September already! Our monthly visit to the Carriers of Hope took a new turn this evening with a field trip out to the Earlsdon Allotment – a beautiful plot right next to Earlsdon School Allotment. Who would have guessed!

Six GoodGymers turned up: Jackie, Laura, Lucy, Anne, Nigel and myself. We all met at the task and got stuck in.

The garden was wonderfully organised and clearly well looked after, thanks to Anne, a long-time trustee of Carriers of Hope who took it on and has kept it going. with the help of volunteers. We were warmly greeted by Anne, Gloria and Maxine. Anne told us a little about the plot and how great Gloria is at growing vegetables, then set us various tasks. Before long we were all busy. Lucy and Anne tackled taking down the beanpoles, weeding and turning over the soil in one of the beds. Laura and Jackie cleared another bed, weeding, turning the soil and making sure every last bit of bindweed was out. Nigel teamed up with Maxine (Gloria’s lovely daughter) to clear and harvest the potatoes – and there were quite a lot of them! Maxine decided to play “guess our ages” and was absolutely spot on. I am 35 and not a day older; Nigel is doing well at 46. Maxine is welcome back any time! There was no shortage of jobs: pruning, clearing, weeding and carting everything off to the compost. Gloria kindly made us cups of tea and coffee, plus cakes – we were very well looked after.

All the harvested veg and fruit go to St Mark’s World Food Hub. There were so many potatoes that we each took a couple home, and I have to say they were delicious. We finished the evening by singing Happy Birthday to Gloria, whose birthday is coming up very soon. Best to ask Maxine how old she’s going to be – lol! A really great end to a lovely evening.!

Another sunny day, though a little cooler than the lovely hot weather we’ve been enjoying for most of the summer. Had an enjoyable bike ride from Ball Hill to Canley, and another trip to visit the wonderful Mrs J and finish cutting her massive back lawn. The grass was looking a bit thirsty after the long dry spells we’ve had this year. This time I got right through it — it’s all had a proper trim now and just needs a bit of weeding and strimming round the edges and pathways. Always great to catch up and chat with Mrs J. She was very grateful, as always, for my efforts today. We chatted about food, herbal remedies and health, great conversation before I headed home .