oh wow yeah that kind of again i remember on the night talking to simon saying yeah i'm flying off in a couple of days and we're filming this and then i'm away for this many months and it's really tough and all this and then yeah a week later it's like no you're not that's that's not happening so speaking of the pandemic the other thing i wanted to talk to you about in the recent times before i do want to go back because i want to hear your journey we've got you were part of my journey which is an amazing thing so i want to talk about all of that but something that really blew me away during the pandemic was the work you and your sister and your mum did um yeah Francis can you tell me a little bit about that journey and and how it all kind of unfolded because it was a tense time at the start right because

oh god it was yeah I mean it was awful so my sister's got learning disabilities and she lives in a home a mencap home so kept um Yeah, care home.

There's about, I think there was seven of them living in there.

And when it all happened and everyone went to lockdown, Frances comes home every third weekend and she has slightly autistic tendencies.

So she really, really needs a routine.

She likes to know when she's going to see mum and dad again, when she's going to be doing this, that and the other.

So when all of a sudden everything locked down and it was very apparent that she wasn't actually going to be able to come home, my head nearly burst.

So yeah, that's a different thing when it's like, well, how do we go about this?

How come?

That is a fact, an absolute fact, because it's been life-changing for so many people.

Um, the number of m-men and women who come up to me and tell me that it has radically changed their lives, that they would never have considered doing exercise before.

Um, some of them have been having treatment for, you know, cancer, they're having rehab, and this is an app that they have been able to use to get them running.

Um, because it's so gentle, that's the thing.

It's not daunting.

I think running can seem really, really daunting.

Right

That's really it.

As a dog owner, my dogs will be very happy in that garden because, like Monty says, there's everything in there.

There's water for them just to splash around in and cool down in.

There are trees for them to hide under.

And as a dog owner, it's beautiful.

So I'll be very happy sitting there looking around, playing with my dog.

Did you get off lightly then in terms of the work or did you get your hands dirty, Jo?

I would have loved to have got my hands more dirty, to be honest with you.

She's got some good veg going on.

I'm really lucky.

We moved into where we are, and there's a little walled garden, walled vegetable garden, so it was all set up for me.

So we've done everything from kale, we've got raspberries, tomatoes, potatoes, lots of herbs, and the, the whole gamut of stuff.

Pumpkins.

We always have a pumpkin competition to see who out of the kids who can grow the biggest pumpkin at the end of the season.

It's just...

Do they?

Okay, that's the t- that's the gathering of the tits." Or there's, you know, learning about the time of day that they come to feed and the little gangs that come to the bird feeder and stuff.

I go on dog walks, and I have those apps, the, uh, the, the bird apps.

I think Merlin is the one that I use.

And you just hear all these, like, yeah, the w- the noise of the bird song, and you just go, you ...

I mean, it's magic to me that you can hold your phone up and it will tell you what is all around you and tell me about the, you know, the, the species and how common they are.

I think it's incredible.

I mi- I tell you what, living in the city, I do miss...

Yeah.