This winter,
our five pond fish were much entertained by the antics of the newly-arrived Little Fishy (pictured above). Little Fishy
would have us believe that she swam across the Atlantic Ocean from her home in England. We humour her because she is a much-loved member of our family. Fishy can weave tales to rival those of any plant that grows in my garden.
Last week, when the day finally arrived for the five fish to return to the pond, Fishy insisted that she watch the proceedings from an adjacent Dogwood. The large Elm tree, she decided, simply did not show her colouring off to advantage. Who were we to argue? The Dogwood turned out to be a perfect place for Fishy since she hung by a lovely brass ring overlooking the pond. There was much excitement as my son and I put the fish back in the pond. I was only able to photograph four of the five fish together in the photograph here.
Little Fishy is the creation of the talented and lovely Gretel. When Fishy made her appearance in Gretel’s blog, Middle of Nowhere, I knew that her home was with us. If you have not visited Gretel’s blog or her Etsy shop, Red Flannel Elephant, then you have a treat in store for you. How Gretel can needlefelt such lovely creatures is magical and mysterious to me. Fishy arrived in a beautiful package along with a beautiful set of cards featuring Gretel’s toy illustrations.
Now that the fish have been restored to the pond, it feels as if summer has arrived. Weather-wise it certainly has as the temperatures zoomed up to 27c late last week and have been hovering in the low 20s for the weekend.
Fishy spends part of each day outdoors and accompanies us inside at night. Her days are filled with much excitement as Lytton, the dog, keeps neighbourhood cats and pesky pigeons away from the pond. Every morning we have been relieved to discover that none of the fish have disappeared.
in the autumn light 
Glad your fish are back home. I never thought I’d like fish much but since we’ve had our pond, I’ve become quite attached to them–even though they’re just cheap 10 cent goldfish. I now find watching them swim and school and play around quite fascinating. It is one of the few times I can just sit in the garden and sit.
What a charming story. I need to bring my little fishies home. Actually, I want to sneak at least 3 more in.
Wow! Your little fishy is adorable! That Gretel is truly talented – I loved seeing all her little creations at her site. Like you, I would check my fishpond each day and be relieved to find all my fish still still in there! 🙂 I’d love to have a little fish pond someday in the yard. I think I need a bigger yard first though! LOL
:o) LOL! Thank you! I am sooo envious of Little Fishy! And wonderful to see her in situ. Bless her, she does have some funny ideas, but she has your plants to chat to so she is in good company!
Your fish are in the pond again and Little Fishy got to watch it all. He’s cute and seems to be quite a character.
Oh, too cute, Kate. Thanks for introducing us to Little Fishy.~~Dee
Your pond certainly looks so much cleaner than our mucky, murky one. We can’t even see any fish, although our resident frog seems to like it. At least this way the persistent Great Blue heron hasn’t had much luck in catching any fish, at least I don’t think so but not being able to see the fish, maybe the heron has eaten all of them?
So lovely to see your fish. As you know, I love my fishies. What a lovely pond you have. And Gretel is very talented. I must check out her shop!
How I miss not having fish in our pond in the garden… I’ll remedy that this week!
take care, grache
P.S. Enjoy watching those fish splashing about.
Hi Kate, It is nice that you have Little Fishy to keep aneye on your pond fish. I just hate it when the pond fish disappear. Unfortunately racoons tend to treat our little water feature as a smorgasbord so I don’t have any fish. I would like to try again after seeing your fish. They are so pretty.
Goodness, I just posted about setting up our water gardens for the season on Saturday! It’s always a huge highlight. Hopefully, the piece of clay pipe I’ve installed in the bottom will deter any raccoons from treating the larger water garden as an all-you-can-eat buffet (which has, sadly, happened in previous years). I was relieved to read that you took Little Fishy indoors at night after reading that she was made of felt. I hope you’ll share some of her observations with us in future posts!
Good to hear that cats and birds aren’t going fishing in the night 🙂
Also, I’ve set up Saskblogs.ca with the blogroll of the other SaskBloggers. Unfortunately the Aggregator you’re linking to is no more, for now.
You have some cute characters in your garden 🙂 I’m sure Little Fishy feels right at home.
Good luck with her fishy friends. I’m sure they’re happy to be swimming free outdoors again.
Great photographs, Kate. I’m glad Lytton is keeping the birds and other animals of fish prey away. At my son’s college there was a large koi pond that always had several koi hatched in the spring. Unfortunately, the herons knew just when spring was and came for snacks. Very few baby koi ever survived until summer.
What a cute fishy. Hope he can keep the others safe. You’ve made me realize it’s time for me to get our fish outside. This weekend for sure..
Nice to know it’s fish weather again. What a nice spring ritual.
What a great rite of Spring – the return of the fish to the garden. Better than the return of the swallows to Capistrano.
I love Gretels creations, you are lucky to have nabbed one.
Kate, I’ve really enjoyed your posts of late. It’s like you have taken root at your new url and blossom and thrive. Today is the first day I noticed your blog’s subtitle. I now, belatedly, understand what you mean by smudges – and the PERFECT way to describe what you do with life.
This post reflects all the qualities I enjoy most in your writing – the quirky take, the elegant turn of phrase, the imagination and art of putting disparate things together into the same picture and seeing them in a new way. My definition of a true Artist. And I LOVE Fishy. I can’t wait to explore the blog you link.
Kate, I’ve really enjoyed your posts of late. It’s like you have taken root at your new url and blossom and thrive. Today is the first day I noticed your blog’s subtitle. I now, belatedly, understand what you mean by smudges – and the PERFECT way to describe what you do with life.
This post reflects all the qualities I enjoy most in your writing – the quirky take, the elegant turn of phrase, the imagination and art of putting disparate things together into the same picture and seeing them in a new way. My definition of a true Artist. And I LOVE Fishy. I can’t wait to explore the blog you link.
What do you do with your fish in winter? Are they in the house? The little fishy thingy is neat. I’ll have to check out the creator.
Aiyana
Such an important occasion Kate, releasing the fishes back into the pond. They must have been jumping for joy. 😉 That Little Fishy is seriously cute!
Such an important occasion Kate, releasing the fishes back into the pond. They must have been jumping for joy. 😉 That Little Fishy is seriously cute!
i love etsy shops!!! thank you for sharing her link and your Fishy story, LOL (sounds funny, LOL) 😉
p.s. I have a water garden, too lucky for ne the fish can stay outside all year long.
Have a wonderful day and enjoy enjoy enjoy!!!!
I need to get some fish but we are enjoying the garden without worrying about the water right now.
They ALL look happy!
Oh I adore fish, and watching them. I don’t know that I would have the time for fish and my dogs would most definitely use the pond for their own pleasures. I always keep one of those children’s wading pools in the yard for the dogs and everyday in summer they take turns getting in and cooling off. My mom tried fish outdoors but not very successfully though her success with goldfish indoors was amazing. They’re very calming and elegant to watch aren’t they? Now I need to check out the links to Gretel’s place!
Diane
I was wondering where you keep the fish in the winter, too. It must finally be spring, if the pond is open for the year. Do you have a problem with birds perching on Little Fishy?
I love Little Fishy. Congrats on such a wonderful new family member. A fish pond seems like such an idyllic thing to have in your yard. I know people here in the desert have them, but it just doesn’t seem RIGHT to me, somehow. I will just enjoy yours. Do you mind?
Goodness 27 degrees. I’d been wondering where our sun went. I’m glad the cold snap is over for you. Enjoy!
(Frosty mornings here in Melbourne!).
The fish looks so lovely and soothing in the pond-and little fishy is so cute!
I like this little fishy – she looks so well mannered 🙂
How cute little fishy is, and your pond and pond fish.
I have linked to this fun blog at my blog.
Little Fishy isn’t going to be too happy with me. My ‘pond’ is about warm enough to dump some feeder goldfish in. While they may have a summers reprieve from the menu they’ll be thinking hell froze over come winter if we don’t find someone willing to take mercy on them.
I like you new fishy. Do you put your fish in an indoor tank in the winter? We’ve talked about getting fish for our dugout, but I wonder about the winters.
How cute was this post, lovely little fishy.
Your pond looks lovely and clear……almost like glass.
So YOU’RE the new home for Gretel’s creation! I’m so glad!!!! I just love her work. Isn’t it just enchanting?!?!
Hugs,
Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage
Hey Kate, thanks for the good wishes…I am having fun following you on twitter…I had it loaded on the front page of my blog, like you have, but it took so long for it to load I removed it. I noticed yours doesn’t seem to take extra time…any tips?
oh i love Little Fishy! too cute 🙂 oh puhleeese, i’m so sure she swam accross the pond! i think someone has issues with fibbing….FISHY!
neat, whear do your fish stay in the winter?
Glad little fishy is settling into her new home – sorry it’s been so long since I visited, but work seems to have taken over… I think the last time I visited you still had snow on the ground – shows how long it’s been – sorry! Lots going on in our garden too at this time of year – do pop over to my blog sometime – take care Miranda
Dear Kate,
your little fishy takes a good place! Now begins the best time in the gardens, isn’ t it so?
Have a great time Wurzerl
Little cute fishy, i am sure, couldn’t have hoped for a better home. She appears to be custom made for those lovely surroundings.
Oh how I wish we could have fish in our little pond. But with six outdoor cats, I’m afraid they wouldn’t be swimming around for long.
Your new fishy IS charming, for sure!
I see the cold weather is gone in Canada since the fish are back in the pond. How nice! We don’t have a pond (yet), but I enjoy watching the Kois in my neighbor’s pond. Have a nice week! Andrea
So sweet! 🙂
The pond looks great Kate! It would be a nice addition to our yard but with two young children I think we’ll steer clear of water hazards for a bit. I’m glad your fish are doing good!
Little Fishy is a nice addition to your family, what does Lytton think of her:)? The colour of the hepaticas in the previous post is just beautiful.
Kate .. I’m sorry to have not visited more often. That was an amazing site with so many creatures created by Gretel .. I love the snail to bits ! LOL
Glad to hear your fish are settled in and under the protection of their four footed guardian. Love the papyrus plant ? by your pond .. so beautiful I would be there all day/night mooning what over a gorgeous place to watch life roll on from.
Joy : )
Hi Kate! I love little Fishy…and good for Lytton for keeping guard!
Your pond looks beautiful. Maisie would love to sit there and stare at the goldfish, probably drooling.:)
A blue heron had my koi for dinner many years ago, in the bigger of my two garden pools, and since then I have only had goldfish like yours, three of them plus babies, in the smaller water garden. They winter outdoors here in USDA Zone 5, with a floating pond de-icer keeping a solid sheet of ice from forming so they (and all my beloved frog boys) don’t suffocate. I’ve never fed the fish in the five years (or bought them winter coats and mittens, either). Hardy souls indeed.
Just discovered your wonderful blog again – it is a fine fish and I am heading right over to Gretel’s stall now!
OMG, I love that Kitty Blue on Gretel’s site! (SOLD) And the goose, too! (SOLD) I’ll have to watch for more felted things to appear. I have a Winnie-the-Pooh that’s done like that. It’s my favorite Pooh.
Where do your fish go in the winter, Kate?