Mud Cakes and Wine

As your aware the Mud cakes and Wine blog has been a bit up and with with posts over the last few months especially the weekly meal plan I would write. The reason for the meal pan not being around so much is that I have totally gone off food, I can not smell it or think about it with out feeling very sick and eating it has been even harder. The reason for this is that six weeks ago we discovered we are expecting our third child. We are thrilled, excited not to mention a little scared but I wanted to share with everyone and lets hope in a few weeks time I can eat again and feel less like I could fall asleep at any given moment.

I wanted to write a short post about our experience of a child who is autistic and the ability to show someone that they care. All children on the Autism spectrum are different, however when talking with friends who also have children who are autistic we have similar experiences when it comes to the ability to show and understand emotions, it does not come naturally to our little ones. Let me show you how far we have come in the last couple of years, when OB first started pre school and I would come to collect him, all the other children would run arms out stretched to their Mummy or Daddy. OB would sit on his 121 lap then look at me and get up to run of and play with toys. In essence OB had to be shown what you do when your collected . Well now, as soon as he sees either myself or husband come to collect him, he sprints down the corridor and launches himself into you for the biggest cuddle, a massive smile on his face saying Mummy/Daddy..... It was not that he was unhappy to see...

I can not put into words how much I love this beautiful rose. Its wild and crazy climbing, growing into any corner of the garden along with it being delicate and majestic. We have given this poor old rose a tough time over the last year, it was growing very happy around a willow we had at the back of the garden, but the willow was about to fall over at any point so had to be removed, along with two dead conifers the area was totally cleared and the rose was hard cut back. To add insult to everything we put up a shed. I knew we had to do this work but at the same time had a sinking feeling we had done for my early summer delight, but there was no stopping this courageous rose as this year we have the most wonderful display of flowers. As you turn the corner into the back part of the garden you are met with this heavenly smell along with the hummm of the bees. The whole plant is alive with bees, I was trying to count but it was impossible I ended up lost in the noise and the s...

Not sure what's happened but we have a meal plan ready to go on Monday, that's following a new post. Think I need to rest up now. Monday - Falafel burgers in pitta bread with salad and coleslaw. Meant to have this Friday but Mr MC&W passed an exam so had a waitrose ready meal instead. The boys will be having cheesy pasta Tuesday - Jamie Oliver Greek Chicken with Couscous and salad. The boys will have chicken in breadcrumbs, peas and mash Wednesday - Frozen Fish with rice I will add courgette, peppers and mushrooms to. The boys will have plain fish and plain rice with peas on the side Thursday - Jackets with baked beans and cheese for myself and the boys. Mr MC&W will have tuna mayo Friday - Gnocchi with mushrooms, broccoli and cream sauce. The boys will have with tomatoes  Saturday - I am going to cheat and buy in Pizza with lots of salad Sunday - It's the Mother in Laws birthday and we are hosting, think it's going to be a lovely meal prepared by ...

It seems ages since I last sat down and wrote a blog post, we have had a lot going on over the last couple of months. Sadly something had to give and that seemed to be the garden, this is even more of a shame as as I use the garden time to relax and lose myself from the everyday stresses. The post is a very honest insight into where we are at the moment with the front garden, let me pre warn you it's not pretty. But I want to share the realities of our gardening adventure, as I am sure many of you will understand the photos I am about to share with you. How easy it is to have a garden that can become untidy and look totally neglected after only a month or two of being unloved. I did a lot of work on the front garden in the spring, it was looking lovely. I had spring flowers planted up, adding some lovely colour to the dull, cold grey skies. http://mudcakesandwine.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/spring-planting.html?m=1 I have been struggling to find time to get outside and this...

Can not believe how fast time is passing and yet again I am late with the meal plan. Monday - Greek Style Feta and Spinach Tart taken from Jamie Oliver meals in 30mins. The boys had cheese Filo Tarts with salad Tuesday - Left over Lamb Shoulder made with a curry sauce. Wednesday - Thai chicken bake this will be both for us and the boys Thursday - Sausages in a Fiorentina baked pasta. Boys will have pasta and tomato sauce http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3220/fiorentina-baked-pasta Friday - Falafel burgers in pitta bread with salad and coleslaw. Boys will have spag Bol. Saturday - Crispy Chicken Tropicana - this is from the Ready Steady Cookbook from years ago but we love it. Boys will have a chicken in gravy with mash and peas Sunday - Roast thinking pork but not sure.