Rough around the Hedges

If the winter visit that Sevan and Kash paid Mrs L was a sequel to a summer blockbuster, you might think that the producer must have made some budget cuts. This time there was no loud party with the Hindi music next door, the location was moved from the spacious back garden to the front, and the dog star didn't even come to the set. The props also suffered cuts and Kash was left with rather dull shears in place of an electric hedge trimmer - the justification being the wet grass.

Due to the rainfall, grass mowing and large-scale hedge trimming were cancelled, and Sevan and Kash were asked to remove a patch of weeds and cut back the hedges in front of Mrs L's house.

Sevan, as usual, took his weeding task with great zeal and diligence. He dealt with the most obvious weeds with a hoe, then get into details, trying to save the grass which grew between patches of weeds. He discovered so much hidden rubbish that people walking on the street must have thrown into Mrs L's garden that he could tick off a litter pick that day, along with gardening and junior parkrun volunteering!

When Kash was satisfied enough with her manual hedge trimming, she joined Sevan in weeding. She immediately managed to attract copious amounts of mud to her shoes - how she does it, only heaven knows. At that point, it became clear that Mrs L wanted to remove all the vegetation from the wild area, including the grass. Sevan and Kash employed a fork to speed up the delivery of that big task. The result was not ideal but the spot has been mostly cleared of unwanted plants and moss.

Throughout the task, Mrs L asked the GoodGymers maybe 20 times whether they wanted anything to drink. She also queried whether they know any train buffs as she had stacks of railway magazines dating back to the 80s to give away. She shared some great news about her promising cancer remission. Hopefully, her treatment continues to go well, and she will be able to tend to her house and garden with less pain and more energy.