Friends, meet Ross. Well, ‘The Ross No. 11’ to be formal. Ross and I spend a lot of time together. Most mornings, in fact.
Ross is a great water nozzle. He must be old as I can’t find any web links to direct you to buy one of your own. Which is too bad, because you’d like him too.
I water first thing in the morning, right after breakfast and this morning was particularly beautiful, so I thought I’d share with you.
When we first moved into this house, I wrote about how it was like we were on vacation. We had a very wet spring so things stayed green, flowering and lush for a long time without us having to water anything. After a few weeks, still feeling the change of the move, I felt we had moved to this dream land where we didn’t have to water, things just took care of themselves. Soon though the hot weather started and things started turning brown and droopy. Turns out this property is no exception to any other property, we had to start watering. It felt overwhelming to know even where to begin, as I’d say that half of our two acres is planted. It took me a month or so, but I mentally divided the yard in sections and every morning starting with the left side in back I’d water each ‘zone’ for an hour until, by the end of the week, I’ve circled the entire house. Then on Monday I start all over again.
However, very slowly, change will be coming as we bought our first set of drip irrigation supplies last weekend. This new set up is particularly fancy and I’ll show you as soon as we get it set up.
But don’t worry about Ross, even with drip coming in, he’ll always be my first choice in watering.
p.s. Next week I’ve found a great book that I want to give to one of you, so check back for a chance to win!
what fun that you have named your watering hose! gotta love that! 😀
You have to watch auctions and garage sales for those guys!
Not exactly the same as your Ross, but … http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Wide-Brass-Watering-Can-Sprinkler-Sprinkling-Head-/270811333053?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0d9d01bd
I love your blog, and all your creative ideas! Maybe I’ll bump into you at the Heirloom Festival next week? I live in Sebastopol! (Thought I might participate, but the cool weather has not been kind to my garden out here near the coast!)
I love your ‘Ross’! He is gorgeous! I wish I had one just like him. Did you inherit him with the house or buy him at a secondhand store?
I also use a watering plan like the one you have devised. We haven’t been able to perfect our watering system yet and we hand water a large area but I love it most of the time! It is enforced peaceful reflection time. That can only be a good thing!
“Ross” rocks! I am so frustrated with the new junk being sold today. It’s not built to last. Wonder what became of the Ross Sprinkler Company in Temple City, CA?
Looking forward to next week to see what the book is that you will be giving away!
Enjoying your site and happy for you to have found such a great place.
I love my antique brass watering nozzle, but would love to have a ‘Ross’ as that is my son’s name. Love your blog!
I came upon this site by searching for information on old Ross Sprinklers, A wonderul site I might add ! I was lucky to find a “Ross” today at a estate sale…Lucky Me ! It was like “coming home again” . When I was a little girl back in the 1960’s this is what I used to help my mom water her flower garden…oh such memories…!
Is there a chance that you’ll blog about your irrigation installation while it is in progress? I’m starting mine next weekend and could use some inspiration!
I brought my Ross in to work today to get the seam soldered, and decided to look on-line for fun. How great to find other Ross fans! I “borrowed” my Ross from my parents’ Orinda garage in 1989 after I bought my first house, and I still use it all the time. Mine is a “No. 10, Pat. Dec. 9, 1924, Pasadena, California.” The Ross company is briefly mentioned here: http://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/gcman/article/2001sep57.pdf
Good Morning Ross No. 11 fans! I am delighted to see that there are a few of us left in this world of plastic and junk metal. I was attempting to locate another Ross to add to my collection of two Ross No. 11’s but see that they have been relagated to estate sales. Too bad. I bought my original two in Umatilla, Oregon in 1979 and they work as well today as they did back then.
Curious about info on the “Ross ” sprinkler #10. Mine was left in the garage of my home built in 1942 in Oakland ,Ca.I moved in late 1996 as the second owner. The irony for me is the patent date, Dec.09 1924.The same day as my father passed away and the same year he was born. It was an obvious discovery the moment I read the words, he was a young 59. I suppose it will become a family heirloom my daughter will keep for the next generation. It will be years before I pass it on, she can use plastic till
then …
I just finished cleaning and polishing “THE ROSS” No.11 from Temple City CA. The name temple City was familiar to me as I was raised in Duarte a football rival town of TC. Was nice to see so much interest in this nozzle, as I add it to my collection. I wonder if I’m being selfish or something like that as I will only look at it as a piece of art and will no longer water with it. Maybe it would be better off in the hands of someone with a yard.