Wi-Pie

Michelle and Kash met at noon on a contested territory between Ealing and Hounslow. Well, technically, it was Brentford, but since the report was written by an Ealing citizen, unsolicited claims are being made.

The two GoodGymers by no means arrived there to compete. Kash ran from Osterley, and Michelle cycled from Chiswick to help Mrs F and her husband tame their slightly overgrown garden. The volunteers were greeted by an intense smell of lavender that grew at the front of the house and that might have needed a cut, but Mrs F's husband thought that the real job awaited in the back garden. He led Michelle and Kash through the house and then through a narrow garden path, restricted by audacious brambles and bushes.

Mrs F's husband wanted his lawn strimmed and mowed. Michelle observed that the brambles could do with a cut too, and offered to take on the thorny task. She did all the mammoth work with a small pair of secateurs, strategically chopping the cuttings into smaller pieces and gradually filling the brown bin (since the report writer is an Ealing citizen, here is a translation for Ealing people: green bin). Not leaving the waste packing until the last minute was not the only smart move by the clever Michelle. Dealing with the blackberries gave her an opportunity to collect fruit, which she described as tart - hence suitable for a cake or pie. Michelle reckoned that combining the sour blackberries with lemon will be a great excuse to use up some sugar.

Kash likes power tools and, despite Michelle had suggested swapping jobs at the start, she somehow got stuck with the wireless strimmer. And I mean properly wireless! No power cable - it was battery-powered. No cutting string - it had a blade instead! Kash never used such a strimmer before, but she was sure she could tame it. The tool wasn't a fierce beast after all. It was going slowly through the thick stems of the weeds that occupied the lawn. Satisfied with the length of the grass, Kash reached for the mower, which was - surprise, surprise - wireless. Levelling the lawn didn't go as far as Kash had expected as the mower's battery died in less than halfway through the job, so the benched strimmer was back in the game.

Ninety minutes later, Michelle's blackberry container from Mrs F's husband was full and the widened path through the garden was a pleasure to walk through. Mrs F's husband and daughter proclaimed the mission outcome as wonderful. Even the fastidious Kash thought the job had been done to a good standard, given the mower had given up too early. Well, why the result wouldn't be great with such a dream team?