A break? You need a break?!

Well, in my opinion, my blog friend, Marcee-frugalmom, and I have settled in quite nicely here on the farm. It's pretty cool having a buddy around to help with things, make me laugh, and provide that ever-needed extra set of hands.

My garden loves her. It is giving us great amounts of basil, cucumbers, beans... (helpful hands courtesy of Marcee):

And, among all those tomatoes that have been refusing to ripen, two decided to ripen in celebration of Marcee's arrival. They were absolutely YUMMY:

We are finding, however, a number of green tomatoes lying on the ground with interesting bite marks in them. Any thoughts as to what kind of animal mouth would do this?:

We were able to pick over 8 cups of blackberries down in the chicken pasture/blackberry jungle. Marcee seemed impressed that there were weeds down there as tall as she was:

And then there's my dog. It's official: Roxy loves Marcee (oh and please note Ms. frugalmom sitting on the couch, quite relaxed and doing NO SORT OF WORK):

Of course, Marcee lets her get away with *everything*, so Rox is milking it for all it's worth:

Hey, know what Marcee's doing here?:

She's in my barn attic looking for bats:

This is incredibly significant news because Marcee is terrified of bats. She's fine with spiders and snakes and mice (really!), but she has told me for months: "No bats, Danni". To see her climb up those stairs with a flashlight in hand, and have them flying around over her head with no shrieking, screaming or frantic behavior on her part...let me just say, I am impressed.

Egg gathering is, of course, a mandatory morning event:

I'm thinking time is very short until she has a flock of her own:

For those who don't yet know, donkey brushing soothes the soul:

Look how relaxed Marcee and Brownie both look:

But since we've been so busy, we decided we deserved a break. We took the day off yesterday and headed to the beach. It's not far away. So, we packed up the car:

And went in search of the ocean:

Who *doesn't* take pictures like this?:

Roxy did a lot of bird watching:

And bird chasing:

When she tired of that, she and Marcee hung out and shared secrets:

Told each other jokes:

And posed for my camera:

There is great joy in dark chocolate peanut m&ms:

Self-timer portrait in front of Haystack Rock:

Later on, we drove into the tourist town of Seaside. I stated that I thought this froggy statue was obscene, but Marcee giggled hysterically:

I couldn't keep her off this guy's lap:

Apparently, he was quite a wit. I don't know *what* he said to her here:

On our way home, we stopped at a local farm to pick up some fresh corn:

She's kind of a trouble-maker. The sign says DON'T STRIP THE CORN, Marcee:

I'm going to grow zinnias next year. They're gorgeous:

We came home with tired-but-happy bodies, fresh corn, some pickling cucumbers, and a small bouquet (Marcee also brought home a sunburned face):

Now, it's back to work!

(...You can read frugalmom's diary of her time at Critter Farm here.)