan!

Saturday January 22nd. I’ve had a good week. On Monday we went on a health-walk in the park. It was frosty and a bit slippery and I twisted my ankle a bit, but I’m ok now.
On Tuesday I went to the bank with Dominic, Michael and Kim. I drew out £80 for the week. On the way back we went to Nancy’s for the inevitable bacon sandwich 🥓 - my favourite! In the afternoon, I cleaned my bathroom 🚽 and bedroom and did my washing.
On Wednesday we all went to Bluewater on the 🚌 bus with SEC for a bit of retail therapy and lunch! We went to KFC and I had a chicken 🐔 burger with chips and a coke - very healthy, not!
Dad rang me first thing on Thursday and we talked about our week. I was a bit grumpy to start, but cheered up in the end! We went to Edenbridge where I had my nails done 💅 bright red by Katie. We then began rehearsals for our new plays ‘Jungle book’ and ‘Cinderella’ which I enjoyed 😊. Dominic was star cook that evening with Kim and they cooked grilled salmon with 🥔 potatoes, peas, carrots and salad. It was 😋 yummy!
Friday was bits and bobs day finishing with a fish and chip supper (the guys had sausages!).
Mum and Dad picked me up on Saturday for the weekend, and after lunch, Mum and I went to the supermarket for the week’s shop. We are going to Sam and Lucy’s tomorrow, so it was inevitable that we would buy baby 👶 clothes for Ethan! Yabadabadoo!

Saturday January 29th. I’ve had another good week at the house 🏡. We are back at Edenbridge on Mondays now which is very nice. 👍 I am doing a new printing project with Ian and have chosen to copy ‘Sunflowers 🌻’ by Vincent Van Gough, which is nice and colourful. We found a good 😊 image on the web and printed it off. The plan is to mount it and put it in a frame.
Tuesday was health-walk and lunch-club. We walked around the park and that made us hungry! For lunch we had pie and mash with peas and carrots 🥕 followed by Tiramisu which was all yummy 😋!
On Wednesday we all went to Chatam with Amanda and the guys from SEC and had a really nice time doing some shopping. I bought some 🛀-bombs and Ophelia bought a calendar and a diary. 
Star ⭐️ cooks this week were Jamie and Mel who made a shepherds pie with baked-beans on the side. Windy bottoms all round! 💨
On Thursday dad rang me first-thing and we talked about our week before I headed off to Edenbridge with the guys. We carried on rehearsing for ‘Jungle Book’ then had our ‘hair and beauty’ session with Katie. I’ve had my nails painted purple and so did George.
Friday was ‘bits & bobs’ day and we had Salmon ragu for tea cooked by me and Sharon which everyone raved about.
On Saturday mum and dad picked me up and after ‘brunch’ mum and I went to Sainsbury’s via Halfords where mum had some new windscreen wipers fitted to her 🚗 car. When we got back, dad and I did the blog and then we all Skyped Sam and Lucy for a catch-up. Ethan was quite well-behaved and is doing fine, though they think he might be teething! More of this later!

Sunday February 6th I’m feeling a bit gloomy and anxious today, though I don’t know why because I had a good week, ending up with going to see a great movie with mum and dad…!
On Monday we went to Edenbridge and I did some more work on my ‘sunflower 🌻’ project with Ian. It’s been printed, and the next stage is to hang it on the wall. I’ve just told dad it’s portrait, not landscape and he was well impressed!
Tuesday was my and George’s home 🏡 day as usual, and I went to the bank with Jackie and drew out £100 for the week. We all went to lunch-club and had jacket potatoes 🥔 with turkey and beans, just right for a chilly day! George and Jean were star 👨‍🍳 cooks this week with pie and mash, carrots and peas, though they did cheat a bit, because the pie was ready made from Sainsbury’s but was really 😋 tasty anyway!
On Wednesday we went to Bluewater with Amanda and the guys from SEC. We’ve just heard that PHAB will start up agin in May, though why we have to wait that long beats me!
Dad rang me on Thursday as usual and we chatted about our week. After that we went to Edenbridge with Kim and did another rehearsal for our play ‘Jungle Book’ which we are putting on in July. I started out being a monkey, but have now up-graded to be a wolf 🐺 - much better!
Friday was bits & bobs day (mostly washing!) but in the evening we went out for an Indian meal for Alan’s birthday 🎉 which we all enjoyed!

On Saturday mum and dad came over and the first thing dad had to do was fix my loose bath tap! Having done a lateral flow to enter the house, they stayed for a cup ☕️ of tea which we haven’t done for over two years…! I showed them the summer house and told them about the exercise bike I’m buying with Jamie, George and Gary in a few weeks time. In the afternoon we went to the pictures in Oxted to see ‘Sing 2’ which was fabulous and very funny! I’ll put it on my Christmas list so that we can watch it with the guys in the house 🏡. After the film we had a chicken 🐔 burger 🍔 with fries. Mum had a naked burger 🍔 with blue cheese 🧀 - pooh! - and 🍟 fries.
It hammered down with 🌧 rain this morning, but the sky is clearing now - hurray! We’ll Skype Sam and Lucy shortly and catch up on their and 👶 Ethan’s news. They tell us he’s starting to giggle! We are seeing them all on Saturday 2-weeks to celebrate Sam’s 🎈 birthday - yippee!

Saturday February 12th I’ve had a good week and we’ve done lots! Monday was Edenbridge with Ian, Peter, Jackie, Vivienne and Graham on the sunflowers 🌻 project. We are going to make a stained-glass window! In the afternoon we played ‘Sitting on a Fortune’ which was very 😂 funny. On Tuesday we went to Lunch-Club after getting our nails done - Pink for me, Blue for George and Shirley and Red for Louise, and Gary… At lunch-club they had hired a magician, Terry Knight who was very good and very funny 😂 . In the afternoon, I did my chores with George, stripping our beds and doing our washing. For tea, George and Kim made jacket 🥔 potatoes with Tuna and salad 🥗.
On Wednesday we went to Bexley to meet Amanda and the guys from SEC. We went bowling 🎳 and I got a strike! We went to Wayman’s Cafe for lunch, and all the guys had burgers 🍔 except for Matthew who had ‘bangers and mash’ and Jamie, who had a cooked breakfast with black pudding, but no beans to keep the gas levels at bay! 

Dad rang me on Thursday and I told him about the Valentine’s disco we would go to at Edenbridge later that day. We had 🎉 party food and 🍹 drinks and great music with Katie as the DJ! I danced with Jamie and he gave me a Valentines kiss 😘 !
On Friday we all went to Canterbury to go shopping and have lunch out at Prezzo. Alan, Mel and I had pizza 🍕 while the other guys had 🍔 burgers except for Jamie and Sara who had pasta 🍝 . Everyone enjoyed their meal, yum yum!
On Saturday mum and dad took me to Sevenoaks to buy 👶 baby clothes for Ethan, a birthday jumper for Sam, a Valentines card for Jamie and for dad to exchange his jeans that did not fit well. Tasks complete, we had a yummy spicy chicken burger at Gails which was my treat! We’ll Skype Sam and Lucy in the morning as usual!

Saturday February 19th I had a good week and was quite busy again. Monday and Thursday were Edenbridge days, so rehearsing for our play, doing the art project with Ian and getting my hair and nails done with Katie - I’ve chosen turquoise this time for my finger nails and pink for my toenails!
On Tuesday there was no lunch-club, which was good as I had to go to the doctors with Velma to have my blood pressure checked. It was ok, so I guess I’ll live! This week’s star 👨‍🍳 cook was George who cooked salmon with new potatoes, carrots 🥕 and peas, helped by Mel on Tuesday night. On Wednesday we took a taxi to Dartford to meet Amanda and the guys from SEC. We went to a games event with dominos and cards. I played ‘pairs’ with Ophelia which was good fun! They put on lunch there and I had a chicken 🐔 burger and chips washed down with a chocolate milkshake! On Friday it was a windy and wet bits and bobs day so we stayed in and after doing our washing, we watched ‘The Royal Family’ which was very funny 😂.
Dad picked me up on his own on Saturday as mum has developed ‘labyrinthitus’ and is feeling pretty rough. We were supposed to be going to the Kings Head in Bessels Green to celebrate Sam’s birthday 🎈 today, but that can’t happen now. Dad spoke to Sam first thing and we are all going to get together on March 5th to celebrate my and Sam’s birthday all-in-one - fingers crossed we’ll go to the Kings Head again! After lunch I’m going to help dad cook beef bourguignon for tea and we’ll Skype Sam and Lucy at 5 o'clock to talk about all our news…

Sunday February 27th. I’ve had an ok 👌 week. We didn’t go to Edenbridge on Monday as it was too windy on the tail end of storm Eunice. We only lost one tile on the roof at Longfield thank goodness!
Tuesday was my and George’s home day, so Kelly, my new key-worker, took Jamie and me to the bank to draw out our housekeeping money. We then went to Lunch-club and had fish 🐟 and chips which was yummy 😋. Dominic was star chef 👨‍🍳 of the week with his chicken pasta and garlic bread 🥖 he cooked with Sara’s help.
On Wednesday we met Ophelia and Mark and the guys from SEC at Bluewater where we did some window shopping, had a bite to eat and went for a walk down by the lakes.
Dad rang me first-thing on  Thursday, and we talked about our week. When we had finished, I handed the phone to Mel and she said ‘goodbye Dave’! We all laughed, I said ‘he’s Bill, not Dave’ and she said ‘that’s the kind of mind that’s working here… ‘ After dad’s call, we went to Edenbridge for play rehearsals and computers with Katie, as Ian was on holiday.
Friday was second wash-day (bits & bobs day) for me, George and Michael, so we did our tasks , then watched tv.
Saturday was a warm spring-like day and the daffodils were in full bloom at the house. I went to a refugee charity lunch with mum and dad at the hall in Westerham which was very interesting. The food was prepared by Liberty Kitchen who  provide skills opportunities for prisoners at Pentonville prison and was delicious!
We skyped Sam on Sunday and dad booked a table for us all at the Kings Head next Saturday for Sam and my birthday celebration lunch which we are all looking forward to! Yippie!