Today I have been given this lovely little plant by the daughter of a client to say thank you for looking after her dad. She lives abroad and appreciates that I pop in and keep the house clean and tidy and take him to appointments, and let her know how he is getting on. Whenever she comes over she leaves me a litte gift and today I have this pretty plant and some French biscuits.

It is lovely to know that we are supporting not only the client but their family as well. We are a contact for their alarm service should anything go wrong and the people who they can call in last minute to check in and see how he is.

One of the lovely things about walking with this gentleman and his dog is that whenever we are in the fields he will stop and say how grateful he feels to be living in such a beautiful place. Every time we are out we talk about the colour of sky and the type of clouds. We stop and look at the different shades of green we can see, or how the autumn leaves are changing colour, and we say how lucky we are to live here. 

He has travelled far and wide during his long life and he tells me about his adventures and the places he has seen and he also tells me that some were beautiful, some were exciting and some were places that he would never want to live. He always tells me how happy he is that he is able to live here. 

This week Hook Home Help has been out and about taking people to the hairdressers and other appointments. I am often at Hooked on Hair in the village but today's lady likes to go to this little studio where she is the only person there. Either way, both are looked after well and come away feeling a little bit brighter.

Feedback from a recent client: “Woof! I am so glad to see you! When you come to my house we go for a long walk through the woods and all the way back home and you look after me and my favourite human and make sure that we don’t get lost along the way. Sometimes my favourite human forgets where we are and how to get home and that is scary for him and his family and for me, but when you are there we can go a really long way and I can sniff all the sniffs in the fields and we get home safe and sound. He is happy, his family is happy and I am very very very happy! Woof! Get the lead, let’s go!”

"Helen was so efficient today (not that she isn't efficient every day!), reminded me of a sweet advert on TV I like for Astonish cleaning products. I went into my bathroom after she'd been and "everything was so sparkly, sparkly" just like in that ad! Helen went over and above today, of course I thanked her but I wanted you to know too."

Recent feedback from a happy client. We are a small team of family and friends making life easier for people in Hook. Home help often includes some cleaning, changing the sheets, making a cup of tea, picking up some shopping - things that are simple until they aren't.

"This week has been the toughest week of my life, but has been made easier by both the Helens. They are both incredible people, both so thoughtful and helpful and have been a great support. There are so many people in the care world who are in it to make money, but both the Helens are kind people who just want to help."

Hook Home Help has now evolved into a small team, two of which are called Helen! This is some recent feedback about the Helen team who have been working together to support a family who has become very special to us. We are not an agency but are a small team of family and friends working together to support people in the local community.

"Absolutely delighted with the job Mikey has achieved."

Today Hook Home Help was at Hook Flower and Produce Show, supporting my mum. Here she is with her first prize winning flower arrangement! It was such a lovely afternoon and I'm so glad we went.

Every week brings a different challenge. This photo represents the amount of ice that I found inside a client's freezer this week. He said that the problem was that the drawer wouldn't fit in because of the ice build up. And then mentioned that he got the freezer when he moved in about ten years ago and had never defrosted it, which might have contributed to the problem. I said cheerfully, I'll try to sort that out. I was secretly wondering though if one hour was enough to solve the problem...

"Penny provides an excellent service and has a great team working with her. The team are professional, efficient and friendly and have really helped my elderly parents with their catering needs and other household chores."

As Hook Home Help has got busier, we have expanded into a small team of very lovely ladies. Over the summer we have worked together to cover each other's holidays to be able to make a healthy lunch for a very special couple in their nineties every weekday.

Hook Home Help has been helping with decluttering. Any sort of tidying is hard to start but so rewarding when it is done. It can be helpful to have some company to help get things started and to have someone to help with the decisions of what to keep - and also someone to take away the heavy bags to the charity shops.

This summer my son has done an accidental garden makeover. Last summer when I suggested that he could help out with some gardening, he looked a bit scared and said he didn't know the difference between a weed and a plant! But as last summer's job was weeding a client's block paving, he couldn't get it wrong! If it was green it had to go.

His confidence grew. He learnt how to paint fences by practicing on mine and then took on this fence. While he was there some other jobs were found for him. Under careful instruction from the client he cleared brambles and weeds, cut down climbing plants and harvested rhubarb. Bit by bit the garden was cleared and compost put down.

Then the planting began. A look of panic spread across his face. He said quietly, "How do I know where to plant them?".

Well there are X fence panels and Y plants - you're the one with the maths A level 😂

Happy that there was a mathematical solution to the problem he set about planting the many plants that we had got from the garden centre.

While he does the garden, I make cups of tea, fold laundry, iron clothes, clean the kitchen, do some decluttering, run things up and down stairs and do what I can to make the inside more comfortable while he works on the outside.

Imagine a world where age doesn't limit your ability to enjoy life's simple pleasures. That's exactly the reality Hook Home Help is creating in the village of Hook. Our latest adventure? A touching story of companionship, independence, and a very energetic dog!

When a local family reached out to us, unsure if we could help, we were eager to assist. Their loved one, a vibrant individual with a lifetime of adventures, needed some support to continue enjoying their daily dog walks through the picturesque fields of Hook.

Putting my son to work in the summer holidays and getting a client's fence painted. When he'd done the fence we got him going up ladders installing new smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. With him in charge of maintenance I could get on with the day to day household tasks. In a short space of time, working together, we made this client's home a bit nicer and a bit safer both inside and out