From the first cup of tea to the night bell.

Wake in your own time

There is no wake-up bell at Ashgrove. If you ask, a carer knocks gently from seven, opens the curtains and brings tea or coffee on a tray. If you would rather sleep, you sleep.

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Breakfast

Breakfast runs until half past nine. Akamu and akara, bread and egg, boiled yam with egg sauce, or fruit and tea. Most residents come to the dining room; some prefer a tray in their room, and that is fine.

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Morning in the garden

The garden is at its best before ten. A level path loops the lawn past the frangipani and the fish pond, with a bench every twenty steps and a carer never far away.

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Late morning together

Something is always going on in the garden room: choir practice on Tuesdays, crafts with Auntie Eno, draughts and ludo, memory books, chair stretches with our visiting physiotherapist. Joining in is always a choice.

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Lunch, the main meal

Lunch is the big meal of the day, cooked here: edikang ikong with pounded yam or garri, afang soup on Wednesdays, fisherman soup on Fridays. Softer and lower-salt versions are always offered.

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Quiet hour

After lunch the house goes quiet. Most residents rest through the heat of the afternoon. The fans keep turning: when the grid goes, the inverter and the generator take over without anyone getting up.

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Visitors and afternoon tea

Families are welcome at any reasonable hour, and afternoons are busiest. Tea, zobo and chin chin in the garden room. A carer can set up a video call with children and grandchildren abroad.

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Evening stroll

As the heat drops, the garden fills again. On Wednesdays the minibus goes out for an hour: a slow drive along the waterfront and a stop for roasted corn and ube.

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Supper

A lighter meal: pepper soup, moi moi, plantain, fruit, or something simple on toast. Night drinks come round at eight: Bournvita, warm milk or herbal tea.

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Evening

Television in the lounge, a Nollywood film on Fridays, hymns at the piano with Mr Bassey, stories, or an early night. Carers help anyone who wants to go to bed, whenever they choose.

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Night

Lights go low, but the house is never empty. Night staff are on duty and awake, every room has a call bell beside the bed, and the gate is staffed until morning.

A slower Sunday morning

Sunday starts later. Breakfast runs until ten, and many residents dress in their Sunday best: wrappers, lace and hats laid out the night before.

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Church

Mass in our small chapel with a visiting priest at nine, a Presbyterian service at ten, or the minibus to your own church in town. Families often join.

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Sunday lunch

The best meal of the week: jollof rice and chicken, fried plantain, and ekpang nkukwo when the cocoyam is good. Families eat with us for a small charge.

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Family afternoon

The longest visiting afternoon of the week. Grandchildren run on the lawn, and the kitchen sends out tea and puff-puff.

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Songs at sunset

Residents gather on the veranda to sing as the sun goes down: hymns, old highlife and the songs of Calabar.

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Night

A quiet end to the week. Night staff come round at ten, and the call bell is always within reach.