What a lot to cheer about in Hounslow at the moment! We had some great racing, with Michelle, Beth and Jon all doing the Cabbage Patch 10 on Sunday, we got to welcome Breda who joined us for her very first session (great to meet you Breda!) and we have our upcoming 9th birthday celebrations in a couple of week - let me know if you've got any ideas about how you'd like to mark the occasion. What a lot of good stuff!

Our task for the evening was at Chiswick House, and so we met gardeners Chris and Kate at the gate and followed them into the very dark, very atmospheric grounds. We were led to two giant piles of woodchip, and our task was to shift it under the 300 year old cedar trees and their swooping branches.

With Halloween round the corner it was a very appropriate task - passers by must have wondered who the shadowy figures were dancing around the gently smoking heaps in the night!

The mulch has several positive effects - moisture control and keeping weeds down - plus is a great way to repurpose byproducts. It was also a fantastic workout. All that shoveling, shifting and raking proved to be quite the challenge.

Job done, it was time to learn yet another GoodGym specific new skill - the wheelbarrow pivot. What to do when you have a larger wheelbarrow to person ratio? Check out the photos to see our newly acquired knowledge and an impressive balancing act!

Next week we have potentially two tasks, both at local schools. If you could sign up here so we can take into account numbers and decide if we could manage both, that would be great!

If you're about this weekend and fancy a nice little mission on Chiswick eyot, I have just the thing!

Today, Luis and I visited Ms H in Hounslow to help tidy up her back garden. Luis has supported Ms H on several occasions with other GoodGymers, and it was lovely to join him for this follow-up visit. We received a warm welcome from Ms H complete with tea and biscuits.

Our task for the afternoon was to clear a pathway that had become overgrown with moss, soil, and weeds. Working together, we methodically removed the weeds and loosened the compacted soil to make the path safe and easy to walk on again.

We were joined by Ms H, who chatted with us as we worked and shared stories about her garden. A friendly and curious Robin kept us company too, happily hopping around and helping itself to the worms we unearthed during the task.

By the end of the session, two thirds of the path had been cleared and the Robin had dined out on at least a dozen worms of all sizes. Ms H was happy with the result and hopeful of another visit to finish the job.