Thar she blows!

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I lucked out on Sunday when I went to Goodwill. I wasn't really looking for ultra suede but I had a feeling I should check men's dress jackets and there was a tan ultra suede suit jacket hanging among all the black suit jackets. I grabbed it in a heart beat, as I recycle them into paws and soles for the teddy bears I make. I figure that each jacket is about a yard and a half of fabric and that would amount to about $125 worth of new fabric off the bolt at the fabric store. This way I recycle something into another item and keep the jacket out of the land fill or where ever it may end up. I took my prize home and decided to hand wash it before I took it apart to start using it for paws and soles. Contrary to popular belief, the dry cleaning fluid isn't all that clean when your garments go into it. Yes, sometimes you luck out and the dry cleaners may have run the fluid through the cleaning cycle but more times than not it isn't all that clean. I know that because I used to work for a dry cleaners and I know all the ins and outs of the dry cleaning service. So, when I get something that says "dry clean only" on the tag I'll hand wash it to make sure it's clean. You won't believe how much brown liquid remains after I hand wash a garment. Because Bill is cautious about how much water goes into his septic tank I decided to only wash the jacket in his sink, and I would take it outside and rinse it with the garden hose. So, when I finished washing the jacket I hung it on the coat hanger and took it outside and grabbed the garden hose and turned it on and started rinsing the jacket. Everything was going well until...I heard a little "rip". I thought it was in the jacket, after all it was a donation and I didn't know for sure how old the jacket was. I finished rinsing the jacket and took it to the rod where I decided to hang it to drain and dry. I left the hose on because I was going to do some more work. I came back down the hill and grabbed the hose and went onto the deck just outside the back door. The deck really needed hosing down as it was sticky from the pollen from the oak trees being in bloom. I also wanted to water the potted plants. Everything was going fairly well. The potted plants were watered and I had hosed down half of the patio when I heard another rip, this time I looked down at the hose and saw where the fabric had torn. Bill had bought one of the "Pocket hoses" years ago. You know the one, that expands when you turn on the water and contracts when you shut the water off. I stood transfixed watching a "wart" appear through the tear in the fabric that covered the hose inside the fabric part. Soon the "wart" was growing to the size of a 2 foot long sausage and suddenly kablam! The hose blew apart and I was soaked from head to toe. I drug the "hose" back to the faucet and turned the faucet off and was amazed that the hose did as the advertisement claimed and shrank back down to its original size. I covered it up and went back up to the patio and grabbed the broom and swept the rest of the patio off. Then I went back in the house to change my clothes, so I could dry off. I will say that the hose was true to its advertising even to what was inside the green fabric exterior and how it held together even though the fabric was rotten. When we go into Wal Mart today I'll buy Bill a new hose (along with the nylon net that I mentioned in my Darn deer post) so I can finish rinsing off the patio deck. And at least this time I'll be dry when I finish doing it. Have a great week and week end. Hopefully your hose won't break on you and soak you to the skin!