Kash and Sevan were back at Mr R's for some fast flipping. After turning his medical mattress over in September, it was now time to do a back flip and put the original side back on top. Mr R had stripped the bedding off, so 3 minutes after they'd entered, they were wishing Mr R well and running off to their next mission.

On another toasty mission, there were many smaller tasks that Mrs M needed help with in her back garden. Jobs that she used to do herself and more recently couldn't as she was too tired or unsteady on her feet.

First, Mrs M asked for 2 dead plants to be removed from their pots, some daffodils that hadn't flowered this year to be cut back and to trim and tie back and overgrown shrub. These 3 items were quickly completed, so was there anything else to do?

There were 2 roses to dispose of and some weeds and invasive plants to pull out. Again, Kash and Sevan worked through these too. Was there anything else?

"There is one non-gardening job that I need help with"
"Did you see the For Sale sign outside the house?"
"An estate agent put it up early this morning"
"I'm very angry. My house is not for sale" - Mrs M

Sevan grabbed some secateurs and snipped the fake sign's cable ties, wrapping up today's tasks.

For Kash and Sevan's 4th missionversary 🎂, like their first mission in 2022, groceries were involved and they were helping an old favourite, Mr G.

Mr G had a few new issues since last week's shopping mission and the most important one was that everything was disconnected from his home broadband. His provider switched out his router a few days ago and didn't connect any of his devices to the new wifi. As well as Mr G's wifi being out of tune, so was his hearing. Everyone had to shout to be heard by him, making all attempts to communicate pretty noisy.

On the upside, Mr G had also had an epiphany (or maybe a dis-cod-very) during the week. Why did he keep buying salmon that he didn't like when he really enjoyed cod? He got out a pen and a white label that he stuck over the salmon packaging and got Kash to write "fresh white cod" neatly in its place. It would do until he got around to making a new bundle of labels.

With the shopping list fishnished, Kash and Sevan set off to Sainsbury's and spilt up to get a few of Mr G's favourites and some new additions, including tortellini. They found everything except the often-out-of-stock ciabattas, buying some panini bread instead. As it turned out Mr G had recently decided that paninis were the better of the 2 so, this turned into a happy coincidence.

Back at Mr G's, he was very happy with his haul of cod, both breaded and natural. Kash helped pack some groceries away while Sevan explained the magic of tortellini and that it can easily be cooked from frozen. Another amazing dishcovery for Mr G this week.

On a Thursday evening, Acton Town station was the scene of many disappointed passengers facing the disrupted Piccadilly line and the end of their westbound journeys. It was also the meeting point for three GoodGymers, who had beaten the unreliable Tube by choosing to run (like Harvey) or walk (like Steph Ducat and Kash).

The day was hot and dry, but not as bad as a couple of days earlier, when the GoodGymers had almost melted on their way to the group run task. The breeze gently cooled the team on their brief jog to the Wildflower Trail to pick up watering cans. During such hot weeks, it seemed like everything was thirsty: the GoodGymers, the grass, trees, pigeons, and even the pavements. But nothing was as thirsty as the Monster of Acton.

To save the people of Acton from the tyranny of the beast, the brave trio, armed only with watering cans, walked to the Pokopia Garden sprawling in front of St Mary's Church and Morrisons. The monstrous garden was actually quite a handsome beast, with plenty of greenery and pictures of cute Pokémon dotted around. It was popular with children and their parents, who visited to explore the planters and take photos. Little did they know how much that garden could drink! Neither did the GoodGymers — so they filled their cans and started watering it.

The garden drank and drank and drank. The trio watered the planters and the Poké Ball terrariums. Then they poured even more water on them, watching how quickly the liquid soaked into the soil. And the garden drank and drank and drank. A lady appeared out of nowhere (or perhaps out of Morrisons) with a bucket of water, then quickly backed off, happy and relieved that the GoodGymers were on watering duty. The trio wouldn't have minded turning into a quartet, as the garden drank and drank and drank...

Harvey, Steph, and Kash eventually moved on to watering the "living wall" structure, which, despite still looking pretty cool, wasn't so lively anymore. Some of the plants had unfortunately dried out, and some trays no longer had any soil in them. But when the GoodGymers poured the water, the wall drank and drank and drank. The GoodGymers must have used 180 litres of water on the living wall alone, having to top up the trays that the water poured from the top couldn't reach. It was literally thirsty work.

After a good 50 minutes of hauling three cans between the water source and the dried-out planters, the monster was eventually satisfied — at least for the day — and calm enough to leave the people of Acton alone. The blissful residents could once again marvel at the wonders of the Pokopia Garden, totally unaware that the pretty beast could have sucked all the moisture out of them. Thank goodness we had GoodGym on duty! And what a Thirsty Thursday it has been!