[masraum]

There's a field next to our house that's about 15 acres give or take. It's used to make hay (agricultural status for the property for tax purposes). The hay has been growing all year. The other day they came out and cut the hay. That seemed fairly obvious and self explanatory.

Today they showed up with a new attachment on the tractor. Today they are stirring the cut hay up. I'd guessed that they need the hay dry, so they are stirring it up to ensure even dryness. I looked it up, apparently they are using the "hay tedder" which is just a fluffer (that Livi guy really gets around) for the cut hay. "A tedder spreads and fluffs the hay in a uniform swath after the mower-conditioner has made the windrows." Interesting!

I guess next will be raking and then baling. This is interesting.

The other interesting thing is that after they cut the hay, it was a feast for the turkey vultures (oddly, I didn't see any black vultures which is what I usually find here). There have been probably 10-20 vultures in the field for the past couple of days. I'm guessing they've been snaking on rats and mice and snakes that didn't make it out of the way of the cutting. I also saw a Northern Crested Caracara in the field in the evening yesterday.

It's nice, the tractor is nice and quiet. At the closest point, it may only be 40' from the house, and most folks wouldn't realize it unless they saw it.