When she opened the door, Mr K's wife couldn't believe I ran 10 km from Shepherd's Bush to Hanwell to help her and her husband. I didn't know her name then, so let's call her Mrs K. The lady handed me her pride: sharp and sturdy loppers with extendable arms she had bought for a tenner from a charity shop. That was the only tool I needed. Mrs K had a few jobs for me, and - surprisingly - all of them fitted the description: trimming the bushes.

While I was pruning this year's growth of a small tree, Mrs K collected and packed all the trimmings. She chatted with me and helped me throughout the whole task, as she liked to remain active despite her arthritis and diabetes. She held the ladder when I climbed it to chop down every branch and bramble that tried to creep into Mr and Mrs K's garden from each of the three next-door gardens. At some point, I was sitting on a hot tin roof to reach the tops of the trees attacking from the neighbouring garden at the back.

We finished with the garden in 75 minutes, but not with the tin! Mrs K invited me inside her living room to meet Tin Tin, her boy parrot. Tin Tin didn't want to say he loved me or even say a word. Mrs K suggested I play some music and see how he dances. The bird didn't appreciate the Polish punk rock from the 2000s but bounced his head a bit to more energetic Middle Eastern DJs' music.

I stayed for tea and chat with Mrs K (Tin Tin still refused to talk to me). The tea was hot, so the lady made me a glass of lassi to drink first. She was so friendly that she gave me the recipe and some pink salt so that I could make lassi at home. I turned down the offer of Indian sweets and biscuits as I didn't have a sweet tooth, but Mrs K insisted that I at least take an orange. Mrs K enjoyed the company as she often felt lonely while staying home to look after her housebound husband, whom I haven't met. When it was time for me to leave, Mrs K went outside to see how I was running back. When I was halfway through her street, I realised that despite spending two hours with this lovely lady, I still hadn't learned her name.