Settling back into some sort of routine is difficult, mainly because I’m still all over the place. This week I intend to be in the garden (weather permitting). Also a fine time to update my blog.
Yesterday (Sunday) was a good start. Roland has cleaned out the big fishpond and with all the rain it is filling up nicely. We bought some plants which I’ve repotted and positioned in the fishpond. It is an awkward shape being a figure 8 with two islands. There is a birdbath on the bigger island.
We bought 6 little goldfish and released them yesterday. They promptly swam under one of the plants and we’ve barely seen them since. When I went out to check them this morning, the pink-and-grey galahs were interested in me! They flew down and perched on the Norfolk Pine and inspected the situation very carefully. We’re hoping the kookaburras don’t come along and raid the pond. We must add more cover for the fishes. With a regular supply of water and some plants for cover, perhaps we’ll attract some frogs into the garden.
The little fishpond is looking good and the marron are hibernating although when I disturbed them yesterday, I saw one peering out from her hideyhole giving me a beady look! She is blue and her eyes are red. Once summer is here no doubt the marron will find the big pond and terrorise the little goldfish.
There are two goldfish in the pond, imaginatively named ‘Reddy’ and ‘Whitey’ for obvious reasons. You can just spot them in the photograph, cruising around their territory. They are too big for the marron to eat but I have a feeling that, should there be any offspring, the babies will be eaten.
Roland has taken off most of the shade-cloth over the patio. It was beginning to look tatty after the high winds. Some of it was torn and it had detached from the beams. We’re not sure how long the shade-cloth had been up as it was there when we bought the house. It seemed to deteriorate quickly these last few months. I think the grapevine will give us enough shade in summer and the house is certainly much lighter now that most of the shade-cloth has gone.
thoughts and memories 