I'm pleased to report that my running route from Ealing to Bunny Park in Hanwell looked pretty tidy and none of the spots shouted to me to stop and get my litter picker ready. I decided to pause the run at Boles Footbridge and clear the path leading to Greenford Road - it has proven to be pretty messy if you look closely!

Some litter was not easily accessible, blocked by brambles and nettles. It brought the memories of my awesome Grandpa, who always looked for ways to stay active. I was most impressed watching how he collected nettles with his bare hands to make feed for pigs! Thirty-something years later, I was wearing shorts on my evening litter pick and decided to pull my Grandpa's trick - just with bare legs, not hands. Maybe the nettle immunity comes with age? It was just a bit tingly experience—still tingles when I write this. Don't try it at home. I mean outdoors!

Behind a particularly difficult-to-access section, I came across insane amounts of Strongbow cans and cleared most of them. I collected a laughing gas container and two full bags of rubbish before I reached Greenford Road. 7km running distance in total and a good deed completed - a decent outcome for Friday evening!

Mr G was in a chatty mood tonight as he'd received stacks (literary) of old clothes that he was putting off sorting through. They reminded him of past regrets from designer clothes that he'd given away when Mr G felt like he shouldn't have. Sevan asked and it wasn't the value of the clothes nor that he still wanted to wear them that made him regret. Only the memories.

As always, Mr G had great memories of cavalier nights out and events from his youth. Even work involved parties after late night opening on Thursdays and he showed Sevan a few photos from his younger days.

Today, Mr G has changed to more of a cavolo than cavalier lifestyle. Sainsbury's were sold out of his favourite leafy brassica, cavolo nero, this week and Brussels sprouts are now out of season, so instead he'll need to adapt to a cabbage lifestyle for a few days. That sounds like a bit of a downgrade. Sainsbury's were actually sold out of a few Mr G regulars, so some suitable subtitutions were made to keep his fridge stocked up.

Lunch service over and takeaway boxes all done and given away, it was time to clean not only the kitchen but the foyer and the dining area. As Eliz enjoyed it so much, she stayed to help cleaning in the kitchen : scrubbing pots and pans. Steph Ducat was also on cleaning and packing duties in the kitchen. Hopefully we did not burn any dishes so the pots and pans were not burn and all sticky especially when doing custard.

Lunch service was nearly starting and Jacquie joined the kitchen area to serve guests from 1pm. Steph Ducat was in the kitchen and ready to fire out plats to the hungry crew. Eliz joined Goodgym recently and this was her 1st session at ESK : she was in the kitchen and was at the serving station beside Steph Ducat and Mary. Eliz was plating plates with Steph Ducat. Eliz was in her element and was in full swing with the team getting hot food out to hungry guests. So today we had finger licking roast chicken with home made mash, some vegetables and lovely gravy. Veggie sausages were also available. Flap-tastic flavors today in the kitchen. The swiss rolled in after the main course : homemade custard was served as a must at ESK : no dessert without custard.

Jacquie and Steph Ducat were back at ESK with a normal service resuming. Food deliveries today and all the usual sessions were happening today. Jacquie was helping at the grocery section and preparing with other volunteers the grocery and snack bags. In the meantime Steph Ducat was back in the kitchen. What was cooking in the kitchen : chicken, potatoes, vegetables, gravy, veggie sausages, swiss rolls and custard to create a perfect meal for hungry customers. Potatoes became mash, chicken was roasted, vegetables were cut and then oven baked. At the bag section, some easter eggs were left over from last week so they were put in the bags.

Cultivate had a big group of volunteers again this morning at Ealing Hospital, with plenty of corporate volunteers, locals, hospital staff and GoodGymers. Carrying on from last week's session, there were 2 areas to work on:

1. Raking, leveling and sowing the next set of flower beds, close to the staff car park
2. Fixing up the bird deterrents from last week's completed flower beds

Today's GoodGymers split to opposite ends of the site, with Rebekah near the entrance, keen to repair the shiny, fluttery tapes that she and others had attached last week to scare birds away from their newly sown seeds. Chris and Sevan went to prepare the new beds by leveling the soil and removing any large things that shouldn't be there.

The shiny streamers had drooped to the ground since they were placed a week ago. The wind had blown them around and they had slowly slipped down their canes, so instead of flying over the flower beds, birds were doing that instead. Rebekah tied the strands together to make a complicated spider's web that should stay put, working her way along the existing beds.

On the opposite side of the car park, Chris and Sevan were moving soil and searching for big rocks, making Sevan think of Primal Scream for some reason. It was mostly bricks that they unearthed, with Chris declaring that he'd discovered a small meteorite too. The rocks were taken out and by midday, the soil was raked and almost ready for planting by the afternoon seed crew.

Get your rocks out, get your rocks out, honey
Rake it now, now, get'em out downtown

🤷