Sunday 20th September 2015
Find out about GoodGym TaskForce
It was a surprisingly sunny morning when Patrick and Anna set out for Ingrid's house for their mission. Patrick took a couple of wrong turns, getting slightly confused by all the Amhurst's on the way, but found the correct route just in time to save Anna from getting very lost indeed looking for Ingrid's front door. (reminding Anna of this )
Luckily, Patrick had been to Ingrid's before - there have already been a couple of missions to help Ingrid regain control of her very overgrown garden, and this was to be the last - dismantling a swing and a final push at weeding. Unfortunately, there'd been a bit of a communication mix-up and there were no suitable tools to dismantle the swing (despite Patrick's trusty rucksack having a few tools in them, they were missing an all important wrench).
There was still a good bit of weeding to do though, so after a couple of "before" pictures, Patrick and Anna set to it. At first they thought the big fork and shovel Ingrid had were going to be overkill for the weeding task at hand, but quickly realised that actually, they were really helpful in digging out the massive roots of very established dandelions. The determination of the belligerent Taraxacum officanale root was proven by one that had grown through plastic rubbish in the soil. Great satisfaction was taken in "rooting out" the pesky weeds.
A quick pause for a chat with Ingrid about the fact that the swing would have to wait for another day (and that Paul Bown's "messy garden theory" of mess attracting mess, is definitely a thing and definitely the case with Ingrid's garden before GoodGym got stuck in) and then Anna and Patrick got back to it.
Chit-chatting about all sorts, including those embarrassing moments when you realise you've massively put your foot in it, both were rather surprised to realise that 2 and a half hours had passed and it was time to finish up. Looking around, both kept finding just one more weed to beat, and then just one more, and then it really was time to finish up. With "after" photos taken, and arrangements made for a final return visit to remove the swing, they called it a day; Patrick with good deed number 20 ticked off the list, and number 31 booked in the diary, and Anna having finally completed her first mission. And most importantly, Ingrid's garden weed and (almost) snail free.
Tue 22nd Sep 2015 at 4:20pm
Yes the Untidy Garden Theory! Mess + more mess = goodgym clear up time!
Wed 23rd Sep 2015 at 12:49pm
31!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
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