Fountain Follies

Spent a good part of the weekend cleaning, de-gunking, and generally trying to freshen up the outside fountain that the flooring guy accidentally fixed Friday.

I was equipped with rubber gloves so the general grossness of cleaning didn't bother me that much. It was more the tenacity of the dirt that got to me. I just couldn't get it clean -- at least as spic 'n span as I wanted it to be. And I didn't want to use any toxic chemicals that might kill the various wildlife that hangs out in our neighborhood. So it was me with vinegar and a toothbrush trying to make a discernible difference.

After coming to the realization that perfection was not going to be within reach, I accepted my pseudo-improvement and worked to get the fountain flowing. I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the tubing to flush it out, so all I was doing was sending fresh water through disgusting hoses.

But it didn't matter much anyway because there must be a hole in the water basin -- after filling it all the way, the pump would stop because the water level got too low. This happened numerous times -- not frustrating at all.

Plus, it was hard getting those resin rocks to allow the water to filter down in a way that made a pleasant noise. Most of the time, you could hear the deer chomping on the day lilies more than the comforting sound of negative ions being released.

And no matter what way you positioned them, the plastic rocks were obviously pretending to be a real fountain. So we decided that we'll check out the end of summer sales to see if we can get a better water feature cheap. The expensive electrical part has already been completed by previous owners; it's just a matter of getting a nice fountain with a powerful pump.

So that would be the end of this weekend's story except for some squatters who were living beneath the fountain: chiggers. Saturday night, I began itching about half-way through the night and woke up the next morning convinced we had beg bugs. But after some online research, I found that chiggers love high-moisture areas and can build quite the condominium complex if given the chance. And it can take 24-48 hours before you feel the bites.

My stomach and back look like they should be photographed for a medical journal. But I will not be posting pictures of my bitten body in order to prevent future nightmares; just know it's not pretty.

Tomorrow's update: the master bedroom stops looking like a funeral parlor.

Some pictures of the fountain cleaning and a happy pic post-clean-up before the fountain stopped working for the first time ... photos courtesy of LevelHead Jr.