On Halloween a trio of cross-borough GoodGym runners helped Kate chop back a bushy tree then replant an avocado tree and protect it from wintry winds.

For this sunny mission, Lucia, Kike and I were asked to chop back a bush at the back of the garden which was growing close to the fence and satellite dish. Kike did the bulk of the work and I did the finishing touches to achieve a streamlined appearance (in my opinion anyway!).

The other main task was to replant a young avocado tree (simply grown from an avocado stone!) from a pot to the garden. While we deliberated about the best and sunniest spot we plucked a bag full of weeds that'd grown since my first visit. We talked about Bramptons, Halloween, Kike's three parties, teacher training and #GivingTuesday and picked stairs (apples and pears) from the trees.

At last a sunny spot was found and the girls planted the tree nice and deep. Kate was concerned that the young tree wouldn't survive the howling winds that pick up pace in her square garden over the winter. The solution: we constructed a structure using smaller sticks and parcel tape (very Blue Peter!) and tied this to the plant to give it support.

After another great deed done we cleared up after ourselves and Kate kindly treated us to tea, dunkable biscuits and cake over a good old natter.

We then went our separate ways to get to parties, costume making and a mission.