Taking stock

The lovely springlike weather of the past couple of days has enticed me out into the garden again, to take stock of the winter's decimation and decide on the plan of action for the forthcoming season. The one remaining guinea-pig is having a hard time keeping up with the growing grass, so I think the mower is going to have to be dusted off before too long. Two fences need a lot of attention, and it smells as though a rat has taken up residence in the greenhouse.

Last year's baby goldfish have survived the winter in the pond, but are still black. Does anyone know how old they are when they change colour? Even more surprising is the fact that Daddy Goldfish has survived. When he and Mummy Goldfish were new (only last year, gosh!) he grew a beard of fungus which, when it went, caused his bottom jaw to fall off and his mouth to almost heal up. How he managed to eat enough to keep going I'll never know, but he was strong enough to court MG and sire lots of babies.

I think this year would be a good one to tackle the problem the garden's design. Now that the Boy is grown we don't need so much open space for football and cricket, so perhaps the borders can be enlarged and a path laid across the lawn from the patio to the vegetable garden. A curving gravel path would look better than the trampled grass that currently exists. (I realise, reading this back, I may have inadvertently given the impression that our garden is somewhat larger than the reality. We only played very small-scale football and cricket. Think more Subbuteo-sized.)

And I still haven't decided what to plant in the lovely big pot that I bought 2 years ago. I want a hardy shrub or small tree, to grow about 5 or 6 feet high, preferably evergreen and ideally with scented blossom, and that will be happy in an east-facing corner that only gets direct sun in the morning. I'm open to suggestions.