On the 20^th March we had an unannounced inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The report is now available on www.cqc.org.uk . We are pleased to see that our hard work has been recognised by the Care Quality Commission.  We intend to keep a high standard of care and make sure our staff is proud of their work they perform here at Windlesham Manor.

We always welcome any form of feedback that will improve the quality of life/care for our residents.

We had the pleasure to be revisited by the Delage that visited us in August. It seems to be attracted to Windlesham Manor who appears to have been a place where Delage cars where a common sight. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his son Adrian were both proud owners of one Delage each. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had a similar Delage to the Delage Diss that have a habit of popping in with its owner Mr Sato for a cup of tea and Mr Adrian Doyle had a racing version who had previously been owned by a Swede.

When having Mr Sato around with his car  it gives you a glimpse of how it might have looked on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s drive way. It is very tempting to arrange for a vintage car show for our residents. Please let us know if you have an old car or motorbike that you would like to show to our residents since it appears we tend to have a couple of petrol heads among us.

The picture is taken in Skara, Sweden. The car was driven in races during 1928 by Per Nas, he drove it on ice as well as on a round track. The Car had a V12 engine and developed 120 bhp at  6000 rpm without a compressor and 190 bhp at 7000 rpm with compressor. The car turned out to be a disappointment for mr Nas since it was beaten in a race by a Chandler racing car from USA. The Delage was sold on to Mr Adrian Conan Doyle and ended up on several occasions at Windlesham Manor

Par Nas speeding along on a frozen lake in Sweden in the Delage later owned by Mr Adrian Doyle.

The spring won’t arrive and it is cold and wet out there, but it is warm and relaxed at Grove Park School hydrotherapy pool at Beacon Community College in Crowborough. David and Leslie were the first to try it out together with care staff and support from Grove Park School own lifeguard. Windlesham Manor will visit the Hydrotherapy Pool every other week this spring / summer and offer residents to enjoy the warm and relaxing water to loosen up any stiff joints and encourage walking exercise without using a walking frame.

A new weekly event has been found to be a success at Windlesham Manor on Friday afternoons when residents with families and staff let their hair down and have a go at karaoke singing accompanied with cheese and wine. Frank Sinatra and The Beetles are popular choices

We gave karaoke singing a try at the end of February this year and it has since then turned out to be a success.  More and more people attend and it tends to get louder and louder with a genuine feeling of end of the week atmosphere.

It has been hard not to miss all scandals regarding horse meat ending up in beef products such as lasagne and meat balls. We have received letter from Our butcher Norsted Manor Farm Meats assures  us that their beef products are free from horse meat because they are an EC licensed cutting plant. They have procedures in place to ensure their beef products contain only 100% British beef, which can be traced back to the farm to the origin.

As an EC licenced cutting plant they have procedures in place that can trace the meat from:

• Where it was born,
• Where it was reared,
• Where it was slaughtered,
• Which cutting plant it went to

All beef burgers are made by themselves on their farm in Kent.

At Windlesham Manor, we appreciate the benefits of using local suppliers.

On Friday the 18^th of January when the snow came down on us silent and cold we took out the blankets and wrapped up to watch the garden transform to a winter landscape. Yes we all know snow causes traffic chaos, bulky layers of clothes and messy and wet hallways, but it also made the hot chocolate taste so much better especially after having being out in the garden building a snow lantern. Staff and residents took the opportunity to enjoy the blizzard and went out adequately clothed of course and built a snowman that unfortunately wouldn’t stand by himself but we also built a snow lantern that lit up the dark afternoon. We are all waiting with anticipation for a bit more snow to straighten up our wonky snowman.

Riders in Ashdown Forest by one of our talented artists

Some of our residents have joined our art class which take place every Thursday afternoon and are run by Joan Moore. Most of the participants never thought they would be any good at drawing when they started two years ago, but with the support and encouragement from Joan the results has ended up being masterpieces. We have dedicated one wall in the lounge for our art club where the pictures and paintings are replaced regularly since we find it really hard to choose which one of the we like the most.

The art class is one of many activities that will take place at Windlesham Manor under 2013.

Looking back at 2012 we had an eventful and a good year with lots of laughter and events. We look with anticipation toward 2013 and hope for better weather allowing us to spend more time outdoors…

From all of us at Windlesham Manor, Happy New year.

Christmas is near and the first thing to tickle your senses and remind you when you walk in to Windlesham Manor is the characteristic smell of the Christmas tree which is now standing tall in the lounge (probably the biggest tree ever to be seen at Windlesham Manor!).  Our Christmas party will be on the 12^th December and we are hoping Santa will pop by as usual.

My first year at Windlesham Manor has been a busy one. We have not only rejoiced in the different seasons, but also had many celebrations: the Jubilee, Olympics and two 100^th Birthdays, to name but a few.  I have hardly had time to reflect on the fact that we have had one of the wettest summers since living memory. This is especially as the weather gods listened to us when we had our yearly summer garden party and we experienced the best weather you can ask for. It has been an amazing year with a variety of new experiences and I have been welcomed with open arms and patiently looked after by our residents and their families not to mention the staff group who have worked very hard to ensure our quality of care keeps on improving and our residents are safe and satisfied.

It is with great excitement and anticipation I am looking forward to 2013 and a New Year at Windlesham Manor and I would like to wish all our residents, next of kin and the fantastic staff a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Best wishes

Peter Granstrom

We had the pleasure to get acquainted with Mr Kiyondo Sato and his vintage car, a French Delage Diss from 1925 one of 14 remaining in the world.  Delage Diss was a state of the art racing car in its day and managed to reach a top speed of believe it or not 65 mph! (must have been windy…).

The Delage cars were made between 1905-1953 by Louise Delage who was a mechanic working for Peugeot but decided to create something of his own.

Mr Sato is a retired motor journalist and author from Japan. He will visit Windlesham Manor again this autumn to show his car to us and speak about motoring history, its development and show pictures. And maybe take some of us of for a ride on the forest.