Three different life-styles: RV, Cabin, Mansion ...

Time sure flies! Especially now we're in those last couple of hectic weeks, aka 'crunch-time', when we're working hard to get everything done before we leave.
Only 2.5 more weeks to go until we're back 'on the road again'!

Many birds are ahead of us though, and are (or have) already leaving/left for the south. We often hear and see V's of Geese, honking their way south in big flocks.

                                                      

                                                                     Gold Finch

Lots of smaller birds are gathering too, but are still hanging around for the seeds of the (mountain) sunflowers and thistles. I bet they're almost ready to pack up and go as well though.

Flicker

The weather definitely is changing now. We're going to have some rain over the weekend, and the temperatures will finally drop into the 60's! Or .. so they say ...

I've come across several Wooly-bears this week and only one of them had a brown band, the others were all black.
This doesn't bide well for the winter, since they have the reputation of being able to forecast the coming winter weather. A bigger brown band is good - a mild winter. Bigger black bands are bad - a hard winter. All black ... you better go and find your 'woolies' (ha!) because an especially bad and very hard winter is coming!

Althought I'm not looking forward to the, still, hot temperatures in Arizona, it might be for the best that we're going to spend the winter in the south this year!

The blackberries are all done for now, and the Italian plums are getting all mushy, but we're having apples galore.

                                                 

There are about 4 or 5 different 'brands' on the property, and the black walnuts are starting to ripen and fall as well.

Black Walnuts

I don't think I'm going to venture into 'doing' anything with them though.
For one, they stain everything, your hands and clothes, a terrible black, and secondly, they are extremely hard to crack. And after you would have braved all that, they need to dry for a couple of weeks before they're edible.
Too much work, if you ask me, and especially now we're so busy. We just don't have the time .. or the energy left!

 The house is starting to look great! Guess what? Houston .. we have a ceiling! Look at that!

                                

Isn't it gorgeous?

This last shot is taken from the landing to the loft, looking down into the kitchen and living-room area .. and as you can see, the countertops are in as well!

And also the bathroom counters and sinks, and the one in the laundry-room/pantry/mudroom:

                   

Talking about bathrooms, the shower in the master is starting to look good too (that bright red is some thick water-proof paint that went on first, before we started tiling):

                

Needless to say, the days are long and busy, and we're pretty much pooped at the end of the day when the 'golden hour' comes along ..

The beer and wine at happy hour have never tasted this good!

Proost!