Bushwhacking in Brixton

Mrs J's garden allegedly needed a bit of a trim. Turns out it needed a bit more than that, and could have done with the full complement of two or even three GoodGymmers! But, no problem. Arrived, welcomed by Mrs J and reassured her that a solo chap would be just as good as the two ladies she thought she was getting! Had a nice chat and found out that Mrs J and her husband have been in this lovely house for 44 years and are no longer in shape to tackle the front garden/forest. Had a cup of tea, which was nice after a 10km schlep out from Shoreditch. The two ultras I entered this year were both cancelled and without those targets I haven't been motivated to put in the long miles. Anyway, cracked on with some pruning and seeing as Mrs J seemed to be a proponent of 'brutal is better' I put some energy into my secateur action. Spent a good hour clipping some out of control and very overgrown rose stems, cut the ferns back to the ground and basically chopped anything that looked like it would benefit in the spring. All this time I had a robin hopping around. Not sure whether he was annoyed that I was messing up his home or he was just appreciating the prospect of some more usable airspace. So I got on to raking some leaves; no way could I do them all but I raked the ones that were more accessible and gave the place a general tidy. Found some bin bags and then fought to get any of the waste into them - spiky rose stems don't agree with bin bags so that was a fight. Tidied up, said bye to Mrs J who was happy and headed back out for the return 10km.