A great turnout this evening on our second visit to the team at INUF on the Romford Road - welcome to Abdul on his first GoodGym mission, and a welcome back to Miguel after a two and a bit year GG hiatus - it was also great to see Steven and Bianca again, along with Brad, Hilary, Adam and Nick. We also welcomed Dilly who was here to take some "action shots" for the various social media feeds.

We weren't quite sure what was in store for this evening's activity, but we knew it would involve the garden...and probably not involve (sadly) any more wooden chair destruction.

Except it didn't, at least not initially, as we were tasked with moving wooden frames and panels from their drop-in kitchen area round to the back of the building where the Chair Smashing Olympics had taken place a fortnight ago - this time an added hazard had been introduced in the shape of a car that was now parked a lot closer to the footpath and made access just a little tricky.

With the wood disposed of, we split into smaller groups to declutter the garden - one group was heavily into branches and sticks, whilst the other got seriously knee deep into the weeding, and if ever proof were needed that with 10 pairs of gloved and motivated hands we can get a lot done, by the end of the session (just as the rain drops were starting to fall), we'd largely cleared the garden per our leader's instructions - 8 black bags full of weeds, and enough kindling to light a large bonfire were proof of our collective efforts - a very productive Tuesday evening's work all round.

All was well on a beautiful Sunday morning, when I made my way to Mrs A' house. I had a very warm welcome, some instructions on what to do, put on my gloves and got to work! Mr A has a beautiful corner in this world but need some love and care!! After moving some pots, trimming back some plants, plucking out some weeds, my mission was done!! And to top the lovely hospitality of Mr A, got treated to some Elderflower and some water!! All is well in the world!!

Miguel and John met Mrs L who had craftily organised to borrow her neighbour's brown bin ('they're £7!') ahead of a major trimming sesh.

First up were the brambles ("not the ones with the blackberries on") ✅ then a "strange small tree" (we had no idea either). ✅ It was not plain sailing, however, as the one pair of hedge trimmers available were as blunt as a Blunt family reunion, and about as effective as slapping the plants with a tea towel.

Cue an emergency break to completely dismantle the choppers (ball bearings EVERYWHERE), stick the handles back on (they fell off again) and sharpen them on a brick. ✂️🧱🙃

The onset of rain only fuelled our fire, and by the end of the session, two of the garden's three borders were cleared and tidied. The gnomes could see daylight again! People could use the path! The strange small tree was slightly smaller!

Now all we need is some sunshine for Mrs L to get out into her yard and enjoy all that space. 🌞