Today's weather was temperamental to say the least, which made it fairly standard for doing a gardening mission. Suzanna (today's mission mate) and I were a little concerned when the hail started about an hour or so before we were due to arrive, but thankfully it cleared up relatively quickly and we were left to brief showers punctured with sunshine. And wind. Lots of cold, bone-biting wind 🌪️

Mrs R was especially concerned with the effect of the weather on our health: She'd recently been released from hospital and the resulting lack of mobility had made her feel draughts keenly. We assured her that we would be fine (I had four layers on!), and set to work.

Mrs R had asked us to help tidy up her garden to make it ready for spring. Not really knowing what that meant, I was very glad of the direction she gave us at the beginning of the mission and for the regular updates throughout!

Mostly, the tasks involved cutting down shrubs, leaves and flowers. This had the effect of making everything look slightly worse, but Suzanna reminded me that short term ugly will lead to long term beauty. Here's hoping that bears fruit this summer!

As we worked, we enjoyed an eclectic collection of conversation topics. Some of these were more conventional (such as different parts of London that we've lived, GoodGym stuff, etc.). Some of these were less conventional (such as the size of a cat's anus when trying to determine whether the poo I had just put my hand in originated from a cat or or dog). We also discussed Suzanna's love of one of Mrs R's knives, which was excellent for slicing through some of the vegetation, and pondered the eternal question that every girl has when posing with a knife: does this knife make me look like a serial killer? 😅

After we'd worked for about an hour and a half, we accepted some refreshments from Mrs R (including Suzanna's first Topic, of which she very much approves) before making our way home. Hopefully we can return and help out Mrs R when it's a bit warmer so that she can enjoy sitting outside and chatting while we work 😊