Activities at Harton Grange Care Home

Don't hit the Jack, don't hit the Jack, get closer (as the aim of the Carpet Bowls is to get as near as possible to the small yellow ball called jack).  No, but we hit the road and went to Durham Indoor Bowling Club to play bowls. Tracey, Shelley were so kind and allowed us to play despite of having minimal knowledge to play this game. We learnt as we played and at a point Derek came and explained some tips. Dorothy was just amazing to play it. As she said, she only watched carpet bowl games on Tv but now, when she's in her 80s, has learnt to play bowls.

How to miss the chance to listen to the brass band on a Sunday afternoon as these bands are performing outdoor only for 3 months,  in the summer?  As Edna used to attend these brass band sessions, we invited her to listen to Bright Street Big Band.

Edna, her daughter Kay, son-in-law Steve and myself  went to Sandhaven Amphitheatre in South Shields, yesterday afternoon. The music performance of BSBB was amazing and Edna enjoyed very much their music. Kay and her mother had a very intense connection as this music brought back memories.

A seed grows with no sound, but a tree falls with a huge noise. Destruction has noise, but creation is quiet. This is the power of silence. Grow Silently” this saying is attributed to Confucius. We (re)discovered the truth of this over the last days and especially today when we had more time in the garden.

We were so happy to see our carrots ready to be harvested. We noticed that the beetroot is ready as well, but we kept a few for seeds as we did with the coriander. We enjoyed not only the sunny day, but also the work of our hands - a few months ago we planted some tiny seeds donated by Irene Berry's daughters, and now all were large plants.  We still keep the leek and onions as the flowers are not transformed yet in mature seeds.

There, in our raised beds, it was a lot of joy for cabbage caterpillars as well- they still enjoy to eat on kale's leaves.  We observed the ladybirds, they ate all the aphids on our willow and now the tree is thriving.

After more than 40 years away, Thomas, a resident at Harton Grange care home in South Shields had always wanted to go back to his home town of Birkenhead, so staff at the home set about making his wish a reality proving the old adage, it’s never too late.

Thomas is 90 years old and has lived at Harton Grange for 3 years and is loved by staff and residents alike. Staff at the home were delighted to be a part of making his dream come true, as they knew how much it meant to him, and they all wanted to be there to see the smile on Thomas’ face when his dream was realised.

What a beautiful day! We enjoyed another visit to Beamish Museum and this time the weather was just great.

Moira and her son, Norma and her daughter, Kitty and her daughter and David were so happy to have a great time together at Beamish. We enjoyed a delicious fish and chips (or sausage and chips), we went back to the old school, we visited the chemist, the pit village, the steam engines, the old town (1900s) with his bakery and sweets shop and the tea room.

It was so great to have our residents families coming with us.

We had very special visitors: a group of young mothers with their children. Their visit brought so much happiness to our residents, as they love so much to see children around. Our home was transformed for nearly two hours into the house of joy. The young mothers have been so friendly and kind with our residents and their children just been fantastic, sweet angels. Their visit was facilitated by Bright Future Charity and they had the pleasure to donate to everyone from our home a care bag. It was so beautiful the entire atmosphere they created here, in our home.

Thank you to Lindsey and Bridie from Bright Future Charity for leading the group and for their generous donations to our residents.