The NEbloggers Summer Picnic at Jesmond Dene

Myself and Karen are immensely proud of our NEbloggers network which now has an impressive 241 members! As well as the group being a place to ask for advice and share tips amongst our peers, we also run a weekly post sharing thread, have regular discussions and debates, hold a fortnightly twitter chat (follow us here) and are generally a lovely supportive environment for all things blogging! The Summer Picnic was our first event and despite the start of the week looking dull, rainy and dreary the sun decided to shine and we all have a lovely day.


Our venue of choice was Jesmond Dene, somewhere that is both child and dog friendly with picnic tables, a park and lots of green space plus fairly central. What more could we ask for? I absolutely adore Jesmond Dene (see here) and arrived nice and early for our little soiree.

I had been sent some goodies from Aperol to make an Aperol Spritz. Aperol is an award winning Italian apertif which started life back in sun-soaked Padua in 1919 and it seemed like the perfect drink to sample in the beautiful outdoor countryside on a sunny afternoon.



Aperol Spritz


3 PARTS PROSECCO | 2 PARTS APEROL | 1 PART SODA

Our Aperol Spritz was super easy to make (I didn't even need anything to measure the quantities) and tasted nice and refreshing. It has a slightly earthy and bitter orange taste to it and is probably best served with a slice of orange - unfortunately we only had strawberries in our picnic basket but I still think this was a winning combination. This video demonstrates a lot better than I can how you can recreate your very own Aperol Spritz at home however as this drink only requires 3 ingredients, it's definitely a simple drink to take and put together on a special picnic this Summer.


We were joined by Karen, Helena, Kate, Mandy, Rachel, Emma and Katie plus a large brood of children. The location really was wonderful as it was so close to the park and pets corner when the children fancied a toddle. We mixed playing with bubbles to chatting about travel, blogging and our Summer plans as well as sharing amusing tales from previous holiday encounters.



The real talking point of the day though were the gorgeous Holly and Alfie who were perfectly behaved and even shared their special doggy treats nicely with each other.


The picnic lasted a good 2 1/2 hours - I couldn't believe we had so much to chat about! Of course we had to ride the Jesmond Dene Thomas train and sing-a-long before we packed up to go home.




Thanks to everyone for a thoroughly enjoyable, relaxed afternoon with good company, good food and a lovely new Summer drink! Same time, same place next year?

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall 
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10 comments

  1. Aw looks like you had fun! I didn't even know there was a train in Jesmond Dene, looks like I need to explore further. I've only been so far as the old mill so far. Will definitely come to the next event, I was down in leeds for a travel blogging conference so had to miss the picnic unfortunately :(

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    1. Ah did you go to ice lolly blog on the beach? It sounded good! The Thomas train set us back £1.50 per person so £7.50 altogether - bit of a rip off but kids enjoyed it x

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  2. Looks like a lovely day. Shame I was busy and couldn't make it. I think my dog Eddie would have loved to join the others

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  3. Such a lovely afternoon. My kids really enjoyed themselves. So nice to meet you and the other lovely bloggers too. X

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  4. It looks like you all had a fab meet up and a couple of lovely drinks together. it's great that all the kids got along well with each other and the two doggies had a fab time together too. I'm sure you're all looking forward to more meet ups in the future, let's hope the weather's great then too! Thanks for linking up with me on Country Kids.

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  5. What fun - I have never actually had an aperol spritz (I know, so behind the times!) but it does always sound lovely and perfect for a picnic. #countrykids

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  6. Ah I'm so gutted I missed this as a new mum! I love Desmond Dene too :) where can I find more info about the network?

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