This month's visit to Holy Trinity Lamorbey Primary School was a fun inside - outside double act.

Inside, Team Paint picked up classroom decorating where we left off last time. With a couple of walls already done, we wanted to finish the rest to leave the space looking clean, warm and ready for learning.

Outdoors, Team Green took advantage of the warm-ish evening, sawing branches from a felled tree into short lengths that will be used to make wildlife-friendly mini dead-hedges 🐛🪲 and cosy homes for hedgehogs 🦔.

The hour flew past and we packed away paint, brushes and rollers and collected up saws and loppers, then posed for the traditional team photo in the fading light.

Just before leaving, Vice Principal Jane offered us seedling cherry trees that pupils had grown from stones collected in last year's bumper crop of fruit from the tree in their outdoor learning area. Susan, Caroline and Simon headed home, very pleased with these unexpected gifts 🪴.

Over the summer months we're looking forward more outdoor projects at the school... fingers crossed some of them line up with this year’s cherry season! 🍒

Another three-hour stint at the Community Hospice shop, sorting through a steady stream of donated clothes, books, games, toys, and all manner of other bits and pieces.

After a few sessions like this, Caroline and I are becoming old hands—practically experts at separating the 'keepers' from 'no way, José' pile.

It’s also reassuring to see just how much of what’s donated is recycled and finds a new home, rather than simply being thrown away. It's good to know that these items are getting a second life.

I'm surprised how often things come through with the shop labels still attached—absolute bargains for anyone happy to embrace second-hand finds.

I’m definitely one of those people. I love to pick up a good charity shop bargain, and I do like having a browse even when I'm not looking for anything —you never quite know what you’ll stumble across!

Today’s mission took us to Crayford, where we joined the Thames21 team to help clear a stretch of the River Cray.

The task at hand was to tackle the overgrowth—cutting back encroaching sallow trees and clearing reeds that had begun to dominate parts of the river.

There were around 15 of us in total, but we split into smaller groups. Our team of five, freshly kitted out in waders, long gloves and armed with saws and loppers, set off in search of our designated patch. Before long, we were standing knee-deep in mud and river water, hard at work.

The job involved cutting back some impressively large branches—many well over 12 feet long—and stacking them neatly along the bank. It was physical work, no doubt, but incredibly satisfying.

Our team quickly found a rhythm, making great progress as we cleared fresh green shoots and heftier limbs that had sprung up along the river. Once the cutting was done, we turned our attention to tidying up. Several piles of branches had already been started along the bank, so we formed a human chain to consolidate everything into one large stack. Passing branches, some quite hefty, from one person to the next, we worked efficiently—and with plenty of good humour.

After a couple of hours, we paused for a well-earned coffee and a biscuit, which tasted all the better for the effort. Catching up with the other group, it was clear everyone was enjoying themselves and felt the work was both worthwhile and rewarding.

Refuelled, we got back to it for another hour and a half before wrapping up. We waded back out of the river, cleaned off our gear, and headed home—tired, muddy, but thoroughly satisfied.

It felt like a proper workout, and a genuinely productive one at that.

Well it was another fun three hour session back at the Community Hospice shop sorting through the many bags of donated items and separating the 'gems' from the 'not bads' and the 'I don't think sos'.

iNormally we might spot some extraordinary items that delight and amuse but not so much today. Neither of us could bring ourselves to look at this passion fruit dressing gown, although we were mildly enchanted by cute soft toys that come through. This owl and gingerbread man for instance 🦉.

The day’s true conversation piece, though, was an ostrich - or perhaps an emu - wall light. The species remains under investigation! Its most striking feature is the electrical cable emerging boldly from its beak, dangling for all the world to see. One assumes this is a bold artistic statement and while I admire the creative vision, it’s not a look we’ll be rushing to install at home anytime soon!

If you'd like to lend a hand, look out for future sessions. Who knows what gems you might come across!