Hoedown

Mikey and Andrew arrived at Miss C's house not really knowing what to expect. The mission briefing had mentioned that there would be gardening involved, that Miss C didn't speak much English, and that a friend of hers would be there with gardening tools, to explain the task and to translate. However, when they arrived, the friend was nowhere to be seen.

Miss C took the pair through to the garden, where they began clearing up some debris left by some less-than-tidy builders. Once that was finished they struggled to figure out what else needed to be done, so Andrew used his phone to translate a question for Miss C: Is the friend still coming, and are they bringing some tools? "Yes. Five minutes," was the response.

Sure enough, the friend arrived with a shovel and a tool that Mikey guessed was probably a hoe. A quick Google search afterwards proved him to be right. Unfortunately, the friend also didn't speak much English, but he was able to demonstrate what we were required to do: Use the hoe to cut down all of the overgrowth, and collect it all into a pile at the end of the garden.

Hoeing, it turns out, is tiring work, so the trio took it in turns whack out the weeds, while the others cleared them up. At one stage, Miss C's friend explained (mostly via hand gestures) that he much preferred using a hoe to using sheers. "With sheers, you finish at five o'clock, but with this, you finish at one o-clock."

He wasn't far wrong, as we finished clearing the garden just after half past one. Wary of the forecast rainstorms that seemed ready to appear, Mikey and Andrew said goodbye to Miss C and her friend, and sped off on their bikes intent on avoiding a sure soaking.