Tim and I met on a glorious October morning to clear some weeds and brambles for Mr O.

There was a lot of bindweed and brambles snaking round the garden, so we had our work cut out. Surveying the tools at hand, we realised we had one pair of gloves between us. We took one glove each, then asked Mr O if he had anything else that might help.

Mr O disappeared inside, then came out again brandishing a machete! He asked if we had used one before. I certainly had no prior experience of machetes, and neither had Tim. We nervously said we would try with the gloves first. Mr O took the hint and went back inside, returning with a much less intimidating hand-held pair of secateurs.

We made quick work of the garden clearance, and were both even brave enough to have a little hack with the machete. We cleared 6 bin bags of waste, including the biggest bin bag I have ever seen that should count for at least 3 normal size bags.

Mr O helped out, ferrying the bin bags out to the front. After an hour, the garden was transformed and Mr O's roses were clear of weeds again. He was very thankful for our help.