We are a very new home; we’ve only been open since July and have been steadily welcoming new residents over the past few months. We have all settled into life here and are enjoying ourselves and making new friends.
As restrictions have been lifted, we have been able to take part in more and more activities outside the home and even able to host our own events. This week we hosted our biggest event yet.
I really enjoy this time of year and one of the reasons is Bonfire Night. My family would always celebrate this night, with a fire, fireworks and delicious autumnal treats such as warming pumpkin soup and parkin.
November was so much colder when I was young and mother would dress up in hats and scarves, wrapped up from head to toe. Neighbours and families would come together and make a night of it.
Children would work hard making a Guy which they would carry around the streets requesting a penny for their efforts, he’d then be ceremoniously placed on top of the bonfire.
The men would congregate and light the fireworks while the women would serve treats and hot chocolate and supervise the children with their sparklers. It was a magical night.
This week we hosted our own fireworks night. We invited the community along; it was such a thrill to see the neighbours turn out with their children and to see their happy faces illuminated by the display.
We served up hot dogs and soup, there was mulled wine and hot chocolate, some of us made the most of the mild weather and ventured outside while the rest of us took out seats in the Sky Bar and enjoyed a bird’s eye view.
It was such a fun night and one that we will be talking about for days, if not weeks to come. Thank you to Lee for putting on such a fabulous display, to the team for catering and overseeing the whole night and to the community for coming along, you all made our night extra special, and we are very grateful.