The rain has been heading for East Anglia all day and as we arrived a gentle drizzle had just started. Meanwhile 1, since the seating has disappeared, is not so full of rubbish, maybe making people comfortable means they stay, and if they stay they leave their mess behind them. I don't really want to believe that though. Meanwhile 2 is a bottle magnet and today we had a good haul.

Today was more about looking at what surrounds the Meanwhile Gardens. They are located in a very neglected and run down street that has not seen much love recently. We are looking for premises for a community project that will have to move in early 2027. There are a couple of really good possibilities and we spoke to a few of the business owners already there.

I took photos last week but didn't post them so this is a catch up. There are many things to enjoy if you just take a moment to stop. Last week's surprising find? Anyone for a pint? Which animals make Meanwhile 2 their home? Here are two I found last week. There is a spider hiding here somewhere I asked the AI in Wordpress to identify the spider and this is what I got. So it might be a Cross Orb-weaver, I wonder how accurate that identification is?

Demand that Ofwat says no to bill hikes. Let water companies go bust and bring them into public ownership for nothing.

Before: After: Anyone who lives in Ipswich please write to stefan.long@ipswich.gov.uk who is has the responsibility for the so called newly launched 10 Year Ipswich Biodiversity Plan.

What a difference some rain makes. The Meanwhile Gardens have revived and are looking fresher. Our friendly ecologist has reported two new species to Meanwhile 2 - Small Copper butterfly and Meadow Grasshopper. This is great news. Today we saw a butterfly but I am not sure if it was a Small Copper? I spent a few minutes like a demented paparazzo trying to capture a picture of a stunning dragonfly - apologies for the quality but it's the best my phone could do.

As I was bent over picking rubbish up off the pavement, a voice called out 'hello!' I looked up a girl was waving a £5 note at me from a car window. We had a chat about what we were doing and I took the money and told her we would spend it on the Gardens. We have had some rain in the past few days and the gardens are no longer so crunchy.

We had a report of a fire on one of the gardens so I decided to walk down and see. As I arrived a man was staring intently into Meanwhile 2. He was watching a fox cub, it had been there for a while. It seemed to be very tame and calm and wandered off slowly into the deeper foliage cover of the garden.

YouTube video by Parkrose Resistance

I used Google Lens today to identify a Mint Moth (Pyrausta aurata), you may laugh gentle reader that it has taken me until 2026 to use something that I expect everyone else uses all the time but hey ho I got there in the end. And now I can't stop I also identified a common field grasshopper and a magnet car phone holder.

Commission an immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press given its contribution to Dr Arday’s tragic death.

Iv'e been away so there have been no updates on our Meanwhile Gardens, however my fellow Guerrillas have been keeping the rubbish at bay. This is going to be a short post with no pretty pictures, the drought continues. However, all is not lost the buddleia, nepeta and penstemon are astonishing in their ability to carry on regardless. Today we found some keys, but as we were sitting chatting after our litter picking someone came and asked if we had found some keys: we were pleased to show them where they were - evidently they had been safely hidden (but you can't hide things from eagle-eyed guerrilla gardeners!).

Betrayal: the UK Gov pledged guaranteed hours for all workers, but now most will miss out. Sign now to fight back.

We urgently need to replenish our decimated council housing stock, and part of the answer is real funding for councils to Buy the Supply. Over 169,000 children are homeless and living in overcrowded ...

It has not been so hot this side of the country but we are still very dry. What was noticeable to me was the lack of butterflies, our gardens are full of what is commonly called 'butterfly bushes' and I can remember when this plants fluttered with life. The creeping loss goes unremarked, it's only those of us old enough to remember what things were like that feel the pain.

Smoky skies in Toronto have led to new scrutiny of government efforts to fight fires and manage forests. But scientists say the realistic way to tackle the smoke is fighting climate change itself.

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As I write the UK is still in a heatwave with temperatures above 30 degrees for over 10 days (??) in succession somewhere in the country. It was hot again today and only litter pick-up happened. Here in the East we have still had no rain. Amazingly, we found another potential garden! Upper Orwell Street - the street that keeps on giving.

Our expert, Charlotte Ambrose, answers your questions on what to feed birds and help keep them healthy.

Please join us in thanking and congratulating the BMA and its members for taking such a principled stand on the vital issue of freedom of expression on Palestine in the medical profession. The IHRA d...

The numbers are simply mind-blowing: up to £264 billion for a climate “solution” that will increase emissions. Has the government lost its mind?

Reform is facing a backlash over Farage’s resignation gamble, as even its usual right-wing media cheerleaders begin turning on the party

We are now in our third heatwave of the year and the plants we have planted are flagging. We talked about the Meanwhiles and about our own gardens. None of us can really keep up with the watering. So we have decided to let the plants take their chances. We will try and plant in the autumn and we will strictly plant only those plants that we think will have a chance of surviving in our increasingly hot and dry summer conditions.

Dear friends, allies, and supporters of justice,

Add your name to call on Andy Burnham to Secure Our Future

While the Guerrilla Gardeners were relaxing over the weekend some magic sand elves appeared and did a transformation with the pile of discarded sand and the old bricks that had been dumped on Meanwhile 2. We think this is a good use of dumped materials and we thank those who worked so hard on this. Surprising find of the day- this one sparked the story-telling gene in two of the gardeners and they tried to come up with reasons why these important items were dumped in our flower bed.

Join us for an evening of leafleting in North Ipswich this Tuesday! During his visit, Zack Polanski highlighted the importance of regular leafleting in our target wards. At Zack's Big Day Out, we co...

We are suffering under a brutal heat-wave but guerrilla gardeners are tougher than other gardeners! We had planned to deal with the sand and sand was dealt with (some of it anyway). Seems like I did not record the distribution of the sand but other pictures show some of the work done by So and Sa. I picked rubbish on Meanwhile 1 which was in a shocking state, it is being well used but those using it are leaving evidence of their use behind which is really depressing. Seems we have acquired more furniture too! Only one plant image to share this week, as it was really too hot to be outside.

I have missed two weeks looking after the gardens but others have continued working. What struck me on both gardens was the amount of lush growth. We have had a good lot of rain recently and the effect is noticeable. Our little statuette find of last week was vandalised this week and found in many pieces. It seems a shame to spoil something for no good reason and I wonder at those that do this.

Big Day Out in Ipswich this June With Zack Polanski! After months of campaigning, we have shown the other parties that we mean business in Suffolk but now, in a climate where the next election could c...