Happiness

Our coppery brass  DIY fountain. Random metallic pings punctuate the joyful splash. The sound of summer. Does it make me happy?

A water feature for our garden has been on my list for years. A pond would have to go in the front garden because the back is too shady. Our deck is on the rear of the house so not much point to a pond in front. A fountain in the back garden would be good. Something like this we could see and hear from the deck which is one story up from ground level.

Who am I kidding? We live in New England not sunny Italy where this would be right at home. Plus it is astronomically expensive. How about a little table top fountain for the deck? No, thank you.

Years go by. Finally, an epiphany: regardless of the geography issue, despairing of ever owning a real $$$$ stone fountain is a whiny waste of time. A fountain that sits on the deck, not the table, is the solution. I looked at thousands on line. Didn't find the "one".

Undeterred and in flagrant disregard of the advice coin I frequently bestow upon others, "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" and minted on the flip side, "just because you think you can, means it's going to be a lot harder than you bargained for," I forged ahead, determined to make my own deck fountain.

The fountain wasn't tall enough on its own so I raised it up on bricks. Plants in nice pots disguise the bricks and take the eye off the electrical cord (for the most part).

For DIY project lovers, read on. For the squeamish, scroll down to the pic with the flowers and the dog.

The sanitized transformation of vintage Moroccan style brass pot to fountain.

The footed base unscrews from the pot part. A vase of flowers? Yes, if I'm doing a project on the kitchen counter, may as well have something nice to look at while I struggle work.

You'd think I could have put the pump in the pot and let the cord drape over the side. Oh no. Embolden with the zeal of a novice DIYer, I drilled a hole in the bottom of the pot and put a rubber grommet in the hole for the cord.

the bottom of the pot with hole drilled for the electrical cord of the pump. The little black thing is a rubber grommet. It keeps the cord from being damaged by the jagged edge of the metal hole. Plus it helps with the water seal but that's mostly the job of the silicone.

I drilled another hole in the base where the pot screws into it. This shows the hole before I put the rubber grommet in. Sharp, jagged edges is what we get when drilling into metal, it couldn't possibly be I'm not the best with a Ryobi. Thank heavens someone invented grommets. And silicone.

And at the foot of the base, another hole drilled and a grommet so the cord can exit safely.

I thought I was done but the flip side of the advice coin reared its ugly head. The pump would not sit flat on the bottom of the pot. You wouldn't believe the crazy stuff I tried until I hit upon this block of granite and green coated wire I use for my roses. In full disclosure, I didn't have the granite cut, it was a sample from a project.

I'll skip the theatrics of getting the cord through all three holes and siliconing them before screwing the pot back on the base. The final steps were mercifully easy. Fill with water, test the pump, place on deck. Add nice pots with plants, a month's worth of growth and done.

Here's what caught me completely off guard. The difficulty of this little project combined with my utter delight that the fountain actually works has resulted in a total loss of objectivity. I am blissfully free of that old joy robber, comparison. In answer to my query, does it make me happy? Yes. I'm even happier when my husband and daughter tell me the fountain sounds good, tactfully omitting their critique of how it looks. 

The dog and I are content.

Pumpkin basking in the early morning sun, within earshot of the fountain.

Is there a point to this post? Yes. Nothing will ever be perfect but I can choose to be happy. 

Hope you are enjoying summer!

thanks for reading,

Linda Pakravan

all pictures by me except the stone fountain, here's the link: Authentic Provence

This post was not sponsored by Authentic Provence.