My new bird bath

I've been wanting a bird bath for months now, but not just any old bird bath. I wanted something a little different, and I didn't want to pay a lot of money for it. (Champagne taste on a beer budget, that's me.) I'd read on Great Stems how Meredith turned a cracked concrete bird bath into a beautiful and functional piece of mosaic art, and thought, how perfect...but alas, I'm not quite that crafty, or patient for that matter.

It was about this time that one of my neighbors cut down a 30-year-old ash tree that didn't make it through this summer's drought, and left the wood stacked up on his curb for weeks. One evening, I had a brainstorm, and asked Jack to help me select the nicest, straightest, roundest piece of that old ash trunk and haul it home.

And just like that, I had my bird bath's pedestal. Now all I needed was a dish for the top. I found a shallow ceramic planter saucer in a vibrant cobalt blue at Shoal Creek Nursery for $5; apparently someone forgot it when they bought the matching pot. It was pretty, but too small. Then I came across this huge shallow saucer in muted colors at Home Depot. It is glazed, which will make cleaning easier, but it has a bit of texture to it as well. (Birds aren't fond of bathing on slick, slippery surfaces.)

So, what do you think?

I like it pretty well, but I think I'm going to ask Jack to cut the base down a bit at the bottom to level it out some. I left the blue saucer on the ground, nestled in the horseherb, for the toads and ground-dwelling birds. I put a stone in the deep end for smaller birds to step on, but I may take it out to make more room. I've seen one mockingbird go for a dip so far, but it's been a bit cool for bathing. I'm hoping for more visitors this weekend, if it's as nice as the weatherman says it's going to be.