Pond Life

Its nice to sit and listen to the sound of running water. In the wood I listened to the stream. On the beach I love to listen to the waves. At my mothers house at night I listen to the sound of the river outside the window. So when we moved to Shrewsbury an immediate priority was to install a small pond in the garden.
It took a lot of digging by Meena and me and the small rigid plastic tank and suitable pump were quite expensive.



In the beginning

Plants, fountain and fish added. Willows planted to soften the fence.












Original formal surround



Later I created a more natural surround using stones from the wood

Sumi-e painting of carp. Find out more about sumi-e.

The most exciting part of the project was adding the fish. Each member of the family chose and named one.






Mine was Freddie a rather small plain goldfish. He turned out to be not a very healthy specimen. He fell ill after a couple of years and despite medical attention from me was the first to die.

Paul chose a pale fish with orange markings and a pretty tail. He called it Sasha. We tended to think of her as female. She lasted quite well and her colouring changed until she was almost completely white but she died during the very cold winter of 2010/11.



Find out about Riker's life

Harry's fish was mottled dark orange with some black and white. He was called Riker after the First Officer of the Star
Ship Enterprise. He was a timid fish. Once we thought he had been eaten by the visiting heron but he was actually hiding behind the fish house for over a week. Sadly he was eventually eaten by the heron.

Ju Yu Rin star of Korean T.V. drama.

Joe and Meena called their fish Ju Yu Rin after one of the main characters in a Korean T.V. drama. She was a confident fish - mainly white with one orange spot. She has a large appetite and has grown very big.

The Baron with just a tiny amount of black remaining.

Sam chose a very good looking orange and black fish. He called it Baron or The Baron, apparently inspired by the name of Paul's fish. He was a confident fish, quite happy to come to the surface to take food from your fingers! He grew well and his markings changed until he was almost completely orange. He also died during the cold winter of 2010/11







Luke called his fish Winkie after a character from Harry Potter. He is rather a timid fish and meant to feed from the bottom of the pond but he has learnt to feed at the surface. A necessity when competing with Ju Yu Rin.


Winkie - a strange fish

Well the fish have provided hours of entertainment. They have a little house made from an upturned flower pot and they swim in and out of it and round the back of it. They chase each other and swim in formation.



Follow my leader. Sasha, Baron, Ju Yu Rin and Winkie

Artistic pose by Baron, Sasha, Ju Yu Rin and Freddie.

Baron, Ju Yu Rin, Riker and Sasha, with Freddie's tail and reflected sunflowers.

Nowadays there is just Ju Yu Rin and Winkie. He lets her think she's in charge. She bosses him about and makes him stay in the house but if he makes up his mind to do something different he just goes for it. He can move faster than any other fish.

Winkie following Ju Yu Rin

I'll sit in the sun by the pond and watch their antics. From time to time I'll use my net to fish out dead leaves. I have a plan for transporting them to a new home in Devon.

My place