Saturday, June 12, 2010

Fountain Down

We have been having one severe storm after another for the past several days.

A few days ago I stepped out into my yard and saw my Wacky Bird had blown over. I wasn't suprised since he blows over quite often.



But I was shocked when I saw this.



I have lived here for 15 years. Never once has this fountain toppled over. This fountain is made out of solid concrete and is very, very heavy. It is also bigger than it looks in these pictures.

So I started the process of putting it back together again.



My problem was the large bowl at the base of the fountain. It is extremely heavy. There was only one way I would ever get it back up on the pedestal. Time to get my tractor. Fortunately this is a real tractor. A little lawnmower type tractor would never lift this thing.



I could easily lift the concrete bowl with the loader. It was just a matter of getting it positioned in the right spot.



Nice and easy. Take your time.



Yes! Okay!



I was able to put the rest of the fountain together pretty easily once the large bowl was on. I will need to get it balanced - but first I will let the ground settle.



Oh, my Wacky Bird? He's back up and going again.



Thanks for stopping by.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

How odd that the heavy fountain fell over. The ground beneath must have become unstable.

Di

Maureen said...

Too much storm for me!

Russell said...

Hi,

Yes, Snappy Di you are right. A week before the fountain toppled over I had dug up that entire flower bed and even moved the fountain (with the help of the tractor). I got the fountain leveled out after many years of it tipping a bit.

Of course, with the ground loosened up and all the rain that followed, the fountain tipped over when the wind came up really hard.

And yes, Maureen, that is way too much storm for me, too!

Cloudia said...

wow, you are pretty good with that cat!






Aloha from Waikiki

Comfort Spiral

Pauline said...

Such skill with a bucket loader! The wacky bird looked quite funny on its back with its feet up in the air like that - he must have thought so too - just look at those eyes!

L. D. said...

The bird bath was quit a projects. The tractor lift was the only way to go. It's funny how I really like the traditional fountain design and I can really like the quirky little bird a lot. He is coo..

Jo said...

I love that wacky bird. He looks as if he is checking everything out, and making sure you did a good job. Hmmmm.... just a little more to the left.

Hilary said...

I'm so impressed with how well you manipulated that tractor to replace the fountain bowl. With delicate accuracy like that, you could be a surgeon! That wacky bird is a hoot. :)

Small City Scenes said...

Oh my, you are a master with the front loader. Good for you. It is funny what a windstorm can do or not do. We had an Eagle nest blow out of a tree. Those things are huge and this one had been there for years--nothing else touched. The Eagles didn't have a tractor to fix things. MB

A Lady's Life said...

That is a very nice decorative bird and it sure is handy to have a tractor around.
Gets me to thinking I should get one also lol Could use a good hand like that around my place.
Just thinking of all the holes I can dig makes me smile :)

Barbara said...

Wow! I'm impressed with your perseverance!

Small City Scenes said...

I hope you had a glorious 4th. MB

Ruthie Jones said...

We live in such a disposable society, so it's great to see someone actually fix something rather than just buy new. Very inspirational - and the pictures are awesome!