Our friendly group did the miss-the-rain dance last night. The forecast showed me cartoon images of thick clouds and large droplets, and yet we met in the warmth and sun yesterday evening.

We were off to the special communal garden at Ashdown Sheltered Housing. Split across 3 levels, the space winds around the building in a wonderful array of green. And we were there to make things better for Ashdown's residents.

Jo was handed a single pair of snippers and a large overgrown hedge. I believe Jo twisted time. Or stepped through a vortex. Or something like that. Because the hedge exited those 45 minutes wonderfully curved and trimmed to the contours of the adjoining path.

Steve and John took to a large flower bed that's in a battle with stubborn summer weeds. Whilst sharing summer stories and catching up, these two returned the bed to flowers (and the evening's post-session rain will hopefully bring them to life).

Alison headed to the upper garden, which contained a corner of planters and pots that needed rescuing. In a matter of minutes, the corner resembled a carefully stacked collection of terracotta ready for new projects and plants. The dried up remnants were placed into green bags, and a sweep finished the job.

On leaving, we turned our group of red t shirts into a line of green bags, as we transferred everything to the refuse point for collection. Just in time... for the first drops of summer rain :)

Nice work, folks, you made a big difference!