Tonight we were leafleting for Age Exchange's Christmas fair alongside promoting GoodGym!

We started out by sharing our responses to Trump's election victory which ranged from sticking fingers in our ears and going la la la la laaaaa and mine which was a compiled video of my three year old whining 'I don't like Donald Trump on 20 different occassions.'

Tonight was special for two reasons- the twins were back in Greenwich! AND we were marking Marta's mammoth 800th good deed!

That's 800 times she's... donned some gloves to do planting and pruning, or gained some guns from digging 💪🏼 or avoided the dogs while leafleting, or got splattered from painting, or filled a bin liner litter picking, or put ceiling panels up after guilding.

In short, she done a lot of stuff! 🏅 🏆

After securing the sash of glory on a well deserving Marta, we had a quick round of Simon says and ran up the hill to split into 2 groups and dashed round the streets posting as many leaflets as we could. And quick work we made of it too, with lots of good GoodGym chats on our way. Another task complete and one step closer to Marta's 1000th which she'll probably achieve in the next couple of years!

Nice work team. Next week we're weeding at Charlton URC.

Until next time!

YouTube - if you ask for the right things - is quite the haven for gardening advice.

You can learn to mow and grow - or weed and seed - and there's a particularly healthy glut of guidance on planting.

I know this because I started my Saturday by searching (YouTube): how to plant bulbs

I watched several videos.

I was particularly impressed with Geoff from Australia, who demonstrated every conceivable tool one could use to dig a hole (for a bulb), before I realised his real interest was to sell the BULB-DEMON-2000 (which does, I admit, drill a hole in perhaps 2 seconds)

I left for the special Barnfield and Woodfield Estate feeling decidedly under-confident, especially without a BULB-DEMON-2000

Yet my anxieties were calmed as I met Mike, Lucy and Sedef (on their first GoodGym good deeds - a huge welcome!!), and we started the morning by collecting spades and taking them to a freshly mown autumn lawn.

We were soon joined by Alison, Caitlin, Cherian, and Nivia, and Mike (with my anxiety fading) showed us the bulb-planting to-dos with calm and poise. And I nodded in a way that suggested I knew all about this.

Dividing gorgeous spring bulbs (delectable types of daffodil) and spades, our group (with Barnfield resident, Callum, and Steve joining too) swiftly got to digging turf pockets, making roomy space, and planting our spring flowers to come.

With pastries and coffee to finish, we said our farewells :)

I feel excited about returning in March to see what nature does with our efforts! Thank you so much, everyone, for your time and work - I had a super lovely time and hope you did too!

Here's to next time!

Cressfield Close, just North of Kentish Town Road, is a quite wonderful place.

Passing by, you may mistake it for a normal collection of homes and gardens... but you would be mistaken.

Take a deliberate turn into its winding alley - make sure you look hard - and you'll begin to notice its quirks...

...you may hear goats and cows, and then you'll notice the farm... you might hear tracks and trains, and then you'll notice the railway lines... and if you really notice, you may see the tops of trees and bushes, the ones flourishing in Cressfield's Sheltered Housing garden... which is where we spent our evening yesterday!

Amna (on their first GoodGym good deed - welcome!!!), Steve, and I took an evening jog through King's Cross and Kentish Town, before being met by residents Marie and Michael, and we quickly got to our nature-bound tasks for the evening.

Amna and Steve (alongside Michael) made light work of three tree-sized holes, which will soon be filled with fruit trees (and perhaps we'll be back to sample their bounties next summer!)

And I joined Marie in turning over (and weeding) a patch that will soon be ready for planting and enjoying, and Amna and Steve joined our efforts following their speedy digging!

Thanks so much, both, for making a lovely evening - here's to the next one!!

Sometimes photos capture more than words alone, or even words at all, and this morning is one of those sometimes.

Our wonderful group of 10 (Alison, Angeliki, Caitlin, Emily, Lisa, Matt, Nivia, Sarah, and Steve) spent this autumn morning surrounded by train-spotting goats, marquee-chewing cows, and guinea pigs called Peanut and Pumpkin.

I think you want the photos - all the photos - and they are here :)

Thank you, all, for a happy morning in this special spot, and I hope you know how much of a positive difference you made for the team at the farm - your marquee making, fence ferrying, bunting hanging (and more!) left them well set for tomorrow's Apple Day festivities - thank you :)

Here's to the next one!!

Our wonderful group of pamphlet-posting-pros are... a threat!!

There - I've said it - and no - I won't take it back! No siree - I just won't do it!

Because it's true. They're a big-old-threat... because... they're just so efficient!

If Royal Mail - or DPD - or London's cycle couriers could see our group in posting action, they'd know what I mean!

I'm not sure what the technique is called - perhaps it's well established in an obscure postal outpost - or perhaps it's a patentable extension of posting innovation - and I think it should be called the leapfrog - they line up, they post, they run round the others, they post again, and on it goes until all you can hear are multiple letterboxes clanging in happy unison.

This is how our brilliant group - of Andy, Jackie, John, Sarah, and Steve - posted over 300 pamphlets for (the awesome) Camden FoodCycle this Wednesday.

And they married their efficiency with fun - you could hear laughter and conversation alongside the letterboxes - it was a joy to spend the evening with this special group!

Here's to the next one!!