With spring just round the corner, there was plenty to do in the Mary Seacole Nursing Home garden and there was a wonderful bumper crop of GoodGymers on hand to help out. Particular shoutout goes to Ishbel, who joined us today for her first ever GoodGym task.

The session started with three working groups. The first were tasked with planting a number of bamboo plants along the back fence to soften the view. John, Audrey, Louise and Yaz soon realised that the soil could have done with some softening up too but with considerable effort and perseverance, they got the ground prepped for planting.

Meanwhile, the second group (variously Sooz, Nathan, Grace and Anne) got stuck in to prepping the planters in the middle of the garden for a fresh lick of paint. This task required a special trip to the local supplier of heavy duty sandpaper and wire brushes (thank you Nathan).

The main event, however, was the grand gazebo assembly, for which there was considerable prep-work. So the third group (which comprised a shifting membership of helpers needing a break from digging and sanding), got stuck in, painting bitumen onto the Gazebo's feet to protect against the wet soil and the elements, while task leader, Varda, diligently studied the instructions to ensure everything was assembled correctly.

During this time, a tug of war broke out in bamboo corner, with several GoodGymers trying to liberate pot-bound bamboos. The comment, 'It's like the turnip story', required some explanation but did ring bells when retold.

Eventually, the point we had all been waiting for came, when bits of gazebo had to be attached to one another. The two 'short' sides (3m long) were assembled first and then moved into location, before the longer beams were added to hold the short sides together. Ladders and chairs were enlisted to give the height necessary to put bolts in place. The morning finished with the dance of the heavy-weight lifters, to nudge and jiggle and ultimately maneouver the now tall, heavy, and rather awkward structure into a reasonably stable position.

It was agreed this was as far as we could progress the gazebo assembly for today (step 5 of 26!) so look out for more listings to play your part in the making of the gazebo very soon!

A big thanks and well done to everyone who who came along this morning and got stuck in. It was great fun and a real team effort.

Welcome Natsuko to your first GoodGym session! And a welcome return to Nathan.

All 5 GoodGymmers found their way to Mary Seacole nursing home and - with the weather on our side for a change - we made amazing progress on the new zen garden for staff tranquility.

Everyone planted their own trees, and we're excited to watch them grow as we come back for more tasks here!

After a lot of reading and reviewing of instructions, Nathan, Natsuko, Sooz, Miranda, Jess and Grace soon set to work constructing the columns and outer structure of the gazebo. There was hammering and drilling action, and a fair amount of head scratching! A lot of progress was made, but we were finally defeated by the enormity of the gazebo. With a third of the construction complete, we hit pause, ready for another day.

So stay tuned for the next phase of this task... as gaze-no becomes gaze-yes!

GoodGym was back at Nursing Home to continue helping clear an area of garden for a new pergola and seating area for staff. Today's task was to cut down three large shrubby trees, remove another lower shrub and finish clearing the area of any other vegetation.

The rain kindly eased off, allowing the merry band of 5 GoodGymmers to get stuck in and with an array of tools provided, they did just that.

John and Miranda (undeterred by the weather to attend her first session, showing true GoodGym spirit!) tackled the low height shrub, while Holly and Anne reduced the tree-shrubs to stumps to be extracted in Phase 2.

Two new tonne bags were filled quickly. Varda the task owner had luckily brought her kids who willingly jumped up and down in the bags so we could get more in.

Lobo turned up in time to supervise jumping, advise on pergola dimensions and ultimately take on the grand task of removing the tree-shrub roots with the pickaxe, which everyone else was too scared to use.

Despite a valiant attempt, however, the task left us stumped..... as the roots were far too deep to dig out. Another attempt will be made some other time when an electric saw is added to the collection of available tools.

After an hour or so of hard graft, the task was complete, everyone was caked in mud and very pleased with themselves.

We'll be back at Mary Seacole Nursing Home on Sunday 26th January to put up the pergola. Join us if you can.

Three queens achieved levels of garden clearing success worthy of a Christmas miracle. There wasn't quite gold, frankenscence and myrhh in the stacked garden waste bags, but it just as rewarding.

It was a beautifully sunny morning and in spite of low last minute turnout, the GoodGymmers were not about to turn away a challenge. Anne and Sooz met task leader Varda and the three women made light work of a huge clearance.

Come back for the next part of the task where we get to grips with uprooting a huge tree and clearing the remaining ivy, ready for turf laying.

See you in January!