Steeling Ourselves, Part 1 of 3
One of the more odd bits about the house is that two cubes are part of the residence: the great room, which measures approximately 26’x26’x22′;…
Author: stega
How do you get a flood on a mountain?
When we were having the pool resurfaced and discovered the blocked bottom drain, we tried to sort out the purpose of the various taps in…
Wall-a-versary
It was just a year ago that we were working feverishly to replace the failed retaining wall built out of railroad ties with something more…
Meet Chompy Jack and Dumpy McDumpface
Our little fleet of useful vehicles grew this summer. In addition to Bambi, we acquired a nice little gas-powered trencher which we have named Chompy…
Mystery Plaque
In the category of strange and unusual findings at Purgatory, this little plaque was once affixed to one of the lights that ring the driveway.…
A little birdy…
Way back in 2009 when Agent Smith and I were at a garden store in Melbourne, we came across a cute little metal sculpture of…
Now Open: Purgatory Heavy Equipment School
One of the more fun but less-mentioned facets of life at the ranch is that we often get visitors, and said visitors often get to…
More with the Administration
Keeping the backend of this site chugging along usually doesn’t take much, but in the two-plus years we’ve been writing about our activities at PAWDF…
Details for the Second @Purgatory Contest!
Failed to win a dashing cap last time around? Here’s another chance! This is another guessing-game sort of contest, and the theme carrying over from the…
Birds and Windows: New Contest @Purgatory
One of the downsides to living in an MCM house is having a LOT of windows, so we often have birds running into them, and…
Expanding Our Impact
SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveIllegal dumping is an issue here. A lot of rude people from the flatter areas drive up here late at night to dump their rubbish. The…
Barbie’s Driver Seat Renovation
While the title of this post may sound odd to those unfamiliar with Purgatory, regular readers know that Barbie refers to our rather large Ford…
Bambi’s Arrival
During the Great Wall project, we used a total of four different excavators. We rented two, one of which pooped out on us and had…
Owlets
We have a leak in the stables–or at least that is what it sounds like every time Agent Smith goes in there. The reason is…
The Blooms of Purgatory
Spring flowers.
Mini-Break
This week there are no big posts scheduled, as it’s been very busy here of late. We’re working hard to write some new posts detailing…
Sheep Are Very Annoying
A while back we started having issues with livestock from a property down the road. The acreage there is rented out to a guy who…
Spoils of Purgatory
When we had the driveway repaved last winter, we decided to retain the rubble from the old driveway (commonly referred to as spoils). We ended…
Toilet Talk
The first two photos are of a damaged bamboo Squatty Potty that we ordered last winter. I decided to try out their product as I’m…
Excavation Fun
When the driveway was repaved and the water main issue happened, we ended up with a large hole behind the garage where the main line…
Let’s not let this happen again…
In March we had some very heavy rains and, as a result, our first roof leak. It was not a fun experience and has made…
Our New Pad!
When we purchased Purgatory there was a really old and unsafe dog kennel on the property. One of the very first projects Agent Smith and…
Getting Things Done
Agent Smith posted a while back about the monument outlets inside and outside the great room and what a mess they were. Three of the…
Finishing Pool Touches
Because of delays we had to wait a day for water trucks to fill the pool. We decided at the start of the project to not…
Pool Revamp: New Finish
Once all the holes were sealed and the plumbing sorted, we had to wait to finish the resurfacing project, as the company that manufactures the…
Cooked Water Heater
Last year one of our water heaters was on its way out so we replaced it. Things seemed fine until one morning in March when…
Pool Revamp: Plumbing and Prep
Once the pool surface was stripped, Adams began the prep work. To bring the pool up to code, we had to have the bottom drain split…
Pool Revamp: Drain and Strip
In March we began work on the pool resurfacing/remodel project. We knew when we purchased the house that the plaster would soon need work, so…
Purgatory Contest: And the Winner Is…
After receiving a dozen or so submissions for the first-ever contest at Purgatory, we are pleased to announce that a winner has been determined! First…
Drafts in the Winter
1. One of the more annoying tidbits about our house is that the front door has a very large gap underneath. In the winter this…
New Signs
We finally found a solution to getting our spiffy logo at our front gate. When we first looked at the house, the POs had a…
Interior Walls (The Bird Space): Finishing Touches
To give the alcove a better sense of space, I framed the archway by painting two trees. After painting the trunks and branches, I then…