Mind the Arch

The adventure starts in an office toilet, where I transformed from my interpretation of smart casual into a more authentic, GoodGym-branded persona. Having planned the run after the mission, I shamelessly cheated my way to Swiss Cottage and found myself surrounded by handsome houses. Ms D lived in one of them. One could have envied her pretty household and gardens without knowing she couldn't enjoy them. Ms D suffered nerve damage in her leg due to an unsuccessful operation which dramatically reduced her mobility. All the moves she needed to maintain her garden: bending her knees, walking upstairs without a handrail, and kneeling were off-limits.

That was the second solo gardening mission in my GoodGym career, maybe the third. One volunteer, two gardens. The stakes were high! I asked about the most important job and Ms D directed me to a pathway that led to her back garden. I would find an abundance of garden waste to collect at the other end of the path that was surmounted by a number of arches. Surmounted might be an overstatement - the arches were exceptionally low and only a very short person would dare to walk below them without bowing their head down.

"Mind your head", Ms D warned me.

"Well, you have the perfect person for the job"

I consulted Ms D, who was always available nearby the entrance, a few times about the priorities. The final list of the jobs I did was:

1) Bagging old piles of garden waste from the backyard

2) Sweeping the leaves and petals in the back garden

3) Pulling some weeds from between the paving slabs

4) Sweeping the leaves in an archway which involved lifting some heavy cast iron bench parts

5) Hacking the overgrown jasmine in the front garden

6) Watering inaccessible big plant pots on the second level of the front garden

7) Deadheading the roses

As I just ran out of time and completed all my assignments, I said my goodbyes and ran all the way back home to West London.