"The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also." - Harriet Ann Jacobs
There are fresh shiny green leaves adorning the fruit trees, the bees are out in full force, dotting the lush and very wild lavender! The wisteria has flowers! It must be Spring!
The weather isn't too warm yet during the afternoons and the time for moving the family outdoors is here! If I plan it just right, it's just me and Mon Petit Belle (I'd even leave my book behind for these moments) and the warm breeze and soothing rays of the sun.
But, sometimes mommies and daddies need a break away from the chaos for special eats and a glass of wine and that's totally okay. The children are in view, we can sit back and chat and not feel guilty at all!
I'll do a step by step on my old picnic basket revamp some other time, but for now, you can get an idea of how I like to pack a picnic, or at least, one version.
What you need (what I used):
Something to put everything into. I have an old deep wicker basket that is light and holds a lot. In it, I carried the wine, salad-in-a-jar for two, cheeseboard, cheese, crackers, tin of mussels, small basket of fruit and 2 throws. In the picnic basket I had the cheese knife, cloth napkins, glasses and plates (that I didn't use). The flowers and cushions were carried loose. Below I'll show you a nice way to carry bulky things when walking a distance to your picnic spot. As this shoot was done in the back yard, it wasn't necessary on this occasion.
The wine I chose was the Pinot Grigio, had to be something light and fragrant and this is just that. Really affordable, give it a try sometime...
The salad-in-a-jar goes as follows; 500ml hermetic jar with cocktail tomatoes and bite size chunks of cucumber in the bottom. Then I threw in a whack of mix herb lettuce, sliced avocado and chunks of salmon (the kind that comes in a can). I dressed it with Ina Paarman's Lime & Coriander Salad Dressing. I'm loving the layered look and there are endless possibilities as to what you can do!
The fruit I packed was fresh strawberries, apples and banana'. I had some tinned muscles with Brie cheese and sesame crackers. But you can pretty much pack whatever to suit your taste buds!
Sometimes we just need to not look at the pile of branches from pruning the fruit tree that is still needing to be converted into mulch and just enjoy the beauty of nature and be grateful for absolutely every little moment and loved one that we have in this world!
That's rather a personal thing I just said there, but absolutely true to all of us and I do try every day!
So meander on over to see what the other ladies of Romancing the Home have done to inspire you on how to get out and dine in style with a hint of romance, be it at home with Ramona @rufflesandrust or a family outing to a Nature Reserve with Stacy @sawdustandhighheels, Liz @keepitfrench and the rest of our ladies really do know how to bring beauty into every day living!
We'd love to hear about your picnic experiences, both successful and funny! Maybe you've got some really awesome hacks you'd like to share? Drop a comment and tell your story!
Have a beautiful #romancingthehomesundays everyone!