DEAR SUN SPOTS: Are there any places in the Lewiston-Auburn area that sell concrete or cement birdbaths?

The one I have is 25 years old and cracked. I have sealed it but it doesn’t last.  

I have checked most lawn and garden centers and found none. Plastic is too lightweight and tips over in the wind.  

Thanks for all the help you do.

— No name, no town

ANSWER: Cement baths are a lovely way to attract birds to your yard, but they do require regular care and maintenance.

C&M Ornamental Concrete on Scribner Boulevard makes cement birdbaths by special order. Call the owner, Laurier Morin, at 782-8108.

Home Depot and Lowe’s also offer a selection of glass-fiber reinforced concrete and cement birdbaths, although they’re not all on display in the stores. You’ll have to look through a catalog (online at customer service) and order something, but you’ll have plenty of choices for style and color.

And, Gammon’s Garden Center & Landscape Nursery on Turner Street in Auburn offers beautifully colored ceramic birdbaths, which would have nearly the same heft as cement. The number there is 783-6986.

Readers? Do you know of other places that sell cement birdbaths?

When you find the birdbath you want, remember to keep it clean. Birds are drawn to clean water, and there’s always the risk stagnant water may carry disease harmful to your feathered friends.

Worse, the odor of dirty water may attract pests you don’t want in your yard.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: Is there a hair salon in the area that uses or would be willing to use Jingles hair color products?

Please email viva@gwi.net or call 344-5935 and leave a message. Thank you.

— No name, Lewiston

ANSWER: Jingles, which features environmentally friendly ingredients in its salon products, is sold at many retail locations but Sun Spots was not able to find any local salon that uses these products.

You might ask your hairdresser whether she or he would be willing, but don’t be surprised if they are wary.

When Sun Spots was getting her hair trimmed recently, she asked her stylist whether she would take special requests to use specially requested products. The answer was “no.”

Stylists train using certain products they become familiar with, including knowing how their customers react to active ingredients and also with the performance of the hair color products. Asking a stylist to use something they aren’t familiar with may result in less than perfect outcome of your color, or may result in injury to your scalp or damage to your hair during the coloring process.

Your hairdresser may also be wary about bringing ingredients into her salon that other customers may be allergic to, so salons usually stick to the products that they themselves have tested and which they know work for their clientele.

Of course, it never hurts to ask. Maybe your stylist could make special accommodations for you.

Use the QR code to go to Sun Spots online for additional information and links. This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com, tweeted @SJ_SunSpots or posted on the Sun Spots Facebook page at facebook.com/SunJournalSunSpots. This column can also be read online at sunjournal.com/sunspots. We’ve joined Pinterest at pinterest.com/sj_sunspots.

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