Having gone the round of the ponds in the main garden, I should mention again the pond by the garage, which I last looked at, and that cursorily, a couple of months back. It continues splendid, except that no lotuses have blossomed there since the host of flowers, white and purple, that appeared in the first few months of the year.

Indeed the plants themselves have died away, but I have not worried too much because the fish are well sheltered by the nets above them, and they are now easier to see. The best sight though is from the side, through the glass in front of my seat there, and as I have said it is great fun to see a host of fish clustered there of a morning, waiting to be fed. The first picture here shows them at the end of March, when I got back from Canada, an angel and two white Oscars with one black one, two tiger barb, a red tetra and a black molly.

I have noted that Kavi moved the four white catfish that were there, for he said they were getting too big for that pond. Sadly both those put in the tank by the dining room have died, both this week after I got back from England. And before the latter death, two days after my return, one of the black catfish in there had also died, shown third with the white one after that. So we are left with just one – though he lurks at the bottom – and two red carp apart from the large white gourami. I rather fear the latter does not tolerate other big fish there, for we have had too many fatalities in that tank.

The other two catfish were put in the waterfall pond, where they are both now quite lively, though one took a long time to emerge from the little hideaway where the catfish lurk. I think all seven black ones have also survived there, and also the Silver Dollar that was moved from the dining room tank.

After the catfish went I thought the tank by the garage could do with a couple of larger fish, so I bought two big black angels to add to the four born at Lakmahal which we had transferred there a few months ago. They all seem to be doing well, though I only see a few at a time, one black one and one white one generally at the front, the others floating along behind them for food put in towards the back. The second picture shows the first two, with a white Oscar to the side, and two red tetra and a tiger barb and a black molly beneath.

The only other casualty I registered during my absence was one of the gourami in the temple flower tree pond. Kavi had not noticed this, so I fear he did not die but was abducted. It made me absurdly sad, for one of my daily tasks had been to count the three gourami there, amongst the white Malavi. To my relief the six gourami in the tank under the ehala tree are all still there, though Kavi thought one had been sick, and I too had noticed him languishing, which is not a good sign. But the rest seem quite happy, along with the red carp and the white Mozambique, and the host of red and orange tetras I added.