Mrs D's garden had got into a bit of a state with ivy and sycamore trees invading and covering the entire garden with a blanket of leaf litter mixed with ivy vines. This made it tough going to collect all the leaves and clear a usable space in the garden.

After 90 minutes of raking and snipping and scooping I'd filled 8 bags with garden waste and two bags with other rubbish that had collected in the garden. There's now a good area to get outside the back door and sit out in the shade of the trees if Mrs D fancies it.

A gang of four set out into Leagrave park on a litter hunt, collecting all the usual bottles cans and wrappers that had collected since last month's efforts.

Random objects discovered this time included a desk chair, a bike and a Zimmer frame that someone had helpfully thrown into the river. There must be a shortage of trolleys!

Last unusual find was a statue of Ganesh hidden under the bridge. He seemed to be enjoying his tranquil spot watching the ducks so we left him in peace.

There's a big push going to clear the invasive Himalayan Balsam plants from the banks of the River Lea. I went to join the volunteers helping out with TCV leader Jen and found the familiar faces of Kevin, John and Barbara who are regulars at the conservation tasks around Luton.

Together we climbed down into the brook at Lewsey Park, fortunately not very wet at the moment with no rainfall and a firm gravelly bottom meant walking along it was easy. It was nice a cool in the water under the shade of the trees while the midday heatwave sun shone up above. Working along the brook we tackled clumps of balsam, gently pulling out the roots and snapping them off to ensure nothing is left behind to grow again.

We managed to clear a decent stretch of the plants before they start flowering and popping out more seeds so hopefully there'll be less here next year!