EXPERIENCE COUNTS

Today at The Solace Center Gail (on the left) and I met up with Margaret Patton (photo to right), who joined in and clearly had some experience.  Turns out that her husband, a patient at Hospice, has 60 rose bushes.  Has been tending to them consistently for years. And she has been giving away roses for years as well.

After we made all our arrangements, we joined Margaret and her husband and we got to see a beautiful arrangement of roses from their gardens. Flowers today were from both The Fresh Market and EarthFare and were as beautiful as ever.  Lots of roses, but none that compared with what we saw in the Patton’s room!

FLOWER EXTRAVAGANZA

The flowers from two weddings at the Biltmore Estate were both creations of Stacey at the Bloom Room.  Totally spectacular!  Just look at the photos of some of the flowers in the truck.  I picked up from a wedding at the Conservatory on Saturday morning, but kept most of those for Sunday morning, to be added to another wedding from Deerpark.  Two huge buckets of flowers from Saturday made their way to Brooks-Howell and they were stunned by the beauty of them - I love doing that!  I walk in with buckets full of beautiful flowers, get lots of kudos for it when all I did was go pick them up and drive them over.  This is a job you gotta love!

Flowers from both weddings, and more even from The Fresh Market, were distributed to Care Partners Rehab Hospital (shown here), as well as the Solace Center, McCune Assisted Living Center and The Laurels of Summit Ridge.  At Rehab we had a Hands On Asheville project and Clare and Leslie showed up to help.  Clare and I did the pick up and managed to get them all in the pickup.  And you can see some of the arrangements on the cart as Leslie wheels them around to the rooms at Rehab.  They give the patients and the staff a real boost.  To see more photos and to find out who are new hairy volunteer is, click here.

HAPPY TO SEE SECOND BLOOM

This is one of the best receptions ever!  Don’t they look happy to have all these beautiful flowers the The Fresh Market.  This is a photo of Lois and Lenore at The Laurels of Summit Ridge.  The residents had a great time arranging them.  They sent a thank you note that many of the residents wrote in.  And Lois said, ‘How glorious!  The residents lit up as bright as the flowers.’

HENDERSONVILLE HIGHLIGHT

Susie McIlvaine has become Second Bloom’s first volunteer to bring flowers from The Fresh Market to two different facilities in Hendersonville.  She’ll be delivering flowers on Thursdays to both Sunnybrook and Carillon Assisted Living Centers.  So from now on the flowers we pick up in Hendersonville will stay in Hendersonville.  The residents have a real treat in store for them.  Not only are the flowers bright and full of life, but so is Susie.  She’s got energy enough for all of us!  Happy to have her on board!

ROSES FOR ALL

It was a rose colored Sunday morning as Second Bloom volunteers, one of whom I’ve never met, picked up over 100 dozen roses donated by the Rhododendron Brigade.  They transferred the flowers to buckets and went off in several different directions:  To the McCune Center, Deerfield and Courtyard.

I was out of town but heard from every facility about how gorgeous the roses were.  What a generous donation that spread joy to literally hundreds of residents and their families.

COLORFUL AND ABUNDANT

Wedding flowers from The Bloom Room brought joy to many people today.  The flowers were so colorful, the hydrangeas so huge!  Liberty Oaks got many of the colorful flowers to brighten their space.  You can see the arrangements that Carolyn and Jean made.  Those gals can sure put a lot of flowers in a vase.  They take them to their rooms to enjoy for the week.

The hydrangeas, roses, and other long stemmed flowers were given to Golden Living Center on Beaverdam Road in Asheville.  One wedding that provided beauty and enjoyment to over 100 residents!

FLOWERS A PLENTY

I received a call Saturday afternoon from Asheville Event Company about a wedding they were having at the Inn On Biltmore.  Becca said there would be plenty of flowers left for Second Bloom.  And she wasn’t kidding.  The room was full of arrangements and within a short time everything was loaded in the truck, filling the inside and out.

Sunday morning proved to be a delight for five facilities!  Flowers went to Deerfield, McCune, Shadybrook, Golden Living and Highland Farms.  Above on the right is a photo of the flowers with Loretta and one of her trusty BLT volunteers.  They took in 4 of the large arrangements and rearranged them into small bouquets for the entire assisted living section of Deerfield Retirement Community.

On the left is a picture of Rose at Highland Farms making some beautiful arrangements for the tables and nurses’ stations.  All these flowers were from Clements and they were spectacular!

WEDDING WONDER

Beautiful flowers from a wedding at the Biltmore Estate provided a lot of joy for Rose at Highland Farms Retirement Community.  The flowers were the creative endeavor of The Bloom Room and Clements.  These flowers also found their way to Care Partners Rehab Hospital the next day.

But today it was Rose and me, sitting out on the patio of Limbert Hall, making beautiful arrangements for all the residents and staff to enjoy.  It was a beautiful morning and great to visit with Rose.

FESTIVE FLOWERS

We had a great variety of flowers to work with today.  Two weddings from The Bloom Room, flowers from Your Vase or Mine and from The Fresh Market provided us with color, beauty and interest.  We couldn’t name all the flowers but it didn’t slow any of us down.  I mostly took photos while the other five volunteers set about making over 60 arrangements for the patients and staff at Care Partners Rehab Hospital.  Photo on the left shows everyone who helped, Sharon and her mother Jo, Cindy, Larissa and Elizabeth.  The photo on the left shows them wheeling their cart down the hall, having already handed out many arrangements.

Hands On Asheville provided all the organization of volunteers for our Second Bloom project today.  It’s great to see who shows up to help out, what drew them to volunteer and how they like the experience.  I always consider it a good indication when volunteers want to return!  Check out some more photos.

A NOD FROM A PRO

Today some beautiful roses from Fresh Market found their way to the Solace Center.  It was a mild day outside and Joan, a patient, was out for some fresh air.  She rested and watched as Jackie, Richard and I made small arrangements for the patients and staff.  Joan used to be an interior designer and she loved to work with flowers, winning awards for her work.

It was a sweet visit with Joan, chatting about her life.  She was ‘itching to help out’ but not quite able to.  At one point she told me I was doing a great job.  I loved that she said that because it was so real. And in that moment she was so thoroughly enjoying seeing all the flowers that even mine looked beautiful to her!

EVERYTHING’S COMING UP ROSES

This was a day of roses for Second Bloom.  I think there were about 14 buckets full of them, all from Fresh Market, in Hendersonville and Asheville.  So they were spread all around town: to Aston Park, Golden Living, Solace Center and Courtyard.  And we’ve got two more buckets left for tomorrow’s trip to Liberty Oaks.

We had two new volunteers helping out this week at Courtyard.  Here’s a great photo of Teresa with Ramona and one of Brooke with Charlie.  At first they got instruction to spread out the flowers and then as it became clear we had lots of flowers, they got further instruction to stuff those cups.  They seemed flexible and able to flow with everything.  And they want to come back - I’ve never met a volunteer that hasn’t wanted to come back!

With two carts full of flowers we headed to the rooms to hand out flowers.  It had been a while since I’d done this and it was good to visit with the residents.  We stopped in for a visit with John, pictured here with Brooke. John loves the flowers and especially the visits that go with them.

PAUL CHARTS NEW TERRITORY FOR SHADYBROOK

Paul became the first man at Shadybrook to join in the flower arranging!   And he had some definite talent.  Sarah, Betty and Violet also helped.  We had flowers from a wedding at Homewood and they were created by Shady Grove Florist.  They were so colorful and unusual! We also received flowers from a wedding at Lake Eden, put together by the Bloom Room.  Here we had a lot of gorgeous orchids to work with.  The colors were great!  There were so many flowers that the residents had never seen before.  They all wanted the names of them, but I wasn’t much help.

It was very touching to have Paul helping out.  He doesn’t speak clearly, but he was definitely able to communicate his enjoyment.  After we had a cart full of flowers we all went around to hand out the arrangements to each of the residents’ rooms.  Paul took charge of wielding the cart down the halls and everyone helped hand them out.

BAPTIST RETIREMENT HOME

Early Sunday morning we found ourselves in a bit of hydrangea heaven.  Flowers from a wedding the night before at Deerpark in the Biltmore Estate were donated to Second Bloom.  The Bloom Room provided the gorgeous arrangements.

You can see Clare trying to figure out exactly how we’re going to extract the rest of the hydrangeas from their container.  These flowers went to Baptist Retirement Home, as requested by the bride’s family.  The activity director, Millie Brown, was set to gather any of the residents together who wanted to make some bouquets.  She said she would have no shortage of help!

HANDS ON ASHEVILLE

Hands on Asheville provided us with 4 wonderful volunteers today.  In the photo on the left is Bonnie, Shanna, Laura and Clare, the Project Manager.  Hands on Asheville is a non-profit organization that organizes volunteers for businesses like Second Bloom.  It was totally great for me to simply arrive and have volunteers magically appear!

We stayed dry on the patio as we worked away at making over 60 small arrangements for all the patients and many of the staff at Care Partners Rehab Hospital.  The front desk received a vase with a huge yellow orchid in it - quite stunning.  Check it out.

We received flowers from The Fresh Market as well as from The Bloom Room.  The Bloom Room had 5 events going on this weekend, so we got some beautiful flowers.  I was concerned we might not have enough, so I cut some gorgeous mountain laurel from my yard.  Put together they created an amazingly colorful effect.  And we had more than enough.  (It wasn’t until much later in the day that I realized the reason I thought we might not have enough flowers is because I’d left a huge buckets full of bright purple delphiniums, parrot tulips, orchids and greens at home…..oops.)

WEDDING FLOWERS FOR LIBERTY OAKS

Beautiful wedding flowers from The Crest Center, prepared by Janet at the Enchanted Forest, came to Second Bloom and immediately went over the the ladies at Liberty Oaks.  They filled their cups with sunflowers, hydrangeas and azaleas.

This week everyone was present: Nancy, Delois, Peggy, Brenda, Myrtle and Carolyn Jane.  They all loved the flowers and were thrilled that it was from a wedding.  Always great to pass on flowers as beautiful and fresh as these were.

WEDDING FLOWERS SPREAD JOY

The flowers from a beautiful wedding in Morganton on Saturday night became the joy and afternoon pleasure of over 500 residents at 6 different facilities in Asheville and Black Mountain.  With plenty of help the work went quickly.  We knew it had been a bit wet because the ground was quite soft…..then we heard tales of wild weather….rain, hail and lots of wind.  But today was sunny and warm.  We loaded up a van and the back of the truck, inside and out, and headed off for a bit of shade to take a short break.

Then it was up the mountain with the truck going one direction, the van another and by early afternoon everyone had their flowers.  One of the facilities called me later to say how much they all appreciated them, but it was especially sweet for 3 residents that had just returned from the hospital.  And then of course with it being Mother’s Day, everyone was especially happy.

Flowers went to Mountain Ridge Wellness Center, Golden Living Center, The McCune Center, The Swannanoa Christian Ministry, Courtyard Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and Deerfield.  Over 500 residents were touched by the flowers this one bride donated to Second Bloom - quite remarkable!

JUST BEFORE IT RAINED

Courtyard had tables outisde in yes, their courtyard.  There was more construction going on in the activity room so this seemed like a good option.  We watched the sky darken and then brighten as the rain held off until the afternoon.  With buckets of beautiful flowers from The Fresh Market, the cart got quickly filled up with arrangements for all the rooms.

Second Bloom’s been coming to Courtyard since last October, beginning during our wedding season.  We used to work with just Nanette and Vernelle and sometimes we overwhelmed all of us with the quantity of flowers.  But the color and variety were always spectacular!  Now Nanette and Vernelle are among about 8-10 residents that help out on a regular basis.  It’s been a great transformation over the months.  Kim, the activity director, pictured on the right, know just who might want to join in.

LOOK AT THE LAURELS NOW!

Last month we handed over flowers to Jesica, the Activity Director at the Laurels, to run the program with her own crew.  The level of participation soared.  The dining room was full of residents who made both small and large arrangements.  The flowers, from The Fresh Market, delighted everyone.

So now Second Bloom delivers flowers twice a month to the Laurels, they have it on their calendar to look forward to and participation is great!  They know who wants to and needs to come out of their room to work with the flowers.  And they know who would benefit on that particular day by having flowers delivered to their room.  It’s a great change.

WAITING PATIENTLY FOR SECOND BLOOM

Second Bloom has been making weekly visits to Liberty Oaks.  Loaded down with a couple of buckets from The Fresh Market, I arrive with only a few minutes notice.  But every time I do, the lovely ladies are sitting around the table waiting for me.  They cheer when I open the door and we begin right there and then.

They can each put a dozen roses into their containers, along with other things I have.  They all love the pink and red roses, so I try to make sure I’ve got some of those for everyone.  Last time I dropped off some great photos for everyone to have and I’ve noticed that they’re now hanging up in their dining area.  It has been great getting to know these women and those that care for them.  On the left is a photo of Janet with Carolyn Jane, Jean and Delois.

CAMERA READY

I came to Shadybrook a few weeks ago with a bulletin board full of photos and copies for everyone to have.  It was great fun and everyone crowded around to get a look.  Then, those that hadn’t been included in the photos, made sure they got in on the second round.

I try to come to Shadybrook in the afternoons or on the weekends so that I can get more residents to help me.  Sarah, Betty and Violet provide the most consistent help, but Susan will often join in as well.  I’m still waiting on the men to help out, but right now they just bring in the return cups and collect a new arrangement for themselves.  Maybe next month.