Midge V2.0
Back in January of this year our beloved Midge was stolen from the service yard of our mechanic. She hasn’t been seen since. Insurance wrote…
Author: stega
More Notes on Visitors
The year prior to the pandemic lockdown, we had a rash of visitors–a friend from my days at school in England (they are now married!),…
All the Way from Ohio
Last fall I drove out to Ohio and spent a month visiting my parents. During that time I organized their basement. Things like the fifty-year-old…
Public Service Announcement
You may or may not know that we have a small YouTube channel for hosting the larger videos for this website and other interesting things.…
Another Fun Tale
This past Boxing Day (the day after Christmas), I, Agent Smith, and a few intrepid residents managed to make the old burned out VW “magically”…
Major Leakage
After the plumbing modifications detailed in the last post, the pipes were quiet for about 10 months. Then one night in mid-December of last year,…
The Wonky Water Pipe
Shortly after moving in, we had to have one of the hot water heaters replaced, as it was making that sad sound that signified it…
A Space We Finally Use
Going from a somewhat tiny house in San Francisco to this place meant it took a long time for us to use certain facets of…
More Auction Finds
In addition to giant steel bird statues, a couch, dining table and various other large items, over the last few years I’ve used auction houses,…
One More Studio Innovation
When we lived in SF, we had two couches in the living room. Agent Smith purchased them for his first place in SF before we…
Wine Room Redo
Carrying on from the last post, the studio building also has a wee wine room. When we first viewed the property, there wasn’t much wine…
The Studio Building Today
Back in 1999 the previous owners built the studio building. As documented in past posts, it’s just a weird building. Comprising three actual rooms and…
Mini Addendum
The wee poem I wrote about the Mini Cooper came about because the BMW Car Club sent an email asking members for stories from members…
The Mini
Oh little Mini, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. You do not go fast like BDR5— a Volvo wagon with an…
Respray
When we lived in San Francisco, we had a strange little balcony that was accessed from the living room. It looked out into the second…
Hat Rack Tricks
Since I seem to be on a home-furnishings-post writing frenzy, I found one more item in my backlog of pictures. Shortly after we moved in,…
New Old Table
In the north hall, next to the armchair and the ottoman I made, sat a table–one of those formed plywood ones from IKEA. The finish…
The Feathered Dinosaurs (that eat things they should not)
Living with parrots means things that should not be eaten are often eaten. Eventually you get used to making sure you don’t leave stuff laying…
Puzzling Filler Post
This is another of those mundane posts, as during the height of the pandemic, Agent Smith and I did what many other people were also…
The writing process (failure)
Keeping up with the news/projects to post ratio is something that fails to happen, as noted by the fact that I’m still over a year…
More Dumpster Tails
Since moving here we have filled roughly two dozen dumpsters. Our first one was a big 40 cu yd, but getting those up the mountain…
Blank Walls in the Studio No More
For a long time, the walls of the studio building were barren. I have been adding things into the space over the last few years…
Upgraded Fence
The big storm we had in 2021 also took out the rotting wooden privacy fence that runs along the north wall of the studio building…
Being Creative with a Fireplace
When we were in escrow, we had the chimney inspected as part of all the other inspections (well, septic, house, etc.). The inspectors told us…
Sewing Round Things is Tricky
Another small detail I crafted for the great room are four round cushions. They’re pretty nifty, as they not only continue the round motif, but…
Overgrazing is BAD
When we moved in to Purgatory in the summer of 2015, the previous owners had decided to allow a local caballero named Herman to pasture…
The forgotten story about the new neighbors
Way back in 2017 I wrote about the issue of manure seeping out of the neighbor’s animal pens. Two years later, the place was finally…
Evolutions…the North Office
My office, formerly used as a family room by the previous owners has gone through many changes and shuffling since we moved in to the…
The Blue Eagle and Friends
Or “how to find interesting art for your home.” Auction houses haven’t been just a good source for interesting furniture and giant steel birds. I’ve…
Sculpture Highlights
(and better gate power!) To really spice things up, this past November we had the electrical situation at the main gate sorted professionally. Regular readers…
Just add steel sculptures
Regular readers will know I started using a few auction houses (usually local ones) to find furniture for the great room. But what you all…