Bubbling Fountain TRANSFORMATION Process

 

Here was my beautiful  birdbath-fountain my husband painted black for me to have a " Charleston-style ' look to it. This was in April, see the little dab of bubbles ?

They got worse. Look below...

Here was the next morning about 6:30 AM ( I have a previous post about this in April ) Kind of looks like the bubble-blob. Was funny for a few days, then NOT funny after a week and a half.  Nothing worked, so I decided to move another fountain here, and relegate this one to the back under my Carolina Jessamine.

Then I had the bright idea of putting my seashells in it. Look below...

As you can concur, and I know you do out there in cyberland, this was a definite YUCH.

Too bright. So...I went to Lowes, spent too much on assorted non-essential flowers and a sprinkler, and also fixed my problem.

see below..

 

I planted some peach lantana and some marigolds  ( I do not like marigolds very much, but I have a serious mosquito problem, and they don't like marigolds ).  Anything that mosquitoes don't like is a friend or flower of mine.

These will look better in a week or so. Very sunny spot back here.

 

Some bush roses and salvia also back here.

I have to go plant my unnecessary flowers I bought ( I have been reading Flower Lady's frugal post ), and clean my house , which is never as much fun, if any fun at all as gardening.

So far, mission accomplished with the wayward black fountain.

I hope you have a great day, I hope you get to that one or more annoying things that bug you in your garden, and fix them,

Bless you,

Gina

" The heavens are Yours , the earth is also Yours ; the world and all it's fullness, You have founded them. " Psalm 89:11

Planters , STATUES, & FOUNTAINS in CHARLESTON, South CAROLINA Gardens

 

 Up there is a happy camper in a Charleston garden full of blooming azaleas !

It was a hot 85 degrees in Charleston, South Carolina on Tuesday , and I decided to drive down and take some photos of Spring for inspiration. The top photo above is me, obviously dressed for the weather...and when you come to Charleston in the Spring or Summer, you'd better bring lots of shorts , hats, sundresses( women only of course ), lightweight clothing as it is HOT and HUMID.
Plus lots of water bottles.
I am standing above in the Nathaniel Russell garden located off Meeting St., I had a nice young teenage boy take a few pictures of me, he was vacationing with his family and he took 3 pictures of me, with his Mom's guidance and this is the only one that wasn't fuzzy. Lots of families vacation her, and lots of couples looking for romance.
Romance lives here so they will find it.
This city is very charming,  beautiful old historic homes and gardens. In this entry I will show you some planters, some statues, and some fountains. Be sure to click on any of the photos for a larger look if you like...lots of ideas for your garden planters,
Here we go...

Lots of sago palms in planters here

This is the same statue I have in my backyard garden, my favorite, and it is the only other one I have seen.

I love this idea, which I try to do in my garden, is get a center focal point, circular or another shape, and decorate around it with plants, rocks, etc.

One of my favorite statues that is hidden behind a Bed & Breakfast...you can't hide beauty though.

House on the Battery had this

Here is my favorite picture...look what I found in the fountain sunning themselves !

4 turtles stacked on top of each other ! Loved it ! I told some people I walked past to go look into that garden, and see the turtles at the base...you just have to share wonderful sights.

Most of these fountains in the backyards of homes are large circular pools with fountains in the center.

I have a few more entries to do from that day, one is about the Dock Street Theater ( the oldest theater in the USA ) that has re-opened and is renovated, one will be about small gardens I found , and one will be about some homes and the candy store in downtown Charleston that I always stop at on the way home.
Have a great, flowery weekend,
Gina

 "The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you;
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace. "  Numbers 6:24-26

The Gardens of the Calhoun Mansion in Downtown Charleston, South Carolina

On all of my treks through the historic neighborhoods of Charleston, South Carolina ...I always pass the large and very impressive Calhoun mansion at No. 16 Meeting St.  This is the largest privately owned home in Charleston , and this Victorian mansion was built in 1876 .It has 24,000 sq. feet of floor space ( that includes an attic ), and is the largest building in the city that was built as a private home.  Very elegant, there is almost a stillness and a quiet spirit over this entire outside garden area.  That is except for the day that I went there on Tuesday Sept. 8th , 2009 and raised my voice in the front of the home at the tour guide...and her small ensemble of guests she was about to take in.

 

Let me  try to make you understand why I raised my voice...and it was only for a few brief moments. I saw the front gates open, and I stepped in to take some quick, ( I thought you may not be able to take pictures if you did not have a ticket ), pictures of the front garden..especially wanted to get handsome Mercury, looking like he is dancing on the round holly bushes in the front. I had my headphones on , it of course was a very hot summer afternoon , so I was dressed in shorts, tank shirt...I looked like a jogger passing by. Anyway, while I was taking some photos, I could barely hear this sweet voice asking me something. I stopped and looked up, and there was a young lady and two women she was about to take through the mansion on a tour.  She kept trying to ask me something, and I listened more carefully ( I had a contemporary Christian music playing in my ears, that makes what I did even more embarrassing ). 

I finally figured out ...as I had not completely turned my music down...if I wanted to go on the tour ? I asked her, ' How much is it ? "  She tells me the price...or what I thought was the price..and I yelled " Fifty DOLLARS !! " I can't believe it is 50 DOLLARS !! " They all just kept looking at me like I was this really odd , LOUD, jogger...and she kept repeating what she said. I finally turned my headphones off, pulled them off my head...and heard her say " No mam, 15 Dollars ."

I felt at that moment that God was up there, smacking himself on the head..thinking what am I going to do with her ? I'll bet he wanted to pull my little gold cross around my neck, lift it up and tell me to ," Watch that tone, child . "

Again, the very imperfect Christian woman strikes again .Geez, don't we all sound terrible sometimes ? Lesson learned, No. 1..Turn off your headphones when someone is talking to you. No. 2..I am a representative of Jesus, so I better watch my tone more..no, that was probably No. 1.

Ok, let's go look at this beautiful garden...

Here is part of the front steps and porch of the mansion, heavy wrought iron all around. This is where the nice tour guide was when I caused the ruckus.

 

 This is the center fountain , at the side of the garden

The back knot garden with old statue in the center

 

Here is the really beautiful , really large three-tired fountain. I would guesstimate it stands between 15-20 feet tall.

This has some neat old bird statues surrounding the base

Trying to show you all the statues surrounding it, antique all of them

 

Last shot of this glorious fountain, the size of a small pool.

  I am a wrought iron nut, just love it...and this bench surrounding the front fountain was very large and ornate.

Look below to get a better view of it's surroundings.

  Isn't this the most delightful knot or parterre garden ? You will want to reach out and touch these round ones.

Everyone's favorite in the garden...Mr. Handsome-Bronze -Mercury, you will see him from the sidewalk.

This knot garden is directly in front of the house and to the sides of the doors.

Ok, here is the sign in front , the website for this Mansion is www.calhounmansion.net . It says in one of the guides to Charleston that it is open daily 11-5 March-Oct. and 11-4 November-February. Tours every 30 minutes. This mansion looks spectacular, huge leaded glass doors lead into the home...and one day when I have 15.00 on me , on one of my treks here,...I'll go through them.

More on Charleston, SC soon. I believe I'll do doors of Charleston next.

later,   Gina

"..but as He who called you all to be holy, you also be holy in ALL your conduct. " 1 Peter 1:15