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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

MATCHING FLOWERS

We received a surprise call from St. Eugene Catholic Church today - they had flowers to donate!  They were from one of our favorite florists, Clements Flower Shop, and they perfectly matched the colors of the containers at Liberty Oaks Assisted Living.  The ladies came quickly as we arrived, the containers already filled with water, ready for flowers.

They all made beautiful arrangements.  Here’s a photo on the right of Lisa and Nancy with Myrtle, Brenda, Peggy, Carolyn Jane and Jean.  And on the left is Kim helping out Carolyn Jane while Jean assesses her arrangement.  To the left, Lisa and Myrtle are watching to see if Peggy can find a way to balance that tall flower in the middle of her arrangement.  Want to see if she succeeded?  Just check out the group photo and the arrangement on the far left…….where there’s a will there’s a way.

VALENTINE SURPRISE

The six women living at Liberty Oaks got another round of flowers today.  It was special for them because it was Valentine’s Day and they had a beautiful assortment of flowers to work with.  Look at the great arrangements they made.  In the picture to the left is Delois, Jean, Carolyn Jane, Vivian (who works on the weekends) and Peggy.  Below is Peggy and Brenda, right in the middle of their creative endeavor.

These flowers came from a service at Ray and Allen’s. This was their first time donating to Second Bloom.  There were roses, daisies, mums, sweet pink wax flowers and interesting greens.  As they love to say at the Biltmore Estate, these flowers were ‘repurposed’.

We didn’t know how our supply of flowers was going to make it through all of our stops scheduled for Valentine’s Day.  But we were happy we had enough flowers for Liberty Oaks.  By the time I arrived several of the women were taking naps.  But when they heard that Second Bloom was here with flowers, they came running, figuratively speaking that is.   Some of the ladies liked to keep their arrangements short, but Carolyn Jane liked putting them in her cup as they came to her.  So she ended up with a tall, sprawling amount of flowers as her beautiful arrangement.  We had so many flowers that the ladies got to make arrangements for their table and for some of the staff that live there.  Look at the flowers in front of Myrtle and Peggy!  They all had a ball!

ROSES FOR LIBERTY OAKS

This was Second Bloom’s first visit to Liberty Oaks Assisted Living Center in West Asheville.  It’s a very small facility, just 6 women who live there.  They say they all look out for one another. Five of the ladies were there to help with the flowers.  In the photo on the left is Carolyn Jane, Brenda, Peggy, Delois and Myrtle.  Before we arrived, each of them made a thank you note for us.  It was really sweet.

The BLT Girls of Deerfield Retirement Community donated the containers we were using.  To the right is a picture of Holly, who works at Liberty Oaks, with Myrtle and Carolyn Jane.  And below is Brenda, Peggy and Delois.

The flowers we arranged were from Fresh Market.  With just a half dozen containers to fill, it went very fast.  So after we cleaned up I sat and talked with them for a few minutes.  They told me about how they all grew up with gardens, did a lot of canning, made a lot of pickles!  It touched me to spend this time with them.  Second Bloom is happy to now have Liberty Oaks as part of our Flower Exchange Train.