DEERFIELD’S DELIGHT
Loretta was lucky enough to answer the phone late Sunday morning…..she got my call that I had a lot of flowers left from a wedding. So she took action. By the time I arrived there was a tub of water for the flowers, tables were being set up and she had contacted some of the other BLT Girls to help out. They spent 3 hours arranging flowers for the 
tables!
The flowers were soft and rich looking. Beautiful pink, yellow and white tones. Huge white hydrangeas - about 40 or more of them! All the flowers were donated 
from a wedding at the Biltmore Estate, the florist was The Flower Gallery in downtown Asheville. Deerfield was the second stop, first stop was Care Partners Solace Center.
MEETING MICHAEL
Michael wasn’t the only one doing flowers today at The McCune Center. But he was the main attraction, playing the piano and having quite lively conversation. Emily helped out and everyone got beautiful flowers from Fresh Market for their rooms. To the right is a photo of Emily and Michael as they’re getting ready to take off down the halls. And below is a picture of Michael offering an arrangement to Deniece, the Activity Director at McCune. 
HELP AT HOSPICE
This is Lizzie, a florist who volunteers with Second Bloom. She brought some beautiful flowers from The Fresh Market and I picked some up from The Biltmore House. We were in business. I’ve learned a thing or two by watching Lizzie. So the next time I went to Hospice with beautiful flowers from a wedding at the Biltmore Estate, I tried out what I had learned. And I must say, I made some mighty fine arrangements. And yes, it helps when you’ve got beautiful flowers.
The flowers from the wedding at Lioncrest were gorgeous, made by the Flower Gallery. I was expecting one large arrangement and so was quite surprised to find that there were two huge round tables full of flowers in beautiful glass vases. It was a truckload by the time I finished. So Hospice got covered with the spring flowers and Deerfield got the rest of them. I only heard compliments!
ROSES, ROSES, ROSES
It was a day of roses from The Fresh Markets, in both Asheville and Hendersonville. What a delight. And what delightful volunteers!
Both Linda and Emily managed to get a bit lost on their journey to The Laurels, but once they arrived on the scene it was full steam ahead. Even Emily made a few arrangements, may have been a first for her.We cranked out about 80 bouquets in pretty short order, not that we were in a rush. After all, you can’t rush art.
ALMOST SPRING
What a great way to usher in spring. Beautiful flowers from Fresh Market, happy residents, lovely bouquets and fabulous volunteers. I’ve been bringing flowers to Jerry for several months. He loves them and always makes the effort to connect and thank me for them. He’s really quite something.
MY HENDERSONVILLE HEROINES
My heroines. Yes, it’s true, this dynamic duo carried flowers from The Fresh Market in the the far off land of Hendersonville all the way to Courtyard in Asheville! It was a first! Susan and Tina have been friends for 42 years (ever since they were born) or was it 32 years - not sure they figured it out. Tina’s in green, Susan in blue. See what we were up to with the residents of Courtyard.
They 
were totally delightful to spend the morning with, cutting flowers, making arrangements and handing out over 100 bouquets to all the residents. Turns out we love some of the same places in Flat Rock and Hendersonville. Fresh Market’s one of those place and the Flat Rock Village Bakery for anything they make is another.
VOLUNTEERS, FLOWERS, COOKIES
It was bake sale time at Courtyard. Wonderful aroma while we arranged flowers. A bake sale to help out Second Bloom! How great is that? We had two fabulous volunteers today. Sally joined us and jumped right in to the activity. I only got my camera out once so I don’t have a current photo of Sally, but here she is on the left. To make up for that, I’ve made her photo a bit larger than the one of Susan…. Susan volunteered with Second Bloom for the first time. Apparently when you volunteer for your first time, you actually get in the photos. She really enjoyed herself and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of her in the coming weeks. To see what was going on when they volunteered, check out Courtyard.
FLOWERS ABOUND AT COURTYARD
The aroma coming from the activity room at Courtyard was intoxicating. But today it was not the flowers that were smelling so delicious, it was the chocolate chip cookies being baked. They were having a bake sale for Second 
Bloom! Definitely our first. And so incredibly supportive and appreciated. So we spent our time making beautiful arrangements with flowers from Fresh Market while we were eating….
Today Sally and Susan volunteered with us. I was so intoxicated that I forgot to take many photos. Check out a few more here. But on the upper right is a photo of 
Octavia, who put together some fabulous arrangements. Susan really enjoyed going to the rooms, bringing the beauty of the flowers to each resident On the upper left she’s with Adrienne. This is the third facility that we’ve seen Adrienne in - who’s following whom?
THE LOVELY LADIES OF LIBERTY OAKS
I arrived with some beautiful flowers from Earth Fare. Walked in the door and everyone was sitting around the table with their empty vases. They were truly ready and waiting. The photos pretty much say it all. Here’s a photo on the left of Carolyn Jane with all the colorful flowers. 
On the right are Peggy and Brenda, engaged completely in their work. And on the right is Myrtle, quite please with her creation.
Also today an arrangement was made to take next door to the men’s house. We’ll get them warmed up to the idea. No telling how long it will take to have them join in the fun!
THE WARMTH OF HOSPICE
Care Partners Solace Center was a warm place to be today - and not just because it was 75 degrees. Everyone is so outgoing and friendly. We were able to work outside with beautiful flowers from The Fresh Market. Several people came over to chat, flowers have a way of doing that. Got another great picture of Michelle being a good sport by posing for 
yes, one more picture. What great smiles on all the staff. Wakeena and Doris are in the right photo! What a difference they all make.
SUNSHINE ON OUR SHOULDERS
Everyone was out enjoying the good weather yesterday at Highland Farms. We had our usual suspects helping out: residents Elizabeth and Rose and volunteers Emily and Linda.
Our sunbathers and flower admirers are Dr. Lois Ferm and Steve and Paul Ferm. We decided to use her title of Doctor because it would add a measure of credibility to the website…..what do you think? Steve and Paul came up today from Georgia to visit Lois.
At any rate, it was an afternoon of good laughs. Rose thought it was particularly funny how short I cut some of the flowers. You can see in the photo on the upper left that the pink rose is about to disappear into the cup. What a great expression! And Elizabeth got a kick out of too!
A MISSED PHOTO OP
We arrived at Courtyard with 6 buckets of beautiful flowers from The Fresh Market and no camera……But that’s not stopping me from finding other photos from past times at Courtyard. If we’d taken a photo today it would have looked similar to the one on the left, but with different people helping out. Although, Linda, our volunteer of the day, is in this older photo on the left standing and making an arrangement. And on that same day, not today, Linda’s also in the photo on the right with Michael. And it is true that Michael came in today to pick out an arrangement for his physical therapist. He was sure it would make her day! If I’d taken a photo of Linda and Michael, it might have looked something like the one I took….so the pictures, while being a bit dated, are not too far off the mark.
THEY LOVE US!
Liberty Oaks loves Second Bloom - and Second Bloom loves Liberty Oaks. They are always very excited when we arrive with a bucket full of flowers. The staff helps make everything run smoothly, from beginning to end. This week we had flowers from Black Mountain Floral Shop: deep purple carnations, yellow spider mums, white daisies and bright orange roses. It’s amazing how many flowers they can get in their cups. We’re so glad we’re now part of their lives.
Above left is a partial group photo with Peggy and Myrtle. On the upper right is Carolyn Jane with her overflowing arrangement in front of her. And right here is Jean, who made a spectacular bouquet for her room.
WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT
It was a day of beautiful flowers from The Fresh Market. We had three volunteers, Melinda, Jackie and Lizzee, who showed up to help make over 100 bouquets for all the residents at The Laurels of GreenTree
Ridge. Marjorie, a resident, also joined in with a couple of young interns as well. It was quite a crew. They worked in record time making those arrangements.
To see why we do it, just look at these photos. Above is a photo of Pauline and Shirley. Shirley has ‘adopted’ Pauline and they’ve become good friends. Look at those wonderful faces. Above is a photo of Woody. We’ve been visiting Woody for several months now and he really enjoys seeing us and having the flowers to enjoy through the week. The last photo is of Lisa and Betty. Betty was getting ready to go a poetry reading and we caught her on her way out.
THE HOT HOUSE
It was like blooming in a hot house we were moving so fast! Melinda on the right and Jackie on the left. Jackie was a surprise volunteer with a couple of free hours on her hands while she waited for a real estate deal to close. You might think we wouldn’t have time to even exchange a few ideas, but we did a bit of brainstorming about fundraising for Second Bloom.
So what’s with the photo of the hands and the flowers, besides great photographic art? Well, it’s Lizzee, our mysterious third volunteer….what no photos of her? Scroll down to some other entries if you want to see her or simply go to her Flowered Events website and check out her creative skills! Quite remarkable! Which is not to see the rest of us were slackers. We all put out some beautiful arrangements and everyone loved them. Just check out the happy results today.
FLOWERED EVENTS
These photos are just a couple of examples of the arrangements you can get for your wedding or other special occasion from Flowered Events. They have a great website with lots of photos of flowers they’ve done for all kinds of weddings.
Lizzee Dickman, the owner, has volunteered with Second Bloom many times. Whenever she’s around, we all pay close attention to what she’s doing and we try to imitate it. Not nearly as successfully as Lizzee, but it’s been great fun trying. She has a lot of experience and knowledge creating just the right touch with flowers for any event you might want. Call Flowered Events at 828-676-0995 or go to their website to learn more: www.floweredevents.com
THE SOOTHING QUALITY OF FLOWERS
We showed up at Shadybrook on a rainy afternoon with flowers from The Fresh Market. The Second Bloom Rea-Rangers were at it again, rea-ranging flowers……maybe you had to be there for that joke. Anyway, Jackie joined us and we needed her help. Here’s a photo on the right of Sarah, Jessica, Jamera, Jackie and Betty Lou.
Our friends at Shadybrook seemed a bit out of sorts today, feeling agitated and somewhat upset. It had been a tough week for them. But the flowers slowly began to do their magic. The longer they worked with them, the better they felt. I feel like we’re getting close to having some of the men participate. Maybe in a few more visits we’ll have a men’s table complete with manly flowers for them to make into strong, handsome arrangements.
But today it was a few of the women that helped. Above is a picture of Sarah with her favorite creation that was full of flowers with greens all around it. Everyone got flowers in their rooms and we had plenty for the tables in the dining hall. The window shades were up, the room was bright and there were all the colorful flowers to brighten the space, and the spirits, of all our friends at Shadybrook.