With Julia on her holidays , it was down to Mr R to leas the task and write the report so her it is !

Four GoodGymers were back at one of our favourite good weather tasks today. For a large part of the day, it looked like the weather might be against us, but the clouds moved on, and the warmth of the evening sun accompanied us during the task.

Weed ‘i’d alright

Rik greeted us with an apology (see Julia’s report from last week) and the news that parishioners had noticed a real difference along the wall of the church we had worked on last week. Whenever we come here, we can always see the difference we make; it’s great to get feedback that the work we do is noticed and appreciated.

Weed been here before

Today’s task was to clear the weeds around the front and side of the old air raid shelter. It’s a task we’ve tackled on many occasions, but nature will have its way. Ricky tackled the side wall where the brambles had chosen not to cling to the wire we had attached to encourage them to reach skywards. Charlie, Anne, and John tackled the front. Did we make a difference? Yes, we did! It was great to wind up our efforts just as Anne brushed clean the path that GoodGym had laid many tasks ago!

From Julia

Thank you all and John for helping me tonight !

When a Task Goes Slightly Off the Rails...

After a somewhat concerning sign-up sheet showed just two names earlier in the day, we were delighted when a magnificent eight GoodGymers appeared at St Botolph's Church ready for an evening of weeding and good deeds.

Sadly, our enthusiasm wasn't quite matched by the task preparation! Due to a slight mix-up with dates from our lovely hosts, Rik and Val, we arrived to find ourselves very much left to our own devices. With no hosts in sight and only a handful of tools available, it was time for some GoodGym improvisation.

Fortunately, John's legendary backpack stash came to the rescue. Producing enough tools to keep us occupied, we set about tackling the weeds around the edges of the church grounds. It wasn't quite the grand gardening mission we'd anticipated, but plenty of weeds met their demise nonetheless.

A particular highlight of the evening was welcoming back Roxy and Mali. It was fantastic to see them again after a while away. However, one important question remains unanswered: what happened to the puppy version of Mali?! Somewhere along the line, that tiny pup has transformed into a fully-grown dog before our very eyes. You might say she’s really grown into the role

Despite the damp-squib nature of the task, spirits remained high, conversations flowed, and the church grounds are looking a little tidier than before. We may have turned up for a major gardening project and ended up with a minor one, but when life gives you weeds, we pull them out !

The good news is that Rik and Val will be expecting us next week, when hopefully we'll be tackling the task that was originally planned. Unfortunately, I won't be there as I'll be away on holiday, so the group will be in the very capable hands of John

I'm sure he'll keep everyone rooted to the task... and if not, he'll probably have the right tool for it hidden somewhere in that backpack!