Back at Mrs H, which I have been a couple of times to cut the grass in her front and back garden, trim her tree around the door entrance and do some path weeding. What else could need attention apart from the grass needing a small trim as regrown? Small refresh done!! The pond and rock feature needed attention as hijacked by bindweed, brambles, grass and wild flowers. You could not see the rock feature. Mrs H did some tea as said I needed to stay hydrated in this heat and work session. Had a visit from my friend the robin once again and am sure the robin thought it was dinner time. The rock feature is now visible and Mrs H said her husband spent loads of time keeping it looking nice when he was still alive and would be happy looking at it today. Bless her. Then I started removing weed more weed on the slabbed path that goes all the way to the back cabin.

Marathon week had arrived and the buzz was in the air from the very start — excitement, some nerves, and plenty of discussion about Sunday’s big event. If you’re around, come join us to cheer — it’s one of the best days of the year!

Last night we headed out in both walk and run groups towards the allotments in Chiswick, where our friends at Wild Chiswick had plenty lined up for us. We had a great turnout, so with all hands on deck and no shortage of jobs, we got stuck in.

There was watering to be done, a leaky pipe system to wrestle with, raised beds that needed weeding (carefully avoiding the fragrant mint plants), trees to be planted, and even the construction of a dead hedge. Everyone found a task and got moving quickly all set in beautiful surroundings. We even had a very friendly duck who was there to oversee our activities (hope there were no anatidaephobics there last night...).

Despite the season, it was surprisingly chilly — though the good news is that there are perfect conditions expected for those gearing up for the weekend’s races.

Good luck to all our marathoners taking on Sunday, to Florian heading to Hamburg for the half marathon, and of course to everyone getting their parkrun fix. A proper weekend of racing lies ahead, built on the back of a great evening of doing good together.

Same time next week — we’ll be back at Chiswick House!

Another visit at Mrs H as bush or tree around the main door needed trimming as overgrown, but also some weeding required in the front and back garden. Trimmed the rose and bushes along the wall in the front garden, then got up a ladder to start trimming the tree when I realised it was going all the way to the first floor window over the inclined roof about the entrance. I explained to Mrs H and she said I have a bigger ladder if you are ok to climb and cut the branches . As you know me I am not afraid of heights so got the foldable ladder and went and cut the branches...now you can see the tiles on the small roof. Then I got rid of the weed on the driveway while having a cuppa and Greek biscuits provided by Mrs H. Planes were passing regularly over my head. Was that because I was high up on a ladder reaching the sky ?Then I moved the the back garden to straighten the pole holding a massive rose plant : the rose was pushing the pole sideways...I just needed a hammer and some string to replant the pole in the sole and attach it to stay straight. The I sat on a stool to weed the slabbed pathway...much easier than being on my knees. The robin from my last visit was here again.

This morning’s mission was to help a lady who has always taken a lot of pride in her garden to keep it up to her high standards. Both her front and back garden used to be kept absolutely immaculate, and it’s clear how much it means to her to have everything looking neat and well cared for.

Mrs B finds it difficult to see her garden growing and needing tending to, but she can’t manage any tasks due to her health.

Mrs B provided the tools and asked me to weed and trim some plants, front and back, to keep things tidy. Mrs B came out to sit and talk while I was there and was very grateful for the support.

Mrs M has 3 jobs to complete in her garden. Cutting a tree down to size, trimming the front hedge and clearing the gutter of their garden storage. They were all jobs that Mr M used to do and was no longer able to, so Kash and Sevan had come to help.

There was only 1 ladder and a set of cutters, so the pair needed some creativity to make the most of the session. Sevan took a garden chair to reach up to the gutter. Even with the chair, his eyes were below gutter level, so everything was done by touch. It hadn't been cleared in a while. There was soil - probably decomposed plants - with new plants growing in it, all of which needed to be scooped out. A small fork turned out to be the perfect tool for skewering the soil and tipping it out and down to the ground.

Kash had the benefit of the ladder and the cutters. Mrs M had asked for the tree to be around 2m high, so Kash had to take off the top 40%. Like the gutter, it must've been a while since it was last cut down to size as it was much taller than Mrs M has asked for it to be. Trimming and packing took all of the session and caused Kash lots cuts and scrapes.

After finishing with the gutter, Sevan went to the front garden and tidied up the front hedge, ticking off the last item on today's list.

On Saturday afternoon, four GoodGymmers went to help out at the Hope Church in Hounslow. We had been asked to help clear the garden, a lovely outdoor area that was in need of some TLC, following the winter.

The spring sunshine was beaming down on us as we met Claire the Vicar, who set us up for the afternoon. Firstly, we moved the basketball net so we could get to the raised beds, as we had been asked to help clear the overgrown weeds that were creeping up around the planters. Gloves on, Augustin, Harrison, Lucy and Michelle filled wheelbarrows with weeds and moved them to an ever-growing compost area.

Once we had tackled the raised beds, there was another section of the garden overgrown with nettles and sticky weed and thistles. These were no match for us, as we got acquainted with the choppers and rakes and cleared as much as we could in the time we had. We chatted about football and marathons, and a bit like poor Leicester City will be this season, the weeds were soon relegated to the compost heap.

Claire had hoped we could go a great job, and we showed mettle with those nettles, and the difference was clear to see. She was very impressed and thanked us for our hard work, before we went our separate ways back to enjoy the rest of the day.