Update on frog spawn

I mentioned a couple of week's ago that a friend recently gave me a jar of frog spawn for the pond I built eighteen months ago. I can't see any sign of the frog spawn nor any tadpoles. It doesn't look like they have survived. The goldfish, which have been quite active in this mild weather, I notice appear to have put on a little holiday weight.

As I had previously indicated, if it were a choice between frogs and goldfish I'd prefer frogs. Its just that in a previous pond I had they seemed to tick along together okay. 

This is the second cohort of goldfish for this pond. The ten originals were raided by a heron and, as far as I could tell, there were two survivors. Towards the end of last summer I bought a second batch of ten which so far are thriving.

When I first bought the goldfish I asked for nine but the odd number seemed to disproportionately perplex the person who served me. They suggested I bought ten instead. 

The reason for asking for nine fish is that in Chinese culture (Janet is Chinese) goldfish are auspicious creatures and nine goldfish promises prosperity. Goldfish are a common subject of classical Chinese art. If you go into a Chinese household, whether in China or among Chinese diaspora, you will often see a painting or a wall hanging depicting nine goldfish. 

Part of the reason for this is that the word for 'goldfish' (金鱼 Jīnyú, literally gold fish) is almost a homophone for  'abundant wealth' 金玉 Jīnyù, literally gold jade).  This seemed far too involved an explanation so in the end I settled for ten who in the event were not that lucky.

Painting by Lin Jing 林菁 in traditional style.
InkDance Chinese Painting Gallery