Mud Cakes and Wine

The bathroom is still being done and Mr MC&W will be of to Atlanta with work so I need more and more easy meals Friday - Birds eye chicken Kiev with new potatoes and salad Saturday - Steak, Chips, Peas, mushrooms and peppercorn sauce for myself and Mr MC&W as a real treat. For the boys Ravoli (shop brought) Sunday - Sausages, Red Onions and Potatoes roasted together in a honey and wholegrain mustard sauce served with green veggies. Boys had a mini chicken roast Monday - Tuna Pasta Bake Tuesday - Pizza Puff Pin Wheels served with salad Pizza puff pinwheels Wednesday - Bonfire night baked potatoes Bonfire night baked potatoes Thursday - Chicken Korma with rice and Poppadoms

This has been written after the event. We have been really manic with the start of the Easter holidays, the bathroom being ripped out and replaced combined Mr MC&W was beyond busy at work Friday - Waitrose Gruyere Stuffed Mushrooms, New Potatoes and Salad boys had spaghetti with a tomato sauce, ham and peas Saturday - Charlie Bigham Curry for Mr MC&W and Pizza for the boys Sunday - Sandwiches as we had lunch out Monday - Bird eye southern chicken with new potatoes and Mediterranean roasted veg. The boys had crispy chicken with mash and peas Tuesday - Fish and Chips Wednesday -  Jacket Potatoes with Beans and Cheese for the boys and I and Tuna Mayo for Mr MC&W Thursday - Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Broccoli the boys just had broccoli

The Dumping Ground The new  Viburnum Tinus  trees and shrubs are arriving late April so for the moment I have stopped digging over the back border and will weed it as and when needed. In the meantime I have been pottering about and catching up with some jobs I have been putting off for a long time. There is a small border next to our back door, for ages it had a wooden planter on it that we borough from our old house. It had been put by the backdoor as it contained herbs but over time it started to fall apart and the area was looking rather like a dumping ground. Spring continued this sad look, with two very pathetic looking Hyacinth and some old daffodils that did not flower. You can imagine this is not how I was picturing this border would look. It is also home to an early flowering clematis on the wall above. The clematis is beautiful and provides wonderful flowers in early spring but it is full of dead wood and looks rather messy with all the wood hanging ...

As you are aware last year I posted about the garden fence being replaced and the fact we lost some privacy. We found part of the solution with the amazing LolliPop Trees Elaeagnus ebbingei. Planting lollipop trees elaeagnus   However, we still have a fence that is a little bit see through. So we are now on the next stage of planting up the new border. We decided to visit Architectural Plants again, knowing what we needed was established plants. Our main problem was that we had no idea what plants would work. We did not want to loose the stunning appearance of the lollipop trees, they look so regal and I was concerned they would get lost in a massive shrub. The regal trees and the fence up close We asked for help as soon as we arrived, being organised we had to hand measurements and photos of the border and fence. She looked at them, listened to us and straight away came up with the most beautiful idea. Viburnum Tinus but in two different forms, one as a small ...