I was in a village shop the other day and I got talking to the shop owner about ponds. Like most serendipitous events I have no clue how the conversation started, but I told him of the saga of Lucky my goldfish. “I didn’t want fish in my new wildlife pond” I moaned “it was supposed to be for Dragonflies and he’ll eat all the nymphs!” At which the shop owner’s eyes lit up. “Do you want to re-home him?” he asked me. I stopped in my tracks, because to be honest I’ve grown quite fond of Lucky and would miss him if he weren’t there, so I answered cautiously “it depends who to”.

I was then shown the most gorgeous large fish pond in someone’s equally large back garden and told that the owner, Ben, was obsessed with ponds and had re-homed several goldfish into his.

I thought about it for a bit then decided, putting my own wants and feelings aside, it would be better for Lucky to be in a pond with other goldfish. They are social creatures who should be part of a shoal and so far he’d lived his entire life alone. So it was agreed that the shop owner would put me in touch with Ben who is coming to collect Lucky next week.

Lucky will be happier being with other fish and I will have my longed for wildlife pond with, fingers crossed, baby Dragonflies.

What are the odds of me chatting to a village shop owner in the middle of nowhere who just happens to be good friends with a goldfish re-homer? A million to one I’d imagine. I’ve been going in that shop regularly for over 2 years and the subject has never come up before, yet it surfaces just a few weeks after I create my new pond. This stuff isn’t coincidence.