The first properly cold day of the season had arrived, but GoodGym perseveres come rain come shine, and come dark cold wintery evenings.

We met Ken on the corner of Petersham Common, where our task for the night was to plant 200 tulip bulbs, to bring in a burst of colour come springtime. We donned our high-viz, and we set to work, digging up six inches of soil. Question: is this a man’s six inches or a woman’s six inches. Ken smiled, ‘a man’s’ and Liz grinned back ‘so four then’. Once we had ourselves down to a satisfactory depth, it was time to plant the bulbs, arranging them in the ground, and wondering which colours would bloom come March.

Susannah had arrived at this point, fresh from her NEW place (which has been a discussion point of GoodGym Richmond for probably 2 years now!). Better late than never, and got stuck right in. It was time to shovel the soil back over, with a poo-tifal addition of some freshly laid horse poop from the roadside. Resourceful? I think so. Man-ure smart for making use of what we have around us!

What’s better than one late arrival to a task? Two! Jp showed his face at this point, after a tough day at the office. Perfect timing, as we were ready to stamp down the laid soil, and could take some of our stresses out on the ground. Topics of conversation at this point also involved burying difficult clients at work, and whether the best strategy for disposing of a body would be in plain site wearing high-viz next to the Petersham Road.

Adam gave us a final stamp of soil and a sprinkling of leaves, and job was a good one. Ken rewarded us with mince pies for our efforts. Alex was so keen to get hers home she forgot she was in her bright orange high visibility vest and was halfway back to Richmond before we realised!

Alex was clearly keen to brighten up the dark cold evenings, and have something to look forward to. In her case, a treat from Ken, and for the rest of us, a long winter ahead hopefully filled with fun, friends and food, and some beautifully coloured flowers on the roadside in four or so months time.