haying this week plus walking to the tall waterfall

post #288
      This week has been a bit unusual in that every day it has felt positively social around here!  Several neighbors were coming by to help with the outside work, friends from town came to take a short hike and even brought their dogs, our geothermal unit got some attention, and a young man who has helped me all this year came to say goodby for awhile -- so a full week of both sad and happy moments.  This morning I decided that the photos I should share today from this past week are the ones about the hay, near the house, and the waterfall, at the other end of our property. 
       First the hay. We do have one field that's an actual hay field, but the other part requires some fancy driving to get around things like a tree here, a tree there, a terraced section of a hillside, etc. Even so, Jamie managed to round up 6 large bales, and he may come back to do some corners needing the bush hog instead.  (I looked this word up on line and found out a lot about something I thought I already knew what it was -- but now I know more:  A bush hog is a type of rotary mower. Typically these mowers attach to the back of a farm tractor using the three-point hitch and are driven via the Power take-off (PTO). It has blades that are not rigidly attached to the drive like a lawnmower blade, but are on hinges so if the blade hits a rock or stump, it bounces backward and inward, and then centrifugal force makes it go outwards again.) I say why bother to do a blog post if I can't also learn something myself!

The mower behind Jamie's tractor is behind and off to one side, so it doesn't show up in this photo.

the hay taking over, between house and barn

looking back toward the house

       For a book project, I need to show "milkweed in the meadow". Luckily I had taken some photos in the early morning light, not knowing the haying would begin that afternoon.  A close call!!

I think this is my favorite milkweed plant compositon.To me it looks like the plant is about to take a bow.

       Now our walk to the waterfalls, ending up at the tallest one:
 

        I'm really happy with this photo. I've taken so many other photos down here that don't do the falls justice, and yet this one is able to give a feel for the place. It's hard to get the light right, for one thing. Being there in the evening helps.

looking more to the south from the same location

   Don't forget to give one of the photos a click so that they can each then be seen in a larger size. Enjoy, enjoy, and thank a rock today for me.