Fixing garden hoses

June 20, 2019June 21, 2019 / Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

Today, I made a quick trip into town to pick up a new litter box for the sun room. Small as they are, 10 kittens and 1 little litter box isn’t working anymore! :-D

Since I was in town anyways, I stopped to pick up replacement hose connectors.

Garden hoses are among the things we’re finding lots of, all over the place, and they all suck! Last year we threw out a couple because they had so many holes in them. Why they were kept at all was a mystery! I’ve even found some in the barn, but they’ve been there so long, they’re actually brittle.

For the past while, we’ve been using 4 hoses that we’ve found. They all leak, but were still usable, for the most part. When I washed the gates in the garage in preparation for painting, I had to hook all 4 of them together to be able reach into the garage. One of the connections had started to spray so much, my daughter thought it was a sprinkler, at first!

We do need new hoses, but replacing them is low on the budget priority list. Especially since I want to replace them with heavy duty 50′ and 100′ hoses. Replacing the connectors, on the other hand, is much more affordable.

I picked up some inexpensive brass connectors. After testing the first pair of hoses, these are the ends that need replacing.

This was very much a “use the tools I got” project. I used pruning sheers to cut the old ends off.

I could really tell the difference between the quality of hoses while inserting the connectors! Yes, I did get the one on the right pushed in further. This involved slamming the end into the bench I was using as a work surface. LOL

Then I used the concrete step as a surface to hammer the grips into the hose.

When I tested it later, I discovered I accidentally hammered the female coupling into an oval, and had to hammer it back into shape. LOL

After finding these two no longer leaked, I tested the other pair of hoses.

This one was spraying so much, it reduced the water pressure when using it. Which was a problem when we had it hooked up to the back tap and were using it with a sprinkler to water the raspberries I’d transplanted. :-D

Fixing this turned out to have an unexpected problem. This is a heavier duty hose than any of the others, and the inner circumference was much smaller. I wasn’t able to stretch it enough to insert the connector. I could stretch it quite a bit with the tools I had, so I knew I could get the connector in, but it didn’t stay stretched. Which is good for a hose, but not good for what I was trying to do! :-D

Through a combination of careful snips with the pruning sheers and some spray lubricant, I was able to get it in. Not far enough for the grips to catch all of the hose, though. I eventually thought of using a small box cutter to make a couple more surgical incisions in the outer layer of the hose, which allowed it to stretch enough that I could push (well… slam, repeatedly…) the connector in further. I had my doubts whether it would work or not, so I tested it right away.

Yes!!! It worked! No more spraying. Not even a little leak.

The other hose it’s attached to was not leaking… yet.

It had several cracks like this at one end, so I cut off about two feet of hose, then attached the connector.

While not as heavy duty as the one I’d just finished, this one also had an inner lining that made it too a bit small for the connector. This time, however, I had my skinny little box cutter handy, and I was able to shave some of the inner liner off at the end. Between that and the spray lubricant, I was able to get the connector in and finish the job.

I wish I’d thought of that with the previous hose. It would have been a lot easier to do, if I had!

We do still need to replace the hoses, but for less than $15, I’ve added years to their usability.

It also means that I can leave the water tap on, and not be wasting water from all the drips and spraying.

Once done, I was glad to get inside again. While I did the work in the shade, the testing was done in full sun. We’ve hit 28C today, and it’s supposed to stay hot like this for the next couple of weeks.

At times like this, I quite appreciate how cool the main floor of the house stays.

The Re-Farmer

Good Morning!

June 20, 2019 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

It was lovely doing my rounds with morning, and I just wanted to share some of my flowering finds. :-)

One of my mother’s fancy lilacs is now blooming. Last year, while cleaning up this flower bed, I took out a maple tree that was growing in the middle of it!

At its base, where I had pruned and cleared quite a bit, there is now massive new growth of this lilac.

Swallowtails love lilacs, we’ve noticed. :-) I wasn’t able to get a picture of one this morning, though.

The first couple of my mother’s poppies opened this morning. This one is near the lilac bush in the above picture. The large leaves you see to the left is a small cherry tree. Small enough that I hope to transplant it to a better location, by next year.

Another poppy that opened up this morning is under the bird bath.

We’re going to have lots of these blooming, this year!

I tried making my way through an area of the spruce grove this morning, but there were too many fallen trees and undergrowth blocking my way. The wild roses scattered throughout, however, were blooming enthusiastically in the mess. It should be interesting to see how they do after the area is cleaned up, and they have more light and space. :-)

This is one of the plants I’ve been seeing growing all over the places where I had pruned branches and cleared away deadwood. This one is near the south fence of the spruce grove, where I’d managed to do some clearing before the snow fell, last year. This is the first of the flowers I’m seeing from this plant. I don’t know the name of it, but we’re going to have quite a lot of these, all over the place! :-)

I also did a bit of patriotic decorating today.

Canada Day will be here soon, so I set up four sturdy little flags that we have, on the East fence line, facing the road.

Kinda wishing I had more! I love how they look. :-)

The Re-Farmer

Critter of the Day: strange bird!

June 20, 2019June 10, 2019 / Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

We get strange, furry birds visiting our bird bath at times!

Basement finds and explorations

June 19, 2019 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

It’s been a hot one here today, so not a lot of outside stuff until later on. It was fascinating to find out from a dear friend that, in the city we moved away from, they had only 8C, and not too far from there, people got snow!

One of the things I need to do is re-pot some of our indoor plants. Today, I made a trip into the basements (which I usually avoid, because my feet and stairs don’t get along at the best of times!) to rifle through the various plant pots I had seen hidden in various places.

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Critter of the Day: windblown!

June 19, 2019June 10, 2019 / Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

The wind is messing with this jay’s do!

Bonus Critters: Accepted

June 18, 2019 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

We spotted this adorable scene this evening.

Uncle Doom Guy has been fully accepted by the kittens! :-D

Staying cool

June 18, 2019 / Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

Today has been a day to stay inside, where it’s cooler – and to allow my body to recover from yesterday a bit more.

Which means I’m feeling decidedly unproductive.

I did manage to finally clean the windows on the outside, around the house, and on the inside in the sun room.

The kittens didn’t know what to make of that!!

I tried to get some pictures of bees, too. The problem is, with the bright sunshine, I can’t tell if my phone is focusing where I want it to, or not!

I did manage a good one, though.

This is a smaller variety of our native bumble bees. So pretty. :-)

One of the things I tried to do today was remove those bottom hinge pins on the gate posts. We’ve been spraying them with penetrating lubricant regularly, in hopes that would help.

It didn’t. The hinges themselves can rotate freely, but those nuts are just not moving. My older brother had managed to get a few turns on this one, and that was as far as it would go.

I suspect they will need to be cut off.

The next thing to consider is how to clean these in preparation for painting. I’m hoping the detergent we got to wash the gates I’ve been painting will be enough to remove the lubricant.

As for the gates, they’ve been flipped in preparation to do the other sides, but if I am able to do it at all today, it will be after things start to cool down!

Looking at the forecast, it looks like we’ve finally reached that time of year where the only productive work outside will have to be done in the early hours, or the evenings, to avoid heat stroke.

The Re-Farmer

Critter of the Day: in the dirt

June 18, 2019June 10, 2019 / Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

In reading up about how best to feed birds, and how some types will eat at feeders, others prefer raised platforms, while still others prefer to eat at ground level, we made sure to have all three covered.

I have since discovered something.

It makes no difference. They all eat anywhere.

Long day and ready to crash!

June 17, 2019 / Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

I headed out with my daughter to drop her off for work earlier than usual. She was very kind enough to be willing to be stuck outside until someone with a key showed up (which, thankfully, did not turn out to be long) so that I could head over to another town almost an hour’s drive from her work. It was a court date for our vandal, this time in a town closer to us – though not with the extra driving this morning! *L*

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