9 GoodGymers caught some good deeding on the hottest night of the year!

The sun-seekers were out in full force in Camden on Wednesday evening, and our brilliantly altruistic group joined them with community purpose in mind!

This wonderful lot — Alex, Denzel, Giulia (on their first good deed — welcome!), Jackie, John, Lydia, Mariam, and Thierry — met in Kentish Town to gift time and energy to the residents at Cressfield Close Sheltered Housing!

Together we:

💚 Decanted two large planters ready for fresh blooms this spring!

💚 Took out (roots and all!) enough weeds to fill a wheely bin!

💚 Raked out brambles and nettles leaving a hedgerow with the room to thrive!

💚 Spread ‘spent hops’ to fertilise and enrich the sun-soaked soil!

Thank you, everyone! Here’s to next time!

Goodness we covered a lot of ground this afternoon either side of me heading out to do the shopping (hurrah, Sardines in Olive Oil are back on the shelves at M&S) - pharmacists (good and bad, mostly bad in Mr T's opinion), printing unions, life in Clapton in the early 70s, and finally...I steered Mr T onto today's most important topic, which was who to back for tomorrow's big race. He was (moderately) impressed that I'd clearly done some homework on who the fancied runners are, and shared with me his tips...suffice to say (as was the case last year) he can't see beyond an Irish trainer taking the top prize - in turn I won't repeat my amateur error of last year and ignore his advice...

...was what made up most of Miss V's rubbish disposal request this week. Fortunately the routine is now a familiar one, and as I'd called in advance, she had the bags and boxes outside her front door ready for collecting and disposing of in the communal bins downstairs.

Friendly Mr R was so very grateful that I'd made it to his front door this afternoon in the sunshine - his list was on his phone, so (as is the modern way) I just took a picture of it...and then commented to him that it looked more like a gym workout than a list. He said the priority items were at the top of the list...

So for the first time I found myself lifting the shopping basket in Aldi every so often just to check I would be able to actually carry everything home in both arms, and limiting myself once I'd reached maximum capacity (the water and peanut butter could wait for another trip), rather than budget or availability.

The sweat pouring off my nose when I knocked on Mr R's door with longer arms than I'd set out with told the story...

Good to catch up with Mr T again this afternoon and I'd barely sat down before he updated me on his week, suffice to say it seemed we had a lot to catch up on...his list was a combination of the usual suspects from Tesco and Lidl, although we both feared that Sardines in Olive Oil would remain elusive (they were), and he asked that I also pick up some multivitamins for him too from H&B.

Once I was back with all the treasure, we turned our attention to hanging the sets of curtains that I'd collected for him a few weeks ago. Having realised they were much longer than his existing set (and so would drape over the radiators blocking the heat), we agreed that trimming them was the way to go - so with tape measure, scissors and the existing curtains to use as a template, I applied my amateur tailoring skills to get them to approximately the right length, and then rehung them using the existing curtain wire.

Mr T was delighted with the job, and I was rewarded not only with a cup of tea but a bag of carrots and potatoes too...Good Fridays don't get much better than this.

7 GoodGymers climb Camden rooftops to taste some spring nature!

The Greenwood Centre in Kentish Town is a mix of levels — some close to the ground and others closer to the sky — with special community gardens on each!

And this wonderful group — Gary, Jackie, Karen, Loz, Mariam (on their first good deed — welcome!), and Thierry — made a meaningful difference in multiple spaces yesterday!

Having been met by our brilliant host, Catherine, this super productive crew:

💚 Removed (and saved!) a large and green (and exceptionally leafy) plant in need of a new home!

💚 Moved a heavy grit bin (along with upmteen sacks of gravel) to much more suitable spot!

💚 Cut and bagged a lot (an awful lot!) of green waste ready for composting!

💚 Transported a heavy (30, 30, 50KGs...!?) planter to a sunny new home!

💚 Watered garlic and spring flowers and all sorts of thirsty shoots!

Thank you, everyone!

P.S. Thank you, Thierry, for the wonderful rooftop photos!