What an awesome weekend!

IiIOThis last weekend was my break on the coast. I stayed with some wonderful friends that spoiled me rotten!!  There's a steam train that goes from Garibaldi to Rockaway Beach. Very cool!! (see below). The weather was beyond awesome! Thursday was cloudy but not too cool and then Friday-Monday was sunshine almost the whole way. There was a few clouds Sunday that gave the appearance of a haze as low clouds on the beach tend to do but that really depended where you were and for the most part we were where the sun was shining! 😊 I got  to visit with some people that I've only known from convention, and actually get to know a little about them. I was hoping to see someone who was a dear friend in Klamath Falls but that wasn't to be, however I got to visit with his mom, get to know her a bit and she took me down to a couple of places that I've never been. Cape Kiwanda and into more downtown Pacific City. Very, very enjoyable! We walked along the beach and climbed over some rocks. We got very lucky and actually found a parking spot in the parking lot! That place was packed to the gills! It's one area on the Oregon coast that they allow parking on the beach. She is doing awesome for someone who I believe is 79-80, if I did my math right!! A very dear lady!

I also got to meet a worker that went to college with my Aunt Nancy. He has been in the Midwest for years but is back in Oregon. I was able to visit with him a bit as well. He had a couple of stories to tell about what they did in college. He has Parkinson's though and it's starting to cause some issues. 😔

The lady where I stayed gave me a bunch of plant starts so I get to figure out where I'm going to stick them. :) It'll be perfect though because after tomorrow it's supposed to be rainy and cool (60's) for several days. So because of that rain coming I mowed the lawn and picked the raspberries after I got home. As well as doing some payroll, sending some emails, fielding some phone calls, and catching my own books up and setting my budget up for the month! WHEW!!😅

But what a WONDERFUL weekend it was!!

There's something down there!! :) 

Water Lily

  This shows the haze I was talking about. And a good picture of the sea gull! :)

This is the caboose of the steam engine train. This is where you pay for the ride.

The inside of the closed in car. They even have old suitcases above the seats. :)

The covered but open seating. This is where we sat.

The wide open seating. You can see the engine with just a bit of steam coming out too. This area was filled up going back to Garibaldi!

View of a lake from the train.

One of the outlets to the ocean.

  

This is my favorite picture from the train ride. You can see that there is a hole in the rock.

Me :)

This is an old climbing rose at the friend I went to visit Saturday evening. It has climbed all the way up into the tree!

There's a tribute wall to the Dorymen at Cape Kiwanda. Very neat!

Cape Kiwanda beach. 

A view of the cars on the beach. There's a large parking lot behind where I took this picture that was packed full as well.

Sea anemone 

Some of the rocks we climbed over

A gorgeous end to a wonderful Saturday!

Here's the train from a friends house Sunday that we rode on Saturday.

A seagull that was waiting for handouts.

Where we went to lunch Sunday. They have the most wonderful corn on the cob!! And Crab and clams! All fresh!

The sun was still shining when I left today!

My awesome find at the Goodwill in Tillamook! $11 for all of it!

The peas are loaded!

Erika did an awesome job keeping the lettuce going despite 95-100* heat Friday-Sunday!

Potatoes

And in the middle is the volunteer viola that I have a picture of in an earlier blog!

Grandkids!

The grandkids made a tough news day much better! My poor car is in the shop for the weekend. :( I found a bunch of craft stuff last month tucked away in a closet and Teagan is now old enough to enjoy them. Scarlet is getting there but we loved to get enthusiastic with that glue stick!! I really wanted to take them outside today but there were quite a bit of showers today so that did that in! Especially since Teagan had flip flops on! I think it stayed in the high 50's today. But by Tuesday it's supposed to be 90! Crazy!! I love the hugs, kisses and I love you's they just randomly give.

So I guess if nothing else I'll be able to get a lot of work done with no means to go anywhere! And that money will be desperately needed since the savings account is going to be drained dry! But that's what it's there for!

It's such hard work picking the play-dough up!

Maybe we can make it a bit more interesting!

I found someone selling doll clothes last year on ebay. The girls have really enjoyed them!

Craft time! I should have remember this soon today! It really kept Teagan occupied!

Kind of a dark picture but Scarlet was enjoying herself as well!

Bed frames make for an awesome garlic drying rack!

Actually got some decent sized cloves this year! Yay!!

Total Overwhelm mode

So much to do and not near enough time. I had an emergency project with a current client that took a lot of my time the last few days and thus put me behind in catching up and in sleep!! So I know what I'm doing Memorial Day weekend. But a break IS coming and soon!  My poor kitties!! They're feeling quite abused from lack of attention! I really think I'm at the point of not taking on anymore bookkeeping clients for a while! So hard to believe!! I'll still take payroll clients though. :) But I really need to get a schedule set and kept for a couple of months before I know what I can and can't take on bookkeeping wise.

And I REALLY need to find time to plant my plants this week. They're doing okay but desperately need to get in the ground. I'll show one of my to do's down below as well. I'm showing a before picture and will show the after in the next few weeks. :) The Hydrangea's are so, so loaded again this year! The typical one but also my other's, which hasn't happened before. You can't tell I LOVE gardening can you? ;)

I'm also babysitting Friday. It's been quite a while since I had a day with the girls so regardless of how busy I am Grandma had to make sometime!

It's huge and loaded!

This one hasn't had this many blooms ever!

And they're a gorgeous purple!

Peas and lettuce and swiss chard is growing!

Potato bed and a voluteer viola

A closer look at the viola

Taking out stuff to the compost bin I saw this dragonfly! It even stayed there while I ran in and grabbed my phone to take the picture. So cool!!

Yep, berry picking time is here!

Here's my project. It's totally overgrown and in horrible shape. There's sage and day lilies in that mess!

Slowly but Surely

Slowly but surely I'm working through the stack and getting everyone caught up! It's a long haul and I have a week and a half left to meet my goal of getting as much as I can done. I word it that way because some I'm not going to be able to get done since they're on vacation and I need information before the books can be done! After meeting with the accountant there's a question of how much do I want to grow the business?  What kind of increase in taxes can I handle while still trying to do something for retirement? Is there something that I need that would bring the bottom line down but would I still be able to pay what I owe in taxes if I did that? Ah, the questions of business!

Luckily I can go out and enjoy my yard now and again to take a break. Pull some weeds etc. Right now everything is lush and green due to the rain this last week. It poured a couple of times this afternoon and even had a long and loud clap of thunder. More rain until the middle of next week. We are making up for the last month! Although I will say I'm pretty sure there was a lot around the Portland area that didn't get the amount of rain we got today.

I got a used treadmill today! Now I can exercise right at home!! A friend was getting rid of one nice and cheap. The display doesn't work but everything else does. I'm excited to get this because I desperately need to start doing something! When ones starts getting close to 50 (Yikes!!) the body just doesn't keep the weight off the way it once did. I was very lucky in that my weight just naturally stayed off until a couple of years ago.

Thankful tomorrow is Sunday and looking forward to our meetings! Last afternoon one until, probably, July. I'm also excited for next month, there's a couple of breaks worked into the month that are desperately needed!!

Hydrangea's are blooming! Got to say I LOVE this picture. The lavender purple is my favorite color!

Potatoes... Lots of potatoes!

A sunflower bloomed in the compost bin last year and apparently it's back this year!

The raspberries are ripening and they're soooo yummy!! And loaded!!

Summer time!!

I'm beginning to think Spring was totally skipped and summer is here to stay! I'm really hoping I'm wrong though! As I've said last month was way warm, and so was March (maybe March was our Spring!). It was in the 80's yesterday and today; tomorrow cooler and cloudy but no rain :(  and then back to the 80's Tuesday through possibly Friday at this point. My dad will have a lovely visit up here!! The plus side is beautiful flowers because they're blooming so early and yummy strawberries. I was wondering the other day about them.... first ones were already at the farmers market today!! WOW!!  My honeyberries are turning purple. It's just crazy!!! Maybe I'll actually get those tomatoes and peppers in this next week!

I finally gave in and turned on the fan upstairs today. I had to water my raised bed area yesterday and the first rose blooms are fading away already and we're only into the first week of May. On the other hand other areas of the US can't seem to get out of winter so it all depends where you live!! I guess I'll enjoy it while I can. Next year it could very well stay Spring until July 1st! :)

This next week is going to be cramming as much work as I can in since I'll be home practically all week. My reward will not only be sleep but also a coast visit!! Can't wait!!

Well, it won't let me do anything with the last picture but the sun shining off the clouds made for a really cool picture!

No Hood's yet but still yummy!!

The flower bouquet that Christina got me at the farmers market this morning. So pretty!! 

My camera wouldn't focus but you get the idea! Honeyberries.

A Bellflower

I thought it was cool how you can 'see' through the flower.

I just love these roses!

Peoni bloom

It has been a good 10 years since these Iris's have bloomed like this!! I was seriously contemplating taking them out. They must have got the message! :)

Even more blooms then the last posting! This is the year six for this rose bush. It's blooming it's heart out!

I woke up early the other day and noticed a pink in the living room... gorgeous sky! Took the picture and then went back to bed! :)

Business... tough decisions

I've bit the bullet and raised my rates $5 an hour but it's been a tough decision. I don't do change easily, even when it's raising rates! It's been 3 years since I've raised rates so I really shouldn't have an issue, but I have an issue. It's like anything else there will be some that aren't too enthusiastic and other's that will be just fine with it. I guess I'll see what emails I get tomorrow! Next batch of emails will go out tomorrow. Hmm... maybe I should do a sliding scale depending on where the business is money wise.... Any business people out there? Thoughts?

And the heat is back tomorrow! I'm curious when the strawberries will ripen this year. I can't wait for them. Oregon has some of the best strawberries!