It was easy to see why Ms J is so proud of her garden - a beautiful plot laid out with mature shrubs, roses, fruit trees and a separate vegetable plot. Sadly a recent severe deterioration in her eyesight means she can no longer keep it looking at its best.

Enter a GoodGymer, eager to help as always. Ms J guided me through the setting up of her lawnmower and helped untangle the cabling, which meant that after a short intense bit of work in the summer heat, the lawn was soon looking much tidier.

Onto the main task - tidying up the bushes. Ms J was particularly keen to open up access to a plum tree currently bearing lovely fruit. That necessitated lopping away some very thorny rose bushes and in particular, hacking down some grape vines that had almost completely taken over the area.

The time flew by with horticultural guidance from Ms J and her fascinating reminiscences of her time living in the area. We soon amassed a large pile of severed rose branches and grapevines leaving the area looking a lot tidier.

A plum job indeed.