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.

The Sunday morning volunteering session at South Ealing Cemetery - a place that Ealing Parks Foundation transforms into a serene, green space, safe and friendly for the wider public to use - was powered by six GoodGymers. Jemma and Jo both joined for their second GoodGym task, while Maria, Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash were no strangers to the joys of Sunday morning Ealing sessions. Steph, Maria and Kash even got to do a solid warm-up earlier on in Lammas Park, with bodyweight exercises on the menu.

The workout-for-good at the cemetery was not a light one, despite the activity description promising planting geraniums. The space for plants had to be prepared first, which involved removing barrows and barrows of excess soil from the bed in front of the chapel. The amount of dirt the GoodGymers and other volunteers dug out and wheeled to the hidden parts of the cemetery could create a brand new flower bed!

Digging in the earth at the graveyard wouldn't be complete without someone excavating some suspicious bones in the process. Jo and Jemma were pondering where the remains came from.

"That bone is so small. Couldn't belong to a human!"
"Who knows - could be a bone from a pinky?"
"There are a lot of chicken shops and foxes nearby. They must have dragged this here."

Meanwhile, Sevan discovered different findings at the back of the cemetery: men's trousers and kids' orange football trainers, the latter in pretty good condition. The owners haven't been found, dead or alive.

While the rest of the team was pressing on to complete levelling the flowerbed, Maria started planting geraniums, and Jemma sprinkled the seed mix over the beds. Jane, the task owner, promised a display of colour as a reward in a couple of months when the plants would start to flower. She was also impressed with what an addition of GoodGymers brought to the community day.

"That's amazing. Without you, we would be digging that bed for three days!"

The geranium is only a temporary solution, and different flowers will be planted in the same bed in autumn. In the meantime, we are looking forward to seeing the area blossom when we run past it in the coming months.

Sunday morning, before the volunteering event at South Ealing Cemetery, saw a GoodGym takeover of the Lammas Parkour Park! A full-body workout Steph, Maria and Kash went through combined two rounds of pull-ups (or less demanding front rows), chin-ups, narrow and wide push-ups, bench step-ups, hanging leg raises, side-to-side jumps and sit-ups. The arms + legs + core session was particularly challenging yet rewarding for those who'd consider their upper limbs "chicken arms". Well done to those who haven't chickened out of the workout!

After completing the 20-minute routine, the team walked to South Ealing Cemetery, with a pit-stop for coffee, to do even more upper-body work, with digging and wheelbarrowing included!

This Saturday evening, Steph Ducat, Mourad and I met on the Strand to help Gurseva dish out their food. This evening it was a delicious smelling veggie biriyani.

It was wonderful to welcome Mourad to his first Goodgym session, and chat a little before the van arrived. Then we set to work, alongside the other volunteers, to dish out the biriyani, sandwiches, snacks and drinks. The queue was long today and we were a little worried we might run out. But I don't think anyone left empty handed in the end.

Once the food was gone, we very efficiently packed up. Until next time!

Haven't seen Mr R in a while and I was back to freshen up his front garden. The reason none of us were back is that he had a spinal operation and was in recovery. He is feeling better and wanted his front garden sorted as the weeds came back. I noticed that the strimmer was still in the entrance and when I asked if it was working, Mr R replied do you want to use it and can you check. I did and the battery still had some juice. I took the usual tools on top of the strimmer in order to dig roots etc

When I finished and buzzed Mr R, he was astonished what I did and just repeated a few times "What have you done?" - he was surprised that I did the whole garden on my own in one go. The Strimmer effect!!!He now will have the strimmer fully charged for us as seen the result of using it. Until next time for the back garden.

Back at Mrs I who has been in hospital the last week for an operation, so we said we would take it easy, but at the end we realised that we achieved a lot. More sorting and loads of bags ready for collection at the end of the month. One more session to seal the deal with the bag collector. This also means Mrs I will have loads of space in the conservatory : she can already walk freely in it...was not the case a few session ago.

Finally, the GoodGym team got to experience a proper spring day at Western Road this year! Everything seemed perfect: the morning was glorious, Janpal was back - after having to miss a couple of community days - with his trademark joviality, hospitality and refreshments. Ash brought his usual engineering insights and a vision of what the urban garden could become. With his head full of improvement ideas, we could never get bored at WRUG! Today's two projects had a lot to do with levelling and enhancing surfaces: around the polytunnel and the outside toilet.

The space behind the privy needed to be paved, and although the area wouldn't be immediately visible to the visitors, the slab laying deserved Swiss precision. Due to a lack of Swiss people, two French men, Maxime and Steph Ducat, volunteered to complete that technical task: laying a membrane, a layer of sand and carefully arranged slabs: heavy, but fragile. Armed with high spirits and a spirit level, they've done a tip-top job!

Meanwhile, GoodGym's Ash, Afshin, Sevan and Kash removed the weeds from the side and back of the polytunnel with shears and hoes.

"What should we do with the green waste?"
"Give them to the Dalek" - WRUG's Ash.

The designer of the Dalek-shaped compost bin at Western Road must have been a Doctor Who fan. Now, that begs a question whether at the next session we'd be repainting the outside toilet to look like TARDIS!

After levelling the ground by the polytunnel, the team was going to lay and peg down a 1 metre-wide sheet of Terram. The challenge was that Terram didn't come in that size. GoodGym's Ash, known as "good with the saw", volunteered to saw a thick piece of Terram roll, held in place by Afshin and Sevan. It turned out to be tough work...

"It's like cutting an anaconda" - WRUG's Ash.

...and a hazardous one.

"Sevan, don't breathe in this dust. Later, you might be growing a moustache... in your lungs!" - WRUG's Ash.

While we're still waiting on the development inside Sevan's lungs, our Ash didn't saw off anyone's finger. He made an even, clean cut in the Terram, which was then pegged down on the long side of the polytunnel. While Afshin and Ash cleared the back of the polytunnel and Sevan started spreading the last layer - woodchip - over Terram, Kash went to dig out some soil to fill the uneven ground.

"This soil is a bit lumpy." - Kash.
"It's perfect. The best soil for filling is a bit lumpy. Just like the best custard, a school dinner classic." - WRUG's Ash.

We took a break to enjoy delicious samosas, tea, coffee and fruit, including those big, sweet blueberries that no one knows where Janpal gets them from.

After the refreshments, the energy levels spiked. We completed levelling, Terraming and woodchipping the back of the polytunnel - more than WRUG's Ash anticipated. What an impressive result!

Next month, we will finish the work around the polytunnel to prevent the weeds from creeping in. There will also be also weeding as all the plants - wanted or not - feel the spring in the air and start growing like crazy! Sign up now.