Trying to find inspiration

Last week was lovely.  Absolutely lovely.  Warm but not too hot, and gloriously sunny.  After much rain, more rain and a lot of rain, plus downright un-Springlike cool temps the warming glow was so welcome.  Then came this week.  We've had so much rain that the city closed down all of the recreational parks.  The week that many minor sports were getting ready to start.  Both kids had their activities canceled due to the intense squishiness of  the fields.  It's been so gloomy that I felt like I was going to bed pre-drepressed by the lack of sunshine ahead.  Then there was that wind storm a few weeks ago...

As I type, it's foggy out.  It's lifting, but the tops of the trees still appear softened by a hazy film.  It's quite calm too.  No breeze at all.  There is a majestic Chestnut tree in my view that was only bare branches earlier this month.  Lilacs that are promising to bloom at the first sign of warmth.  A vase of tulips from my garden sits on my desk, reminding me that it is indeed Spring and not Autumn, regardless of how it feels out there.

It sure doesn't feel like it's Victoria Day this weekend.  The "unofficial kick-off of summer" seems at odds with the weather we've been having.  In past years we've  had the air conditioning running for weeks already.  Yesterday morning the furnace ran.

But it is the May Two-Four (for my American readers that is the first holiday weekend of the season, and usually falls on the weekend closest to the 24th of the month.  It is also traditionally a large beer consuming weekend, and a case of 24 beers is called a Two-Four).  And I am looking for inspiration.  Lately Pinterest has been my go-to for illumination of all sorts.  Today I am perusing pins with barbecue tags.  Check out this space from Design To Inspire...

Now that's a summer kitchen!  Put in some plumbing for a sink and some lighting and I'm there.  Not that I could do that with this house, but I can dream.

For a little more realistic inspiration, I'm looking at the wonderful barbecued foods.  Like Barbecued Thai Chicken Legs and Korean Barbecue Beef.  There are some wonderful kebab images on Pinterest too, as well as salads, drinks, cute summer party invitations and more.  Even though it doesn't feel like summer yet, I can still live vicariously through fabulous pictures and find inspiration for the grilling and entertaining season ahead.