This isn’t a Soul & Spirit post really, but I’m so happy I still wanted to share 😊

I moved into my current house at the beginning of March 2024. A few weeks later my boyfriend was putting up bird feeders in the garden and called me over. “Look!” He was pointing to a 60cm x 30cm x 20cm stone trough the previous owners had left behind and in it was a Goldfish! The trough was hanging with vegetation and was filthy – there was barely a square inch for the fish to swim in – plus I know it had frozen solid at one stage. “OMG!” I exclaimed, “that poor fish is lucky to still be alive!” and thereafter ‘Lucky’ was the fish’s new name.

I hadn’t particularly wanted a pet Goldfish but it looked like we were going to share a home, so I cut back the overhanging grass, scooped out most of the weeds, ordered some fish food with my Tesco shopping and occasionally sprinkled some on the water – not that he/she (no clue on sex so I’m going with ‘he’ for ease) ever seemed to eat it. I really have idea what he was surviving on in that teeny tiny gunk filled trough but it’s 2 years later and Lucky is still alive and well.

Last Monday I had Dave the Digger Man here to dig me a contemporary garden pond, though it’s been designed with wildlife (particularly damselflies) in mind – I had no intention of putting fish in it! It isn’t finished because I’m now waiting for a landscaper to come and build me a deck around the edges but I’ve started to plant it up, although of course it will take some time for the new Lilies, oxygenators and Jointed Rush to grow and populate. I emptied 2 large water butts of rainwater into the pond, but it’s a decent size so it was nowhere near enough to fill it, which had to be finished off with the hose pipe (Lord only knows what that has cost me as I’m on a water meter 🫣). I’ve waited over a week for any chemicals in the tap water to dissipate and for the water to warm up in the sun before this evening introducing Lucky to his new home.

I’ve just sat for nearly an hour watching him investigate his surroundings. He’s been to every square inch of the 4m x 2m pond, been round all the plant baskets, swum up to the shallow shelf (20cm), the middle shelf (40cm) and the deep end (65cm). He’s gone very slowly, then raced off like he was on the starting block at the Goldfish Olympics. I think it’s safe to say he’s loving it ❤️

He sometimes used to hide under the overhanging grass in the trough and I was concerned that, until the plants mature, there was no cover for him, so have placed and angled a couple of boulders in the water with space for him to get behind or under. Although there are already insects swimming both in and on top of the water I don’t know if there will yet be enough natural food to keep him going, so will try him with some fish pellets and see how it goes.

Can you imagine being a fish and spending years of your life being unable to swim then being set free in a huge pond? I do hope he isn’t frightened but instead feels liberated, like he’s been let out of jail. I also hope he’s still alive in the morning! 🤞🏻