It's a 2 mile run tonight, folks!

We'll stay completely together, too!

What a gorgeous evening for a run, hey!

Isn't the last road a big hill?

Well...

It's called Haverstock Hill, right?

Ummm...

That sounds like a hill, Alex

Look! A bird!

Which was how our happy evening started.

Our wonderful group of Akshay, Faye, Jackie, John, Steve, and I met by an evening King's Cross, and we took a sun peppered run through Camden, past Chalk Farm, and over to Belsize Park.

Arriving at the special Belsize Community Library, we were met by the brilliant Emily, who'd cycled on down.

It's a special site, this community library, nestled by an allotment and within an innocuous North London street. It's become the de-facto meeting space for the local community, and we arrived to the evening's final readers and a local council residents surgery.

Fay and Jackie got to one task swiftly, heading out to paint one of the bike racks a fresh shade in weather resistant paint; whilst Akshay, Emily, John, and Steve took to the inside, picking strewn litter under the bay window seating, vacuuming the cleared area, and giving the top shelves a well needed dust :)

I, on the other hand, browsed the books. It was great. Consumed, I was! A little noise from some folks in red 'doing good', but all in all, the perfect reading environment!!

Thanks, everyone, for your time, work, and lovely company - here's to next time!!

Barbra Streisand celebrated her birthday on Wednesday - Happy Birthday, Barbra!!

I know this because of the OnThisDay website. And Wikipedia. I double checked on Wikipedia. I trust Wikipedia, but I didn't trust OnThisDay.

But now, of course, I do. And they tell me that Wednesday would also have been William of Orange's 491st birthday - big numbers, Will!

Then there's Lou Thesz - who was a wrestler; and Philippe Pétain - who was a French general; and the list goes on and on. But...

...does it mention GoodGym Camden... why heck, it doesn't! What would Barbra say, OnThisDay, hey?

Because it was big news as our merry group met outside the Francis Crick on Wednesday evening - GoodGym Camden was 11!!

Dan, Faye, Jackie, John, Lucy, and Steve met in spring light and we started the evening with a gentle warm up game of Get to 33!

Warmed and chatting, we strolled next door to the special King's Cross Story Garden. Housed above the British Library's car park, the space is a cared-for curation of nature and crafts, sat snug and peaceful amidst King's Cross's hub-bub.

Chimen (who was on their first good deed - welcome!!), Emre, and Louise joined us on site, where we were welcomed by the lovely Holly, the Story Garden's Manager.

Our task was simple - get things out of the way - preparing the way for the removal team, who will be taking stock over to the garden's new permanent home a stone's throw away.

We got to it, dismantling gazebos, shifting pallets, lifting portable saunas, and then making things tidy and neat once again.

Over 45 minutes, this team of 10 made such a difference, and we did so whilst sharing our own stories and laughter.

Thanks, everyone, I really appreciate your work, and I hope to see you at another session soon!!!

Another physical session at the Trencherfield Allotments, moving the tree branches out of the way of the paths for the the regular users.

This week we were facing thicker, longer and more tangled branches than we ever had before, with the bottom layer posing a particular challenge. However, after a few whacks to the face from errant twigs, we got the hang of the twist/pull motion we needed to ensure success.

And successful we were! After a few back and forth trips, we had created an impressive pile of garden waste well shielded from the necessary path and were able to call it an evening. Despite being unable to run to the task due to a small (embarrassing) injury, Dan and Faye were able to get a run in on the way home!