The girls wanted to help in the garden today so I suggested some weeding. I don’t think that was interesting enough for them and before long they were asking questions about the hidden water fountain in the middle of the garden and poking around.

When I say that the fountain was hidden, it wasn’t intentionally hidden, it’s just that small stones had covered the nozzle and the whole area was covered with mud and stones (so I suppose you could say that it needed decluttering). I couldn’t remember how it worked either. My husband had built it many years ago and neither of us have paid much attention to the garden since then so we left the water feature unplugged for when we had more time to look into it. Lockdown and the good weather is starting to change our focus on what jobs need doing, and the garden is getting more attention. The children are talking an interest too and got very inquisitive about how the water feature worked.

Attempting to fix it

I switched on the plug in the conservatory to see if we could see any water coming out of the area outside. The girls moved a few stones and we noticed a little bit of water. It was at that point that my husband came out into the garden to see what we were doing. He was pleased that the girls had shown some interest in fixing the fountain and said that they could help to clear the area, take the water/mud/stones out, check the pump, and refill the container. They were very enthusiastic and basically fixed the whole thing themselves with our guidance (well, hubby’s guidance really, as I didn’t have a clue. I just got things when anyone needed them, helped to lift things, and got my hands dirty).

It was a hot day so perfect weather for having your hands in cold water and getting muddy (which of course we all did in the end). It was hard work and fiddly, but the girls did so well. One of them now knows in detail how the pump works and how to adjust it etc. (not that we want to be taking it apart again so soon).

The end result

Here is a picture this evening of the water fountain working, and the solar lantern that I put in a few weeks back.

It’s all starting to come together in our garden. I think it could do with a few flowers in this little area now.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra