Five Goodgymmers rolled up their sleeves and pulled up a multitude of weeds from the playground at Chapmans Green on this stormy May Day.

The Famous Five Go Playing

We met Alex from the Friends group at Chapmans Green who had a few options of tasks for us. Needless to say, as soon as we heard the rubber mulch at the playground needed a bit of maintenance, we jumped and grabbed onto that task with greedy hunger.

We hopscotched our way into the playground and before you could say Fireman Pole, we were on all fours. Weeds were coming through the mulchy membrane - a situation that if not dealt with regularly will affect the integrity of the fall-breaking material - and no sooner had Alex given us some tools than we were right into the swing of things.

We merry-go-rounded our way through the whole playground, pulling up weeds and chewing the fat until Gramps seesaw what the time was and called an end to the proceedings. Proving he's no longer a Spring Horse, Gramps ungracefully clambered up the playhouse to join Clare and Charlie, while Nurjehan and Veronika opted for a more grounded approach for our group photo.

Alex offered us a tour of the meadow to finish the session but we had to leave before an untimely slide into disrepute as Nurjehan had started to shout at everyone about the size of her hole as we inspected the progress on the orchard - cf. here.

On that note, we all left, making our way home before the torrential thunderstorm. 

Come next week for not one but two different tasks: Tuesday is back to nursery at Tottenham Green and Wednesday it's party time at Wolves Lane. Fun!

#MayDay #UpTheWorkers #Solidarity #NothingToLoseButOurChains  

Seven Goodgymmers enjoyed a peaceful night of shovelling manure and wood chippings at the wonderfully tranquil Meadow Orchard in Crouch End.

When Push Comes To Shovel

After a whole day dominated by a sky that augured imminent downpours, it was in the end a lovely, sunny evening at the Meadow Orchard as our Goodgymmers assembled for an evening of tasks.

It was amazing to see Queen Khan make her glorious return after conveniently finding an excuse to spend a few weeks in bed during the cold months of winter - but we'll forgive her because she wasted no time in getting into the flow of things (much to Gramps and Niamh's chagrin who were terrified to stymie her recovery). Welcome back and all that!

Nurj, Niamh, Dave, Sam, Julie, and Charlie wasted no time in attacking a massive pile of wood chippings that had been left for the Orchard in the car park outside. Armed with shovels, plastic containers, and wheelbarrows, our Goodgymmers began transporting the chippings into site and spreading it in a variety of beds and storage piles. Our busy bees buzzed and like a well oiled machine, the pile grew smaller and smaller by the minute. So much so, in fact, that Katie from the Friends group took a splinter squad to help move a massive bag of manure into the beds as well. Sam and Julie shovelled it into place in no time.

We even had time to explore the site a bit, take pictures of tadpoles, imbibe some freshly brewed cuppas, almost break a hammock, and take some selfies in the glorious crepuscular light. All in an hour's work. Boom.

Chapmans Green has requested our help looking after some new plants and the by-now named Goodgym bed so we're going there next week - you should come!