Mint Condition

I ran over 5 km to Mrs R, mainly along a long stretch of Great West Road. When I was about to ring the bell to Mrs R's house, her daughter opened the door and was about to leave. My arrival changed the plans. I came in and introduced myself to the whole family: mum, dad, and two daughters who came from another city. I was very keen to get acquainted with Lily the Cat but she had an operation recently and was resting on the sofa, wearing a special collar.

The garden in need was well-maintained and pretty. All it needed was to weed the flower beds. Mrs and Mr R's daughters have been helping out as much as they could but, since they didn't live in London, they couldn't stay on top of the weeds. Their parents couldn't maintain the garden in good condition either. Mrs R was active and lively but suffered from dementia. Despite still being a keen gardener, she could no longer organise the beds of flowers and vegetables in a way that made sense. Mr R, on the other hand, retained his sharp mind but didn't have such a strong body anymore.

After offering me some cold water, the daughters left to drive back to their city. I picked a bag with a range of weed-aid tools and got to work. I removed all the weeds in sight as well as some strawberry and mint plants that were invading too much space in the beds. As one of the daughters had suggested, I was consulting mostly Mr R about the gardening job. He was very keen to classify anything as a weed. I was then corrected by Mrs R who had a different opinion about what a weed is.

When I completed my task, Mr and Mrs R asked whether I would like to eat something and whether I need a lift. It was a lovely offer. I was indeed pretty hungry but I had to run to Bixley where I would finally open my lunchbox and then indulge in... wait for it... even more weeding at the allotment!