Category: Exterior
Courtyard Landscaping, Before and After
Now that we have lived with the new foliage and pavers on the courtyard side of the house for six months, we’re pretty happy with…
Stage One Landscaping Completed
Continuing from the previous post–once the demo work was done, the crew laid in some drain pipe, while avoiding the existing electrical runs out to…
Landscaping in Stages
We finally started to make headway on revamping the tired landscaping surrounding the house; we refer to the area as the “house garden(s).” Just about…
A Bit More Outdoor Art
Last summer, a local auction house had a few interesting pieces going up on the block. I refrained from bidding on any of the many…
A Girl Needs a Shed
We try not to clutter up the house. While both my and Agent Smith’s offices are full of all sorts of useful things, we try…
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…
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…
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…
Adding to the woodpile
(Don’t worry, our gorgeous giant gum tree is doing fine. The first pic for this post is to just to show off its latest haircut.)…
“New” Bathtub
Back in 2019 when we were assisting our neighbors, we came across one last old bathtub down in the south pasture. Buried by weeds and…
The Deal with the Devil: Addendum
When I mentioned in this series of posts that we got some dirt, I never included pictures of the before, during and after. So here…
The Lesser Wall of Purgatory: Part 3
Once the concrete cured, we had a wall, but just a wall. The area between it and the pool coping was still unfinished. The drainage…
The Lesser Wall of Purgatory: Part 2
Carrying on from the last post, we needed a small retaining wall to help tidy up the area along the south edge of the pool.…
The Lesser Wall of Purgatory: Part 1
Back in 2016 we rebuilt the Great Wall of Purgatory. It was a very arduous project that took months. You can read the full tale…
Blooms of Purgatory
It’s been ages since I’ve posted some of the flora here at the ranch, so here are some somewhat-recent images.
Rain Machines
As part of our home automation work, and a setup we actually got up and running last summer, are the new RainMachines. These are Internet…
Agatha
Yes, I’m still very much behind on posting new content, but I did manage to put this video together. Please welcome Agatha. Last month she…
Downward Facing Birds
I set up one of the trail cams pointing downward at the water bowl outside the kitchen, the same one Frank the Skunk likes to…
At the Birdbath
(Yes, I’m still very behind on posts, but I really am working on that, albeit very slowly.) On the suggestion of a neighbor, I took…
Gutter Addendum
When we moved in, the west side of the great room had a gutter above the windows to divert rainwater away from the door and…
Exterior Tidying
There were no winter rains in December 2018, so we asked our favorite painter to get some much-needed exterior painting done. As mentioned numerous times…
Another Tale of Fencing
When we purchased this place, we knew the previous owners had it on the market in 2012 and again for most of 2013. It failed…
Many Leaks
Once the dust from the furnace install settled, we noticed a few new issues–not with the new HVAC setup, but various bits of leaking plumbing.…
Nesting Birds
This post a few weeks ago covered the story of 10 nesting boxes installed at Purgatory over a year ago. Last summer nary a bird…
Winter Tree Work
In Fall 2017, we asked a new arborist, California Tree Solutions, to see to some of the trees here. They did a good job, and…
And On the 15th Day, There Were Gutters
After getting the fascia rot issues sorted in January 2018, we were all set to put gutters on the house–something that hadn’t been done since…
Yet More New Fencing
Originally the fencing at the main gate and along the road to the parcels past Purgatory was made of wood and painted white. While pretty in…
The North Garden Now-ish
It’s now been over a year since the garden area outside my office was “finished.” Sure, I’ve added a few more bottle bushes and birdfeeders,…
Filling in the North Garden
Continuing a story I started well over a year ago, the garden space outside my office was finally planted at the end of 2017. That’s…