Southgate logo

Southgate at Shrewsbury

Retirement community near Shrewsbury and Worcester, MA

Phone

1.800.492.8331

Residents’ Login

Residents' login

Blog

Gardening Tools To Ease Physical Discomfort For Seniors

by

As we cautiously move forward with our reopening, many will be looking to outside activities to fulfill both their social desires and drive to keep active and healthy. This means different things for all of us. Here at Southgate at Shrewsbury, many of our residents are thrilled to see our community garden reopened.

Many seniors enjoy gardening, which can be a very low-stress physical activity with right tools in hand. As we range, putting less stress on our joints becomes imperative for optimal function. If you are physically disabled in any facet, this guide will provide a path to an activity you may have given up.

Ergonomic Hand Tools

There are many companies which make a variety of ergonomic hand tools to make the physical demand of gardening significantly easier. Radius™ Garden produces a line of highly-rated ergonomic hand tools including trowels, a transplanter, a weeder, cultivators and others. Their award winning Root Slayer line also includes a host of stand up tools including shovels, diggers and spades.

The Gardener’s Friends have an entire line of pruning tools designed specifically for gardeners with weaker hands. The highly-regarded Bionic® Reliefgrip Gardening Gloves are specifically designed to not only provide a secure grip, they are designed to take relieve pressure on your hands and fit comfortably for both men and women.

For stand-up hand tools, a wide variety of innovative specialty tools exist to make your life easier. The ergonomic Amazing Rake® will help you take care of all those New England leaves and any other garden debris with ease. The specially-designed Spear Head Spade® makes tougher digging significantly easier, while shovels from Bosse tools will handle help you handle anything from digging to removal.

Additionally, if you’re handy and looking for an easy project, you can purchase the BackEZ handle attachment to fasten to shovels, rakes, and other standing hand tools to make things easier on your back.

Specialized Gardening Power Tools

Adding some power can certainly make some gardening tasks much easier, such as pruning larger bushes or trees. The KOMOK Professional Cordless Electric Pruning Shears carry a reasonable price tag and are quite positively reviewed. The KOHAM Professional Cordless Electric Pruning Shears is another highly-regarded option.

Sun Joe® by Snow Joe® sells a line of gardening power tools known for being lightweight and easy to handle. Mantis makes a handy, lightweight, cordless electric tiller/cultivator to handle heavier loads. Although they come at a more premium price, electric wheelbarrows like the Piledriver XL can help take a heavy load off your back, knees, hips, shoulders and ankles. Handtrucks2Go features a particularly large selection.

If you’re looking for more economical power option, Power Planter® has a line of augers, bedding and planting tools that attach to drill.

Stools, Kneelers & Carts

When gardening, constantly standing up, bending over and kneeling down can cause a good amount of stress on our joints. Combat this with many of the lightweight, stools, kneelers and carts available to make gardening less impactful on your joints.

For stools or kneelers, try the ABCO Garden Kneeler and seat, if you’d like a sturdy, lightweight bench with pockets for your hand tools. The lightweight Suncast® Garden Scooter contains a storage area underneath a cushioned seat, and employs the use of wheels and a convenient pull strap. Despite its metal construction, the Plow & Hearth® Green Rolling Scoot-N-Do Garden Seat comes with easy-rolling pneumatic tires, a swiveling tractor seat, a convenient pull handle and a tray underneath for tools.

Although it’s not on wheels, the Vertex® Garden Rocker™ relies on lightweight construction, contains a tool tray underneath the seat, and rocks back and forth to keep your back in an upright position when reaching further into your garden. If you find yourself needing to kneel, try one of these padded kneeling mats from InSassy™.

When it comes to carts and wheelbarrows, Gorilla Carts® offers a wide variety depending on your need for capacity that all feature easy-to-use, ergonomic handle designs and soft pneumatic wheels for easy maneuverability. Sunnydaze Decor has many similar offerings, including this easy-to-pull 400-lb capacity utility cart that is perfect for gardening tasks.

With some of the above tools in hand, you are ready to get back out and garden as if you were 20 years younger! We hope this helps you become more able to get outside and enjoy your garden; we know our residents sure are!

At Southgate at Shrewsbury, we have a beautiful garden with custom raised flower and vegetable beds for easier accessibility. Our skilled maintenance staff created these flower beds in our woodworking shop; they actively maintain and till the soil so residents can more easily plant what they want. Our garden shed is stocked with quality gardening equipment. If you need more specific tools to help make gardening easier and less physically impactful, this post is a great place to start.

Simply Nutritious Pantry Snacks Whipped Up In Minutes

by

Although social distancing and COVID-19 have certainly come with their share of difficulties, many are using the time productively to pick up new hobbies and connect with friends and family. Many have turned to cooking and baking as a way to pass time in a productive way, but what about when you don’t have time to make that 5-course meal and clean up all those dishes?

Experienced or novice, every cook needs some quick pantry snacks to whip up when hunger pangs kick in and time is at a premium. Simple ingredients, easy preparation, and minimal effort—the following quick bites will make sure you can always easily enjoy a tasty morsel without the hassles of shopping and a lot of cleaning.

Ants on a Log
This classic favorite requires just three ingredients, a sharp knife for cutting celery, and a butter knife for spreading peanut butter. Wash and cut your celery into strips about one inch long. Spread some peanut butter down the groove in the center, and place a few raisins on top of the peanut butter, spaced evenly down the celery. For a twist, try using dried cranberries or blueberries, instead.

Slow-Cooker Spiced & Candied Nuts
Although they take two hours to cook, you can set them in a slow-cooker and forget about them after only 10–15 minutes of prep time. Outside your nuts of choice, the ingredients you might need are quite minimal, such as an egg, a little butter, spices, and sugar. Mixing and matching your favorite spices will help you mix it up and find your favorite variety.

Click here for a simple recipe for slow-cooker candied nuts.
Click here for a simple recipe for slow-cooker spiced nuts.

Flavored Popcorn
You do not need many ingredients or much time to get started on this delectable delight. All you will need other than a bag of plain or salt-only popcorn is additional salt, ground black pepper, any spices you would like, and ½ cup of either olive oil or melted butter. The spice combinations and flavor profiles you can achieve are nearly endless, but for some tried-and-true favorites, try using rosemary, garlic powder and parmesan cheese, powdered ranch dipping sauce mix or cinnamon and sugar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bean Salad
Bean salad is a simple staple that takes just 10-15 minutes, a few cans of beans, vegetables of choice, a handful of other pantry staples. Beans, onions, tomatoes, corn, green beans, and celery make for a great base. You can mix and match different vegetables with the beans, or try chopping some fresh parsley, cilantro or fennel and adding it to the mix. The dressing is equally simple—just toss together some oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. You can even add different spices or try different vinegars and oils to achieve your desired flavor.

If you’re looking for an easy bean salad recipe to get started, try this delicious three-bean salad.

Because we do not always have the time or energy for a full-scale production, it is very useful to have some simple recipes on-hand that use ingredients you likely already have. When it comes to food, sometimes simple is simply the best!

Engaging activities to help you keep busy during COVID-19

by

The ongoing battle with COVID-19 has certainly altered day-to-day activities for everyone. Social distancing, travel and work restrictions, and visitation restrictions have left many looking for ways to fill this free time.

Filling that free time is vital to maintaining strong mental health, which can be more difficult to maintain during challenging times. If you are struggling to find ways to fill the newfound free time, take a look at the following suggestions and add some productive fun into your routine.

Jigsaw Puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles are a timeless form of entertainment that has more recently been examined and found to be a great activity for our cognitive health. Not only can a jigsaw puzzle provide hours of entertainment, it engages an especially wide variety of cognitive functions in your brain and benefits both short- and long-term memory function. If you’re looking for a beneficial form of entertainment, this old-school favorite remains a fantastic option.

You can find loads of puzzles easily from online retailers such as Puzzle Warehouse, Bits and Pieces or Serious Puzzles. You can also buy direct from popular manufacturers such as Springbok or Ravensburger.

Write and/or Keep a Journal

Rather than turning on the television or streaming the latest Netflix craze, try writing! There are numerous studies that show the benefits of writing, and a study at Harvard Medical School found that writing about emotions may ease stress and trauma. Consider keeping a journal if you’re feeling especially anxious.

Beyond the health benefits, seniors possess life experience and knowledge that would certainly benefit future generations. Memoirs are an excellent method for preserving family history. Fictional stories, poetry and other forms of creative writing also provide a powerful vessel for conveying thoughts, knowledge and life experience.

If you aren’t sure where to begin but would like to begin writing a novel, check out NaNoWriMo. You’ll find an array of free tools to help you along your journey. If you struggle physically to type or write for periods of time, try hyper-accurate speech to text software like Dragon Home from Nuance or IBM’s Watson Speech to Text online tool.

Become an Armchair Explorer

Although we are more confined while social distancing, seeing wondrous sites from around the world has never been more accessible. Technology can take you take just about anywhere with a variety of uniquely curated experiences. We’ve compiled a list of virtual travel websites to help you become the ultimate armchair explorer!

  • Check out live cameras from all over the world with a focus on nature and animal rescue facilities, on Explore.org.
  • Take a virtual tour of renowned museums from around the world.
  • Visit a wide variety of iconic sites thanks to The Armchair Travel Company. They’ve created virtual tours for historic sites such as the Taj Mahal and the Historic Dockyard at Chatham Kent, UK.
  • Take a trip to different world cities on Earthcam.com. Check out this ultimate guide from Condé Nast Traveler to find experiences for as little as 20 minutes and for as long as two hours.

Take a Walk

Taking a walk while maintaining social distancing is not only easy to do, but good for your health. Studies have shown getting 10-20 minutes of sun per day helps you get the vitamin D you need to help keep your immune system healthy. In addition, going for a walk has also been shown to reduce feelings of boredom. To top it off, Harvard Health compiled a host of reasons why walking is great for your physical health. At Southgate at Shrewsbury, we have a spacious campus with plenty of room to take a walk and enjoy the outdoors while adhering to safe social distancing guidelines. Consider taking advantage of open space and simultaneously adding some extra exercise, vitamins and enjoyment to your day!

These are just a few ideas to help you manifest more fulfillment from your newfound free time. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to ensure you preserve your health and well-being. A big part of that is making sure you keep engaged and find ways to enjoy what may currently be mundane moments.

So, take a trip! Start that book! Clear off some table space and challenge your mind! And don’t forget to get some sun.

Keeping in Contact Under Quarantine

by

Until the COVID-19 crisis is over, it’s important we find ways to keep ourselves occupied and in touch with our loved ones. Whether or not you deal with ongoing mental health issues, social distancing and isolating can be detrimental to your mental and physical health if you do not maintain your social connections and keep an occupied mind. Thankfully, technology has made it so we can all be alone together during these difficult times.

Outside of a phone call or text message, the following technology will allow you to maintain rich connections with your friends and family through digital video, and help us all through these challenging times. Video calls can bring people together from a distance to do everything from just chatting to playing a game or hosting a cocktail hour. Together, we will get through this!

Skype

Free; computers, tablets and smartphones

Since its launch in 2003, Skype has been the gold standard for free person-to-person video chats. You can chat with your loved ones using video, provided you have a device with an integrated camera or a webcam. If you have a smartphone or tablet, you likely already have this capability. If your computer doesn’t have a webcam installed, check out these bestselling options from Amazon. Even users without video can utilize the audio capabilities of Skype. You can have an intimate video chat with one person, or have a conference with up to 50 people. Setting up Skype is as simple as creating a free account and username.

FaceTime

Free; Apple devices only

If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can utilize the free built-in video chat function called FaceTime. Any Apple user may use FaceTime to video call any other Apple user for free. FaceTime accesses your contacts, and adds a Facetime option to their contact page, if they also have an Apple device. Simply touch the ‘FaceTime’ option on their contact page, or open the Facetime app and look through your contacts. The obvious downside is the availability only to Apple users, but it is free, convenient and functions well. If you have an Apple device and aren’t sure if you have FaceTime installed, look for the following icon:

Google Duo

Free; Android, Apple, Google Nest Hub & Google mobile devices

Similar to FaceTime, Google Duo has proven to not only be an excellent Android/Google counterpart, but an excellent option for Apple users who like to connect via video with their non-Apple friends and family. Google Duo is completely free, allows for high quality video chats for up to 12 people at a time, and works with any smartphone, tablet, computer, or smart display like Google’s Nest Hub Max. If you already have an Android or Google smartphone and are unsure if you have Google Duo, look for the following icon:

Amazon Echo Show

$59.99–$179.99; Amazon

The four different iterations of the Amazon Echo Show are all video-enabled Alexa devices. As you’ve likely seen somewhere on television or heard somewhere on the radio, you can ask Amazon’s virtual personal assistant, Alexa, for help with a variety of tasks. She can find recipes, products and services, define a word, and yes, make a call!

Voice-enabled Alexa devices can place audio calls based on your contact list, but if you have an Amazon Echo Show, you can also place video calls to loved ones that also have an Echo Show or the Amazon Alexa app on their mobile device. Simple say, “Alexa, video call [contact name],” and you’ll be connected with high definition to a smiling face(s) on the other side! If you already use Alexa or would like to use Alexa, the Echo Show makes sense to add to your technological arsenal. If you do not use Alexa, this option may not make as much sense for you.

Thanks to technology, there are countless ways to keep in touch during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because Southgate at Shrewsbury is a retirement community and our population is largely higher risk, we must do whatever we can to ensure the safety of our residents. Although this includes limiting visitors to only essential personal and family members performing essential care, we want to make sure you can access the technology necessary to keep you in close contact with your loved ones. Click the following link for our continuously monitored and updated policy regarding COVID-19.