After our disappointing ride to Swiss Pines in Charlestown, Pa., yesterday, Evil Ed and I stopped in Phoenixville to get a bit to eat. On our way into town, stuck in backed up traffic on Bridge Street, Ed noticed a fountain shop raffling off a free fountain. Ed loves fountains the way I love flowers, though it is not practical to put one in our current garden, especially since we don't own the property.
But these fountains are small, and when we went in to browse we found out an awful lot from the very friendly and non pushy owner, Charles Kern, who makes the fountains himself by hand. He'd been making fountains for almost 20 years before he opened Natural Creations, which is at 110 Bridge St., Phoenixville.
Kern told us all his fountains are made from pumice, a lava stone, which is a natural filter, so these fountains don't have problems with gunk collecting on them. (A big issue I have with my current petmate water fountain for my cats.)
He hand carves all the crevices in the stone and even adds real or silk flowers to create a sort of sculpture fountain. These fountains weren't big. The largest was probably about a foot tall and two feet around. They plug into the wall, so they are best used inside.
Kern even had fish in two of the fountains. He said the water only has to be changed every four months and you don't have to scrub off the stone. Just reacclimate the fish. Amazing! But I can't have fish in an open fountain since they will be sushi for the cats.
I asked about using his fountains as a water dish for pets and he said it is perfectly safe and even better for the cats since there would be no bacterial buildup thanks to the natural purifying qualities of the pumice.
Kern said the fountain pumps, which are aquarium pumps, last about 19 years. He just replaced a fountain pump for one of his first customers the week before, which is how he knew.
He even rents the fountains out for weddings, and also sells "cave candles." What these are are pumic stones carved out to look like caves with a holder for a candle in them, so they give a great ambient light. (Makes me really wish I had a green house for a home.)
I looked up pumic stone, and while I don't like it particularly as a source, Wikipedia confirmed that pumice is a natural lava rock formed when lava and water mix.
Pumice is soft and lightweight. Ground up pumice was used by the romans to make a type of concrete that made their buildings last for such a long time. It was used in the roof of the Parthenon, according to wikipedia.
I couldn't find why pumice is a purifier, but it may be due to the numerous pores in the stone that allow oxygen to mix with the water. Not sure. Still have to look into it.
But with the cost of another petmate being $60 or more, and then nuisance of cleaning it driving me up the wall, I might just shell out the $100 it would cost for one of these fountains and rate its use and pleasure here on this blog.
If you would like one of these fountains and don't want to shell out so much money (it is a tight economy), then you can sign up for Kern's raffle. He's giving all the money he collects from the tickets to a program in his church called Love Works, part of Hope Community Church in King of Prussia, which Kern attends. Love Works, Kern told me, helps people in the community (church members or not) who go through terrible circumstances. The organization recently helped a family who lost everything in a fire and raised funds for surgery for a child who suffered from a brain tumor. So if you are nonreligious, you don't have to fret about that cash going to evangelical activities. Kern said he was raffling off fountains every two weeks, but I'm not sure how long he will keep doing so, so you might want to check him out and put in your $2 to win one of these great little pieces.
You can check the Regis & Kelly Web site to also see a video of Regis receiving one of Kern's fountains on their show.
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