Howdy partner, this week Hill House went western as they celebrated international day of the cowboy. The week was filled with wild west games, cowboy photo shoot and a horse drawn wagon. With so many activities to choose from there is always something stimulating for you to enjoy here at Hill House.
Monday’s arts and crafts morning got sticky as we crafted a giant cactus for the wild west table, the cactus doubles up as a lasso game and we had great fun throwing lasso rope and trying to get them to hook on, similar to the game Quoits. In garden view lounge we played board games, dominoes and card games.
Monday afternoon we added pictures to our scrapbooks and wrote about the great things we have been up to as well as enjoying a target throwing game on the interactive activity centre.
Tuesday morning Jo hosted our monthly resident’s meeting in the lounge, we spoke about the current situation and how we are moving forward as the world becomes a safer place, among other things. We enjoyed freshly baked cupcakes and drinks. Others who chose to miss the residents meeting took part in a wild west photo shoot, we loved getting dressed up and putting on our best cowboy accents. The morning was filled with laughter as we saw our pictures turn into wanted posters and displayed around.
Tuesday afternoon we spent time enjoying the summer sunshine in the court yard garden, we took on a world map jigsaw puzzles, others played dominos or walked around pruning the plants.
With the sun shining Tuesday afternoon was a great time to catch up with loved ones in the garden, its lovely to see one another face to face after the time apart we really enjoy our socially distanced garden visits. In the lounge we took on this weeks giant cross word puzzles, deciphering the clues to complete the board.
Wednesday morning was filled with great activities we held a mini bowls tournament in the lounge and after we answered famous western faces quiz questions. Garden view lounge a relaxing morning of manicures and hand massages, spending time having meaningful moments with one another.
That afternoon we challenged ourselves with memory games that exercise our minds. Memory games can boost brain health over time and they provide a creative outlet and help to strengthen our social connections with one and other. We also crafted a cowboy hat piñata in arts and crafts club using and old box we cut out a formed its shape before decorating it, we placed coloured strips of tissue paper to form a ruffle effect on the hat and finished it off with the sheriff stamp of approval (it really will be a shame to smash it at the cowboy party tomorrow).
Thursday morning sing along session took a rocky turn as we rocked out to status Quo on our request, it took us back to the 70’s and brought a lot of reminiscing conversations of how music has changed and how our taste in music has evolved. “this modern music, I can’t ever work out what they are saying”.
Our floristry club met and created stunning bouquets to display around the home for everyone to enjoy, fresh flower stimulates the senses of smell, sight and touch and in doing so also trigger memories, encourage reminiscing and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.
A couple of weeks ago we lost a special lady here at Hill House, she was a big part of our Knitter Natter Group. Her husband has put on such a brave face since she passed and staff wanted to do something special for him, Helen & Julie came up with a very thoughtful idea to turn some of her knitting into a cushion so he could always have a little part of her with him. They both spent their own time making the cushion and knitting the letters for cushion. Thankyou ladies you really are two wonderful people.
Thursday afternoon our brilliant activities team turned our lounge into a wild west saloon bar with its very own horse drawn wagon, themed decorations, fancy dress for everyone and they put on an impressive party for the whole home. The afternoon started by ‘wetting our whistle’, with some wild west themed drinks, cocktails and beers we sat with friends and enjoyed the country music. We laughed as we tried to smash our way into the piñata to release the sweets locked inside. We clapped along as staff hoedowned and soon, we were up on the floor joining them with a dosey doe, two step and a lot of yee-haa ‘in.
Friday morning, we engaged in a therapeutic arts & crafts session using a extensive range of craft equipment from aqua painting, colouring pencils and paints. Others enjoyed a game of dominos and snakes and ladders.
No wild west week would be complete without a visit from the horses, we are so lucky that our directors have ponies that are able to come in and visit us for horse therapy session, the horses love the attention we give them and we in return are always very happy to see them. Along with the number of ways horses are beneficial to our mental and physical wellbeing, they also create a fun sense of community where people can come and connect to nature.
Saturday mornings mini golf activity was popular with the gentleman and a few of the ladies as they played one another. Our exercise programme got us moving and ready for the day, it even inspired a ballet lesson in the garden between showers, the class was taken by our in house teaching resident who showed staff how to accomplish the moves before coming in to show the rest of us the stretch’s and techniques.
The afternoon we watched a western movie featuring Clint Eastwood while enjoying sweets and snacks from the wagon. In the garden view lounge, we played target throwing games and a cog maze puzzle as well has a spending time in the garden dead heading the plants and watering the plants under the gazebo that had missed out from the day’s showers.
Sunday morning, we enjoyed a mobile pool table, we spent the morning playing one and other as well as challenging staff to a game, it triggered memories of visiting the local social club or playing with families at Christmas. We also enjoyed a game of floor bowls.
That afternoon was filled with a wide range of great activities we exercised with a game of balloon bounce, enjoyed RummyKub and Whot card games and completed jigsaw puzzles while listening to music and audiobooks.
