It was great to be back on my first GoodGym outing since lockdown. And what a great one it was!

We arrived at Catton Grove Community Centre and were greeted by Linda. She told us that she needed help weeding and pruning the entire grounds, and that there was no such thing as 'too hard' pruning and to get rid of anything that we thought shouldn't be there. This was music to Brad's ears as he got to work cutting back a particularly unruly bush to just a stump! It ended up being a 3-person job so Bobby and Melanie got stuck in and helped.

I'm pretty sure I overheard Angelika say that she doesn't even like gardening, but she certainly gave some low-hanging branches a good seeing-to! She even posed very nicely while I was having technical difficulties taking a photo, so I'm certain she has guns of steel.

I started work on weeding an area by a pathway, but I soon realised that although I pulled out a lot of weeds I didn't have as much to show for it as the others did, so I got going on a bush near the back gate. I thought I was doing a great job until I got to one branch that was too thick for my secateurs, so I called Brad over to help me as he had some better shears. That was when he completely took over and started hacking at this poor bush to within an inch of its life. "I'm just doing what I was told!" He replied.

Well, he certainly got his comeuppance when he started dumping the cut branches on an old tree stump only to find that he'd disturbed an ants' nest. Guess who had to carry all the cuttings to the pile over on the other side of the garden...?

Andy discovered that the garages that back onto the community centre are due to be knocked down, demolishing a 1980s mural in the process. We'll have to make sure we get a good photo of it next week, especially as our job is to clear the weeds there.

We accomplished a lot in an hour - so it's exciting to know that we've got another two to help transform the grounds! Bobby had some great ideas for planting bulbs in a space under a tree, so maybe we'll end up going back to do that later on in the year.

Mel only lives nearby, so after we said goodbye the rest of us had a nice walk and a chat on the way home. I think we were all reminded of the magic of GoodGym - doing some good, and meeting some good friends along the way.