Transcript

KAY:

Hi, my name is Kay. And this is my mom, Nina. And we're here in Ballyholme, Abbeyfield and Wesley. And mom's going to tell you a little bit about why she's here and how she feels about it. And do you like the fact that you don't need to cook anymore, or your laundry, or things like that?

NINA:

That is a real blessing, that all meals are provided, even break time, the tea and the coffee are brought up on a trolley for us. And we can all sit around and chat. Everybody is very, very friendly and caring here. The only time it's quiet is at meal time when we're chewing our meal. But in between courses or waiting for the tea to be poured, the chat starts up again. And people are very, very friendly here.

KAY:

Yeah. On that note, obviously everybody was strangers at the beginning. And you've lived here now for, my goodness, 15 months? Now you've been here.

NINA:

Wow.

KAY:

How are your relationships with people here now?

NINA:

Oh, very good. Even the new ones in, we've had three, four new ones since I came in. And once again, they're all very chatty and nice. And Maureen, that sits next to me at the table at meal times, she is very helpful. Because she knows there are things, you know when there's a tea bag left in the cup of tea, I have-- there's another thing. John brought me.

KAY:

Oh, the tea bag squeezer.

NINA:

Tea bag squeezer. But with the arthritis in my hand, I couldn't manage it. And I apologised to him and said, John, I think I'm going to have to give these back to you because I can't manage them. And Maureen says, oh no, you don't. I'll manage it for you.

KAY:

And that's what we love.

NINA:

And she takes the tongs and the cup over, squeezes it out for me. And there, everybody is very, very helpful.