The accessories you need to ensure the perfect picnic

When bad weather continues, enjoy dining in the brightest room in the house, or sun room if you have one.

Keep the eco warriors happy too with a shot of summer colour from recycled placemats and tumblers handmade from chunky glass (from €4 to €20 at www.iapetus.co.uk)

What could be nicer than a picnic under a leafy tree. Bring along a blanket and cushions to make the moment extra comfortable (Butterfly range by Matthew Williamson, cushions €35-€41, hamper €41, tablewares from €6, blanket €171 from Debenhams)

Create a little arbour in the corner of the garden and string up swags of fabric for shade when dining al fresco (Emmie Ros fabric €6 p/m, tablewares from €3-€20 at Ikea)

Without a floral in sight, — check out the Pondlife range by artist Tom Frost featuring dragonflies, herons, grebe and duck ((from €12 at www.magpieline.com)

Watch out for summer. If it’s anything like last year it will be of about two days duration and not necessarily consecutively. But to make the most of it we have to be prepared for the only opportunity we might get to fire up the barbeque or have a picnic on the beach.

We have a happy knack, however, of making the best of bad weather, managing to enjoy the continental practice of sipping espresso outside a café in the occasional sunshine. Our version differs, however, and involves being muffled up to the gills while sitting beneath a leaky awning as close as possible to exterior gas heaters, pressing our palms to a hot cup.

For whatever fleeting moments we have in the sunshine, let’s at least try to live outdoors in some manner. It might simply be an opportunity to have your lunchtime sandwich and cup of tea with a warm breeze on your skin, for all of five minutes, before the grey clouds drift in. But if the forecast is any way reasonable for the weekend and a balmy evening just might materialise, it’s a chance to set up a table outside and invite a few friends around. But do it fast before the wind whips up again.

Keep it all nice and simple. Informality and stress-free catering define outdoor summer living. You want to enjoy the air and not get stuck in the kitchen for the sun’s flying visit. Remember too that outdoor entertaining doesn’t necessitate getting out the barbeque. In any event it’s probably still encrusted with last year’s burnt offerings, and by the time you scrub it clean the sun will have gone in.

Instead place the catering emphasis on grilled fish and meats with plenty of salads and a selection of breads. It’s simple fare but there is something about eating out of doors that makes even the most basic of meals taste particularly scrummy. Add in plenty of drinks — it’s time for picking elderflowers and making cordial — and you’re almost there.

To offset this happily effortless catering, dress up the table with your lovely linens and wares, although you could adopt the labour saving American way of doing this (eco warriors look away now). Plastic glasses and paper plates and napkins are pretty standard for outdoor entertainment across the water, and certainly there is value in doing this as not only does it avoid endless washing up, it’s reckoned to be a safer option as plastic and paper won’t crash into smithereens on the patio.

Plastic glasses are no longer those flimsy receptacles you’ll find at the water cooler. Nowadays sturdy tumblers, wine glasses and champagne flutes are readily available. Likewise with plates, and both have the advantage of being washable and reusable so it makes them more eco-friendly and a much better option from a safety perspective.

Of course, you may have picked up some fantastic tableware swag at the summer sales last year so use it whenever you can. That’s the value of a bad season — the sales are at their best, and judging by the way the weather is continuing they may be even better this year.