Change of address, not lifestyle

By Cass Pokoney | Posted: Wednesday November 4, 2020

When Murray Ramage wakes up each morning he often has an idea for a new project in his head. The Walmsley House resident is a whizz with timber and spends as many hours as he can each day working on projects in the garden of the care home.

One of his largest projects has been a beautiful aviary that takes pride of place in the sunny garden.

While he is unsure how long it took to create the aviary, like all of his projects, it is the result of a design he created himself, and one he is proud to be able to share with his fellow Walmsley House residents.

“The residents love it, they come out in the morning and see the birds. They love it.”

He tends to the birds in the aviary each day – he is no stranger to rearing birds, having raised hundreds in his lifetime, also in aviaries he has built himself.

Staff at the care home had helped him source the items he needed to create the aviary, and he was extremely grateful for their support in helping him continue his hobby.

“They have been very very supportive. I can’t speak highly enough of them. If it wasn’t for that (support) I probably wouldn’t have gotten this (aviary) off the ground.”

Since building the aviary he has since moved on to creating a range of products for care home staff – his current work area is filled with raised garden beds, seats, and boxes in various states of completion. But it is a pursuit he loves and is extremely glad to have been able to continue once he moved to the care home.

“I spend as long as I can out here.”

His other passion at the care home is his garden. An avid gardener from way back, he has planted a range of vegetables, including tomatoes, potatoes, silverbeet, and lettuce, and takes great pride in growing the Christmas and New Year potatoes for the care home for the past few years. He is hoping to have success with this year’s crop too.

“I have always loved gardening.”

His two hobbies keep him busy each day, but being busy was a good thing, he believes.

“I could just potter away here all day.”