Monthly Musings: Summer 2026 Preview

I almost had this post ready in time for Monthly Musings this past Thursday but I just needed to finish a few things. Thus, I'm posting this on a Sunday so I don't miss the link up. We're looking ahead to what Summer 2026 holds for us. Patty, who blogs at Good, Better, Best, hosts this link up so you can go there to read the other posts.

1) Tell us about your Memorial Victoria Day Weekend.

Well, I live in Canada so we don't celebrate Memorial Day. However, the third Monday in May we get off for Victoria Day, also know as the "May 2-4" weekend! This year for Victoria Day weekend we celebrated Tessa's graduation from teacher's college, we hosted Dave's parents for supper, and we finished setting up our guest room. It was not very exciting :)

2) What were your summer jobs when you were younger?

My dad owned a garden centre and tree nursery when I was growing up so my summer jobs were working there -- I worked in the fields, in the office, and in the greenhouse. Other than that, I babysat sometimes.

3) Ice cream or popsicles? Favourite flavours?

I really like ice cream but homemade popsicles (lemonade and some fruit) are pretty good too!

4) What do you like on your burgers and hot dogs?

I like BBQ sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles on burgers and ketchup and relish on hot dogs. And all my burgers and hot dogs are vegetarian.

5) Beach, lake, or mountains?

I like them all! Sadly, I don't know if we'll hit any of these things this summer. Boo.

6) Share any travel for summer 2026.

After a few years of not being able to go in the summer, we're heading to one of our favourite places this summer!!! Whoooo hooo!!!

7) Do you visit amusement parks in the summer? Tell us your favourite.

Even though we have a really big amusement park not that far from us, we all dislikes rides. Thus, we never go to amusement parks.

8) Do you enjoy dining outside in the summer?

YES!!! I eat as many meals as I possibly can outside in the summer. I start with drinking my morning coffee-hot chocolate outside, and often have a drink midday too!

9) Favourite summer beverage?

Anything my Dad makes! Hahahaha!!! He makes a really great G&T and we love to experiment with other possibilities! I currently have some rhubarb in my fridge which I'm going to turn into rhubarb syrup for a drink we invented one summer -- a St Petersburg Burro. It's a Moscow Mule made with rhubarb syrup and it's yummy!!!

10) Favourite side dish for summer parties? Please feel free to share recipes.

I really like a chickpea salad recipe I got from a dietitian at our grocery store quite a few years ago. Take 1-2 cans of chickpeas and rinse them. Toss them in a bowl with a good sized grated carrot, a good handful (around 1 cup, maybe) of chopped cucumber, a chopped pepper or two (I often use a combination of red, orange, or yellow ones), chopped feta cheese (again, around a cup?), 2-3 chopped green onions, and a good handful (10-15) of mint leaves -- chopped up. Mix 1/2 lemon juice and 1/2 olive oil together. (I use maybe 1/2 cup of each). Add 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp honey. Mix together and pour over the salad. This salad usually lasts us about 5 days in the fridge and I really love it.

Writing about all these things makes me really excited for summer! Sadly, I still have a month of work left, and the kids have a month of school, but we're getting closer! Bring it on!!!

What's Up Wednesday: May 2026

It's been a full month of working on projects, starting to transition to focusing on the yard as the weather gets warmer, and having some fun in the midst of all of that! Welcome to May's What's Up Wednesday.

Answering these questions monthly helps me reflect on the past month and I really appreciate having a record of what we've been up to. The questions come from Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too.

image from here

 

What we're eating this week... This month has been an interesting month of eating. We're eating as many meals as we can outside, but it hasn't been as much as I'd like, since our spring has been cool. Sam baked scones as a Mother's Day treat for me and they were delicious! And our fruit box had a bunch of oranges, and then Dave accidentally bought more, so I've been eating an orange almost every work day. Rachel used some of the oranges to make orange chocolate chip muffins so I've eaten a bunch of those too. Can you tell we're in the transition space of eating? We're not into hearty winter meals anymore but the weather isn't cooperating with full BBQ and salads season yet.

What I'm reminiscing about... I read a really engaging book about the Olympics so I've been reminiscing about when we got to see the Olympic torch relay.

This was in January 2010 in Edmonton and it was so cold!!!

Sam has been practising driving a lot so I've also been reminiscing about Sam's previous driving experiences!

My dad first taught Sam to drive (on their yard) the summer Sam turned 10. He also practiced with Rachel on Tow Mater back in 2012, when he was three! It's hard to believe he'll soon be driving away for real!!! 

What I'm loving... I've had the chance to enjoy some amazing flowers this month. I got Dave to buy me the roses at Rachel's dance performance, which was on my birthday. One of the advantages of our cool spring has been that my ranunculus are looking AMAZING this year! I almost didn't do a ranunculus planter this year but I'm so glad I did.

 

What we've been up to... May started with Rachel's dance performance and my birthday. We spent a lot of time taking the LRT to and from the University, where her performance was held.

We attended the In Bloom festival as part of my birthday experience. It was so lovely!

On Mother's Day we went and played mini golf and then out to my favourite pizza place for supper. 

  

That week we headed out to a Blue Jays' game. It was a Loonie Dogs night so we ate a lot of hot dogs and I got to meet the Loonie Dogs Kings! It was a really fun game and we're hoping to get to another Loonie Dogs night this season. 

  

I helped Janice host, and then we all attended, a French themed party to celebrate Tessa's graduation from teacher's college with her French specialization.

And we've been doing some house projects. We set up our guest room and sanded and painted the laundry line poles.

What I'm dreading... I'm both excited for, and dreading, the last month of school/work for me. There's always so much work to do this month as a secretary, but the staff and students are in "party mode" so it's extra crazy. We have four weeks and one day until the last day of school for students and then I'll still have a few days to go until I'm on summer break.

What I'm working on... I've been doing the "walk every day in May" challenge with Shay at Mix and Match Mama. I even went for walks both days this past weekend when it was raining. On the plus side, this has been really good for my virtual walking challenge! I'm making so much progress on it this month!

On Sunday we finally got to my favourite greenhouse so now I need to get working on planting all these plants! I've planted about 14 of them but I still have about 50 to go!!!

What I'm excited about... Laundry hanging!!! We finally got the clothesline hung last night and now we're having a few days of good weather. I'm sooooo excited!!! In fact, I may hang the first load of laundry on the line this morning before I go to work! Hahaha!!!

 

What I'm watching/reading... I wrote most of this post as I watched the Blue Jays try to win their 5th game in a row on Sunday. It feels like they've had a rough spring but the announcers pointed out today that they have the exact same record they had at this time last year. And we all remember how last year ended for the Blue Jays, right?! :)

 

As for reading, I read Patriot Hearts: Inside the Olympics That Changed a Country by John Furlong on Monday night. I didn't mead to read it all in one night but it sucked me in! It was so good and I've already recommended it to a couple of people.

What I'm listening to... We've been sleeping with the windows open lately and every morning, shortly before 5am, I hear the birds singing loudly. They are a very pleasant alarm clock!

What I'm wearing... I bought a new sweater, on impulse, at Costco early this month. It's a nice weight for our cool spring and I've really enjoyed wearing it.

 

What I'm doing this weekend... I don't think we have any big plans. If the weather is good, we'll probably focus on outside tasks for a bit. We have a lot of weeding to do, and, as you can see above, I have a lot of planting to do. We should also probably clean some rooms. I've been enjoying our quieter weekends recently. I also may have mentioned to Dave last night that we might need to go back to the greenhouse for more flowers! Hahaha!!!

What I'm looking forward to next month... June is always full with Rachel's birthday, Father's Day, and our anniversary. Plus, it's the end of school and Dave has a work trip. June is going to keep us on our toes this year. (As it does every year, let's be honest!).

So that's what's up with us this last Wednesday in May. We're slowly starting to get some nicer spring weather and we're enjoying the longer evenings and having a little more space in our schedule. What's been your favourite thing about May?

Friday Favourite Moments #20 2026 (On A Monday)

It's a rainy Saturday and I am writing this post while waiting for tuna melts to be ready for lunch. We have no specific plans this weekend and I am looking forward to getting a lot of little things done. And maybe watching a baseball game, having a nap, and reading a book. Here are my favourite moments from last week.

1) Tessa's Graduation Party

Tessa finished her French teaching degree this past spring so I helped Janice host a French themed graduation party for her. It was so much fun!!! Last weekend, I helped Janice prepare, picked up a few things, and helped get food ready the day of. It was a really fun celebration and I'm so glad we could be a part of it!

2) Self-Care Week

It was a week of self-care as three of us got haircuts and I had a massage. After a full spring, it was nice to get some of these things taken care of.

 

3) Completed guestroom (mostly)

I love that we finally got the former living room turned into the new guestroom this past week!!! It's also going to be my laundry staging area when guests aren't using it. We just need to find (or buy) pillows for the bed (and a duvet) and it's good to go. Rachel slept here twice this past week because ants took over her room over the weekend and then there was a thunderstorm.

4) Yummy supper on the deck

I won't post about every time we eat supper on the deck but this was only our third meal out there this year. It's been a cool spring and so I'm still excited about enjoying it!

 

5) Clothesline refresh

 

Remember how I mentioned in my May Currently post that we were starting a back yard project? (Read about it here.) Well, I figured since our clotheslines had to come off for the renovation anyways, we might as well repaint the poles. We started by hand sanding the old paint off but that was taking a long time so Dave borrowed our neighbour's electric sander and that went a lot faster. Then I (with a little help from Rachel) painted the poles a dark brown. They blend in with our backyard a lot better now. Hopefully we'll be able to string the clothesline early this week and I can finally hang out my first load of laundry for this year! I can't wait!!! (And yes, I know -- only I am excited about this. And possibly, my mom!). 

So those were some of my favourite moments from last week. It was a fun week of celebrating with friends and getting things done!

Friday Favourite Moments #19 2026

These are actually my favourite moments from last week and then hopefully, on Monday you'll get my favourites from this week and then I'll be all caught up. (Can you tell I live in hope?!?!?!?)

Last week was the week when we celebrated ME all week long -- from my belated birthday celebrations to some fun Mother's Day adventures, last week was all about me! Hahaha!

1) Neighbourhood Amazing Race

Our neighbourhood association hosted an Amazing Race type event and Dave and I signed up. Over 60 people participated in teams of six. We had to visit various stores in our uptown and solve the clues. It was super fun and we all ended up at a local bar afterwards. Our team came in third and Dave and I had a great time.

2) In Bloom Festival

You know I love a good, unique experience and so when the In Bloom Festival popped up on my Instagram feed, I was hooked. It took place in a town about two hours away from here (to be fair, I did think the town was a little closer than that) and there were a ton of outdoor floral installations. I told the kids this was part of my birthday experience, so they brought their good attitudes, and it was so fun!

I enjoyed the signature drink of the festival which had gin, tea, and some other things I can't remember. And I made the kids take a nice picture with me at one of the installations.

3) Sam's surprise

When we got home from the scavenger hunt, Sam wouldn't let me in the kitchen as he was making a "surprise" (at 9:45pm, by the way!?!?). When I woke up the next morning, there was an entire container of strawberry scones he had baked! Yum yum yum!!! I enjoyed one with whipped cream and jam. 

 

4) Mother's Day fun

For Mother's Day, we went and played mini golf at a fun new place in our downtown, ate some really good local pizza, and stopped at my favourite ice cream place. We walked to all these places, the kids cooperated (for the second day in a row), and it was so great!

 

5) Loonie Dogs night at the Jays' game

My last birthday experience, or Mother's Day experience, was to attend a Loonie Dogs night at a Jays' game. Loonie Dogs nights are only on Tuesdays and you can get a hot dog for a loonie (which is $1). Our family ate 17 total (most of those were Sam!!!) and we had a ton of fun watching the Loonie Dogs counter go up. There were over 97,000 hot dogs sold the night we attended. And I got to meet the Loonie Dog Kings which was also exciting! These are two guys who have become famous for dressing up as hot dogs and eating a lot of hot dogs on Loonie Dogs nights.

 

6) Jr Youth Thursdays

Last week also held our last Jr Youth Thursday of the spring. Every Thursday night, we've gotten together with the Jr Youth. We've played Spoons, eaten pizza and cookies, heard about each other's weeks, and played games. It's been a lot of work but so much fun and such a bonus to see the great relationships which have been built. Some weeks these nights have been the absolute highlight of my week! 

So those were the highlights of last week. It was a great week of fun adventures, all of which were fun for me!!! Hahaha!!! This was also why I didn't blog; I was too busy having fun! Plus working and sleeping... you know, the unimportant things :)