Linking Hearts told us:

“Allow me to introduce Linking Hearts Therapy Horses:

Mr Kelloggs is a 29” tall miniature horse who is fully trained to visit people who may not normally have the opportunity to interact with a horse.

Our mission is to bring joy to those who most need it. To help enhance, nurture and heal the spirit of those who face extraordinary challenges every day. Interacting with miniature horses provides physical, mental and emotional wellbeing as they offer a source of joy and unconditional love for all that encounter them.”

We agree and can’t wait to welcome this adorable little horse back to our services very soon. — Jane Montrose, Managing Director.

Photographs have been shared with kind permission of all shown.

“Access to gardens can enhance focus and attention, as well as reducing anxiety and boosting self-confidence. Additionally, the garden can be considered a dynamic environment offering diverse opportunities for learning.” –[‘Green Spaces – Outdoor Environments for Adults with Autism’ by Katie Gaudion and Chris McGinley.]

At Apple House care homes we know that our outdoor spaces are as vital as indoor space for those who reside at our services.  For many years we have actively encouraged residents to take ownership of their garden space, to use it in a way meaningful to them. Perhaps this year, even more than previously, we value our outdoor spaces, fresh air and the gentle exercise of gardening.

At Apple House care home, residents enjoy 100ft of garden and actively shop for plants, tend seasonal blooms, help with garden maintenance and enjoy sitting out with a cuppa to admire the results.  Redcroft, Little Amberwood and Summerwood care homes also rear and nurture their own hens, with Summerwood residents even designing and building a hen house.  Growing vegetables is the norm here: eating home grown organic veg and free range eggs is tremendously rewarding in itself as well as nutritiously beneficial.  

Results-based activities such as these also foster a sense of ownership and achievement.

Sensory gardens incorporate textures, actions and movement, sounds, smells, colour.  At Summerwood care home in Hampshire, our registered manager, John, and residents created a sensory garden that blends all of the above.  We also offer garden space that is restful and calming, without additional sensory stimulation.

All of our services now have log cabins in their grounds. Redcroft care home, in Bournemouth, has a fabulous activities cabin nestled beside the hen house. Instead of slicing a path through the lawn to reach it, residents and staff planted a sensory path including lavenders, herbs such as thyme, rosemary and mint. Imagine the scents released as fingertips brush along the heads of the blooms and leaves as you walk to and from the cabin which again is fragrant with the scent of pine wood.  Texture is as import as scent and so there are fleshy, course foliage and soft silken leaves and tickly grasses.

While seasons and nature will continually change garden space, it’s important to us that we facilitate enjoyment of what is a wonderful commodity all year round.  The cabin enables residents to connect with their garden and to feel part of their outdoor space even in the winter.

We are ready for Spring, are you?

David is delighted to share with you his final nature garden instalment:

The Journey Ends.

Ten months after work commenced, the nature garden has been finished. The last few months have seen the commencement and completion of several tasks that have truly transformed the garden. These include laying a gravel path, creation of ‘Gnome mountain,’ and the reimagining and renovation of the sensory garden. The nature garden, like the rest of the world, was impacted by the spread of Covid – in this case the long-planned creation of a BBQ area made way for the home’s Covid visitor pod. However, this is not a bad thing for once the pandemic has passed it will make a great wildlife-watching hut (and another area has been earmarked by the team for the BBQ area, ssshhhh don’t tell the bosses!)  

First picture: Gnome garden (there are many additions planned to this community).

Second picture: The reimagined sensory garden (which looks wonderful at night when all the lights come into effect).

Third picture: The gravel path leading to our visitor pod (or, as we refer to it, our future wildlife-watching hut). 

As we conclude the journey that was the creation of the nature garden, we hope you have enjoyed the journey as much as we have.

Until we start our next project

Take care

David Dellow, Redcroft Deputy Manager, and the Redcroft garden team.

Washing clothes, using scissors and sweeping floors are some of the easier omens to sidestep.  According to Chinese superstition, doing any of these on Feb 12 – the day Chinese New Year falls in 2021 – will lead to bad luck for the entire coming year. But it isn’t all doom and gloom: 2021 is the Year of the Ox, an animal that  symbolises strength and determination. — The Telegraph, 9th February 2021.

At Redcroft care home in Bournemouth, Chinese New Year has been celebrated by residents and our team via an industrious and creative whole-wall work of art. Mandy Sinnick, assistant home manager, said, ‘Creative workshops have been planned through Redcroft’s own Learning Hub and house meetings. It has been great fun holding such meetings and we’ve seen great skill, creativity and input by everyone.

‘Nora Grant, support worker, took full use of this opportunity to showcase her formidable artistry skills to help create standalone pieces. With a little creativity and encouragement, everyone has found their own niche and rolled with it. With her calm and supportive approach, Nora’s help and guidance has been fabulous! It has been demonstrated that everyone, through their own artwork pieces, really does have an inner arty-crafty side. Well done, everyone, for an awesome Chinese New Year display…Let the planning begin for the next one!’ — Mandy Sinnick, Redcroft.

The Mad Hatters Tea Party!

So, it was that after a conversation involving three very creative minds that the idea of the Mad Hatters Tea Party was born. Amanda Sinnick (Deputy Manager) put her considerable organisation skills to use and grabbed the event by the scruff of the neck and formed a Tea Party committee.

Amanda over saw the creation of the many wonderful decorations that would create the fabulous party vibe that was present on the day, as well as the one of a kind advertisement board.

Nora Grant (support worker) took full use of this opportunity to show off her formidable artistry skills to help create standalone pieces that were present on the day, as well as assisting individuals to make one-of-a-kind hats and outfits for the party.

Rebecca Blackmore (senior support worker) demonstrated her outstanding baking/culinary skills to create the wonderful themed buffet as well as a magnificent centrepiece cake.  

Amanda, in the role of Chairperson, oversaw the day itself and ensured that it went smoothly and was a great success. Judging by all the beaming smiles on faces it certainly was!

After the event had finished Amanda announced that she had already started the initial planning for “The Carnival Extravaganza” planned for the end of August 2020

So watch this space…” David Dellow, Senior Support Worker/Team Leader, Redcroft.

“After a break from working on the nature garden to assist other team members with their exciting projects, we once again turned our attention to the nature garden. In particular the solving of the one glaring issue since work on the garden began. At present the nature garden could be accessed either side of the Cabin; these access points are fine for those who are able-bodied and confident on their feet. However to be truly accessible for everyone there needed to be an access suitable for everyone. This had been a problem that the team could not seem to solve and had been a stumbling point. However, whilst working on projects for other team members, it had dawned on the Team that there was an area big enough behind the rockery to create such a path so eureka! problem solved and the team were raring to go.

This was what faced the team and after a quick clear up of all the loose foliage the team went round the other side to clear the loose bricks and were ready to clear a path through. Nice and easy until…disaster struck!

The quick clearance job suddenly turned into seemingly mission impossible. The team, determined not to be beaten, dug around the stones to see if any further surprises were waiting and…

It seemed that the team had stumbled across an old wall buried by time and mother nature. The team felt their hearts drop to their stomachs. However, spurred on by encouragement and curiosity from the residents and staff members, they perceived to see exactly what they were faced with.

As if by magic or pure good fortune, the “wall” turned out to be lumps of ore and debris buried and compacted together through time. Piece by piece the team managed to remove the obstructions including:

This little ‘boulder’ the team named Hercules, which weighs in at a rather impressive 78kg (yes the team actually weighed it!)

The team managed to remove all the obstructions except for one rather large rock that was entwined with tree roots. The team christened that particular rock ‘Father time’ as it looked like it had been next to the tree since forever.

The team then set about burying the exposed roots and laying a dirt path down. Luckily they had recently participated in another project (more about that at a later date) which meant there was plenty of dirt to use.

So after all the hard work and effort…

The Team can proudly present the new path and access point to the nature garden.” — David Dellow, Senior Team Leader, Redcroft Care Home.

Session 13:

“Todays session saw the team commence the task of clearing all the old cement off the recovered patio slabs. This was found to be very hard work but ultimately will allow the team to partially patio the quiet area.

After undertaking this task the team decided to take a break from the nature garden and tackle another area of the garden near the house. The team displayed a real sense of team spirit and cleared an area of the garden which will see an expansion of the present memorial garden for their friends who are sadly no longer with us.

Session 14:

Todays session saw the team commence the task of clearing all the remaining foliage and small offshoots of the holly bush. The completion of this task will enable the staff to lay down the patio for the quiet area. The staff also set about removing dead crawlers off the fence and the arduous task of removing the large mound of soil that had been collected over many years.

The area at the start of the session and at the end of the session, clear of all excess foliage.”

— David Dellow, Senior Support Worker, Redcroft.

And, in readiness for the main event, it seemed very wise to also enjoy a fabulous BBQ over the bank holiday weekend just passed. The weather was fine, the food delicious:

We have made trench boxes, discussing about how these boxes were sent out at Christmas time for the soldiers at the front. We also made a tea party of favourate foods eaten in the 1940’s including Anzac biscuits which we put in the trench boxes. Great fun had by all!” — Sharron Eyears, Registered Manager, Redcroft.

Creating a Nature Garden, Tenth Session:

“Todays session saw a big leap in the development of the garden. We decided to challenge the almost mythical pile beside the wall. This area has been provisional earmarked as BBQ/Quiet area, so the idea was to simply shift through the pile:

However as the saying goes ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ as this pile turned into a gold mine (not literally sadly) for material to use in the garden.

Firstly we found enough clean paving slab pieces for the following, to create a little patio area for the bird bath and also the start of our path:

We also found enough slabs with excess cement on them to cover a large area of the quiet area (once we have removed the excess cement). In addition we found a large amount of small bricks and debris, there was such a large amount that we used them to create a border between the path to the quiet area and the nature garden:

Amongst the pile we also found interesting items such as a base for a basketball pole and a 5 foot slide! Suffice to say that the pile of mystery is now greatly reduced!

Session Eleven:

Today was a day of great progress. First we widened the path at certain junctions to ensure they were easier to navigate. Then the team set about finishing clearing away the pile from yesterday and then decided to turn their attention to the 4ft pile of wood. The clearing of these two piles would open the space and allow for planning of the quiet area/BBQ area to begin. The intention was just to start clearing the pile well this happened: 

The team managed to clear a massive 90% of the area. The clearing of the piles produced the following, wood for chipping:

As well as slabs and bricks for paving and footpaths. Treasure!

Session Twelve:

Today was a continuation of the work of clearing the quiet area of the remaining foliage/wood. The team again worked hard and by the end of the session had managed to clear around 90% of the area!

Don’t forget to check back soon for our next update on our nature garden.” –David Dellow, Redcroft.