Our gardening sessions at Southbourne Age Concern usually attract the attention of passers-by who congratulate us on our hard work. Today a local resident told us which classroom he'd been in; the teachers' names; and the unusual cellar he and his playmates had discovered, when the Age Concern building was the local primary school.

We carried on the history lesson with the discovery of a piece of pottery from an old ginger beer bottle, to join the clay pipe we had dug up on our previous visit.

But in between the history lessons we cleared the remaining section of overgrown grass and old weed membrane, ready for the garden's new landscaping.

It was lovely to have Lisa joining Val and me at our Southbourne task - thank you, Lisa - come again!

Val and I 'invested' our time, 'traded' our lunchtime for a litter-pick and got a positive 'return' for our investment.

We focused on Hedge Finds (as opposed to Funds), and sought out the unwanted 'liquid assets' (plastic bottles) and used 'leverage' to secure the litter caught deep in the hedges.

A few dog walkers and a local garage owner showed 'interest' in our performance, and said that the community 'profited' from our 'deposits' in the bin.

What started out as a slightly sketchy task - "We need to meet a man called Alan outside The Bridge Centre to buy some bark" evolved into a very pleasant evening.

Our rendezvous was a success, and after hulking bags of woodchip through the shopping centre, we filled in all of the gaps in the new planters to reduce the number of weeds coming through. Garden Goddess Judy noticed the plants were in need of a drink, so with a bit of help from the Security Team, we started a chain of bucket-filling and watering.

As Vicki beautifully put it, it was like we were putting the plants to bed for the evening. So cute!

With a bit of time to spare, we headed over to Spoons for a drink and a catch-up. I feel more tasks should have a pub stop!

Today's session involved a few volunteers continuing with the log path; others repairing a dead hedge; and the majority of us clearing brambles before coffee and widening a footpath after coffee.

Lots achieved with a good workout, and I even remembered to look up and appreciate the beauty of the coastal views.

Our slightly rambunctious evening got off to a chaotic start with a game of catch in the Community Centre car park and an accompanying sandwich filling survey.

We then headed over to the Pantry for a bit more painting. After splitting into teams - Sanding, Emulsion, Gloss and ORANGE - everyone ended up hopping between tasks.

Some of our more mature GGers learnt some new terminology, whilst we all had a little trip down Memory Lane to Telly Tubby Land. Judy also showed us some very trendy dance moves. With some of us getting a touch paintier than others (check out Katie's legs in the squad photo), it was certainly a bonkers evening.