Hosed

[ksmith]

Spent a chilly, irritating, slightly dampened hour bringing in the garden hoses for the winter.

Hoses are one of my pet irritations. Universal connections leak no matter how hard I tighten or how much teflon tape I use. Even the more expensive kink-resistant models kink a treat when they’re not twisting in such a way that I have to unfurl the entire damn length and slowly, carefully rewind. Once temps cool to the 50s, they stiffen up so that all the kinks and twists set, and even when I know I’ve drained them they manage to retain just enough water to leak on my shoes.

I’ve gone through all varieties of garden hose containers/reels over the years. The plastic crank-a-reels prove too flimsy, breaking after a year or two. I am currently using simple cast iron holders, one free-standing for the front yard hose and one attached to the house for the backyard hose. They’re okay, but winding is still an adventure. I sometimes lug watering cans back and forth just to avoid dealing with the hoses.

As much as I would like a dream house with a large garden, I sometimes think that I would be quite happy to take up residence in a studio apartment and let building management worry about the bloody hoses.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Comments

[threeoutside.livejournal.com]

Huh. Except for the iron holders, I could have written this. I went through all this yesterday. However, my cheap plastic holders have held up well over the years. I just can't get the half-circle one on the east side of the house detached to bring in the hose to the garage. And for the first time, I can't get the fitting off the spigot on the west side, so that hose is going to have to sit outside all winter, too. At least I got them drained and wound up nice and neat.

The alternative, I guess, is installing those underground permanent sprinklers, but I can't afford that. All in all, though, I'm not really complaining. I could have worse problems.