#trampolining melbourne kids

[bumblebeeappletree]

Difficulties designing a steep sloped garden? Jane visits a gardener that has managed just that.

Chloe Thomson is a television and online presenter, writer and horticulturist living in Melbourne’s northeast. One of her biggest off-screen challenges has been the creation of her home garden, designed around what she calls her treetop house. Chloe’s garden sits on a quarter-acre block on a serious slope. “The garden really appealed to me here because there’s lots of different spaces, on different heights.”

As you enter the driveway, the first section of the garden has been created as a family space with a lawn and trampoline. It’s situated close to the road but remains calm and peaceful - “you still feel snug.” While the lawn is not that big, Chloe says the slope is “just right to lean back and read a book.”

A steep driveway really can be difficult for gardens. Chloe says, “to get things to stay and survive in this environment, we had to first play with Corten steel” to terrace the garden into beds. The steel panels arrive flat and black and can be shaped to the slope and filled in with backfill. Over time the steel changes to a rusty colour. This is a dry-shade microclimate, which can be a tricky place to plant, but Chloe has chosen plants to suit the environment. Succulents have been planted using a “tried-and-true rip it off and shove it in the ground method.” The variegated Carex ‘Feather Falls’ bring a pop of brightness, and the Arthropodiums, Chloe says, are “fairly bomb-proof.”

Onwards and upwards, a wooden flight of stairs takes you up through the garden and towards a cliff face about two meters from the back of the home. It’s a narrow space and has other uses for utilities such as the water heater and ladders. Chloe utilises the raised garden bed at the back as her ‘picking garden’ filled with dahlias, zinnias and oregano.

One of Chloe’s newer projects is a self-built glasshouse which was initiated during lockdown. It’s made from 100% recycled windows found on the side of the road or the tip, which Chloe calls “freecycling”. It’s a great space to grow some tropical plants that wouldn’t survive outside in the cold, such as turmeric, ginger, curry leaf and frangipani.

The next set of stairs is designed with Cordon steel “to hug the landscape”, filled in with pale gravel. To get an even grade on such a slope is a huge amount of work, especially when hand built. To do this, Chloe says this process was done “literally one step at a time. Starting at the bottom, we did perhaps one step on one weekend, then two steps on another, gradually making our way up to the top.”

Near the top of the property is a chook house with three silkies who are laying eggs, have free reign in the lawned areas, and the kids love them. At the height of the garden is a very inviting green lawn. Chloe says, “being at the top of the garden, you can perch yourself and admire the view, which is really nice.”

Jane comments on Chloe’s use of the vertical elements that complement the steepness of the space and give a sense of height when looking out across the view. The climbing Hops grows very tall in summer and is harvested for homebrew before dying back down in the Autumn. A new addition to the garden is another climber, the warty gourd, which Chloe says may end up hollowed out for Christmas decorations.

A small side pathway offers a view that is higher than the house, which shows you how steep this garden really is. In this spot, Chloe grows a viburnum hedge, chalk sticks, tussock grass, westringia, “and of course yellow paper daisies - I have a bit of a thing for them.”

Chloe’s advice to anyone wanting to build a garden on a steep slope is to “look at different retaining options, look at ways you can create planting pockets or planting spaces. Things don’t have to be straight. I think people think too much that retaining walls and retaining soil needs to be all straight. Think outside the box.” Rather than being daunted by this steep slope, Chloe has embraced the unique opportunities that have arisen, and in the process has created a great family space.

[hesmiledlikeaweatherman]

15 Questions for 15 People

I was tagged by @gorogues

Are you named after anyone?

I was originally named after a villain from the Arthurian tales and an obscure author. I kept the name of the author.

2. When was the last time you cried?

At a funeral two days ago

3. Do you have kids?

Not yet, I'm looking forward to them in the future. At the moment I'm just kidnapping my friends' kiddos.

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

I love running and weights and general workouts. I've done gymnastics, karate, trampolining, tennis, soccer. So many.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

I do, not very well though lol

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Usually whatever they're wearing. I also tend to notice smells very quickly.

7. What's your eye color?

A bluey-grey. People tend to say they reflect whatever I'm wearing, I assume that means I'm glassy eyed.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Scary movies! Always scary.

9. Any talents?

I pick up languages pretty quickly, and I'm good at travelling. While travel isn't exactly a 'talent', it definitely takes some skill.

10. Where were you born?

Melbourne, Australia

11. What are your hobbies?

Reading (comics in particular), watching anime, working out

12. Do you have any pets?

Two cats -- Hilda and Zelda

13. How tall are you?

I've shrunk recently to be around 176cm. I was 181 at my tallest.

14. Favorite subject in school?

Japanese and English were both way up there

15. What is your dream job?

Comic writer, for sure.

Tagging the following, but don't feel obligated: @dayeongi @clumsydragon28 @edai-crplpnk @thatyellowfinch @tahthetrickster @lunga-luume

[a1poolremovals]

7 Things You Can Do With Your Backyard After Pool Removal

Removing a swimming pool from your property can be a time-consuming and expensive process, but it can also be necessary for many reasons. Pool removal Melbourne may be necessary if the pool area has become too dangerous to use, or simply is no longer needed by the homeowner. Whatever the reason for wanting to take out an existing swimming pool, understanding how it’s done is important so that you know what to expect from the process and its associated costs. 

The first step in a swimming pool demolition project is draining away all of the water. Depending on how deep your pool is, this could take several days to complete. Once the water has been drained out completely, any remaining debris should be removed from inside of the pool such as leaves, twigs and other debris that could have built up at the bottom of the pool. 

The second step is to break down any concrete or steel structures around the pool, such as coping stones, walkways and steps. This can be done with a jackhammer and other heavy machinery. After all of these structures are broken apart into smaller pieces, they can then be more easily hauled away from the site. 

Next, a hole will need to be dug where the swimming pool was located. Hiring excavation equipment is usually necessary for this task since it requires digging several feet deep into the ground to remove all parts of the pool structure. The area should be filled with soil and compacted before moving on to the next step. 

Finally, any debris from the pool such as plastic or rubber liners must be removed. This can often be a tedious and time-consuming process since these materials are not easily broken down by machines. Once all of these materials have been removed, the site should then be levelled off so that it’s ready for any future landscaping projects.

Taking out a swimming pool is a major undertaking and can be expensive. But, once it's gone, the possibilities for your backyard are endless! With some creative ideas, you can turn your newly acquired space into something even more enjoyable than before. 

Here are some things you can do with your backyard once pool demolition is done. 

Create an Outdoor Kitchen

Take advantage of your newfound square footage and build an outdoor kitchen complete with a built-in grill, refrigerator, sink, and countertops. This will make meal prep during summer evenings effortless and adds great value to any home. 

Build a Playground

Install a swing set or playset to give your kids something fun to do in the yard while you relax. You can also create a sandpit or even a trampoline for added entertainment value. 

Plant Some Trees

Planting trees provide shade, adds beauty, and increases the value of your property. Choose from fruit or nut-bearing varieties to enjoy their delicious produce! 

Put in Patio Stones

Build an outdoor patio with stones or bricks and use it as a gathering place for friends and family. Add seating areas, fire pits, and even an outdoor bar to make it extra special! 

Install A Pond

Create a peaceful water feature by installing a pond in your backyard. Fill it with koi fish, turtles, frogs – whatever you like – to add more life to your space. 

Sow a Garden

Create a garden for growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs. This is also a great way to teach kids about the benefits of eating fresh produce! 

Start Composting

Make use of organic material such as leaves, grass clippings and food scraps by turning them into compost. Not only will it save you money on fertilizer but it's also beneficial for the environment. 

These are just some of the many things you can do with your backyard after pool demolition. With a bit of imagination, you can turn your newly acquired square footage into something extraordinary! So go ahead and get creative – let's see what amazing spaces you come up with!

[laurentcole348]

Baby and Kids Trampoline Buying Guide

To begin, here’s a quick baby and kids trampoline shopping guide! Have your children finally reached out to you? Your sweetheart has just described the health benefits of a trampoline, and your children have repeatedly stated how cautious they will be and how much they value a trampoline. You’ve decided to purchase a baby and kids trampoline. So, what are you going to do now?

Why Kids Bookshelf is Essential For Your Kids?

It is not, and should not be, an easy process to purchase a  trampoline. People have always had a difficult time identifying fantastic trampolines among the hundreds of kids trampolines currently accessibhttps://www.hr-sports.com.au/baby-kids/trampoline/le in local stores due to the variety of available shapes, sizes, and safety features. That is why we inspect all new trampolines regularly.

Consider it a 3D puzzle in which all of the pieces must be of equal quality to show off your work in all of its brilliance.

If just one aspect of it fails, the entire system will collapse. Kids trampolines are no exception; they must all be manufactured of high-quality materials to ensure that they remain intact. This is why it is critical to conduct a study before purchasing one. Here’s where we come in: we’ve done trampoline reviews of all shapes and sizes to make it easier for you to locate the right kid’s trampoline.

How do you pick a Baby and Kids Trampoline?

You can go for the one that looks the best, the most expensive kids trampoline, or use your common sense and figure out what you truly need based on a few variables we’ll go over later. Of course, we recommend that you go with the second option.

TYPES

Are you looking for a conventional kids trampoline, a little trampoline, a water trampoline, or maybe a bungee trampoline for commercial use?

The variety is wide, as are the distinctions. As you might expect, kid’s trampolines are divided into various categories, each with its own set of requirements, ranging from the jumper’s weight to the amount of jumping space requested.

Indoors and Out

If you want to utilize an Afterpay trampoline for kids inside a closed room, make sure the floor height is at least several feet higher than the trampoline’s actual height, as the bounce it provides can propel you into the air. Keep it in mind! You’ll be fine if you’re looking for an indoor tiny kids trampoline or a trampoline for small children, as the bounce height can’t be too high.

The most frequent varieties of trampolines are outdoor kids trampolines, which can’t be fitted inside and aren’t a brilliant idea because there are metal parts everywhere.

There are two types of springs: those based on spring and those that aren’t.

Most people are unaware that Afterpay trampolines for kids without springs exist. And, while it may sound like science fiction because springs are responsible for a bounce (the mat does not extend), it was made possible by specific innovative ideas.

Of course, there aren’t many spring-free models, but those that do exist are among the best in terms of quality. If you’ve never heard of them before, don’t worry; 98 per cent of kids trampolines are still made of old-school steel. Let’s only cite bungee cords as an example of different spring types, as they’re most typically found on tiny kids trampolines.

Springless trampolines are the best option if safety is your top priority. Because the spring-based Afterpay trampoline for kids has only one layer of protection (padding), it is possible for the padding to move and pose a threat to the jumper. Jumping on or through springs is not a pleasant experience, and it is also dangerous. You’ll be lucky if you only get a few scrapes, as a broken foot or toe is the most likely injury.

They are designed to end the danger. They accomplish this by removing springs and padding using a unique design approach. However, it would help if you did not assume that they are entirely safe. At the end of the day, it’s all about the “rule set” — what you should and shouldn’t do.

SHAPES

Is it an oval, round, rectangular, or square? Which of the forms is the most ideal? If you only require it for occasional enjoyment, then whatever you like will suffice, as long as the weight of the jumper does not exceed the product restrictions. There is no difficulty for gymnasts; they require rectangle-shaped equipment.

Round

The most common outdoor Afterpay trampoline for kids is for bouncing fun on occasion. They are considered beginner trampolines because they direct jumpers to the middle of the mat. Read kids trampoline reviews to ensure that your trampoline activities are safe and enjoyable.

Rectangular

Rectangle kids trampolines are the most popular among gymnasts and others who require a trampoline with a strong bounce and additional safety. Rectangular trampolines are the best and highest bouncing trampolines available.

Oval / Square

Square kids trampolines are gaining popularity like never before, as they attempt to combine the safety of a round trampoline with the bounce quality of a rectangle trampoline.

SIZING

What kids trampoline size Should I Get?

It is critical to purchase an Afterpay trampoline for Baby and kids based on the user’s age, as the jumper’s weight influences the kids’ trampoline’s general usefulness and performance. For a preschooler, a 15-foot trampoline? A resounding no. As a result, you should always aim to get a trampoline that fits your needs.

While the typical trampoline size is 12 feet, most people have decided in recent years to go with larger versions, mainly 14 feet, while a tiny percentage have determined that 15 feet will be the best size for them. Keep in mind that there isn’t always a significant difference in jumping space between the two since the net (enclosure) location determines how much space is available.

What Is the Best Place to Buy a Trampoline?

When it comes to purchasing, you have only this choice. HR Sports Afterpay store is the first option. A store like this provides fantastic bargains. HR Sports is also known for having a consumer-friendly policy. Buy the best trampoline now using HR Sports for amazing deals.

[slashingdisneypasta]

So tell me: What is there to do in Australia?

I’ve never been, but have always wanted to go there.

Oh! Really?? Well we’d be happy to have you!! 

Hmmm, lemme try to do this without triangulating my location, haha XDD 

Okay, so, I’ve been to Queensland, Victoria and NSW- the rest of the country is a complete mystery to me XD Also, I think most of it is desert and, like, 3 people plus an echidna anyway so that’s okay! Haha. 

I’m no tour guide, and my family always stuck to camping out in the bush when we were vacationing so I know next to nothing about mainstream Australia hah XD *Sweat drop*. Of course, I recommend the obvious ones- the Sydney Opera House, Sea World and Movie World in Queensland, Luna Park either in Sydney or Melbourne, Q1, Australia Zoo (Fun Fact: My family visited there THE DAY that Steve Irwin died. ... yeah. Not so fun, but there you go. Scary coincidence that plagues me everyday that I live in a world without that man), Uluru, The Great Ocean Road and the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Melbourne for a culture boost, etc. I would also list the Blue Mountains but all our mountains basically look the same, so. And I’m not even gonna attempt to list any beaches cuz, well you’ll find plenty on your journey and they’re all basically the same. Not to say they aren't great though! I’ve grown up around beaches and they’re beautiful ^^ I could stand with my feet buried under water and sand for hours, in cold or hot weather and its always nice. 

If you like more populated, normal society kinda areas, those are the places ^^ Lost of shopping, cultural enlightenment and beaches. 

Now, stuff I know XD CAMPING, ROADTRIPS AND SMALL TOWNS. Okay okay okay, XD Its been forever since I’ve camped but as soon as I rope a friend who can drive in, I’m going. I love the bush, and I think everyone who likes fresh air, and wild life, and nature will too of course (And, I know people worry about this so just saying- I used to camp all the time and I’ve only come upon one snake. No sweat. You’re far more likely to get attacked by a giant freaken kangaroo or pecked by an emu then bitten by a snake or spider. My Dad made up this campfire horror story about the ‘Ghost Kangaroo’ that makes a ‘Shhh-THUMP’ sound because it had to replace one of its legs with a mop, and THAT scared us more then the possibility of a snake). 

I bet you’ve heard of the Big Apple... but have you heard of the Big Pineapple? Probably not. Well its a thing we have in Woombye, Queensland and its just pineapple building thing that you can go inside, but is a fun touristy thing to do XD I think its reopening? Or its been reopened? I dunno. 

My BIGGEST recommendation is Beechworth. This is a town in Victoria that is Ned Kelly crazy. My mum’ll deny it now but honestly I think she had a bit of obsession with the famous Bushranger when I was little but she totally was. He kinda dominates my childhood memories. Documentaries, the Old Melbourne Jail where he was hung, his armour... and this town. This is where he was caught with Harry Power and there’s a whole walk you can go on that follows his run from the police, including a little statue of him shot and all (This tour is one of the most memorable tours I’ve ever been on. Right next the one I went on with a bunch of other kids where they taught us how to identify animal poop). There's also a museum, of course (If you want to see his famous tin can armour, though, you’ll have to visit the State Library in Melbourne), the Beechworth Gaol, and giant motherfucking statue of the guy. Yeah... as a country we tend to romanticise him a bit. I even have a picture of little me and my brother grinning ear to ear at his huge boots.

Beechworth also has the b e s t Bee Stings you’ll ever find, and a good Gold Rush tour. 

OH MY GOD SPEAKING OF THE GOLD RUSH. You MUST visit Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. Omg, I love that place so much. Its basically this town full of paid roll players like Disney Land where you can pretend you’re in the Gold Rush times and explore all the old fashioned shops and buildings (The Dentist is nightmare fuel), get dressed up in old fashioned clothes and get your picture taken, have high tea or, you know, pan for gold at the lake. I’ve been picked on by a roll players (A policeman. Both times.) both times I’ve been but its easy to avoid them if you aren't comfortable with that kinda thing ^^

Also- Food! Another recommendation for if you go to Australia? Go to a Bunnings if you’re hungry. They’ll likely have a sausage sizzle going and you can get a cheap, delicious lunch!! Plus the proceeds are usually for a charity, which is always good. I love sausage sizzles so much, haha XD 

Oh, if you aren't in to camping out in the bush, or at all, then I toooootally recommend any Big 4 holiday park you find. They always have giant pillows (The trampoline things, not the bedding XD) and- come on. How can you say no to that? Haha. 

Aussie movies to watch: Kangaroo Jack, Red Dog (Muahaha), Rogue, Crocodile Dundee and Nim’s Island.

We call our Prime Minister (Scott Morrison) ‘ScoMo’. 

Enjoy the fun facts written on pad wrappers! (If you get periods, or your have a friend who gets periods)

And uhhhh... I think that’s all I can think of? XD Thanks for allowing me to rattle on about home! ^^ 

Parting advice: DO NOT besmirch milo. You’ll promptly be fed to the dingo’s, and there is nothing I can do to save you. 

Also don’t talk shit about vegemite either, but that's mostly because you’ll be branded as an out-of-nation-er (?? Pft, haha) for the rest of your trip. Its hard to come back from that XD 

[bounceincindia-blog]

Bounce Trampoline Park India - BOUNCE Inc Mumbai

BOUNCE is a place that creates and celebrates joy, fun and self-powered adrenaline. We are part of a global freestyle movement inspiring self-expression and human connection in physical activity. Through a unique blend of fun, freestyle, progression and development, BOUNCE is a place to develop and harness balance, coordination and agility.

Our Purpose is to ‘Inspire movement, self expression & human connection’. We aim to be a loved destination for the families, schools and young people, who come to BOUNCE to learn new skills, awaken confidence and just let go. It’s about inspiring everyone to forget the serious stuff for a while and get immersed in an atmosphere of fun. Across different countries, cultures, ages and skill levels we are growing an inclusive tribe. Our tribe is unified around the feeling of freedom that comes from combining balance, coordination, strength and agility just for fun. We call it freestyle. Each BOUNCE trampoline centre is an Adrenaline Playground comprising around 3,000 square meters of interconnected indoor trampolines, adventure features, padding and airbags. Originating from Melbourne, Australia in 2012, BOUNCE is regarded as one of the world’s best indoor adventure & trampoline parks, with venues across the globe. Featuring a variety of trampoline zones, BOUNCE Mumbai caters to everyone from 3-year-old kids, to energetic youths, to adult fitness enthusiasts!

BOUNCE has a diverse customer base that ranges from pre-schoolers and teenagers, to elite athletes and corporate groups. Our trampolines, padding and air bags create the perfect playground to develop and practice your skills. Whether you’re trying to master your first flip into the Big Bag or learning how to run The Wall, it’s the ultimate environment to get a taste of Freestyle!

[livingcorner]

Landscaping for sustainability | Sustainable Gardening Australia@|how to create a native australian garden@|https://www.sgaonline.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/design2-1920.jpg@|21

Principles Getting started Your needs, wants and budget Take your time The design Selecting plants Special elements Plant selection Plant placement – plant stacking and hydro-zoning Site details Material selection Know when NOT to DIY Costs Water features

Principles

1. To design a landscape that minimises the requirement for energy inputs. These inputs may take the form of petrol to run mowers, leaf blowers and line cutters; chemicals to treat pests; and fertilisers to promote growth, H2O, cleaning agents, stains and finishes to keep hard surfaces clean and well-maintained. Informed plant selection that reduces the need for maintenance inputs – e.g. gardens/landscapes that feature a high proportion of amenity lawn require much higher energy inputs than a mixed herbaceous/shrub planting. On-site treatment of green waste also reduces the need for energy input.

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2. To design a landscape that minimizes the requirements for high water inputs, above that which naturally occurs in the particular region. This may be achieved via plant species choices, microclimate design (hydrozoning), mulches, water recycling etc.

3. To design a landscape that maximizes opportunities for biodiversity at all levels. This includes attracting wildlife, maintaining complex ecosystems, companion planting, considering the health of soil biota, recognizing the links between the elements of the garden and the organisms that inhabit it.

4. To design a landscape that maximizes vegetative biomass. This aids in carbon stabilization. For example a landscape that features a high proportion of paved or hard surfaces and/or high proportion of amenity lawn stores much less carbon than a landscape which features higher proportions of vegetative biomass. And we mean permanent vegetation, not material that must be constantly pruned or mown heavily, or seasonally replanted.

5. To design a landscape that maximizes the opportunity for the growth of produce (vegetables, fruits, bush tucker/edible weeds),and other useful materials including composting, on-site green waste recycling, space for chooks and other sustainable elements. It encourages you to supplement your diet with freshly grown produce, encourages you to consider more than the ornamental value of gardens, and makes you aware of the environmental impacts of broad acre farming and all that this entails, eg. fertiliser/chemical applications, soil structure, etc

6. To design a landscape that minimizes the risk of weed-escapees moving into native habitats. Consider the reproductive biology of the plants selected for your garden, or the ways in which particular species can be maintained to lessen the risk of their unwanted spread (for example, deadheading or removing the flowers off Agapanthus as soon as the flowers die).

7. To design a landscape that minimizes or eliminates the use of materials that disrupt, destroy, pollute or damage natural systems/communities where they are sourced. For example, retain top-soil so far as possible in present condition, chose mulches sourced from timber industry by-product or local source by-product, avoid sleepers taken from native forest, ornamental river pebbles harvested from active waterways, and avoid plants harvested from the bush or logging coups. Choose locally sourced (eg bulk) materials to reduce product miles, where possible.

8. To design a landscape that minimizes the risk of disruption, pollution or interference to other systems. For example, the effect on non-target areas from highly toxic, mobile or residual chemicals can be catastrophic. Runoff from poorly designed landscapes can affect local systems via erosion or movement of damaging products (chemicals, soil movement, weed seed).

Getting Started

1. Measuring Up

Any existing house plans or the Land Title will be of assistance, as measurements will be shown on these and can reduce your work. Crudely draw the shape/boundaries of the garden on a sheet of paper. Measure the dimensions of the site and write all the measurements on the paper along the appropriate boundary lines etc., as shown in the illustration here. Measure the position of existing trees and other plants that will not be removed and note these on the paper. (It’s also a good idea to note plants that you are removing, as it can help with planning).

When plotting the position of elements in the garden, utilise existing permanent structures such as fences and buildings, so that measurements can be taken at right angles from them. This will ensure that the position on your plan is accurate. For example, to pinpoint the exact position of the lemon tree on the top right of the illustration here, the tape measure was laid out at right angles from the top fence (the tree is three metres in), and then the tape measure was laid out at right angles from the side fence and that distance is four metres in (this is noted on the paper).

2. Site Analysis

A careful site analysis makes it much easier to design your new garden because you will have noted anything that could have an impact on the garden’s success.

a. Where’s north? If in doubt, the street directory or the GPS can help and so can a little compass! When designing a garden, the movement of the sun can be very crucial. We will discuss this more in another Part of this series.

b. Take note of sunny and shaded areas. (Remember that the sun is much higher during the summer months.) Local shade will vary depending on surrounding structures eg fences, trees, neighbouring houses, as well as the seasons.

c. If you know your garden well you might even be able to note the areas that are boggy in winter or particularly dry in summer.

d. Slopes. Depending on what work you intend doing or having done in your garden you may need to consider having accurate levels taken, especially for any construction works.

e. Soil type (and condition). Refer to the SGA information page on soils.

f. Size and position of trees and other plants that are staying.

g. Existing paths and other features that are staying. (These will also need to be measured and accurately noted on your plan).

h. Overlooking to or by neighbours.

i. Views (from windows into the garden as well as views from and within the garden).

j. Neighbours’ trees etc.

Take a note of anything that may help you with your garden plan and write it on the paper with the measurements. Remember that even minor ground depressions can be utilised.

Your Needs, Wants and Budget

If you were a professional designer, this stage would be referred to as the Client Brief. In this case you are the client and the designer!

You need to consider what you want out of this garden but keep your budget in mind. If you don’t have a lot of money to spend you might want to consider how you can implement works over time.

Needs

Write a list of everything you need in your garden. For example, a garden shed, and the size you are thinking of. It’s a good idea to have catalogue information for these sorts of items, so that you have accurate dimensions.

You might need an area for the kid’s trampoline and swing set. So you need to work out how much area to set aside – remember to include plenty of surrounding area for sliding off slides, jumping off swings and trampolines etc.

If you are including a vegetable garden, you need to think about the size and whether it will be in ground or above ground (garden beds, pots, or upright planter beds). If you are new to vegetable growing, start small but perhaps have a plan to increase its size should you find you can cope with growing more. Vegetable gardens can be quite time consuming. And because vegetable gardens will require regular water, remember that any other high water use plants you might want to include, such as fruit trees should be planted in the same area. But be mindful of future shading of the vegetable garden. Think about the size of the tree when it has grown, as its canopy might be several metres in diameter.

There are smaller fruit tree varieties available now that are small in stature but produce quite a lot of fruit.

Then there are the other utility items such as clothes lines and storage areas.

Do you need a cricket pitch?

And if you have a courtyard sized garden, you better prioritise your needs. We’ll get onto some design solutions for smaller spaces.

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Wants

This could include the style of the garden. Garden design books and magazines will help you narrow in on the look that appeals to you.

From a design point of view, don’t forget to incorporate standard design elements, including repetition, contrast (colour, foliage), asymmetry and surprises in to your overall ‘look’.

Keep in mind when thinking about what style of garden appeals to you; you can achieve it using drought tolerant, native or indigenous plants. SGA has prepared information showing just how this is possible, and with examples of plants from the local Melbourne area that would be appropriate.

Make a list of your favourite plants, textures, foliage colours and flowers.

Sculpture and artworks might be considered. Even a very small budget can cope with a bowl of water on a rock and this can be as effective in the right surrounds as any expensive sculpture.

Take Your Time

Take your time to think about what you really need and want in your garden.

Some more questions to get you thinking . . .

Do you like winding paths and surprises around corners, or do you prefer a vista of a garden?

Do you entertain outdoors a lot? If so, you may need to consider an entertaining space as a need.

Do you have pets and how might you cater for their needs, especially rambunctious dogs and young plants?

Are there any other considerations relating to the wider landscape that you might need to consider, such as bushfire, heritage and tree overlays?

If you are considering built structures, contact your local council to find out their requirements regarding permits etc. And while you’re at it, ask for their list of garden weed plants in your area.

Movement throughout the space is a key aspect. Movement is not only important for navigation around the space, but should be factored in (eg the placement of paving stones) so that compaction of soil can be avoided, which affects soil drainage and nutrient uptake by plants.

The Design

We will now adjourn to the drawing table (a la kitchen table), with crude hand drawn plan with site measurements written on it, a site analysis, a firm idea of wants and needs, and a firm idea of limitations budget-wise.

Scale

All drawing from now on should be to scale. This means that the measurements on the paper must reflect actual membership but smaller scale. In landscape drawing we often work in the 1:100 (which means that 1 cm on the paper is equal to 100 centimetre on the ground. This is the same as saying the 1 cm on the paper is equal to 1 metre on the ground). 1:50 is also a common scale. This means that 1 cm on the paper is equal to 50 cm (or half a metre) on the ground. For even more detail, the 1:25 scale means that 1 cm on the paper is equal to only 25 centimetres on the ground.

A 1:50 scale is most often the best, as the plan can provide enough detail at this scale. For larger properties, many different drawings may need to be produced, including Shadow Diagrams and Section Elevations.

Scale rulers are available at office suppliers.

Paper

Tracing paper is good to work on, as you can put another sheet on top and quickly rework if necessary. Often it is available by the sheet in larger sizes too. The size of your garden and the scale you want to show will dictate the size of the paper!

What is the longest measurement on your rough drawn plan – maybe it’s the measurement from one end of the garden to the other? If it’s 15 metres that will be 30 cm on your paper if it’s at the 1:50 scale.

Other tools

There is a multitude of professional tools available but for the one-off (or maybe a couple-off) home design plans most of them can be avoided. A scale ruler can be handy but is not a necessity, cheaper drawing pens are quite suitable, and a template of scaled circles (as shown here) is mighty useful for drawing plants to the right diameter.

An H pencil, which is quite fine, is good for drawing on the tracing paper, whereas an HB or heavier leads 2B and 4B are good for sketching (this depends on personal preference too).

A bendable curve (also shown here) is useful for shaping curves.

And a triangle will help with right angles.

A drawing table like this portable one costs about $180, but even a smooth, clean and dry kitchen table will do the job.

Drawing

All those rough drawn lines with the measurements on them (refer to the illustration in Part 1), must now be transferred accurately to your paper.

This can be time consuming, depending on the level of detail and size of your garden. Draw up all the basic building and boundary measurements first.

Next, incorporate the elements you are keeping from your existing garden onto your new plan.

Trees and other elements that are staying must be put in the right spot and shown at the right size and dimensions. For existing trees, this means that your circle template reflects the actual spread of the canopy – or rather, the diameter of the canopy. This is important to help you gauge shading effects when placing your new plants and elements.

Keep your scale in mind when drawing. For example, when you are drawing your new deck, go outside and measure your new dimensions on the ground too and actually see the size of it.

Paths

Paths need not be all the one size, but consider how they are to be used. For example, you don’t want to make the access path to the shed very narrow as you need to be able to negotiate it with a wheelbarrow and tools spilling out.

Placing stuff

Consider the view out of your windows and what you will be looking at. You don’t want to spoil a potentially appealing view by sticking the new garden shed right in the way. And the same goes for artworks or focal points too. Think about where they will be viewed from – out of windows and when walking around the garden.

Consider utility

Consider how quickly and easily you need to get from one point to another. Sometimes we don’t just want to meander around, sometimes we are out there working, and easy access and speed can be a necessity.

Selecting Plants

At this stage think about the size of the plant and the look you want for a particular location, rather than the specific plant. For example, you have decided that along a path’s edge a groundcover that has yellow flowers most of the year would be ideal. In another area you are thinking that a shrub with grey foliage that will grow to a maximum of 2 metres will look great next to the existing native hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii) and its bright purple-blue flowers. You can write this briefly on your plan in light pencil to help remember what you have in mind.

When drawing in plan view, all you can show is the diameter of the plant, not its height. Using a thicker pen on the final drawing gives the illusion of a more dominant (bigger) plant. The diameter that’s shown on the plan is the plant’s diameter at maturity, not when it was first bought in the pot!

Special Elements

Adding a Rain Garden or designing a pond is one thing, but building them is quite another. Keep in mind your budget and capabilities when designing these sort of elements and structures. You may need to consider expert help, or even a builder for some of the built structures. Local councils have lots of information of this kind.

Plant Selection

A plant’s suitability for the job, the site and the position, is the rule for all plant selection in sustainable design. By this we mean that the plant will do what you want it to do (for example, provide shade or screening), its suitability for the climate and microclimate (for example, roses might be very suitable for your climate, but not if they will be sitting under full shade all summer long), and, most importantly, the soil.

Not only does wise plant selection make life easier from a maintenance point of view but it is a key to true sustainability. After all, many plants die simply because they are placed in the wrong spot or are not suited to the local soil characteristics (sandy, loamy, clay or combination soil).

In recent times, drought tolerance has been a key criteria for plant selection, and there’s no signs that this will change soon in (change to) various regions.

Weather patterns are a lot less predictable, nowadays. It’s becoming equally important to select plants that tolerate extreme conditions, ie. heavy rain, high winds, and severe heat, as well as drought.  This need not impact on the style of garden, as plants tolerating extreme conditions can be found to suit all garden styles.

Weeds

An important point to remember is to avoid environmental weeds. Your local council should be able to provide you with a list of weeds that are a problem in your region. Otherwise, Google is a great resource! If you have any doubt, simply type the botanic name of the plant and check out Australian websites. If it’s a weed, it will come up on sites such as Weeds CRC, council sites and many others.

Another important issue is the state of your soil, especially if you are going to be creating your garden on a recent building site. If the topsoil has been lost and you are left with subsurface clay and the like, you will need to improve your soil well before planting. Recycled green waste compost and soil improvers are available in bulk and should be added to your soil months ahead of planting. This will allow time for worms and soil microflora to recolonise and create a more suitable planting environment.

Avoid importing topsoil, as this is usually from an unsustainable source. Try to work with the top-soil on site, as this can always be ameliorated and is teeming with important organisms (biota). A useful book on the subject of soils is Gardening Down-Under by Kevin Handreck (published by LandLinks).

Local Plants

Indigenous plants are plants that grow naturally in your area. They have evolved with the local climate and the soil, so are usually perfectly suited to your environment. However, if you have a recent building site and are looking at subsurface clay etc, as mentioned above, you will still need to improve your soil prior to planting.

There are many advantages to using local plants besides their ability to thrive in your garden. They are often low maintenance and thrive without the addition of fertilisers or pesticides and they provide food and shelter for native wildlife. There are indigenous plants to suit any style of garden, so you don’t have to have a bush garden if that doesn’t appeal to you. Do not remove indigenous plants from parks and bushland. Your local council should be able to provide you with information on nurseries that grow indigenous plants.

Native Plants

Native plants are Australian plants that aren’t necessarily from your area. Native plants can offer similar benefits to your garden as indigenous plants and once again, don’t necessarily dictate a bushland garden style. The book, The New Native Garden – Designing with Australian Plants by Paul Urquhart (published by New Holland Publishers) offers great suggestions on using native plants in any style of garden.

Do be careful, though, some native plants can be environmental weeds in your area. For example, Sydney Cootamundra Wattle (Acacia baileyana) is a weed in Victoria, and the beautiful Western Australian Blue Bell Creeper Sollya heterophylla is a weed in the eastern states (although Austraflora has developed a sterile variety that is not a weed – Sollya heterophylla x parviflora ‘Edna Walling Blue Bells’, shown here).

There is also information on the website of the Australian Native Plants Society (http://anpsa.org.au/).

Don’t assume, though, that because a plant is indigenous or native, it will be drought tolerant. Some are from riparian (waterway) environments, so are used to having ample available water. Indigofera australis (shown here), is an example. It is an elegant small shrub that is indigenous to all States of Australia. It is found naturally mainly in riparian environments and damp forests.

Exotic Plants

Exotic plants are plants from other countries. There are many suitable exotic plants that are drought tolerant species or are suitable for your site, but do check that the plant selected is not a weed in your area.

Mix and Match

There is no reason why you can’t incorporate a mixture of indigenous, native and exotic plants in your garden. Obviously if you are including a vegetable garden and fruit trees, then exotic plants will be necessary (although there is also the possibility of exploring bush tucker!).

Plant Placement – Plant Stacking and Hydro-Zoning

Be careful when placing plants that, over time, you won’t be shading areas that you don’t want shaded. This is especially important with regard to the northern aspect, as the sun is lower in the sky in winter and allowing winter sunshine into the house or corners of the garden is very desirable.

The other side of that is creating shade where it is required. Providing shade to western exposures is a good idea, so think about taller trees and shrubs here (where possible). Deciduous plants can be planted closer to the house, whereas evergreen trees need to be placed well away, to avoid casting shade in winter.

Consider competition between plants over time too (for sun, water, ventilation). You need to allow plenty of room between large trees and shrubs. Consider the size of the plant at maturity when drawing them on your plan.

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Another factor is to incorporate plant-stacking where larger trees or plants can create shade and wind-protection for shade-loving species. Similarly, plants can be zoned according to their water needs, so water isn’t wasted. Plants needing more H2O can be placed ‘down-slope’.

Also be mindful that you won’t be creating a future problem because you are placing a tree too close to a building or to drains. There are web-sites that will list trees with invasive roots, in your local area. And consider your neighbours too. Don’t plant large trees close to boundaries, without your neighbour’s consent, for example.

Site Details

Not only can the microclimate vary from one corner of the garden to another, but slope and proximity to buildings can also have a significant impact on plant success. For example, the south side of buildings is shaded for most of the year, and the western side can be shaded for most of the day and then suddenly be blasted by hot afternoon sun during summer.

Soil conditions under existing trees and under house eaves can be quite dry. Slope and depressions can also have an impact. Depressions will often be wetter most of the year, and the top of a slope is generally drier than the bottom.

Grow What Where (which also comes with a CD), by Natalie Peate, Gwenda Macdonald & Alice Talbot (published by Bloomings Books), is an excellent resource for selecting native plants for specific environments.

The Soft Landscape

The soft landscape includes plants, mulches and composts etc. Plant selection guides what soil preparation is needed and a lot of what else is required too. Many indigenous plants require little ground preparation, yet a vegetable garden requires considerable preparation, especially in poor soils. Vegetable gardens are often best built above the soil, using the No Dig Method of establishment and growing.

Indigenous and native plants benefit from a coarse mulch. Some prefer gravel mulches, or light loose leaf litter, so ensure you know the requirements of the plants you are putting in.

Most soils will benefit from the addition of compost and for plants where soil improvement is necessary, it would be wise to consider adding the compost weeks or even months ahead of planting. There’s more information on soil preparation in SGA’s Information Pages, under Soil Health.

What you now need to work out is just how much of everything you need. For those of you who have forgotten your school maths, the following formulas are the ones of most importance! Working out volumes of mulch and the like becomes very easy (especially with a calculator!).

Area of a square (and rectangle): l x w (l = length, w = width)

Area of a circle: π x r2 (π = pi, which = 3.141 – if you have an electronic calculator, π will be on it as the symbol, so you don’t need to type in the actual numbers, r = radius)

Area of a triangle: (b x h)/2 (b = base, h = height)

If you need more of an explanation of these formulas, a good webpage is: http://math.about.com/

You can use a combination of mostly squares, rectangles and circles to work out the area of garden beds on your design. These formulas only give you the area, the other variable is depth. And depth depends on what you need. For example, to work out how much mulch to order for garden beds, work out the area of all the beds. Now, we usually like mulch to be up to 70mm in depth, so we multiply the area by the depth of 70mm. Be careful with units and decimal points.

For example, if all the areas of garden bed give a total of about 180m2, then the volume of mulch required will be 180 x .07 (notice the decimal point has moved because we are working in units of metres). The total is 12.6 cubic metres (m3), but when ordering you would probably go up to 13 or maybe even 15 – to round it off (many of us often add another cubic metre or so for good measure!).

You will need to go through the same procedure for all materials.

And another couple of formulas that are very useful are the volume of a cylinder (see graphic left) and the volume of a cube (see graphic right). Both or either will be useful if you have included a lot of large pots in the design, as you will be able to work out how much potting media to purchase.

Volume of a cylinder: π x r2 x h Volume of a cube: l x w x h

The Hard Landscape

The hard landscape is essentially anything that’s not the soft landscape! The soft landscape includes the plants, mulch and composts etc. and was discussed above.

We’re left with decking, paving, walls, and essentially the built components of a landscape. This can be a tricky area for the inexperienced or untrained, and there are some very important issues to consider before you tackle building structures or hard landscaping.

Material Selection

Selecting the materials you want can be time consuming alone, with the amount of product available out there. But to try to make an informed decision based on environmental criteria, adds a whole other dimension!

Here’s a guide:

Where does the material come from? Local products require less transport, chain of custody/forest stewardship is easier to establish, and local products have less impact on greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental impacts.

Avoid rainforest timber. (There is always a sustainable replacement.)

Use plantation grown timber or bamboo from a sustainable source.

Look for radially sawn timber, as this technique produces more timber per log.

Consider recycled products where possible (eg reclaimed bricks.)

Consider recycling existing material. (For example, concrete can be sent to a recycler and turned into crushed rock which can be reused on site. Crushed bricks can be used as back-fill for walls.)

Where do those pebbles come from? Are they mined without control in Asia? Or are they at least mined from a controlled source locally.

Consider the urban heat island effect and wind-turbulence factor. The greater the proportion of hard surfaces you build, the lower the heat absorption by vegetative bio-mass that can occur and the harsher the wind-factor may be. Also, by reducing area for vegetation, you reduce the potential for ground-water cleaning, stormwater filtration and carbon uptake, as well.

Factor in the amount of hard surface cleaning and maintenance you wish to do. Outdoor walling and decking can require regular cleaning, sanding and staining.

Finally, consider allowing for permeable areas such as crazy paving/cobble-stones/stepping stones with space for vegetation, rather than an en masse area of non-permeable paving.

Know When NOT to DIY

Know your limitations! Simple paving may be well within most people’s scope of ability but unless you have training in bricklaying, paving, etc, think seriously about the outcome. The hard landscape is the most expensive element of a landscape. It’s also the most obvious, so a shabby job will permanently detract from the overall look.

There are safety issues inherent in built elements too. We’ve all heard horror stories of DIY walls falling over.

Training is obviously an option. There are plenty of short courses available through TAFE and the like, which will ensure you develop enough technique to create the more modest aspects of hard landscapes.

There are times, though, when it is compulsory to bring in professionals, so be mindful of building regulations. Contact your local Council for information on their requirements, rules and regulations.

Council permits and insurance are required on building projects over a certain amount (depending on where you are), so this also needs to be investigated. Contact your local council for more information to ensure your landscaping project does not breach local laws and regulations.

Be mindful of easements on your property (refer to the title plan), as it is illegal to build over easements.

Dial Before You Dig (1100) is an essential service to contact prior to any major excavations. Dial Before You Dig advise as to where underground services are located on your property.

Costs

Even if you don’t feel confident about building the hard landscape, there is research you can undertake that will help you keep an eye on costs. Ascertaining the amount of paving and decking required uses the same formulae as used to estimate soft landscape materials, except that you don’t need to work out depth! Suppliers can often help you work out the costs of decking and paving based simply on the area. Get several quotes for materials, as this will help to ensure you are getting the best price.

Water Features

Water features in a sustainable garden are ideally designed and constructed to increase biodiversity. Attracting frogs to your garden is an especially satisfying reward for creating suitable habitat. Frogs are not only interesting critters to have around but they also devour huge quantities of mosquitoes, flies and other insects.

There are a number of pre-made fibreglass ponds that can be simply dug into place. Edges and base can be hidden and the pond softened with the inclusion of rocks and pebbles. Another simple method of construction is to excavate a suitable sized hole and lay pond liner in it. The edges and base are also hidden with rocks and pebbles. When designing for a pond, it’s a good idea to consider utilising the natural slope of your block, wherever possible. Although you may wish to compromise that if you particularly want your pond in a specific place in your garden.

Placed in lower areas of your garden, the pond may be fed naturally by runoff rainwater, but the other advantage is that the surrounding ground will stay damp. This makes perfect frog habitat because Australian frogs don’t live in water all the time. In fact, they are used to their watery habitat drying out during summer and so take to the shelter of lush grasses and plants.

Pond Features

A frog pond can incorporate one or all of the requirements for each part of the frogs’ lifecycle.

Damp bog zone for adult frogs.

Shallow water zone for laying eggs.

Deep zone of at least 300mm for tadpoles.

Your frog garden should also have:

Soft, thick vegetation that droops into the water, for shelter and protection

Rocks, logs, bark and leaf litter

Mostly shade

Sloping sides for frogs to crawl out

Been made from non-toxic materials (concrete ponds will need to be sealed and plastic ponds be made of food-grade plastic)

Food plants for tadpoles (and they will eat them, so don’t put your prize waterlily in there!)

Frog-Friendly Plants

Frog-friendly plants include the following: Grasses: Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra), Weeping Grass (Microleana stipoides) or Wallaby Grass (Austrodanthonia spp.)

Tufting plants: Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthus spp.) or Black-anther Flax-lily (Dianella revoluta)

Bog plants: Soft Water Fern (Blechnum minus), Thatch Saw-sedge (Gahnia radula), Knobby Club-Rush (Ficinia nodosa), Grassy Mat-rush (Lomandra confertifolia) and Tassel Cord Rush (Restio tetraphyllus) – this is also suitable for planting in water.

Plants for Ponds

There are lots of native water plants that are suitable for garden ponds. These include Villarsia (Marsh Flower) and Marsilea drummondii (Nardoo). The following books also contain information on Australian water plants:

Aquatic and Wetland Plants, by Nick Romanowski, 1998, published by the University of New South Wales Press (UNSWP).

Australian Native Plants, by John W. Wrigley and Murray Fagg, 1996, published by Reed New Holland.

There are many exotic water plants that are terrible environmental weeds, so be very discerning when you buy, and do a bit of research. Other commonly used water plants include: Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), Tassel Sedge (Carex fascicularis), Jointed Twig-rush (Baumea articulata) and Water Ribbons (Triglochin procerum).

Things to Avoid

Most fish will eat tadpoles.

Tadpoles and eggs can be killed by fountain pumps.

Cats and dogs will often hunt and kill frogs. Protect the frog area of your garden with sharp, spiky plants.

Pesticides and herbicides. Frogs eat insects, so you don’t want to spray them. And frogs are very sensitive to chemicals, so you can’t have both.

Fertiliser runoff.

Allowing duckweed or Azolla to cover the top of the pond as it reduces the oxygen available to tadpoles.

Cleaning out the pond too often. Tadpoles need some material to be breaking down in the pond water to provide food for them.

Collecting tadpoles from the wild. It is illegal in most parts of Australia. It’s also unnecessary. If you provide the right habitat, they will find you!

More information on particular topics that interest you can be found using the Search function on this site.

Photo: Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peroni) courtesy of Viridans [external_footer]

source https://livingcorner.com.au/landscaping-for-sustainability-sustainable-gardening-australiahow-to-create-a-native-australian-gardenhttps-www-sgaonline-org-au-wp-content-uploads-2018-08-design2-1920-jpg21/

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Things to do in Melbourne this Winter

Continuing ease on COVID-19 restrictions means there will be even more to do this upcoming winter in Melbourne. ��Such good news!

Here are just some of the activities and places travellers and locals can look forward to doing within the next few months (some of these things can be done throughout the year, but made the list because they’re indoor activities):  

• Ice Skate at Oakleigh Rink: all ages will have a great time skating at this vintage rink.  You can even hire a penguin to help children learn to skate.

• X-Park: this trampoline park challenges both kids and adults and gives everyone a fabulous workout.  

• Auscarts:  everyone can have an awesome time at this indoor go-kart racing track no matter what’s going on outside.  

• State Library Victoria:  with technology in our hands, we overlook all that libraries have to offer.  The Victorian architecture of this library is worth seeing, as well the reading room, which is located under a dome.  There’s always something special going on there.

• Federation Square:  you’ll find exhibitions, galleries, food, and special events, all in one location.  

• Queen Victoria Winter Night Market:  feel like you’ve journeyed to Europe during the holidays while you enjoy an amazing assortment of international food and live entertainment.  

• Australian Football League – this is Victoria’s main winter sport.  There are lots of games to catch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), or the “G,” the largest stadium in the southern hemisphere.  A trip to Melbourne is really complete after catching a football game.  

Once again, these are just a few things Melbourne has to offer this upcoming winter.

Transportation to Activities

If you’re visiting Melbourne, Hire Luxury Wedding Car in Melbourne  or even if you’re a local, and want to enjoy these and other exciting winter activities, hiring expert car drivers in Melbourne is the easiest, safest, and best way to secure transportation.   Private Car and Driver Hires in Melbourne know the locations, treat you exceptionally, and offer you a luxurious ride in a comfortable, sanitized vehicle, many of which offer WIFI and refreshments.  

Luxury Corporate Cars

Luxury Corporate Cars is a professional company with over 15 years’ experience in providing corporate and private transportation services.  It offers a fleet of Holden and Mercedes-Benz vehicles, which undergo routine technical and mechanical checks.

Luxury Corporate Cars also offers Luxury Airport Chauffeur Cars in Melbourne, Airport Corporate Share Car in Melbourne, and Corporate Travel

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We're bringing Dr. Temple Grandin, Ron Suskind, Chloe Maxwell and Chris Bonnello (Autistic Not Weird) to you on Saturday 15 August in a huge online event. Parents, carers, kids, adults and professionals will be enchanted, educated and inspired as these four amazing people take to the 'virtual' stage. + Watch as they share their story + Ask questions in LIVE Q&As + Join from anywhere in the world 9:00am - Ron Suskind presents 'Life Animated: The Inspirational Story of Owen Suskind' 10:00am - LIVE Q&A with Ron Suskind 10:30am - Prof. Temple Grandin presents 'The World Needs All The Different Kinds of Minds' 11:00am - LIVE, one hour long Q&A with Prof. Temple Grandin 1:30pm - Chloe Maxwell presents 'Different Not Less' 2:30pm - LIVE Q&A with Chloe Maxwell 3:00pm - Chris Bonnello presents 'Autistic, Not Weird: Lessons I Learned Growing Up Autistic' 4:00pm - LIVE Q&A with Chris Bonnello (Please note times are Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane / AEST / GMT+10) + Book your tickets today: https://ift.tt/3gvTQUk Tickets are AU$75 +GST, with 100% of proceeds raising funds for Irabina and helping us to continue supporting children and families affected by autism. All registrants will receive access to presentation recordings after the event. ❤️❤️❤️ Thank you to our partners for helping make this event a reality. Please show your support for these amazing organisations: Springfree Trampolines, APM Employment Services, Aussie Broadband, Telethon Kids Institute, We Rock The Spectrum, William Ready and myAutonomy.

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A hippies guide to survive an LSD overdose.

What is LSD?

Have you ever taken LSD? If so what has been your dosage? For the benefit of our non LSD taking friends, let us try and give a small introduction to LSD and its doses.   This is what Wiki says “Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known as acid, is a psychedelic drug known for its psychological effects. This may include altered awareness of the surroundings, perceptions, and feelings as well as sensations and images that seem real though they are not.[11] It is used mainly as a recreational drug and for spiritual reasons. LSD is typically either swallowed or held under the tongue.”

This hallucinogenic drug comes in mainly the form of a colorless liquid or small stamp size papers dipped in this liquid. Pound for pound, LSD is amongst one of the most potent chemicals known to mankind. Its life changing properties are well documented. The experience of talking LSD is very difficult to explain. It’s like trying to explain what you see, when one looks inside a microscope. Unless you see/experience it for yourself it is hard to fathom such a world. Similarly a psychedelic experience is hard to put it in words. Generally the dose is one drop. Just one tiny drop! And 20 minutes later one starts to feel its affects.

A Deadly Music Festival!

Now to the crime scene. The year is 2012 and I’m in the middle of nowhere in far north Queensland, Australia. I have made my way up here with my mates to witness a total solar eclipse. There is a 7 day music festival being  organized to celebrate this astronomical event. We were a crew of around 15-20 who had made our way up from Melbourne. There had been a major buzz amongst the doofing community in Melbourne regarding thins solar eclipse festival. Our whole crew had been planning for months for this festival. This was a 7 day long festival located 3000 kms away from Melbourne! This needed more than 5 months of meticulous planing. My mate  Jane (name changed)  took the lead in booking festival tickets and other logistics. Transporting drugs for all of us was also a big issue, but thanks to my good mate Dave (name changed)  he had some boys drive 10 days from Melbourne across the whole length of Australia to get us our drugs. Other than this we all had our own personal stash which we had to deal with. 

As the festival date got closer , the excitement levels were off the roof. Especially  for my friend David, Dave in short. Along with his girlfriend Jane, were probably the most excited amongst folks amongst us.

Dave had stocked up considerably , with around 50 pills of Ecstasy , 5 gms of MDMA , 15 gm of Ketamine  and a bottle of LSD (around 100 drops).( How I know these exact amounts? I’ll tell you later in the blog). I also had some small amounts for personal consumption that I took with me on the flight from Melbourne (Tell you about that another day).

Fast forward to the festival. The location is a good 2 hour drive from any civilization. The festival is huge with 7 dance floors and around 20,000 people camping up over a few kilometers. Our whole crew found an amazing camping spot with shade and not too far from the main dance floors. The 1sttwo days were amazing with music, friends, dancing and a lot of drugs. Everyone in that festival was loaded with drugs. This the kind of stuff we dream of!  Dave was killing it. He was the go to man with his plethora of drugs at his disposal. The LSD he had was not the strongest, but still quite good. But the killer was the ketamine which he got from India. That shit was sooo potent. Just a tiny bump of it up your nose and the world transform this large dancing trampoline! With a concoction of various other drugs and amazing music, the 1st 2days just flew past.

Day 3 – Today is the big day. The day before the total solar eclipse .All the big acts of zenon records were playing.  The music lined up for the sunset stage was off the hook.  I remember everyone was very high that morning. There were a few of us who hadn’t slept the previous night. Dave was one of them, and needed more drugs to sustain himself. By lunch time most of us were all pretty exhausted and were resting before the main music starts around 3 pm. It was just me Jane and Dave when the music started on the sunset stage. Dave was already a wreck by then. He had snorted a shit of Ketamine by then. I was not doing too bad as well and was sufficiently high on LSD and some MDMA. I remember the afternoon like it happened yesterday! What did I know that the next few minutes will change my life! As me and Jane were rolling a cigarette, we saw Dave drinking something out of a bottle. And then it just hit us!

OMG HE’s DRANKING THE WHOLE BOTTLLE OF LSD!!!!! Just like that, before we could do anything, the empty bottle of LSD was on the ground. Dave turned around and looked us straight in the eye and said with a loud grunt “Holy shit… what I have done!”

It took us a few minutes to realize what happened.  I walked straight up to Dave and asked him what he had done? If he really drank that whole bottle? When he replied “Yes”, that was the most sober I had seen Dev for all the 3 days we had been in the festival. As it dawned on the 3 of us that we need to do something and fast, a bit of panic set in. Some of the other dancers recommended that we give Dave a large dose of Zanex (sleeping pill) and he would be fine. But I knew that no zanex is going to help him now. He had around 90 hits of LSD inside him.  Can you even imagine what it will be like? All my high had come down so had Janes. We decided that I will take Dave to the medic tent while Jane goes and gets our other mates.  Thanks to some quick thinking from Jane and myself had made the right decision.  Dave was pitch sober by now and can’t believe what he has just done .As  Dave  and myself scamper towards the medic tent I remember him telling me that he will never be the same person again!!

We find the medic tent in a corner of the market area. Inside the medic tent we have two volunteers who look like they have just walked out of a Viking movie. The heavily bearded man and his assistant seem to be busy taking care of a few Japanese girls suffering a sun stroke.  As we enter the tent the bearded Viking volunteer as me “How can I help?” To which I replied “Sir. My friend here has drunk a whole bottle of LSD, around 90 hits”. There was pin drop silence for a few seconds. The volunteers couldn’t believe what they had heard. Quickly he told me that the paramedic team was waiting outside and that we should consult them directly. We step out of the tent and find the paramedics next to their ambulance.

I greeted the officers and tell them what had happened. To my surprise, the officer’s dint knows much about LSD or its effects.  I made a suggestion to the medicos that maybe sedating Dave will be a good and safe option. That suggestion was not accepted as the medics dint want the sedatives to react with the drugs DAV had already taken. We were advised to sit down in the medic tent and wait it out.  I couldn’t believe the medic had just told us to wait it out! Does he even know what he’s talking about? There are 90 drops of LSD in my mate’s body and it is going to explode! But then we had no other choice and made our way back to the tent. I sat on a stool while Dave sat next to me on the ground.

It had been around 20 minutes by then since Dave had taken the hit. The ere silence inside the tent was very unnerving. All of us in the tent knew that all this LSD is going to hit Dave anytime. Dave new it too and it was making him restless. He kept telling me that he had a good life, with work, girlfriend etc.  He kept repeating…“ What have I done”!!!  In that stressful situation Dave showed great awareness to empty his drug stash and gave it all to me. I quickly put the big stash in the pocket of my camel pack.  I tried to reassure Dave that we were at the right place if something were to go wrong. To hang in there and to be brave. Then there was total silence for a few minutes. I knew the moment had come. Dave was breathing much more heavily now.

He shouted “Oakley shades Zenon records…. I understand now” as he stood up.  The look in his eyes scared me. I tried to tell him to calm himself, but he pushed me to the side and ran out of the medic tent.  By the time I picked myself up to follow him, he was gone. A difficult situation had become dangerous and life threatening. I walked up to the paramedics who were having a chat with some festival security personals. I simply told them that I had done my duty by bringing Dave to the medic tent and due to their irresponsible behavior Dave had escaped into the festival. Dave was a true danger to himself and other in this state. The Security personals straightaway understood the seriousness of this situation and started to send message on their walkie talkies.

As I step out into the market area to search for Dave I bump into Jane and my other crew members. I briefed them about the events inside the medic tent and the fact that Dave was out in the festival somewhere high as fuck! We decided to split up to find him. Luckily we bumped into our Japanese friend “Yuji”. He ran up to us and said “Dave is very high and doing crazy stuff on top of the viewing hill”. A few hundred meters from where we were was a hill, the best vantage point to see the eclipse.

We spot Dave the moment we reach the top of the hill. He was rolling around in the red Australian dirt. Eyes rolled up and frothing from his mouth. His face was pale, almost blue. Making high pith groaning noises he was punching the ground and throwing himself everywhere. We were 6-7 guys who tried to hold him down. But he was throwing us around like an animal. The best word to describe him is probably “manimal”.

Within minutes the paramedics had come with the ambulance. They told us to stand away from Dave who was still convulsing like a man possessed. Along with a few security men they try to administer some sort of relaxant via oxygen pipe. That dint work. Then I could see one of the medics on the phone to some doctor at from Cairns (3 hrs away) for help.  It seem as though the doc told them to knock Dave out with intravenous Ketamine. Next thing you know the medic reaches into her bag and administers Dave with a full dose of intravenous Ketamine. They wait for it to show its affects, but to no avail. By this time Dave is free falling through his own consciousness. He muttering names of kids he went to kinder garden with. The medics administer 2 more doses of ketamine to calm him down. You could see the look on their faces on how serious this whole thing was.

Meanwhile one of the security guards taps me on the shoulder and says that some officers wanted to talk to me. I turn around to see two cops. Then I get introduced to them as Dave’s friend. My heart started pumping, as I had all Dave stash of drugs in my camel pack. If the cops ask me to show them my camel pack, I’m going straight to jail! And for a long time!

I guess it was my lucky day. The cops asked me a few questions. They seemed genuinely worried about Dave. They asked me about how he did this to himself and what drug etc. to which I gave them honest answers.  I was also a little surprised when they patted me on my back for having taken care of my mate. By this time the paramedics have successfully managed to knock Dave out as he’s gets strapped on the stretcher. The paramedics ask one of us to go with them as they shift him into the ambulance. It was a strange moment.  Jane had helped us plan for this festival for all these months, and now she had to leave it mid way. I spoke to her for a few minutes as she cried. I told her that going with Dave on the ambulance was the right thing to do.

There is a dust storm approaching us as Jane gets into that ambulance to leave. The surrounding light and atmosphere were surreal. We could see thousands of people dancing in the sunset stage below us as the ambulance left us. The approaching thunderstorms were making multiple rainbows against the setting sun.  It is one of the truly beautiful sights I have seen in my life. The LSD in my system made this sight almost unbelievable with trails and layers. I felt as thou the nature was telling me that Dave was going to be fine. The multiple rainbows were the best thing that happened to me that day.  Later I was told that Dave had to be air lifted to cairns as he was not breathing properly.

Dave made it through that night without much problem. He woke up nearly 19 hours later and was properly conscious and aware of what had happened. But this even had changed me. It put life and parties in perspective for me. Thanks to some good decision making between me, Jane and the paramedics were able to avoid a potentially life threatening situation. It was a great example how fun can go wrong.

Dave made a full physical recovery, but same can’t be said regarding his mental aspect. He has shown a downward trend after this incident.   Something happened to him that night. His brain got rewired somehow. After almost 10 years after that incident, he finds himself in and out of rehab for Heroine and alcohol. This event changed me too, but I believe for the good. This was my queue to get the fuck out there and make a life! Which I did and got back to India and cleaned up my act.

I hope my experience shed some light on how to deal with an LSD overdose. If you or your friend fined yourself in this situation, then see help.  Tell your friends what you have done and Get to a hospital a sap. Don’t try and find a fix for this yourself, because you can’t. These chemicals are so powerful that are way beyond a mortal human beings capabilities. One drop is the dosage. Don’t play with LSD, It is not a joke. If you do, then it will teach you and your friends a good lesson in life.  Don’t take this god given sanity for granted, it can vanish in a split second.

Do you think I did the right thing? Would you have done it differently? I would like to hear from you so please leave a comment. Looking forward to interacting with you fellow hippies out there. Until next time…Drop Acid, not bombs!

Indian Hippy

[latitudeair-blog]

At Latitude, we are dedicated to offering party space for birthday parties, team events, school programs, kid’s trampoline and more. Feel free to reach us anytime!

[alligaytorrr-official]

Tagged by @tab-energy

Rules: put your music on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, then tag 10 people.

Super Trampoline School Kid - The Pillows

Kids (Radio 1 Live Lounge Version) - Cage the Elephant

Ship In a Bottle - Bright Eyes

Domino Effect - Ozma

Untitled - The Homeless Gospel Choir

Happy - Mitski

Crossfire - Brandon Flowers

Runaway - The National

A Place to Hide - White Lies

Melbourne - Shit Present

I’m gonna just tag five people, @pocketpigfriend, @friend-rice, @auyamx, @azookara, and @white-lives-dont-matter

[davesonlinedeals-blog]

trampolines for kids in Australia - Here's Why You Need This Fitness Machine in Your Home

Dave’s online provide their services to their customers via online which is more comfortable for every person.Dave’s online offer you different types of fitness and play products with great deals. Also quad bikes and dirt bikes are available in Dave’s online. Dave’s online is one of the great trampolines for kids in Australia Sand Pits in Melbourne for fitness and play equipment. Dave’s online  offer you great deals on a different type of Fitness Play products.

[kidscubbyhouses-blog]

Help Your Children to Grow and Learn by Best Quality Kids Toys in Australia

Childhood is the most tender and joyful phase in the life of every individual. In the current era or 21st century kids play outdoor and indoor games by playhouse, trampoline and swings. There are many companies that manufacture and supply versatile as well as durable quality of kids toys in Australia. Every playhouse set, swing set, trampoline, activity gym and things that go in, on and around the house or outdoor play equipment has been selected because by these firms as they believe that it will help you and your child learn and grow through imaginative play.

All kids play equipment are sourced from best manufacturers and distributors so that you will get peace of mind that the products are built with safety in mind, have local warranties. Toys collection of these firms include easy assembly, moderate assembly, DIY kits, small cubby houses, medium and large cubby houses, children swing sets and domes with dolls houses. Kids are one of the memorable and eternal treasures of god to parents.

Kids are most happy while playing. Toys give them entertainment while teaching them about different things. Invest in a toy which is useful and beautiful such as Cubby houses for sale in Melbourne. Cubby house play set is safe, strong and will definitely match your décor and style. They encourage outdoor play as well with swing sets or play equipment attached.

Some have climbing frames or act like a tree house because they are raised with a sandpit underneath and when you add a slide they can become a whole play gym for your children. Cubby houses are aesthetically appealing and incredibly strong and safe. Safety details are of the utmost priority for designers or manufacturers of these companies. They offer the best customer service and communication while demonstrating and guiding clients about cubby houses or play sets. It is manufactured from durable Hemlock timber.

Source:https://plumcubby.blogspot.com/2019/08/help-your-children-to-grow-and-learn-by-best-quality-kids-toys-in-australia.html

[kennethherrerablog]

How This Family Lives Off $45K/Year While Raising a Special Needs Child

On a late November afternoon, Vicki Fouche heats up slices of frozen pizza in the toaster oven for lunch.

Her daughter Hannah, 10, waits at the dining room table in their Ocala, Florida, home.

Hannah has challenges eating on her own. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that affects motor skills, muscle tone and movement, when she was 6 months old.

Vicki, 48, places two plates in front of Hannah. “Look here. Which pizza do you want? Do you want ‘The Lion King’ or Olaf?” Vicki asks, referring to the Disney characters decorating each plate. “Which would you like? Lion King? Olaf?”

Hannah replies with just a sound — one that would be incomprehensible to most. But without any words exchanged, her mom knows what’s wrong.

“You don’t want either one?” she guesses. “You want pretzel bites?”

Hannah utters another obscure sound.

“You’re a pain in the butt, do you know that?” Vicki jokes, and she whisks the plates away from Hannah, handing a pizza slice off to Hannah’s 21-year-old sister, Bethany.

Vicki heads back to the freezer to get some pretzel bites, one of Hannah’s favorite foods.

When Hannah’s lunch is heated, Vicki brings a plate over to Hannah, whose attention is fixed on the iPad in front of her. Vicki proceeds to cut the pretzel bites into small pieces and feed her.

Hannah’s condition is hypotonic, meaning she has low muscle tone — specifically in her head, neck and trunk. She can’t stand on her own, walk or talk.

Hannah has the cognitive abilities to communicate; she just lacks the physical abilities to speak more than a few words. She uses an app on her iPad that lets her select words and phrases to speak aloud for her. In fact, Vicki says Hannah often uses the app to request pretzel bites.

There are many variations of cerebral palsy. For some, the disorder has a minimal effect on their lives. Others require around-the-clock care.

According to the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation, 1 in 323 U.S. babies are diagnosed with cerebral palsy. There is no known cure for the disorder, which affects approximately 17 million people across the globe.

Hannah’s physical challenges mean that Vicki and her husband, Tim, have to care for Hannah in ways similar to caring for an infant. They feed her. They bathe her. They carry her down the hallway and lift her into her safety bed, which resembles an oversized crib.

Hannah’s parents also shoulder all the financial responsibilities of raising a child with cerebral palsy.

The Fouches are a family of five living off less than $45,000 per year. Though Bethany, their oldest daughter, doesn’t live at home anymore, Vicki and Tim have a 6-year-old daughter, Mikayla, and they took in their 15-year-old niece, Naomi, last summer.

Tim, 48, who works as a residential construction estimator for a custom home builder, is the family’s sole breadwinner.

“I work hard,” Tim says. “As a husband and a dad, you try to maintain a balance of working and being there for your family, too, at the same time. When you do that and you still feel like you’re falling short at the end of the month… it gets frustrating sometimes.”

Why Making More Money Isn’t an Option

The family qualifies for Medicaid and Social Security benefits for Hannah, plus a scholarship that covers home-schooling expenses. But Vicki says she’s scared of the possibility of losing that assistance if her husband makes more money.

“We’re [between] the proverbial rock and a hard place,” she says.

The Fouches know other families with disabled children that don’t qualify for assistance and aren’t able to get certain treatment or equipment covered under their private insurance.

“If [Tim] were to make more money and then they took [Medicaid away], it would cost us more in the long run,” Vicki says.

Vicki usually handles paying the bills and budgeting for the family since Tim works full time.

“How she does it, I don’t know,” Tim says. “She takes something out of nothing, and she pays the bills. But it’s a struggle every month.”

The Fouches have between $10,000 and $15,000 in credit card debt. They’ve used their credit cards when unexpected expenses came up, such as when the transmission went out in their minivan last year. They’ve made home-schooling purchases on credit, only to later find out Hannah’s scholarship wouldn’t reimburse the expense.

Every year, they like to put money aside from their tax refund to save for emergencies. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stretch through the year. They don’t have any other financial safety net.

“We never have money to save,” Vicki says. “We’re lucky that we have enough to pay our bills.”

Medicaid Helps… but It Has Limits

Each week, Hannah sees a speech therapist, physical therapist and occupational therapist. She also participates in therapeutic horseback riding. Because of assistance, the Fouches don’t have to pay out of pocket for any of that.

The Fouches have also gotten some of Hannah’s equipment paid for through Medicaid: an electric wheelchair, a manual wheelchair, a walker, a shower chair and Hannah’s safety bed, plus her nutritional drinks and diapers.

“We’re very, very blessed,” Vicki says.

But Vicki says the diapers Medicaid covers for Hannah leak easily. The electric wheelchair has malfunctioned several times.

Hannah never felt comfortable in the first shower chair they were able to get through Medicaid when she was little, so her father built one out of PVC pipe and trampoline material.

Vicki says she’s glad her husband is so handy. He also built a makeshift wheelchair ramp for their front door and widened the entrance into their kitchen so Hannah’s wheelchair could fit through.

Getting requests approved through Medicaid can be challenging, Vicki says. She says the agency requires in-depth explanations about why they need certain equipment or therapy and how Hannah will benefit.

And even when something is approved, the family sometimes still has to pay for part of it. Last spring, for example, Hannah received three weeks of intensive therapy at a facility in Melbourne, Florida. Medicaid covered the cost of the therapy, but the family had to pay for travel and lodging, since the facility was three and a half hours from home.

The family sold bracelets as a fundraiser and made about $2,300.

“We ended up having to come up with some of it out of our pocket,” she says. “We raised most of it, but not [all].”

A Plan Abandoned

Vicki used to work as a Girl Scouts program coordinator, but high day care costs caused her to become a stay-at-home mom after having Hannah. She thought it would be temporary and that she’d go back to work once Hannah started kindergarten. Then, she got unexpectedly pregnant with Mikayla.

Vicki had her tubes tied after that pregnancy. With Hannah in school, Vicki’s new plan was to go back to work once Mikayla was in kindergarten. But then Hannah started having troubling experiences at school.

“She came home one time with rug burn on her cheek, a black eye, a split-open lip, and they say she fell over at circle time,” Vicki recalls, saying she suspects Hannah fell off a changing table instead. “She would come home 90% of the time with her lunch [uneaten].”

The Fouches were concerned their daughter wasn’t getting proper care at school. Two weeks before Hannah was going to start third grade, her parents told her she’d be going back to school soon. She cried hysterically.

“What kid at 8 years old hates school so bad?” Vicki asks.

So the Fouches made the decision to home-school their girls, and Vicki abandoned her plan to return to work. Though Vicki does a lot for her family, she sometimes feels bad that she isn’t able to earn an income. However, Tim says he’s very thankful for the role she’s taken on.

“[It’s] worth a whole lot for her to be with our children, to keep them safe and [see to it] that they’re taken care of and getting a good education,” he says.

That’s not the only sacrifice the Fouches have had to make.

Vicki says they choose not to go to places as a family that aren’t accommodating for Hannah, like the playground or the fair. If Mikayla wants to go, she has to wait until one parent can stay home to watch Hannah.

The Fouches try to make sure Mikayla gets to do things she likes — such as gymnastics and T-ball — but the money isn’t always there for her to participate. Vicki says they had to charge T-ball registration fees to their credit card. They pay per class for gymnastics, and when money is tight, they’ll just skip it for the week.

One special treat the entire family enjoys is going to Disney World, which is only about an hour-and-a-half drive from their home. Last year, the Fouches had annual passes. They got them as a Christmas gift for the girls and paid for them in monthly installments. However, Vicki says they decided not to renew the passes for this year after Disney raised its prices.

“That’s been really frustrating,” she says. “That’s really the only thing that we do with the kids… Hannah doesn’t feel disabled at Disney. She can go on all the rides. She can’t do that at all the other parks.”

Their Plans and Dreams for an Uncertain Future

About a decade ago, when Hannah was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Vicki remembers the doctor explaining the diagnosis twice.

“I guess most people get hysterical and we didn’t, so the doctor [asked], ‘Do you understand what I’m saying to you?’” she says.

But Vicki and Tim knew something serious was wrong with Hannah. Their infant daughter wasn’t meeting typical milestones for her age. Unbeknownst to each other, they both had suspected it was cerebral palsy.

Instead of being devastated, they were grateful Hannah didn’t have a terminal illness, but rather a disorder that can improve over time through therapy.

And the Fouches have seen Hannah progress over the years. She can sit up unassisted, whereas before her body wasn’t strong enough to support itself.

One speech therapist told the Fouches that Hannah would never be able to work a communication device.

“She said she would never be strong enough to push the buttons on the communication thing,” Vicki recalls. “And yeah, this kid’s a whip on the iPad. It’s not even funny.”

In early December, Hannah was fitted for a leg brace that will keep her body from folding up in her sleep. Since she can’t control her limbs, it can be dangerous if she bends herself in half overnight, causing her to hurt herself or even block her breathing. Hannah often sleeps in her worried parents’ bed so they can closely monitor her.

A few weeks after getting the brace, Tim says she’s still having trouble adjusting to it. Hannah’s therapist suggested putting the brace on for an hour or two in the evening and working their way up to using it while she sleeps. Once Hannah is able to use the brace overnight and transition to her own bed, her parents will be able to get a more restful night’s sleep.

There’s still other equipment the Fouches wish Hannah had to better her life.

They’d love for Hannah to have a mobile stander, a device that would help her stand and move around without having to support her own weight.

“We can stand her for a little bit… but the last couple times we had her in her walker, she’s gotten so overheated, she’s thrown up,” Vicki says.

Having a device that doesn’t make Hannah strain to support herself would be ideal. Being in a wheelchair so often causes Hannah to have poor circulation in her legs.

However, Vicki says Medicaid won’t cover the mobile stander, because Hannah already has the electric wheelchair. She says it’d cost $5,600 to pay for out of pocket — money the family doesn’t have.

She also says it’d be wonderful to have a hoist system in the house to lift Hannah up. At 60 pounds, Hannah isn’t easy to carry anymore.

“I’m scared I’m going to fall with her,” says Vicki, who had to be hospitalized twice last year after bad falls. Luckily, she wasn’t carrying Hannah on either occasion.

The Fouches also wish they had a handicap-accessible van, but they can’t afford one. Vicki said even getting their current minivan converted to be wheelchair accessible would cost around $15,000.

Instead, they have to lift Hannah into the minivan, and they use her manual wheelchair when they go out.

Hannah’s only 10 now, but Tim and Vicki have thought about what her life will be like as she gets older. It’s uncertain what Hannah will be able to do on her own once she reaches adulthood.

“If we could have one wish for her… I would really hope at some point that she could be able to speak,” Vicki says. “I think that would make a huge difference for her, instead of having to rely on a communication device. I don’t know if that will ever happen — and if it doesn’t, it’s fine — but if I had a choice between her walking or speaking, I’d rather have her speak.”

One thing Vicki and Tim do know is that they never want to place Hannah in a nursing home. The Fouches say their faith in God gives them strength to handle all the challenges that come their way.

Overall, Vicki’s greatest hope for her daughter is one most parents have for their child.

“I just want her to have as [good of] a life as she can,” she says.

If you are raising a child with special needs, learn more about how to plan financially for your child’s future.

Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

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