Shelter in Place
Sheltering in place isn’t much of a change for us up here.
Author: stega
Along Come Spiders
We let a black widow keep the rubbish bin she’d moved into.
Drain Videos
Scope video of our 100-foot-plus sewer line, before and after cleaning.
More Plumbing Woes
A rusted-out section of sewer pipe hidden by the old ductwork, and Able re-pipes the north wing’s drains.
Chimneys Be Gone
With the diesel furnaces gone, O’Neal Roofing removes the two old chimney stacks.
Finishing Touches in the Guest Room
Finishing touches for the guest room, including a reversible dinosaur duvet.
Guest Room Makeover
Painting the guest room while it was empty, and sponge-painting a big tree on the wall.
Big Glass
Roxy Glass replaces the fogged-up double panes in the great room’s huge downstairs windows.
Garage Lighting
Replacing the dim garage lights with bright new bay lights.
Courtyard Lighting Revamp
A storm toppled one of our courtyard lights, and the revamp of all five continues.
Plastic is bad, mmmkay?
Replacing the brittle plastic panes in our old Pasadena street lights with real glass.
The Pantry Revisited
Putting the pantry back together after the furnace work, with the shelves now secured for earthquakes.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 7 (Dénouement)
Getting off the diesel: after seven days, the old 50-year-old system is gone and our new Fujitsu units are running.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 6 (The Small Gotchas and the Studio)
Getting off the diesel: a couple of small gotchas, and heat for the studio at last.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 5 (Opening the Walls and Making Piles)
Getting off the diesel: opening the walls for the new mini-split system’s ducts and drains.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 4 (What Was Left)
Getting off the diesel: the relics left under the house once the old ductwork was gone.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 3 (Demolition)
Getting off the diesel: a week of upheaval as the old furnaces and ducts come out.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 2
Getting off the diesel: what was under the house, and the Ventwerx crew arrives to start demolition.
Best of 2019
Last year’s “best of” video, a bit later than usual.
Getting Off the Diesel, Part 1
Getting off the diesel: decommissioning our twin 1966 furnaces, starting in May 2018.
Nesting Birds
All but two of our new nest boxes were used this spring, by bluebirds, wrens and a titmouse.
In the middle of things
Reviewing the 200-plus posts since we bought this place, and a look back four years.
More goats
A half-dozen of the neighbor’s goats and sheep jumped onto our land from a manure pile, and rounding them up.
Good Fences
Our new eastern neighbors’ livestock and fence problems, and the new fence that’s finally going in.
Sunday Panorama for 9/15/19
A panorama taken March 28, 2016.
Birdhouses of Purgatory
Choosing and installing ten birdhouses around the property.
Sunday Panorama for 9/8/19
A panorama taken March 4, 2016.
An odd video of the north garden
An odd time-lapse of the North Garden, with a wrong timestamp and the wrong title card.
Stega took yet another trip
A week visiting my parents on Longboat Key, with a view of Purgatory from the plane.
Spring is the time for nesting
Back from vacation and back in my office, with a few furniture finds and crafts.
Sunday Panorama for 9/1/19
A panorama from January 2016, with the old wall and deck still in place.
Island Vacation: Stega Out and About
Out and about on Little Cayman between dives, including a swim to Owen Island.