The residents enjoyed last Friday, a garden party to celebrate St George's Day. The garden was decorated with buntings and England flags and Samantha Jones, one of our regular singers, performed for the residents a selection of English greatest hits. Cold drinks and snacks were served meanwhile the residents enjoyed singing their favourite snacks.  

We celebrated our employee of the month at Bowerfield Court today. Emma a care assistant and Fran, congratulations to the both of them. 

We held an international jazz day on Friday and played some great jazz music and indulged in producing art, whether it was jazz related or just paint from the heart in the ambiance of the music. One of our residents excelled and really enjoyed producing a piece that any artist would be proud of. Well done all those who took part. 

Bank holiday Monday was our May Day Fair, lots of standard fairground games like Roll-a-coin, spin the wheel, disc drop, play your cards right and darts. Lots of prizes, lots of fun and most of all laughter and smiling faces. A good turnout supported by residents and staff alike. 

We have a very special addition to our flower collection here at Troutbeck Care Home. A double headed miniature daffodil grown by Muriel Allen. This one has put a smile on everyone's face.

We thought we would make it a special day as it is one of the big events of the year. All residents chose a name out of a hat and got a horse to win on. We were all very excited at the prospect of watching the race and we enjoyed food, wine and beer. We had buntings, flags and hats to celebrate the occasion. We had a board with all the residents names and the horses they had chosen to cheer. It was a lovely atmosphere and everyone joined in and enjoyed the afternoon. 

Washing and drying the pots is one of our residents favourite things to do, they especially enjoy it as they don't get chance to do house work. It gives them a sense of self work and they thoroughly enjoy it and working as a team. We also listened to music and sang as we worked. It was a lovely atmosphere. 

One of our residents wanted to go for a walk and look around. We got wrapped up as it was a little chilly and off we went for some fresh air and to stretch our legs. We walked along the path and came upon a bridge where we could feed the ducks and enjoy the sunshine. It was very peaceful and the gentlemen really enjoyed the fresh air and being out in the sunshine. 

To celebrate National Textiles Day the residents added their own designs to a new blanket. The residents tried to thread the needle independently, sometimes needed a little assistance. They then began to move the needle through the weaves of wool and started up their own design. We saw some initials, some shapes and just a pattern. The residents used great control when moving the needle and thread. The fine motor skills applied to this activity were brilliant. The next step was to decide who could use the blanket first! 

We've had an amazing day, we had the Oscars at The Hawthorns. Kate, our activities coordinator has been absolutely amazing, she even made a short film for the residents to watch.