I was there for the physical labour bit, of course. That’s how these gardening missions work. But I was also there to hear Ms F’s vision for her garden and for her to bounce ideas off me. She’d been waiting for a thinking partner, not just a pair of hands. I admit though, after a Long weekend of rushing about, I was fresh out of mental energy to give much input on which style to lay a decorative path, or which size pot the olive tree needed. It made me remember that when we sign up to a mission we may think, ‘oh that’s just a quick no strings attached thing I’ll tag onto my day. In, lift, out, done by dinner’’. But alternatively, the recipient might have been waiting a while for a decision partner. They maybe live alone or live a life with fewer opportunities for connection than you. So it’s good to go with a bit of physical energy as well as headspace, to be engaged with the whole experience. On the flip side it might be the Goodgymmer who’s prioritised the mission as their main activity and chance of connection for the day or week. It struck me it’s easy to forget the humans behind the ask or the action. So it was helpful to remember. I’ve worked with Ms F a few times before, but not for quite a while. When I got there I was pleased to hear an update about a grandson and see the garden looking calm - to see coral from Mauritius in the flowerbeds. Can you believe she’d prepared me some vegetable rice too - saffron infused! I took it home and it saved me when I’d not had any ideas of what to cook. Over dinner I thought how you can do something, but it’s really the energy and the intention you do it with that matters almost as much as the deed itself. I didn’t feel great about rushing tasks on a Sunday evening at the end of my frantic weekend, but I’d designed my schedule, so that was on me. From 6 to 7.30, together we designed the garden to have a new paved path, a climbing clematis and an optimistic olive tree, repotted to encourage it to grow.