FILLING THE FOUNTAIN

Today, the fountain was filled.

This fountain and the wall behind it hide a cantina (cellar) which, for need of space, we dug into the very hillside. The fountain is not a thing of beauty being more or less a tank. It is fed by a mountain stream which is often muddy and has tiny fresh water shrimp in it. The water trickling in makes a lovely sound but the water becomes green and mucky quite soon. We grew our own mosquitoes in it until we discovered mosquito donuts. An American friend told us about them. One is enough for this fountain and it kills only mosquito larvae. The lion's head mask was bought at auction in Perth, Scotland. It cost £28.

We leave it dry in the winter and my husband would rather like to leave it dry year round. If we have guests it is hastily filled. They ooh and ahh at the splashing water and then within a week it is all green again.

During periods of drought we drain it and guide the water onto a few olive trees. I say "we," but you know I don't mean me, don't you?

One August, when it was very hot, my brother-in-law stripped down to his knickers and got into it to cool off. Not exactly the glamorous blonde who got into a Roman fountain in the old cult film, La Dolce Vita, but it was the best we could do.

For those who like before and after pics, I tried to get these onto one picture but the computer wouldn't let me. This is work in progress: before

This is the finished product. Almost used it as a blip because dog pics are always nice: Full frontal fountain with dog