Birds and Boxes
Way back in May of 2018, we installed our first round of nest boxes. I posted an update of sorts regarding their success here in…
Author: stega
Feeders We Do Not Like: Nectar
Continuing on from the last post (yes it’s been a while), it’s not just seed feeders, as there are a lot of poor-to-middling hummingbird feeders…
Feeders We Do Not Like: Seeds
As mentioned two posts (and months) ago, about half the bird feeders on the market are poor quality and/or unsafe for use. 1. Cheap plastic…
Improving Bird Feeder Designs
As mentioned in the previous post, we like the Birds Choice Magnet Mesh nut feeder a lot, but it has a significant flaw when it…
Feeding the Birds: Feeders We Like
There are a bazillion bird feeders on the market and about half them are awful; they’re either downright dangerous and not suitable for their purposes,…
Feeding the Birds: Our Setups
We have turned bird feeding into a mini-industry here at Purgatory, although sometimes it borders on an art form as well. With multiple stations that…
Monday’s Fire
Interrupting the normal flow of posts–today I was going to publish something about how we feed birds here, but then our neighbors set themselves on…
Bird Song Data
For the point-by-point breakdown of the products discussed below, skip to the big table of data here which also includes much of the text below.…
Some Better Lights
As noted in past posts, the previous owners of our house had questionable taste. Not only were the original doors mentioned in the last post…
New Doors Acquired
Since buying this place, one of the tiny, yet annoying, issues was the large gap between the front doors. The gap was unsightly, but more…
Other Small News
Carrying on from the last post…in addition to the custom puzzle over the last couple years, we’ve had fun with numerous other jigsaws. And while…
Staying Positive
Not a lot of updates this past winter as I was trying to stay positive in the face of neverending rain and wind. It wasn’t…
Re-Fencing
As of today, we’re two-thirds of the way through putting in a new 4′ high no-climb fence with an electrical stringer to put a stop…
Third Annual Birdathon Team
It’s that time of year again, Purgatory Fans! No, not nesting season, although that is indeed underway and this year we are happy to announce…
Busy Winter: Break for Damage
We’re STILL trying to finish the pit. The weather has not been cooperating. Go figure. In the meantime we’ve had a batch of storms. I…
Yearly Year in Review
Finally had time to sit down and put together the annual year-in-review video. There was certainly a lot of destruction at the start of the…
ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG
It only took us FIVE fucking years dealing with a county that, for most of that time, continually claimed their delays were because they are…
Changing Colors for Better Sleep
We cannot remodel the master bathroom because of the Santa Clara County Department of Planning’s inability to do its job in a timely fashion. This…
The Care and Feeding of Sliding Glass Doors
Our rather crazy house has seven (formerly eight) doors to the outside world, six of which are mammoth sliding glass doors. The other two include…
Another Ottoman
A while back I picked up an ottoman cheap from an auction along with a bunch of other stuff. While I had actually made an…
There Be Race Cars, Part Eight: Kitty
During the height of the pandemic, Agent Smith set about planning out another race car. He picked up a former BMW team car with rather…
Sharp Exhale and Expletive
So we finally “heard back” from the county regarding the current status of the pit. And oh my is their response a doozy, but before…
Holding our Breath
A few months back I posted an update re: the pit debacle. We thought there was dirt available at a parcel up past us. Yay!…
Recent Wildlife
Stega spent all of September traveling and the backlog of posts apparently ran dry. So as more posts are readied for reading, here’s a quick…
Forgotten Orphaned Images
While organizing images for various posts, I ended up with a bunch of orphaned photos that aren’t part of a larger story nor do they…
Plant!
We made a decision early on that, instead of lots of knickknacks littering up the house (especially in the foyer and great room), we would…
All (or at least most) of the Puzzles
During the pandemic, Agent Smith and I started doing puzzles together. We discovered it is a great use of the big dining room table when…
Check Telephone Line
Our phone line is rather unique. As mentioned in past posts, we have an old POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) line to the house. When…
Brass Update
Shortly after moving in, I tackled the huge pile of random stuff left behind in the old pole barn, including the pirate booty aka a…
End Table Ending (with Lamps!)
As detailed in the last two posts, I had some tables and lamps shipped out from my parents’ house in late 2021. A little over…
More Old Tables Made New
Growing up, my parents had three tables in the living room that they purchased shortly before they got married–one long low coffee table and two…