take the hose ...

[GUEST2008]

Hello

Girls were climbing a garden wall and Mike was doing a rather novel thing - he took the hose to them!

--- Does it mean he used to take a hose and pour them with water?

[David L.]

Does it mean he used to take a hose and pour them with water?

Since it was a 'novel' thing, we cannot say 'he used to' which means he was accustomed to doing it (often).

Yes - he showered them with water.

Either that, or he took some stockings over to them.

[GUEST2008]

Since it was a 'novel' thing, we cannot say 'he used to' which means he was accustomed to doing it (often).

I'm not sure I understand. Does it mean he did it often or not? The following sentence is: Which he has been doing ever since. - so probably from that day he did it again and again...

[David L.]

In your original 'snippet' it was the first time he had done it - 'it was a novel thing he did'.
YOU knew what came next, not us:
Which he has been doing ever since.
Well, if he has been doing it ever since - note the use of Present Perfect Continuous - and so the tense form indicates that he intends to continue - then he has not ceased to employ this method of deterring trespassers. So how can one then use a past tense form of a verb since the event/action/habit is not over, finished, remote and so become something he was accustomed to doing, BUT NOT NOW?