Trisha moved into Leeming Bar Grange Care Home in March 2021 for a 6-week assessment period after a short stay in hospital. It was very soon clear that Mum was needing that level of care and she became a permanent resident. Amid Covid lockdown, it was initially a challenging time with very restricted visiting. As the restrictions eased, I was allowed to visit, and eventually the rest of the family too. She was moved into a downstairs room with a patio door which suited her much better. Nigel and Karen created a lovely garden for her in a rather neglected area just outside her door in the enclosed garden area. There was a bird table just outside her window, so we had to supply her with bird seed and meal worms, which attracted many sparrows, some blackbirds and a very special cheeky robin who used to come and demand his meal worms if there were none out there. The staff were quite bemused in the mornings to be greeted with ‘will you feed the birds first please!’
   Mum made some special friends amongst the staff and had a real soft spot for John, Nikita and Tracey, and many others who went out of their way to make life bearable for her. We loved being able to follow some of the activities on the home’s FB page and were intrigued to see Mum handling a snake, amongst other creatures that were brought in – some of the photos are in the gallery.