We have had so much driving rain that the outer half of the patio gets wet and muddy, especially with me and the girls walking mud onto it. The other really wet patch that has been annoying me for some time is around the water drinker. This is due to Treacle scratching in it and flicking the water out. Treacle not only scratches in dirt and pine shavings but she scratches on the patio (where there is nothing to scratch!) and in the water. This means this area is permanently wet and difficult to clean.
Wet patch around the drinker
I decided it was time to move it and now wonder why on earth I didn’t think of that before. I put a spare slab we had over the earth box that borders the outside area and sat the drinker on that. This means I can sluice down this slab straight into the soil.
The drinkers new position
Pepper checks it out
As you can see the patio is pretty muddy. I decided it needed a good scrub and as we had to make one of our frequent visits to our local D.I.Y. shop, I bought a stiff rubber bristled broom and a floor squeegee to dry the patio as best I could.
I picked up, swept up, then set to work sluicing it with water, scrubbing then drying with the squeegee. The only problem was that although it worked quite well, it did leave channels of water in the gaps between the tiles. I dried these with kitchen paper. It’s not perfect but a lot better than it was.
The patio after it’s clean up
You can also see how developed Bluebell’s comb is in this picture.
Pepper’s under developed comb
This was before the clean up and shows how under developed Pepper’s comb is. Pepper has what is called a pea comb. It will look like a row of pink peas with a backward spike at the end. You can just see the spike forming.
I am quite pleased with the way the squeegee gets rid of the excess water after cleaning and am really pleased with the new position of the drinker. This should help the area where the feeder is to stay dry now. This was the most simple improvement but sometimes it takes a while to have that light bulb moment.
On an entirely different subject, I have moved the grass trays to the empty veg plot for the winter. Despite putting plenty of drainage in the trays, because they are quite shallow, they are still waterlogged. The grass is sparse and my husband is not sure if they will survive but I am hopeful. I am planning to help them along with a packet of grass seed sprinkled over them in spring.
The trays of grass
It worked so well in the summer being able to give the girls a tray of grass each day. By the time they had the last one the first one had regrown ready to go in again. I have nothing to lose by keeping them so will see how they fare. It hasn’t helped them having so much rain either, everything seems a battle against the rain at the moment. The long forecast is more rain but the next few days are supposed to be dry so I am hoping everything will dry out a bit. I can but hope!
Click here to see the history of my flock.