Hello All

I've mentioned in here before my Grand Plan, one huge pond and lots of
little ones, circular seating area, nice hill planted up. Spent weeks
working on it over the winter, dug out the ponds, cut a 20' circle
into a bank, a hell of a lot of hardscaping and planting. Nowhere near
finished, but enough so I can see what's left to do.

Now, on a hot summers morning I've got my first real taste of why.

Just spent a very happy two hours staring at my pond. Pond skaters
everywhere, fighting, mating, pouncing on midges. 9 goldfish
patrolling in regular patterns, grazing here and there, ever hopeful
of feed arriving from the sky. Water boatmen shyly disappearing to the
depths whenever my shadow looms above them. Whirlygig beetles rushing
everywhere in their mad shopping sprees. Norris, the newt who arrived
a month ago from gawd knows where is slowly working his way around the
pond hoping that a female smooth newt has turned up.

Most stunning are the mayflies. Electric blue, glowing red - a full
spectrum. Mating (in a racist manner, always pairing with the same
colour), flying around joined together like some aerial Pushmepullyou
and laying eggs for next year's one-day wonders. Occasionally a
dragonfly or two does a low-level flyby, but not stopping long enough
to be fully admired.

Another mystery is the monster tadpole. About 1.5" long, alone, after
no sign of any spawn. I think it arrived with one of the lilies I
planted today. Those are just getting used to their new home, ever-so
slowly opening their pads.

Can it get any better than this? Sitting in my own garden, the sounds
of water running down the stream. No noisy neighbours or screaming
kids, no mad rush to do anything other than get another cold beer from
the fridge...

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK - feeling really rather smug.