Mr D looked concerned when a 5’3 female arrived alone at his door and was worried it was too big a task for one person, and the grass was a bit too wet to mow. I told him not to worry I would do as much as I could in the time I had. I could at least make a dent in it by strimming so that when it’s was dry it could be mowed. He thought he might be able to mow himself after it had been strimmed.

We started to get the outdoor extension cable and strimmer out and had just got it all set up when it started to rain. We wondered what to do for 5 minutes or so, after which time we decided to abandon the task and started to pack up. As we unplugged everything the rain stopped!

We decided I would go for it, while there was a break in the rain, and if I could just do along the path edges that would help with access. Luckily the rain held off and I worked as quickly as I could with very long and slightly wet grass. Mr D was right, it was a big task. He told me when he was fitter it would take him a whole day.

About half through I decided to have a look at the strimmer to see if I could improve it and managed to adjust it so there was more wire and it worked much better. I then managed to get a lot more done in a shorter time.

Mr D was helping out by picking up the windfall apples. He started to get chattier and smile more and said ‘bet you regret signing up for this one’. I told him ‘not at all, I love a challenge’ As I was packing up he said ‘you're a hard worker girl!’ with a big smile on his face so I am guessing that although I didn’t get finished in the time, he was happy with what I had managed to do. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to go and finish the job for him as I know it will bring more smiles.

Four Goodgymmers, Sarah, Roger, Keith and Lea, turned up at St Aldhelm’s Church to meet up with David. No weeding like last time, no, the big stuff today! Roger wielding a pitchfork to take a self seeded big (whatever it was) bush out, Sarah happily lopping away at huge laurel and rhododendron bushes, with Keith attacking holly, laurel and a strawberry tree with a vengeance! And Lea… on wheelbarrow duty! Luckily Roger joined her after uprooting the whatever bush and together they wheeled 28 barrows around the corner past a group of non-budging people and a rather badly parked van into and beyond the memory garden. All that gardening work resulted in a huge pile… and a happy David, hoping that we will manage at least one more session there. Thanks everyone for your hard work.