Al Fresco means ‘in the open air’ and it just so happens to be that time of year when a lot of us tend to eat outside. This is the first post in a new feature and linky I will be running each month over the Summer. I will be sharing recipes, writing about our camping trips and BBQ nights and hoping you will come join me and share your posts on that topic too. You can add up to three links each month as long as they either include your outdoor dining experiences, feature a recipe for the BBQ/picnic or similar or show images of your food being eaten outdoors. You just need to add your link to the linky at the bottom of the page each month and link back to this post – simple yes? Now for the good part – each month one entrant will be randomly chosen via a number generator to win £30 in Homesense vouchers just for taking part. All entrants will be included in the round up post at the end of each month.

I am a bit of a Homesense obsessive. It’s one of my happy places and I could stroll around for hours. I lust over the crockery, and all of the quirky furniture and right now I am crazy for the outdoor pieces they have. I want one of their fire pits and I am hoping to have purchased one by the time I write my next post to show you. At the moment they have some gorgeous outdoor dining ideas, from perfect picnic sets and melamine dishes which you can spot here, we ate this outside too!

We get a lot of our condiments from there – I love trying new oils, salts and BBQ sauces, they have an amazing range of brands you won’t find in the supermarket and some amazing pretty cushions and blankets/throws too. I have a long list of things I want to buy but you have to be quick as the stock changes quickly and they don’t stock too many of the same product – this I love as it means you are unlikely to have the exact same furniture or crockery as your friends and family. The shop also feeds my candle obsession too with a load of scented indoor and outdoor candles – I have a huge coconut and lime candle which I light in our conservatory or at the garden table. I would urge you to pop in as the summer stock and Christmas are by far my favourite times to visit.

We have been spending a lot of time eating al fresco during the balmy evenings we have had recently. We have an outdoor oven, built by Andrew and its such a nice way to unwind, sat outside with the smell of the oven around us and enjoying crispy pizzas or flatbreads with a glass of wine or a mojito or two.

The house next door has a bit of an unkempt jungle at the back of their garden but it makes for a kind of pretty picture as the sun goes down:

We have also had lots of garden picnics with the girls, they think its so much fun and it brings back so many fun memories of similar days for me as a child.

Yes Chloe is trying out some lemon! I had a jug full of fruity water and she wanted to eat every piece of fruit in it.. lets just say she didn’t get further than that first bite!

I hope you join me in sharing your posts.

* This post is in collaboration with Homesense and I have been compensated for this.