Christmas at Springmoor

It’s that time of the year again! Here at Springmoor, we are ready for the holidays and all of the festivities that come with them. Both the residents and staff go all out in decorating our campus with trees, wreaths, lights and more.

The Monday following Thanksgiving, we make a huge effort to get all the Christmas decorating underway. The staff works on decorating common areas and offices, while residents decorate their apartments, doors, and other areas. It’s a joint effort that creates a beautiful scene for the season.

Springmoor Residents Take On the Ironman Triathlon Challenge

When you hear the word “Ironman,” your mind may pull up an exhausted but excited young man or woman crossing the finish line after spending an entire day participating in an intense triathlon. You probably don’t imagine seniors taking part, but they do!

Does Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community have Ironman Triathlon athletes? Yes! Two of our residents, Mr. Bob McGaffin and Mrs. Harriet Ross, recently finished the Ironman Challenge!

How to Successfully Move into a Retirement Community

Are you or your loved ones planning to move into a retirement community? If so, it is important to be as organized as possible to make the move go smoothly!

Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community created this list to help you make sure the move to your new home goes off without a hitch.

Before Your Move

When you decide to move to a retirement community, you are faced with an important decision: what to keep and what to give away. It is important to note that usually your move will be to a smaller home or apartment, so not all of your possessions will fit.

Many retirement communities have furnished homes and apartments for residents, so if you are moving, you may not need to worry about a lot of your bigger furniture. Try to measure your furniture to see what will fit within the floor plan.

How to Harvest Rainwater

Thom Morgan

By Thom Morgan, Springmoor Landscape Manager

Although the North Carolina Piedmont is not currently in a drought, many of us remember 2007, when large portions of Falls Lake, our primary water source, dried up and the City of Raleigh issued mandatory watering restrictions.

Things to Consider

Cost will be a big consideration when building a rainwater storage system. Summer is mainly when we need to water our vegetables and ornamental plants. Gardens in the Raleigh area should receive about 60 gallons of water a week per 100 square feet.

Health Success Stories

Kari Richie

By Kari Richie, Springmoor Health and Fitness Director

What does it mean to have a health success story? The health and fitness industry often relates success to weight loss. One of my objectives as the Health & Fitness Director is to help the residents and staff members at Springmoor understand they can have health successes no matter their age or what physical obstacle may be in their way. One definition of success is “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” Nowhere in the definition of success does it mention perfection or accomplishing everything at once. Someone can be living with a chronic disease such as diabetes or heart disease and celebrate health success stories when they accomplish a goal like managing blood sugar or cholesterol.

Summer Activities in the Triangle

Summertime in Raleigh is a great time to get out and explore all that this area has to offer. With a variety of activities to choose from, there’s certainly something to please anyone’s interests. Here at Springmoor, we encourage residents to go out and enjoy the beautiful weather. Not sure what to do? No problem! We’ve highlighted things to do in the Raleigh area.

Visiting an Arboretum or Botanical Garden

Thom Morgan

By Thom Morgan, Springmoor Landscape Manager

If you are planning to travel this summer and have an interest in horticulture, you might want to go online and get a list of botanical gardens and arboretums along your route.

In Raleigh, we are fortunate to have the J.C. Raulston Arboretum, which is located on Beryl Road, just west of the NC State campus. It is managed by the Horticultural Sciences Department at NC State, and serves as a model for what an arboretum or botanical garden should do:  provide access and information about the widest possible variety of plants to the public.

Springmoor Springs into Wellness, Shares Simple Salsa Recipe to Start the Season Right

By Kathleen Loescher, Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community move-in coordinator

New exercise equipment is being arranged, the pool is being filled, and in a little less than two weeks, Springmoor’s Pathways Wellness Center will be open to residents and their guests! And it couldn't be happening at a better time. With summer (hopefully) around the corner, many of us are not only thinking about exercise, we are watching our diets, too.

New Year, New Plants!

By Thom Morgan

Springmoor Landscape Manager

Here are a few new plants on the market that are sure to brighten your garden, and your year:

Windcliffslaty blue Lenton rose

Springmoor Floral Focal Points: Landscaping the new Wellness Center

By Thom Morgan, Springmoor landscape manager

Thom Morgan

It’s a November morning, and I am standing in front of what will be the entrance to Springmoor’s new Wellness Center. Piles of dirt, broken concrete and construction materials surround the area. Large machines sit parked ready for another day of work. Somehow this soon will be a finished landscape, inviting residents, guests and employees in to use the new center. Where to start? There are no sidewalks in yet, which would indicate where plant beds go. There will be walkway lights, and other utilities that I must avoid covering with plants. There is a transformer box that will need to be hidden, and access to an existing transformer will need to be provided. I make note of other utilities such as a water faucet, which could come in handy. I know the sun will reach the area most of the morning, and into the early afternoon in summer. The main entry of the Wellness Center is on the southeast corner of the Valley building, so it will be well protected from cold winds in the winter. Fortunately, the builder provided me with a plan that indicates where the sidewalks, parking spaces, and lights go, and where windows and doors are located on the building. I now know how people will walk into and out of the building, as well as see into, and out of it. There is a large existing Willow Oak that should be saved. 

This is the inventory, and analysis phase of the design now for a concept. It was very hard to come up with a design, but I wanted to simply match the purpose of the building--wellness--to the landscape.  All of the plants in the plan can be used, or were used, for medicinal, herbal, or culinary purposes. The exception is a specimen Japanese maple, and some Encore azaleas--it’s OK to break some rules and not completely follow the concept; I can justify using the azaleas since they tie in nicely with what we have throughout campus. The Japanese maple--when matured--will have a peaceful, sculptural shape to it.  Now it’s time to locate the plants on the plan. I will start out with the trees first, and choose those that meet the criteria for the wellness concept. I place the trees where they will provide shade from the hot summer sun, and also where they will be noticed as people walk into, and out of the building.

Springmoor Floral Focal Points: Trees and Shrubs for Fall Leaf Color

By Thom Morgan, Springmoor landscape manager 

Thom Morgan

After summer winds down, those of us living in the Northern Temperate Latitudes get treated to one last burst of color as leaves on trees begin to change. Daylight decreases from 15 hours to—eventually—10, causing leaves to compensate for the decrease in light; green chlorophyll fades as the other plant pigments stand out to produce red, orange and yellow. Finally, leaves drop due to what is called an abscission layer, which forms and allows leaves to break away.

Trees for fall leaf color:

Local Pharmacist Speaks with Seniors about Medicare at Springmoor-Sponsored Community Seminars

Brent Talley

As pharmacist manager of Hayes Barton Pharmacy in Raleigh, Brent Talley often fields questions from his older customers about Medicare—what’s covered and what’s not—and he’s always happy to help them navigate what can be a very confusing system.

Which is why Brent—whose pharmacy delivers prescriptions to Springmoor on a weekly basis—has been invited to speak with seniors at a community seminar hosted by Springmoor to help them understand their options, and what’s at stake.

In a seminar on Oct. 1, and two more on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, Brent walks seniors through Medicare Parts A, B, C and D, and the associated advantage plans available, with an emphasis on Part D, with which he is most involved.

Active Aging Week Brought Healthy Dishes, Massages, Wellness Examinations and More!

Kari Richie

By Kari Richie, Springmoor Health and Fitness Director

Active Aging Week began with our typical back-to-back Monday morning exercise classes. The day started in the pool with Aqua Fitness, followed by Total Body Fitness and then Seated Body Fitness. 

We offered delicious and nutritious strawberry, pineapple, blueberry and banana smoothies in between classes. Monday was the “Discover Your Community Scavenger Hunt” for both the residents and staff. About 50 people completed the indoor and outdoor scavenger hunts. Resident Aladine Rogers won a $50 Whole Foods gift card while three lucky employees won $20 gift cards.

Specials on trees and shrubs? Here's how to spot a plant enemy when you see one

Specials on trees and shrubs? Here's how to spot a plant enemy when you see one:

Whether they shade our homes, provide food, fragrance, beauty, or, in some cases, medicinal benefits, plants as a whole are very beneficial to us. You can go to any nursery and garden center, or order from catalogues and have access to thousands of different plants. The only problem is that some trees and shrubs can cause problems down the road for any property owner not aware of these plant time-bombs. If the plant label says it grows fast, and does well in any soil, run the other way! These types of plants are usually short lived, and weak wooded, which means they drop a lot of branches even if you sneeze on them. The ideal time to plant trees and shrubs is after the first frost (we'll talk more about that in next month's blog).

Active Aging Week Profile: Esther Wenzel Keeps Running through Retirement

Esther Wenzel poses with her daughters after they completed a recent "Race for the Cure" run to benefit Breast Cancer Awareness.

Esther Wenzel has always been on the go. She’s been a cartographer, computer analyst, mother, homemaker and bank teller; She’s lived in Colorado, California, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and she’s had one habit that has helped carry her through all of it: Running.

At 83 years old, Wenzel still makes running a top priority. She runs at least three times a week—pushing an hour each trip, walks ½ mile each day from her home at Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community to visit her husband at the Health Center, and typically participates in two 5k charity runs a year. She has done the “Race for the Cure” for breast cancer awareness nearly every year to support friends and family who have suffered from the disease.

Springmoor's Floral Focal Points: Rain--too much of a good thing?

By Thom Morgan, Springmoor landscape manager

In last month’s blog, I mentioned that Springmoor experienced a lot of rain in June and July. August continued to be wet, and we got a break from the summer heat. I also mentioned that lawns, landscape plants and vegetables only need 1.5 inches of rain a week in summer, and just one inch of rain a week during the cooler months.

When you get too much rain, the ground becomes saturated and plants that can’t tolerate too much water die. If you have a spot that stays constantly wet, there are trees and shrubs that can tolerate high moisture, and low oxygen in the soil.