So, a month has now passed and we have made lots of progress on Belle’s lovely house. You may recall that Belle has cerebral palsy so this house has to be adapted to meet her needs. The actual building work hasn’t started yet as we are in the early stages but we hope the Planning Permission will be submitted later this week. In the meantime we are arranging to move the electrics meter from the garage to the outside of the house as the garage will become Belle’s bedroom. It will also make it easier to access the meter. At the same time we’re going to upgrade the electric system as this will be a much bigger house with much higher electrical demands. What was interesting was that the family have managed to almost halve the initial quote from UK Power Networks to do the work on the basis of Belle’s disability. What a great saving! We were also concerned by a very large conifer tree close to the building line at the back of the house. We thought that it might have a Tree Preservation Order on it which would have caused complications but fortunately this is not the case. Belle’s parents introduced themselves to their new neighbours who was delighted to have the tree removed as it would help shed light on an otherwise darkened spot. In the garden we’re also planning to have a new sensory area (this is the before photo). In this we are planning to put in a sunken trampoline, a wheelchair swing and some paths surrounded by sensory plants such as lavender for their fence and different plants with different textures. Finally, and this is very exciting, we will be putting a new swim system/hot tub. Originally this was going to be one unit. I do have other clients who have purchased these as a single unit but it was felt that this was needed to be more bespoke for Belle so that she can have a larger swim system and a smaller hot tub. Extra gadgets have been purchased which include a treadmill at the bottom of the swim system. Belle can then be strapped to her physio’s legs and then walk in the water. The water resistance will help build up her muscle. In addition we’ve purchased extra gadgets for the hot tub. This includes a hydrotherapy kit which pumps out extra heat and extra water which will help massage certain parts of Belle’s body and also an aromatherapy kit for the hot tub which provides different scents for relaxation. It sounds heavenly! So watch this space and I will continue to update the blog each month with progress. The first installment of the dairy of a house can be read here.
