Linda

James and Dharmesh cycled in to the Food Bank, Keith arrived on foot, Linda was doubling as a driver so had came by car.

Two members who had signed up did not show up which can be irritating but James, Linda and Dharmesh are old hands at this and less people are using the food bank at the moment so being depleted in numbers did not matter so much. Pretty soon over 30 loads were bagged up and the subsequent box breaking completed. We also had the added bonus of Keith signing up at the last minute and arriving in time to help out with the admin to allocate drivers. Apart from a last minute juice distribution which was knocking on its sell by date everything went very smoothly.

Well done everyone

Had a lovely cycle to the SHP Allotments and arrived to a very warm welcome. They had 5 people working with them today.

It was decided to give up on trying to harvest any more from the beds and to rip up what was left. The guy I was working with was a bit shy of speaking English but he clearly knew about gardening and we amiably made ourselves understood as we worked alongside each other. We made short work of pulling up the old planting, digging it over and raking it smooth.

Others were doing watering, taming the colossus walnut tree and general maintenance. After months of limbo it’s good to see things finally taking shape and to have a plan to work towards.

Everyone said they’d enjoyed the session even those unable to participate but had been glad to be out in the fresh air.

I am unable to give a full report on my weekly “coach” visit this week. As when we were having our usual tea and chat the conversation turned to family secrets and we found ourselves in mischievous mood, telling much more about our family histories than we would normally admit too. And that’s all I’m saying…what’s said at coach visits sometimes stays at coach visits 🤐 🤫 😉

What a lovely warm evening for a group run!

Run, Forest, run! Or Walk!

After a brief hello and an intro we separated into two groups - one group walked (in a leisurely manner it must be said, checking out fitness equipment around the lake and enjoying a wonderful sunny evening) towards Hainault, whilst the running group went around the park catching up with the walkers at the lake and then back at sports grounds to walk to the station for a task together.

Blooming Marvelous

We were joined at Hainault Station by the area manager Lorraine and got to work! Jay, Dharmesh and Lottie were responsible for creating a lovely green display at one of the indoor planters and it must be said, they did a fantastic job!

In the meantime, Hélène and John were responsible for a arm-workout that was watering of planters! It was very deceiving to think you've watered well as the planters needed a lot of water to get all the way through the roots and soil but these two did a marvelous job to keep the blooms going!

Linda, Sharon and James made sure that all planters were clear of any litter and the job of dead-heading the flowers was accomplished before planting out beautiful pansies for winter to keep the colour going for all to enjoy! Extra kudos to Linda for being the photographer of the night!

Over and done and running in the dark

Once we finished, a few folks walked back to their home directly form the station whilst another half ran back to Fairlop Waters, the evening was dark but it was soooo lovely. Overall we ran 4.7km and walked 2.3km, not bad for a Monday evening! Well done to everyone who also walked/ran/cycled to the session - additional activity to keep you and the air fit and healthy:)

Park Run fresh and buzzing from his new PB James jogged to the allotments while Linda cycled alongside. We arrived to find a hungry scavenger had dragged a rubbish bag through the fence so that was bagged up again, put back roadside and reported to LBR. Linda showed James how to check if the walnuts were ready, she had learned her lesson from scraping them back with her fingernails and having blackened stained hands for a week, so gloves and secateurs were used this time. We then picked all the pear tree leaves affected by the Pear Rust fungal infection and destroyed them. James then inspected the ailing plum trees and sadly pronounced them dead. After a quick tidy up it was time to lock up and go.