Excuse my Bench

Miss P lived in a flat with a balcony on the first floor and a garden downstairs. Both outdoor places needed a tad of love, so a pair of GoodGymers from Ealing came over with open hearts and able hands.

On the balcony, Sevan and Kash found some autumn leaves to sweep, a disassembled wooden table and a derelict bench. Miss P didn't want to keep any of these. It was very tempting to throw all that stuff out of the balcony, but the risk of causing a scandal and 112 phone calls from the neighbours was too high. Breaking down the bench into pieces wasn't an option either - as it retained some sturdiness. Maneuvering with the bench through the flat downstairs was the least fun way, but that was how, eventually, the broken seating descended to the bins.

Sevan and Kash stayed on the ground level to sweep more leaves and dig weeds in the back garden.

"I smell a fox here. Be careful where you put your hands." Kash said.

Shortly after, while operating with the fork at the edges of the garden, she exclaimed:

"Oooh, there are wild strawberries here! Do you want some?"
"Maybe that's where the smell comes from?" Sevan replied dubiously.

In the end, no one got a taste of the summer, and the wild strawberries ended up pulled out of the ground and bagged with the rest of the weeds.

Sevan was cautiously pulling the weeds by hand, and Kash was sweeping some of the leaves when the energetic Miss P appeared in the garden with a cloth and window cleaning spray. She wiped the glass of the garden door, then disappeared into her bedroom, only to return with her old PC - another thing for Sevan and Kash to carry to the bins. After a short rest, Miss P joined the party again, helping sweep the remainder of the leaves. Meanwhile, Sevan carried the wooden table legs and the computer to the refuse area.

Miss P was happy with the transformation and grateful for the help from GoodGymers. The volunteers didn't accept any gratification but stayed for a brief chat and listened to Miss P's stories about how wonderful places are the Caribbean and France. That left Sevan and Kash hungry to make travel plans - firstly how to get back to West London.