Ah, Sunday, a day of rest. Although this Sunday started in a stormy fashion with both of us having tremendous wind in the night due to something in the pasta sauce last night. Tomato and roast garlic, very delicious, but boy did we make a noise....

This morning, we were both very excited as the day had come when we could visit our specialist aquatic garden centre to look at fish. We also bought many bags of matured horse poo for applying to the garden and lots of bulbs.

Called in at our big Marks & Spencer which is very close to the nursery. Bought the most fabulous pair of shoes. They are a kitten heeled court, with a pointy toe, in the most luscious colour, a kind of lilac-pink suede. I have to say that M & S do seem to be getting their act together - their stock is now looking quite interesting as well as all the basics they have always done. These shoes are truly scrumptious. I will try and post a picture of them later in the week. Other than going to a fresh sushi place, they do the best packaged sushi. Our favourite sushi place is on Piccadilly in London, fortunately close by the Maison du Chocolat, so you can make up for the healthy stuff with a deliciously indulgent truffle or two. Of course, Fortnums isn't very far away either, if you are really stuck. Fave uncle Warwick works nearby in the RA, so the Wolseley is his works canteen. Very starry.

Back to the fish. We have six small goldfish and four Shebunken, which my friend Leila has correctly pointed out sounds like an unpleasant foot disease. We allowed the bags to acclimatise to the pond temperature for about an hour, and then came the exciting moment. The bags tipped sideways and our fish swam out into their new home. It is a very big pond for them, so there is plenty of space for them to swim around and explore. We sat, watching, fascinated. Later, when it was time to eat, we brought our starters out to the pond to eat by the side so we could continue to watch them.

We planted hundreds of bulbs. There are narcissi, baby tulips, lots of crocus, oxalis and a huge variety of alliums which we both love. Every colour and height imaginable. Next spring the garden will look glorious. Finished off with a topdressing of blood fish and bone before retiring for a gin. More bulbs will be planted when we have put in some of the bigger plants. The weather stayed dry although it spent most of the day looking as though it wanted to start raining.

Now feel relaxed and happy before the onslaught of the next week. Andrew leaves tomorrow morning for a very early flight.