REM sang about gardening in the dark... So we did just that. I used up all the Rose puns last time around so thistle probably be a short report.

At the hidden and secret area of Fishponds lies a couple of neglected rose beds. Our job was to target anything none rose. Bind weed and brambles a plenty, we tugged and pulled and snipped, whatever we thought needed tugging, pulling and snipping. Luckily we had the headlights of the ID Verde van to be able to make light work of it all and be able to make some decent progress. Great to have the social butterfly Chi along to lend his phone torch and to organise all future Kingston social and fitness events too. 👍

Tonight we welcomed half a dozen red roses of Richmond plus a couple from Kingston to Canbury Gardens for some rose bed maintenance. The rose beds had been neglected for some time now, so much so that even Bon Jovi would of had trouble laying down in them.

So the task was simple, target everything un rose like and pull it out. There was no difficulty in identifying the weeds, as we knew that every rose has its thorn. The trouble was that the bind weed was so attached to the stems, it was hard to remove without getting a Thorn in my side.

After much tugging and pruning and discussing great/cheesy/cringe worthy chat up lines, there's a fine line apparently, I got a final kiss from a rose and as the light faded we got our socially distant group photo in and said our farewells.

Look forward to seeing as many as possible at Victoria Recreation ground on Sunday, where its rumoured that local legend Elliot will be in attendance. Be ready for a biology lesson.

11 Goodgymers gathered together to take on the Grape Fircroft run. It was great to see Kim back on her 2nd GG Kingston run and it was great to see the great art work Jane has put together too!! (sshhh)

Mark had a fun warm up which had us linking arms, turning circles and avoiding the goodgym tagger, burpees for the winner and the cheaters.

New and fun game for our GG warmups! #goodgym #kingston #guildhall #tuesdays #running #warmup #drills #agility #skill pic.twitter.com/cTTcrOfkf1

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) September 11, 2019

Off uphill towards Ditton road the group staying tight tonight lots of chatting about holidays, our week so far, future runs and goodgyms 10-year birthday.

We arrived to be greeted by Hilary at Fircroft who briefed us on the work Fircroft do in Kingston and shared the task ahead. We were put to work tidying the beds and cutting back before planting some new flowers. A couple of runners were on the brooms sweeping their way round to meet each with their pile of pine needles to be scooped up by a third and bagged up ready to compost.

Hilary was generous with a tray of passion fruit and grapes to enjoy before the run back. The group stayed together for the run back and made GRAPE time, we stretched out and then with many offers to write this report much to Mark's surprise all retired until next week's Birthday run and social.

Look forward to running and seeing you all next week to tackle the Canbury Task!

This is all you need for a warm up surely! #goodgym #kingston #fun #warmup #cancan #wecan #runninggroup pic.twitter.com/yU9vA2Sg39

— GoodGym Kingston-upon-Thames (@GoodGymKingston) September 11, 2019