Good Souls

I met Jess, Steve, Sheila and task owner Sue at Vale Road Cemetery on the morning of All Souls day. The weather was surprisingly pleasant after a ghoulish storm on All Hallows' Eve. Kudos to Sheila who cycled to the session from Maidenhead and to Steve and Jess who had been/were going for runs before and after the task respectively. I'm recovering from an injury so the task itself - planting a host of golden daffodils - was workout enough for me.

Sue directed us where to plant and we set to work digging up the turf, laying the bulbs in and tucking the turf/mud back over them. Sheila suggested we should plant in clusters of 3, 5 or 7, but even Steven thought that was just odd, so when Spring comes you'll be able to identify his clusters as the 4s and 6s.

Once we had ploughed through the bags of bulbs, which had been kindly donated by Tesco, we celebrated with some brownies. In a moment of madness we did consider planting some brownies to see if they would grow brownie trees, but we soon came to our senses and decided they were best used as snacks. Besides, everyone knows, Brownies grow into Guides!

As always it was great to get out in the fresh air, catch up with friends and to work together to get lots done in a short time. We look forward to seeing the fruits of our labour in March when the daffs come up. Hopefully the pollinators and other local residents will enjoy them too.

Sue was thrilled to have our help. Through her hard work and with the help of GoodGym and other volunteers the cemetery has changed a lot in the past year. It means a lot to her as her little cousin's grave is located there, but it is also benefiting other locals, who are starting to come more often to enjoy this peaceful spot.