When hot, sticky days hit, try to use all your senses to keep cool. Sight and sound have amazing psychological effects, even when the thermometer soars.

One of the most cooling and relaxing sounds I know is that of a trickling spring. It relaxes my mind and helps my body unwind. In the city, it can drown out the sounds of the daily hustle and bustle of life, calming and refreshing the spirit. I also love the glinting, reflective surface of water. You can have the soothing coolness of water without a huge space so why not recreate this in your outdoor living area?

Some small water features have still water and aquatic plants but with the fight to remove stagnant water where mosquitoes can breed, many people now prefer items with moving water.

The most popular "moving water" items are tabletop fountains, statuary fountains and spitting creatures. All rely on a pump to circulate water through the feature. The water is pumped up through plastic tubing and released into the fountain, returning to the bottom where it is pumped up the tubing again. Most pumps run on an electrical connection but some smaller tabletop fountains have batteries. There are also solar units available that require no electrical hook-up.

Simple or elaborate, all fountain features have the following elements:

• a "bottom" where the pump where will be located and the water returns. This can be a large pot, an urn, a trough and so on.

• a "top" from which the water will emerge. This can be a small pot, a fanciful creature such as a frog, a conch shell, etc.

• a "middle"