There are a few signs we watch out for to mark the beginning of spring. Warmer weather, blossom on the trees, lighter nights - and a return to our regular visits at Chiswick House! It must mean a change of season is afoot, as last night we met Chris the head gardener in the depth of the dark gardens.

While we couldn't really see the transformation over the months we had missed because of the dark, we were told that there had been a lot of planting going on. Over 3000 bulbs were popping up, and there were plenty of new trees. There was something magical about being in the park when nobody else was allowed in, the only sounds the swoop of roosting birds and rustling in the undergrowth.

We were in between the Obelisk and the cascade where the team had discovered a pathway which has been hidden by years of mud and woodchip. Our job was to use spades to lift up everything that was hiding the path so that it could be used as it was originally intended again.

It wasn't as straightforward as it first seemed. At some points we were digging deeper and deeper with no path to see. We feared it might be one of those tasks where we actually made it worse than we were first started, but before long we hit our stride. It was a tough workout but when we took a break to see how far we had come there was an impressive distance of old path behind us.

There was plenty of chat, and even more singing as we worked. The puns were coming thick and fast, and kudos to goes to Michelle for this week's tuneful run report title!

This weekend why not find time to make a difference in an elderly person's life by signing up to this Age UK Saturday friendship club in Chiswick? Or help improve the river habitat next week?. There is plenty to choose from!

The morning mist had burnt off, revealing a glorious sunny day, by the time I strolled over to Mr K's flat to help with his shopping. We had a lovely chat, swiftly moving on from global politics to more pleasurable topics such as holidays in France and, of course, football.

Ignoring the impulses drawing me to the items favoured by my more regular GoodGym shopping client, I managed to find all of Mr K's items in the supermarket quite quickly- with one exception. His regular staple order of tins of beef casserole was completely out of stock.

So I gathered a selection of alternative meat-in-sauce tins which were received with characteristic politeness by Mr K...let's hope he likes them.

There was proof that treasures can be found in the most unlikely places at our task last night! On our travels round Hounslow over the years we've not always uncovered the most savoury of items during our tasks. We've found old shoes on river picks, blown tyres by the side of the A4, and some more unmentionable things in the bushes in various Chiswick parks. However, read on to find out what we discovered in the shrubs at a local school...

We started off the evening by welcoming Maxime to his very first session. Give him a big GG cheer! Great to have you join us on the run, Maxime.

We needed a good warm up in the chilly conditions, so after waking up the legs we set off for Strand on the Green school. We arrived to find Kymm, Luis and Gus waiting for us, and quickly divided up into teams to tackle the two main jobs.

While Maxine, Kymm and Jon were on rock moving duty, Khai, Michelle, Luis, Gus and Chris began the challenge of clearing away an overgrown area, roots and all. It wasn't easy going for either group, as both took a lot of elbow grease. But as the car park team clipped and pulled, hacked and tugged, something shiny started to appear. Was that a wheel? A handlebar? Some spokies? That's right - they found a perfect bike, which had been preserved by the branches growing around it. Of all the things you can find hidden in the overgrowth, that ranks pretty highly.

Meanwhile the rock shifters had done a fine job moving wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of heavy stones over to the site to be laid on membrane once the ground is ready. What a workout!

Excellent effort everybody! A few dates for your diary:

• Next week marks the beginning of spring in Hounslow as [we are back for our regular visit to Chiswick House} (https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/back-to-chiswick-house-1af59017-4d44-4e05-b55f-7e6401ab531c)

• The weekend after there is brand new friendship club starting at Age UK in Chiswick which will be a lovely session

• We're starting regularly volunteering with Osterley junior parkrun on Sundays

• Come and celebrate International Women's Day at GoodGym wit a fun task and run - everybody welcome!

It was the second week of our task supporting Abundance London getting rid of all those never ending leaves that were clogging up the beds on Chiswick High Rd and stopping oxygen getting to the bulbs which had been carefully planted by the charity earlier on in the year. With some massive plane trees right above them, we had filled no fewer than 14 bags last week but there was still masses to do!

Happily there was even more positivity in the air than usual on a Wednesday, thanks to some lovely returning faces! So, after meeting Rosemary from Abundance we pulled on our gloves and got to work filling Hounslow council sacks.

As bag after bag was quickly stuffed with dry and rotting leaves and the carefully planted bulbs were freed, we chatted about all things running. There are some brilliant races coming up - good luck with trainign everybody who is taking on the challenge. If you have any specific requests for our fitness sessions (which Lucy guarantees are going to be definitely, conclusively, regularly happening as soon as the weather picks up) then don't hesitate to let me know and I'll plan some suitable ones.

After 45 minutes hard work we posed for a group photo with some unusually good lighting thanks to the electrics shop behind us, and took a steady run back to base for stretches. Next week we're back to Strand on the Green school to help out with various jobs - hope to see you there!

Three GGers braved the mud to bundle pollarded withies on Chiswick eyot- and that is a series of words that can only be used in this niche context! Their efforts mean that the historic eyot will be protected from invasive crabs and will stay intact for hopefully years to come. Great work everybody! A special welcome to Pezhman who joined for his first session!

Shopping for Mr K, not Louise. But I’m running out of puns.