I recall reading a story about a man who would, every day when leaving for work, jump over his garden wall. Never used the gate, always jumped the wall. When asked the reason for this he said that if he jumped the wall every day there would never come a day when he couldn’t do it.

Wise words indeed. I don’t think that I’ll be jumping over a brick wall anytime soon however I do apply the same theory to my cognition. Use it or lose it.

I read as much as I can, I have a lot of books and we have access to many others here, fiction and non-fiction, romance, and thrillers as well as puzzle books and Sudoku, we are not short of books. Reading keeps my mind active but it’s quite a solitary pastime, I am quite a social person, I enjoy company and companionship and I am at my happiest when surrounded by my friends here at Layston.

We play some fun memory games when we are together, they seem basic, but they certainly get the cogs turning and they are a lot of fun to play. We play one game where one of the team presents us with a tray and on that tray are an array of items. We have 5 minutes to look at them and try to memorise them, sounds easy doesn’t it. Try it, it isn’t as easy as it sounds but it does generate a lot of laughter.

It is a lovely feeling to know that we are keeping active, physically and mentally and that we are looking after our bodies and minds as best we can, and we are having great fun doing so.