Annual Seeds Review

A little while ago I wrote a post, I was full of excitement because we had sewn a few packets of seeds on a small side border. I had visions of a border carpeted in the most wonderful flowers.

Annual seeds to update border

Sadly this has not been the case, we watered them and I did not even weed for a while as I was not sure what was growing weed or wild flower.

We are now mid-August and this is what we have.

Well, not a huge success is it? I have to laugh at how sad these two flowers look.


There a couple reasons I know they have not worked, my youngest son has turned into a plant destroyer. He has pulled off petals and whole flower heads, he stomps through the border snapping plants under his small podgy feet. Then factor in slugs and snails who think they were planted as a tasty treat.

We have had some success and they are very pretty just a shame not in abundance.

Will I try this again? yes, I will try this again and in the same place. Next time I will sew a lot more seeds, they are not that expensive. Also, sew over a longer period and hopefully next year I am only battling slugs and not the plant destroyer.

Sometimes things work and some things they do not, I will try again next year with as much hope as I did this time.

Meal Plan Friday 11th August 2017

The summer holidays have not been full of the paddling pool fun and games we were hoping for. We have all been sick this holiday and it has put us out of action for around two weeks. This meal plan was quickly put together as I have now come down with the virus and feeling pretty sorry for myself.

Friday - Fish and Chips with peas easy to prepare and always popular

Saturday - Cajun Chicken Burger

Cajun chicken pineapple burger

Sunday -Toad in the hole

Monday - Paprika Pork served with tagliatelle

Paprika Pork

Tuesday - Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Broccoli and a cream sauce the boys will have a tomato sauce

Wednesday - Treat night so a curry box the boys will have chicken curry

Thursday - Courgette Lasagne - this is such a simple dish but really tasty

Creamy courgette lasagne

Meal Plan Friday 4th August 2017

The meal plans have been a little delayed due to us getting back from holiday and then our youngest being very poorly. He needed a lot of care and we forgot the meaning of the word sleep.

Friday - Spicy Chicken (this was a McCain Gourmet) served with vine roasted tomatoes and new potatoes. The boys had homemade pizza.

Saturday - Moussaka (thank you Tesco Finest) with a fresh red onion, tomato and cucumber salad. I always thinly slice the red onion and put it in a bowl with lemon juice while the dinner cooks. The boys had linguine with ham and peas using up the tomato sauce we used yesterday for the pizza.

Sunday - We will have beef pie, roasted potatoes and green veggies and the boys will have jacket potatoes with sausages and peas

Monday - A new smoked mackerel salad nice light and fresh. The boys will have cheesy pasta

Smoked mackerel beetroot salad creamy horseradish dressing

Tuesday - Spaghetti and Mozzarella bake

Tomato and mozzarella spaghetti bake

Wednesday - Moroccan Mushrooms. The boys will have risotto with ham and veggies

Moroccan mushrooms with couscous

Thursday - Mexican Bean Chilli

Mexican bean chilli

Hanging Basket Problems and Rescue

This summer weather or should I say the autumnal weather has been playing havoc with my hanging baskets.

They are being drenched, yet not getting enough water. They are being blown about all over the place, then add in the rather chilly temperatures and grey sky.

The plants are really unhappy, as you can see after another night of hard rainfall the petunias are looking really rather sad. The photos below show the damage the weather has caused.

They almost seem to be dying back and nothing is spreading as it did last year.

This has made me a little sad, but enough of that, what can I do to help them out.

One problem has been a lack of water, I thought due to the fact it had been raining hard they would not need watering, I was wrong. I gave them a good water and added some liquid feed. I will check them every day come rain or shine to see if they need water. I will also feed once a week. I did not feed the hanging baskets at all last year but these guys need a helping hand.

Deadheading, I deadhead them regularly but I really need to give them some time and attention. Especially after the hard rain fall, the flowers really suffer and need to be carefully dead-headed especially the flowers that have been damaged in the rain.

I am hoping these simple steps will help them recover and maybe we can get some warm sunny weather and they can begin to flourish again.


It is not all bad news though, the Nemesia Ice Pink is doing really well.

The Osteopermum and the Argyanthemum with regular deadheading are abundant with flowers, a lesson learnt from last year.

Seeing these three plants do well has helped my confidence, as I was starting to question if it was the weather or my skills as a gardener.

Growing Grape Vines

Mr MC&W likes a good climber on the house, to be totally honest I really am not that keen on them. We have ivy at the front which I keep secretly trying to rip bits down from. For ages he has wanted to grow a vine up the side of the house, he has always loved the one that grows on his parent's home. This has taken a lot of persuading and I have finally said yes but with the understanding, they are not allowed to get too big. 

The wall perfect for the vines

We have a perfect section of wall for the vines as it gets a lot of sunshine, we will also train it around the corner to grow up the wall that faces the patio. 

We went to our local garden centre and bought a red and white grape vine, as you can see they are very simple and nothing fancy. I was wondering if we should have looked into this more and brought better grape variety, then I remembered I am not a wine maker. Though I am a good wine drinker.

I planted them and ran some wire for them to start growing against. Mr MC&W drilled holes using a drill with a masonry bit for a raw plug then screwed a screw in, he then fed the wire round them. He did two heights of wire to help support the vines as they grow.

So far they are doing really well and maybe one year we will have a Mud, Cakes and Wine vintage out of it or I expect the birds will have a wonderfully tasty treat.

I will be attempting to prune these in early winter, that would be November time and will post then about how I go about this as a totally beginner with no idea what I am doing.

Meal Plan Friday 21st July 2017

The boys have been off school for a few days already. Luckily Mr MC&W has a week of work coming up. We have decided that we are staying at home and doing random days, we have not planned anything and just do gardening and relaxing at home. 

The meal plan is a little dull as we just do not know what we will be up to.

Friday - Boys will have Fish Fingers and Chips. MC&W and I will have the beetroot and mackerel salad 

Warm mackerel and beetroot salad

Saturday - I have some blue cheese and red onions we need to use up so we are having Blue Cheese Mushroom burgers. The boys are having tortellini.

Portobello and blue cheese melts

Sunday - We will have sausage casserole and the boys will have pasta, tomato sauce and ham

Monday - Simple and quick Omelets with ham and cheese with salad

Tuesday - Tuna Pasta bake as not had this in ages 

Wednesday - Meatballs and Spaghetti - we all love this meal

Thursday - Chicken curry for the boys and for us we will have chicken breast roasted on courgettes and tomatoes served with roasted potatoes and mixed roasted veg

Painting a Garden Shed

About three years ago we had to have a dangerous willow removed from the garden, rather than it falling on our house. Removing the tree opened up a great space for a shed. We brought the shed with some lovely green paint and had grand ambitions of painting it.

In those three years a lot has happened but we never got round to painting the shed. Recently we have made some massive changes to the garden and this was the the perfect time to paint the shed.

This was Mr MC&W project and he used:

• Sage Green Paint -  For Wood and outdoor use
• Cream Paint - For Wood and outdoor use
• Hammerite - For the metal work
• Masking tape
• Paint brushes - Large for the green and the main body of the shed, medium sized one for the cream and smaller ones for the cutting in and hammerite
• Kitchen towel and of course baby wipes

First of all we had to carefully take down the Jasmine and the supporting wires and lay it flat. Next we had a long discussion on what would be cream and what would be green.

Mr MC&W then masked up the areas and began with the green paint. We considered using a roller but found using a brush allowed us to get into the nooks that are part of the wood. We did two coats of green and then re masked up for the cream.

We brought much smaller brushes for the cream paint an the paint was much thinner again two coats were needed.

We took of the masking tape and found the cream paint had leaked through and we had to make good with extra green. Mr MC&W almost though it would have been simpler and quicker to be careful and not bother with the masking tape at all.

We were very happy with our efforts and the the MIL asked if we were doing anything with the hinges? we said no as could not change them. She then told us about hammerite.

This allowed us to paint the sliver hinges black. The paint was not easy to use as it is thick and took work to get it looking OK. We must admit it has made a huge difference.

Lesson we learnt

• Use a brush not a roller
• The paint up close is very hard to make look good but from a distance it looks great
• Check the weather for a weekend of dry weather the paint takes about two hours to dry
• Keep children in when its drying - they are drawn to wet paint
• Hammerite is not easy to apply its thick and takes time
• Do the joins carefully as the paint can easily leak through

Enjoy Colour and the end result 

The Tale of Mummyhood