Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Garden Hose

The English country garden or for that matter the American garden, could not have grown to such perfection without a readily available water supply so delivered by the simple garden hose.  As I write this post I am listening to the water spraying back & forth across the back yard, giving much needed water to my parched lawn and struggling garden through the garden hose.


I have this wonderful little book entitled "Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops" and it gives us the history and origins of objects in our everyday lives.  Today I found that hoses first appeared around 400 BC, just a few years ago.  The tubing was fashioned out of ox intestines, connected to large water bags.  Now picture this....people would run and jump on the bags to force the water out of the ox's tubing.   And I complain when I have to stand with a hose in my hand as water comes running out without any effort...stand and water, not run & jump.  In the 1600's someone decided leather stitched together would help the Dutch firefighters fight the local fires.  Leather isn't extremely flexible so many times the hoses would burst and the fires raged on.  Finally in the late 1800's B.F. Goodrich in Akron, OH began manufacturing rubber hoses which were water-tight and flexible becoming the trademark for firefighters all over the world.  Leave it up to our early fore-fathers and American ingenuity to come up with the answer.  It wasn't long after that that gardeners & horticulturalists caught on to this new invention and insisted on them for their own uses.  I would imagine there is not a home in the US that is without a garden hose.

If I didn't have a garden hose, I wouldn't have pretties like this....


or this....


And this one, that is just starting to bloom....


And one more, that is still laying in wait....


But one thing is certain in our household, my little Toby is definitely not a fan of the garden hose.  Unlike dogs that love the water, Toby does not.  He runs as fast and as far away when I reach for the hose.  The only thing wet on Toby is his little wet nose.....



Linking to Deb's This or That Thursday....

Until next time.....

17 comments:

  1. Toby is adorable! A lovely shot of him there, enjoy the heat, we have more rain and gales again in the UK!

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  2. Great history of the ordinary garden hose. Sometimes when I complain about housework I think of my ancestors and them scrubbing clothes on a rock or something or having to boil water for a bath when we just turn on a faucet. Yeah, our civilization is a tad spoiled. Little Toby is so cute! Your photos are glorious. You really do have a nice eye for photography.

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  3. O and what great fun we have learned to have with garden hose. Not only is it a tool but it's good for a lot fun. Who knew? Thanks for the post. I love stuff like this. One of our favorite shows to watch on Discovery Channel is "How It's Made". Have a great night.

    @ 3Beeze Homestead

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  4. Very interesting, and right now our city just banned our use of the hose and irrigation - there is a leak in something - yikes! Love, love the rose and that last flower! Lovely...

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  5. I bet Toby is a sweetheart! We've been spending time with the water hose too.

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  6. It was so hot here today I seriously debated getting out my sprinkler and jumping thru it. My Thing #3 was not amused :)

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  7. Your Toby is so adorable. My Toby is currently sleeping next to me on the lounge. Beautiful post.

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  8. Fascinating information about the hose. Unfortunately we have more than an abundance of rain here in the UK this year and it's still raining as I'm typing! x

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  9. I particularly enjoy that photo of the beautiful rose! (The others also) Hose will only be used here around the house to fill the pool in summer. We also have a watering can.

    Fun, that information on the Dutch fire. ( I am Dutch) Yep, in the Middle Ages, everyone here was required to have fire-buckets (leather) and a fire ladder in house.

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  10. What a fun little history on hoses. This post reminded me I better get out and water my plants it is supposed to be another hot one! Oh an another fun little fire hose thing (although not a hose). I work for the family business that has been running since 1878. It is a custom millwork shop and on the ceilings are these glass balls that if a fire was to start they will burst and help put the fire out. They are still there! Very fancy sprinkler system I guess.

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  11. You never know what you are going to learn until you come to your blog. Who knew all that history of the garden hose. Poor Toby

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  12. So light and airy . . . a lovely read with beautiful pictures. Very refreshing for this super hot summer day!

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  13. You learn something new everyday.. Your photo are gorgeous. Love how you captured those gorgeous flowers and your editing looks so wonderful..

    Hope you have a happy weekend my friend..

    Hugs~

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  14. Those are so pretty! Well captured.

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