Activities at Tyspane Care Home

The Armistice was an agreement which ended the fighting of the First World War. It was the prelude to peace negotiations and commenced at 11am on 11th November 1918. As a result, Remembrance is now part of modern British life, culture, and heritage. It is a particular feature of the nation's calendar each year when public, private, formal, and informal Remembrance events take place throughout the UK.

At Tyspane Care Home we have a number of residents who remember the Second World War and others who were on active service, as well as residents who were involved in one way or another in other twentieth century conflicts.

This year, Tyspane Care Home welcomed Reverend David Baker and guests from St Brannocks church. The Reverend David Baker delivered a thoughtful and heart-warming service, tributes were paid to the families of the Armed Forces community and the emergency services, and the lives of innocent civilians that were lost in conflict.

David J Prior (Resident Ambassador) stated, “It was a wonderful service, very emotional. The two-minute silence is a time for reflection and to show respect and gratitude to the armed forces past and present who have lost their lives fighting for their country.”

Babs Spear (Physiotherapist) replied, “The Church plays a vital role in helping the nation remember those lost to war, and praying for peace.”

Maura Johns, began working for Barchester Healthcare, Tyspane Care Home in September 1994 as a Registered Nurse and has been dedicated to residents and their relatives, ensuring their needs are met, ever since.

Maura stated, “I love the people who work and live at Tyspane Care Home and have made lots of friends past and present. What’s not to like about Tyspane, that’s why I have stayed for thirty years.”

Aime Bown (General Manager) replied, “It is dedication like this that ensures our residents are provided with a happy place to live. I am proud of Maura’ s achievement, we’re delighted to be celebrating 30 years of loyal service with Maura, she has demonstrated her dedication and loyalty to this home and its residents year after year."
 

There’s no denying the adrenaline rush that comes from a motorcycle ride. This thrill, this exhilaration, stimulates the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. This biochemical reaction partially explains the sheer joy many riders experience. In addition, motorcycle riding is often synonymous with freedom. Straddling a bike, feeling the wind against your face, hearing the roar of the engine – it’s an indescribable feeling that transcends the everyday mundanity. The open road offers an escape from the constraints of our daily lives, a sense of liberation that isn’t easily found elsewhere.

With these wonderful thoughts in our mind, we would like to thank John a resident at Tyspane Care Home and his supportive family; Becky, Susan, Gemma, James and David for bringing in a KTM motorbike. The KTM integrates cutting-edge technology, such as ride-by-throttle and ABS systems which enhances both performance and overall reliability. Residents, families, friends and staff stood outside on a beautiful Autumn afternoon admiring the KTM motorbike whilst sharing technical information as well as stories about riding a motorbike, past and present.

According to James, “The KTM are known for their durability, performance, and off-road capabilities as well as being great ride.”

It was a wonderful afternoon definitely one to be remembered. So ride big, ride long, ride free!

Halloween music's precursor is blues music, which was nicknamed "the devil's music" by detractors. The genre featured secular, and often risky lyrics, as well as themes relating to racial oppression. For these reasons, detractors associated it with unholiness. Blues music is defined in part by the blues scale, which can be used to create dissonant and "spooky" sounds. Blues music influenced Halloween songs such as "I Put a Spell on You".

In the 1950s and 1960s, various doo-wop groups, groups influenced by blues music, began to release novelty Halloween-themed songs. "Monster Mash" is an example of such a novelty doo-wop Halloween song. Despite its Halloween themes, doo-wop Halloween music from this era is largely indistinguishable from non-Halloween themed doo-wop music in terms of musical characteristics.

Following the 1960s, Halloween music began to split into various other genres aside from the blues and doo-wop. Classic and hard rock music also included sinister themes, and as such have been associated with Halloween. Songs such as "Highway to Hell" and "Sympathy for the Devil", which are both often considered to be Halloween music, feature blues notes and blues-inspired chord progressions.

Having this understanding of Halloween music residents, friends, families and staff were treated to a spooky but fun afternoon of Karaoke with the bewitching Terry. His piercing voice was enough to raise the hairs on the backs of resident’s necks.

Halloween for some is a chance to celebrate with traditions such as trick or treat, wear fancy dress or attend scary parties. However, Tyspane Care Home is always mindful that many residents may feel particularly vulnerable at this time of year and avoid activities. Therefore, in order to support residents, families and friends to celebrate Halloween the activities staff asked residents what they wanted to do. After much discussion they opted to talk about Halloween in their weekly book club by studying poems and rhymes from the past. Particularly, with those with hidden meanings.

So, Tyspane Care Home residents chose “Hey Diddle Diddle” to represent Halloween this year due to its historical themes and the fact that it dates back to the sixteenth century. It also generated a great deal of conversation and critical thinking. Such as, when the story versions of Mother Goose nursery rhymes were written in 1897 by L. Frank Baum retold Hey Diddle Diddle from little boys’ perspective. The boy saw the cat having a mishap and panicking after getting stuck to a fiddle, the cow jumping over the moon in water, the dog simply running around and baring with excitement, and the dish and spoon being those from his own supper, sliding into a brook.

David (Resident Ambassador) stated, “What a wonderful way to explain the rhyme something nonsense into something plausible.”

Jacqui (Activities Co-Ordinator) reminded everyone, “Hey Diddle Diddle is a single, six-line rhyme and the third line, rather wonderfully, is where the expression to be “over the moon,” meaning elated, comes from.”

Thank you for everyone who participated in this activity, extremely stimulating.

World Opera Day is celebrated in October to honour the birthdays of Georges Bizet and Johann Strauss ll, two of the most famous opera composers. The day is a time to celebrate the art form of opera, and is celebrated by opera companies, artists, professionals, and lovers of opera. World Opera Day was launched by OPERA America, Opera Latin-American, and Opera Europa to advocate for opera and the arts in general. Opera is an international language, and its stories reflect the values of freedom and tolerance.

For Tyspane Care Home, Opera Day allowed Helen one of our residents to indulge her passion for opera, for Helen Opera is an art form that combines music, theatre, and storytelling, the voices of opera singers transport her to another world. Also, female opera singers are called sopranos, they are cast to sing the highest voicing in the classical work and today in the activities lounge Tamsin Ball a wonderful performer or in opera circles, a prima donna (leading lady) sang beautifully to honour opera day and Helen.

All human passions are represented in opera, tragedy and death are often at the heart of the plot. The characters, sometimes torn between their feelings and their duty, are confronted with extraordinary situations and are carried away by their heightened feelings. This was also true of our residents today who were observed laughing, smiling and crying throughout the performance. Simply magical.

Helen’s friends said, "Thank you for a wonderful afternoon, it is lovely to see everyone so happy. Helen has enjoyed herself."

Thank You Tamsin and look forward to seeing you in December as part of Tyspane Care Home thirty days of Christmas.