My goodness that was HOT!!!!

visiting Aston's Eyot is always a joy, mainly because it always involves scything - relaxing but also quite sweaty work.

This evening's task was clearing an amazing amount of nettles and thistles to start creating more welcoming spaces for pollinators.

Nettles were duly scythed and we discovered that uphill scything in a heat-wave is really rather hard work! Our clearing were then covered with big tarpaulins to help suppress regrowth.

With frequent stops for water and bug spray we made a huge difference. Its always mega satisfying to see quick results!

Well done team, ice creams all round I reckon.

On this visit Mrs S wanted me to cut back a rose bush which had been growing up her fence but had fallen down after the ties broke. I cut back the fallen part of the bush and reduced the size of the remaining bush to make it tidy. She needs to get some garden twine or wire to secure the bush back against the fence. The referrer may need to support her to do this or help her to access someone who can support her to buy garden supplies. She then asked me to take rose cuttings from the parts of the rose bush we had cut down. We took around 30 cuttings which are now in water and will hopefully root in a few weeks time ready to be planted out.
We then had a nice cold drink and a chat. It's always a pleasure visiting Mrs S.

This evening, 11 GoodGymers returned to a task favourite: Marston Forest Garden. Fred, Muireann, and Ellie went running in the sun through Marston, briefly passing Wasabi (Ellie’s cat!) before joining the rest of the group.

We had a real assortment of tasks to take on. There was clearing with sickles and scythes, transporting compost, weeding (including clearing common hogweed and valerian), and topping up the pond with water as it had become dry. The group divided up and got to work, attempting to dodge the large amounts of bugs and ants that were enjoying the compost. Fortunately we got a briefing to help us identify the various weeds we were tackling.

A big congratulations to Mae who celebrated 10 good deeds this evening! As with all milestones, the garland of joy was worn to mark the occasion.

This evening we were officially paired with the garden at Meadow Ward on the Warneford Hospital site.

This garden offers a therapeutic and peaceful space for patients to enjoy and it needed a bit of TLC.

Armed with a variety of tools and some good old fashioned determination we set to work tackling weeds and invasive plants that had got all too comfortable within the flower beds. Comments of "is this intentional grass or weedy grass??" and "is this a pretty thistle or a pesky one?" could be heard and apps were consulted so we didn't uproot precious plants.

After an hour of focused activity we had filled 2 tonne bags, put the world to rights and somehow managed to dodge the rain!

Good work team! And welcome along Jenny, thank you so much for joining us!

I have been helping Mrs S with weeding and digging out the long border next to her lawn. It is mostly done now but on this occasion rather than finishing it, she wanted me to trim back a large shrub which had become very high and had grown over the pathway. The shrub has been reduced by about half and is now nice and tidy. We had a cup of tea and a chat afterwards and Mrs S is always very kind and welcoming.

The Town & Gown 10k is a very popular race in the Oxford calendar. It usually seems to herald a hot and sunny sunday, but today we had grey skys and quite a chilly wind.

A quartet of Goodgymers were part of the team looking after the bag drop tent. With a record 7,000 runners at the event it was quite the undertaking.

We managed to keep things in order, not break our ankles hopping between the rows of bags, AND reunited all bags to their rightful owners at the end of the race. We were awarded with cups of tea and a very cute certificate.

Well done to Fred for his 10k PB. Lovely to see Muireann too!!