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AT LAST!!!!!!!
The long awaited photo's of the water feature and raised garden at
Rainbows Children's Hospice.
This seemed like the perfect place to put this little angel that was adopted for us by our lovely friend Bonnie.
As Vince and I nursed Simon in the TV lounge
at Rainbows, the only glimpse of the outside world we would normally get was through the
lounge windows. And all that we could see was an expanse of concrete slabs and grey chippings!
When Simon was napping, Vince would often pass the time by imagining how he would
landscape that area. He must have had a hundred different designs in his head by the time we left Rainbows.
As soon as we felt comfortable about returning to Rainbows, we purchased some planters
and filled them with herbs. It wasn't a lot, but at least it made things look a little
bit better and the kids could get out there and smell the herbs.
Exactly a week after Simon passed away,
a little girl called Hannah passed away. Hannah's parents raised some money which they
wanted spent on the gardens so that lots of people would feel the benefit. So after talks with the staff, Vince said that he would
provided the labour free of charge. Shortly after, he turned the area into a building site!
With a lot of help from Simon's grandad, Pete, Vince got the footings dug out and concreted.
Then it was time to start building the foundations, with the help of Rainbows handyman, Stuart.
Next the butyl rubber liner was put in place for the water feature.
The water was then added to make sure
that the feature was the correct shape.
Because some of the concrete slabs were being moved to make way for turf, Vince used them to make a chess board for the kids to play on.
WOW! Running water! And what a difference a few plants make,
even if the feature isn't finished.
All the brickwork and hard landscaping is finished.
The two big boulders on the corner weighed over 200lbs each and it almost finished Vince off having to lift them into place to be concreted in.
Now it's time to start clearing all that awful gravel and getting ready to add the 40 tons of topsoil and the plants.
Here's Simon's grandad hard at work.
The plants are really starting to make a big difference.
The biggest impact was made when the turf was laid. Now it was starting to look like the kind of place where you could sit and relax.
Whichever side you view the feature from,
there is always something different to look at.
It was always a race against time and the weather to get the job finished
before the anniversaries of Simon and Hannah's deaths.
They managed it with two weeks to spare!
As this feature was built in memory of the children who used Rainbows, the idea is to have each child's name engraved onto a paddlestone.
The paddlestones are the flat, black stones that sit in the water.
All the while the work was taking place, Vince would never let me visit Rainbows or even get the films developed. He wanted me to feel the full impact of the changes that had been made. I can honestly say that they were beyond my wildest dreams.
The staff adore being able to sit outside with the children or when they have a spare five minutes. They have even said that sitting outside for ten minutes does more for them than an hour with a counsellor!
We love the thought that so many people are going to benefit from the improvements. The children love to be taken outside and smell all the wonderful herbs that are there and have even used herbs to decorate cards for their parents. The Rainbows chef loves having a supply of fresh herbs so close to hand! And some of the staff are into aromatherapy so they enjoy gathering some of the herbs too!
PPS Vince says that for the price of three plane tickets, he'll come and do your garden too! LOL!
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