Rain all day stopped play at the church where some painting was needed. We met at the gym hoping the clouds wouldn't follow through with any more of the wet stuff and set off for a pre-litter picking jog.

Andy explained he was picker extraordinaire after his festival volunteering at the weekend, which Jane watched with home comforts although I do understand you could buy a ticket for your chair if you wanted to bring it with you.

Sallyann proved she should have been a hostage negotiator after getting exactly what she wanted for upcoming retirement. Maybe it's not too late to retrain. Leah didn't let the chain link fence stand in her way and aggressively retrieved junk that people were clearly tossing into difficult spaces for fun (why?!).

Fay will be available for any eligible bachelors to try on the abandoned flipflop over the weekend but I'm not sure that it will guarantee a marriage proposal, possibly some Marriage's animal feed given the location.

This week we went to Meadow View Cottage for a spring clearup of all the weeds that had sprung up since our last visit.

Regulars in the toolshed we cracked out the bags, forks and all the left handed gloves we could find and broke the task down into three groups.

Benedict, Laurie and I unearthed the compost bins under the watchful eye of a robin.

Jane took many stings for the team as she Mohammed, Andy and Rich cleared the area beside the pond.

Fay and Sallyann weeded Leah out of the flower beds with the lovely new Livia who came along for her first session!

After blasting through the to-do list the crew ran off into the sunset (and into banana tree).

• We were diggin' in the rain,
• Just diggin' in the rain,
• What a glorious feeling,
• Doing Goodgym again!
• I'm laughing at Martin
• So dark up above,
• The runs in my heart and we're ready for love!
• Let the stormy clouds chase
• Everyone at sexy pace,
• Come on with your rain,
• I've got a smile on my face!
• I'll walk down to see Jane
• With a happy refrain,
• Just diggin'', diggin' in the rain!

Oh, and Sallyann dug up loads of bulbs she should't have done, Martin stabbed a fork through his head, and Mohammed brought an umbrella!

We met in the sunshine and it was great to see Dawn back for her 2nd run. Leah and Jess had messaged to say they would be a couple of minutes late and that we could leave without them, but at Goodgym no-one gets left behind , we move as one.

While we waited for them we heard about Andy's holiday and Joel's tour of Chelmsford cafes and other eating establishments. Leah and Jess arrived and 9 goodgymers set off to the task.

Jane led the way ( sporting her new Goodgym tshirt) and the directions were simple: run down the high street until you reach Toast, then turn left. After a short run along the river we arrived at Hearing Help Essex for the task; weeding the paths and raised flowerbeds that had overgrown. I had found some tools in the greenhouse as the shed was locked and everyone set to work. Fay and Sallyann were already there getting stuck in and appeared to be the only ones to read the memo about bringing gardening gloves. Dawn and Mohammed did a great job on the path, while Richard took a rake to the back bed, bringing out some giant leaves. Jane and Joel wrestled up some of the deep rooted weeds, while Leah and Jess started on the path next to the pond. There were plenty of prickles and nettles but Andy found a way to bundle them up using massive leaves. Before long we'd filled 3 large rubble bags with weeds and the garden looked ready to be re planted and enjoyed in the summer.

We put the tools away, admired the beautifully painted picnic benches ( our hard work from a previous task) , compared stinging nettle injuries, and enjoyed a chatty run back. Great Run EVERYONE!

Next week we will leafleting with either the amazing David or the wonderful Laurie

until then,

RUN HAPPY

Rich

Lo and behold another Wednesday, another lovely GoodGym.

Leah turned up first, wearing a full puffer jacket like an absolute psychopath in the blazing 13 degree sunshine before ripping her sleeves off to make it a gilet.

Mohammed quickly signed up before the deadline, fresh from taking four minutes off his Parkrun personal best this weekend, great work! It was great to meet Dawn who had seen us on Facebook too! As a former teacher, she could be the best we've had at actually remembering people's names.

We ran to Tyrells school to get dug in. Martyn built a trench while sadly letting me know that jerusalem artichokes are actually awful to prepare so when they're finally grown they wont even be nice. Which is annoying. Russell decided to break a fork and complain about having to go to the office to work. I took some lovely photos, all of them seem to have Ben in: pogo stick attempt, sitting on a window ledge, group shot, or even just his thigh in the 'after' pic! Fay told us about a genuinely remarkable good deed she did this weekend. I'd only asked her if she had any hilarious dating stories for the run report... As we left we noticed Sallyann appeared to have a poop bag with her...no questions were asked about what she dug up.

We ran back a slightly shorter route than planned, took a photo and Dawn saved me with a lift home.

Great running and moving of earth! Bit of a wild task I know but it all helps prepare the area for the children to have as a sustainable, outdoor space.