Mud Cakes and Wine

It is that time of year again that I go shopping for the hanging basket plants. I adore my hanging and wall baskets, they are fun and pretty the only shame is they are not great for pollinators but the rest of the garden is full of friendly plants. This is the first year I have done this with out my youngest, the first year he was in a baby carrier, the second year a pushchair and the third year he was running round like crazy. It was very nice just to have the time to choose. So here we go, a big list of plants for you to have a look at Black and White Hanging basket - I adore this basket, I got the black petunias a couple of weeks ago as they never have many and I am so glad I did as they had none left. I have put them with Sutera Baja in white. Last time the black petunias got lost with the white ones so I am hoping this will work better. I have gone for second petunia basket this year as I do love the colours you can get. I have gone for full on pinks and purples rea...

We are going into half term week and the whole family is exhausted, it will be not to have to run around in the mornings and just be a little more relaxed. The meals form last week went down really well and the salmon tray bake was so easy and tasty. Friday - Fish and Chips for the boys. We will have fish, new potatoes with courgettes and peas. Saturday - Fajitas for the adults. The boys will have cheesy pasta. Sunday - Sausages in Yorkshire puddings with lots of veg Monday - Ginios Healthy Italian does a rice salad called Neapolitan Rice salad and it is just fresh and delicious. The boys will have Tortellini Tuesday - Child Friendly Thai Noodles Child friendly thai chicken noodles Wednesday - Herby Lamb Burger with beetroot relish. The boys will have quorn burgers. Herby lamb burgers with beetroot mayo Thursday - Pasta, mozzarella, mint and fresh tomato sauce for us all. Pasta with mozzarella mint and fresh-tomato-sauce

I was really pleased with the wall baskets this year as I tried a lot of new plants. Definitely getting to the garden centre early meant I had such a better choice of plants. Bidens Blazing Glory with white Bacopa and Sanvitalia Gold queen. This was OK, the Sanvitalia Gold Queen was a very upright plant and took a lot of the space, meaning the Bidens got crowded out. I will get the Bidens again as the colour was fantastic and as ever Bacopa went crazy but did not flower that well. I have just gone through all my photos and have not taken any more of this basket. which is quite surprising. So here is one at the end of its life as you can see  I really liked the fuchsia which surprised me, this basket looked  great and the colours really comlented each other. Dark Eyes Fuisha with  Calibrachoa Cabaret in dark blue and pink. In fact I loved them so much I brought more Fuishas for another planter I have. The Fuisha did suffer with the heat and stopped flowerin...

We have a busy week at school this week, I am helping out one day and we have two meetings so I need to be organised. The Boston baked beans from last week were a huge success and we will be having them again Friday - School Disco night which means we are going up and down to school all night. I will have Quorn burgers with the boys and Mr MC&W will be having fish and chips Saturday - Steak and Chips as a treat for us and the boys will have pasta Sunday - Sticky Chinese Chicken Sticky chinese chicken traybake Monday - Gnocchi, mushrooms and broccoli I have this meal from Jo Pratts Madhouse Cookbook as it is quick and easy and very tasty Tuesday - Spicy Salmon Tray bake for Mr MC&W and I. The boys will have tomato soup. Spiced salmon traybaked sag-aloo Wednesday - Meatballs with spaghetti Thursday - Pizza and salad

For ages we have had a large area of border with no plants, it had become a play area for the children. I have been wanting to plant it up but was so worried about getting it wrong. We have saved some money and have slowly started to buy some plants. I have been looking at lots of plants, every one I have brought is loved by pollinators or butterfly's or both which is very important to me, we want the garden to be alive with nature. I feel we can all do a small bit in our gardens to encourage wildlife and if we all do this we could all make such a difference. I just wish the labelling was a little better some are brilliant but this could be greatly improved to help us learning and wanting to help. What have I been thinking about when looking for plants? I stated looking at shrubs but looked at the size they are going to grow to, I have brought shrubs but smaller versions. I also looked at flowering times so trying to get some interest throughout out the year. ...

We survived the birthday weekend and all the food was a massive success so I gave myself a big high five. The weather has been so cold that it is hard to be thinking about more summery meals at the moment. Friday - Pizza for the boys. We are having smoked mackerel salad with beetroot, roasted new potatoes  and salad leaves with a horseradish dressing. I love this meal its just comfort food. Saturday - Beef burgers and chips. These burgers are from our local farm shop and are amazing. Sunday - French Style Chicken this is another comfort meal it is so easy but full of taste, served with roasted mini potatoes. Fench style chicken with peas and bacon Monday - Pasta with peas and bacon this is an Ainsley Harriet Meal and it is simple and easy. It will also use up the creme fraishe from yesterday Tuesday - One of the other lovely meal planning bloggers had the fish in a Mediterranean sauce we have not had this in ages so will have with rice and roasted medd veg. The boys wil...

We have a busy weekend with a party for the eldest with his friends on Saturday followed by a family meal on the Sunday. It is going to be rather busy and hectic. I will be looking forward to Monday and to get the house back to normal again. Friday - Chicken Kiev with roasted vegetables and new potatoes Saturday - Spag Bol in the slow cooker Sunday - Fish, Chips and peas as the request of the eldest Monday - Creamy Courgette Lasagna, I am going to try the boys with this and get them to help me make it. Creamy courgette lasagne Tuesday - Stuffed peppers with basil pesto and taleggio cheese this is from Gino Healthy Italian and is lovely. The boys will have tortellini with salad. Wednesday - Tuna Pasta Bake for us all Thursday - Slow cooker butter chicken for us all Slow cooker butter chicken