Activities at Thistle Hill Care Home

Coffee mornings are not just coffee mornings at Thistle Hill!  Residents from around the home have been coming together to make a wish tree complete with wishes as they chat and have a brew together.  

We have been reminiscing to work out what wishes everyone would like and had a lot of giggles as we worked on the tree.  The tree is not complete yet, but it is coming along nicely, and we can all see it is going to look lovely once finished.
 

Thistle Hill  was transformed into Graceland to mark what would have been Elvis Presley’s 90th birthday. It is estimated that Elvis has sold over one billion records worldwide, so to honour the undisputed King of Rock & Roll, the staff and residents enjoyed a fantastic day of music, fun and dancing.

Les, a resident, said: “I loved Elvis growing up.  Listening to all his old hits has brought back so many memories.  We’ve all had a brilliant time reminiscing about our dance hall days!” 
 

We turned up the music and residents, visitors and staff all joined in to get the party in full swing.  

The kitchen created a lovely buffet for the event and the bar was fully stocked with all kinds of beers, wines, sherry, gin and fizz.  

It was lovely to see so many visiting friends and family join us.

The event was a massive success. Everyone said that they couldn’t wait for the next big party!

Residents and guests enjoyed an afternoon of Christmas fun with Pete and his 40 pairs of wifi headphones transmitting sound into lounges and bedrooms throughout the home.

Residents embraced the technology, and joined in with the singing, and clapped along as the the disco performed well known Christmas and pop songs.

One resident said “I loved this!  It was so much fun and we could all sing along to the familiar Christmas songs such as Jingle Bells”
 

Sam, who is one of our lovely carer’s on Ripley visited with her son and they brought their very unusual pets to visit.  

We met up close: a Bumblebee Millipede called Chew Chew, a Giant African Land Snail, a Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach and a Chilean Rose Spider called Pinky Pie. Pinky Pie was enormous.  

Her feet scratched on your skin as she moved about and her whole body was covered in hairs which resembled fine fur.  

She was very beautiful and the residents, visitors and staff who came to see them were completely captivated by Pinky Pie and her exotic friends.

Residents, visitors and staff couldn’t believe their eyes as Kenny the llama, and Gary the alpaca from Nidderdale Llamas and Alpacas arrived at the home to see them!!

Children from Red Kite Nursery also visited to say hello to Kenny and Gary which was lovely. Kenny and Gary absolutely captivated everyone as they visited lounges and bedrooms throughout the whole home, dispensing feelings of joy to all who met them. 

They even travelled in the lift and were so good.   We have had a wonderful afternoon of lovely cuddles with these beautiful creatures. They loved having their necks stroked and were absolutely wonderful with the residents.