Saving the Stables
In late August/early September we had a team of guys here over two weekends to put a new roof on the stables. This was to…
Category: Exterior
Outside
This isn’t the only website related to our lives here at the ranch. Stega’s personal site, stega.org, now hosts images taken of the flora and…
How do you change a light bulb?
We have five rather fantastical lights surrounding our central courtyard at Purgatory. When the Doc visited last year he explained that the lights were originally installed…
New Garden, Step 1: Remove the Concrete
Last year we had the septic tank replaced, and since then the patch outside my office has been just bare dirt. A few weeks ago…
Things that don’t make logical sense
Purgatory is a rather vast property compared to a typical dwelling. Granted, a homestead or true cattle ranch would dwarf us in comparison, but we…
Septic Day Remembered
A year ago today the septic tank was replaced. To commemorate the occasion, here are some unseen videos edited together to give an idea of…
Another random product of happiness
In a previous post I mentioned we have speakers out by the pool. They are mounted under the eaves and came with the house, along with…
Flying Over Purgatory
Based on the recommendation of our contact in Zurich, Agent Smith bought a new device that enabled him to shoot this. Stills from this will be…
Sounds of Purgatory
Most evenings here at Purgatory are quiet, but since we live in the hills, sound carries quite a bit, and when some of our neighbors have…
Coming and Going and Going and Coming
Our road is a private one–not maintained by the county but by the collective group of home owners who live off it. We have no idea…
More Blooms @ Purgatory
A selection of flowers from the last few weeks here at Purgatory.
Mowing Season, Part 1
Now that the rains have ended, it’s time to post pictures of before and after mowing. First, I should say that, because the previous owners allowed…
Another Expansive View
Continuing the theme of the previous post, here’s a more current shot of the view from Purgatory. As you can see, things have become pretty brown…
Valley Fires
One of unexpected things that comes with having such expansive views of the Santa Clara Valley is that sometimes we see the smoke of fires…
I saw the sign
One of the little things that bugged me–because I saw it several times a day–was the little fire extinguisher plaque on the hydrant door outside…
One day in the barn
One morning Agent Smith and I went for a ride in the mini-truck to take some before pictures prior to the mowing man’s imminent arrival.…
Fun With Math and Water
This is one of my summer projects: North wing: 24′ x 60′ South wing: 23′ x 48′ Great room: 26′ x 26′ Studio: 32′ x…
Spiders and earwigs and termites, oh my!
A few months back we discovered a termite funnel emanating from the electrical outlet above the washer and dryer. With much trepidation we called Planet…
Water, Water Everywhere, Part 4: Pooling Resources
One of the things we’ve done a lot of maintenance on, and learned a lot about, is the pool at Purgatory. It was put in…
A tale of four kitties
It’s late spring at Purgatory and wildlife activity has been in high gear. Now that Momma cat has been spayed, we see her often. I…
More pretty flowers
Here are more samples of the things that flower here at Purgatory.
Always something in bloom
One of the things we enjoy about Purgatory–and that we should actually thank the POs for–is that the exterior landscaping immediately around the house is…
Pool Tile It!
When we moved in, six tiles on the pool balcony were loose and the previous owners had left them for us. With everything else going…
New Project: Utility Closet
As we work our way down the list of things we need to address, the projects have become less dire and more detail-oriented. Instead of…
So we have a problem…
We caught them today. They’re currently bait as we try to catch their mother, who’s become a nuisance, so we need to sort out what to…
Water, Water Everywhere, Part 1: The Well
One of the critical inspections we had done prior to buying Purgatory was a test of the well. We’re up high enough on the hillside…
Revisiting First Impressions, Part 2: Back Exterior
Here are the back exterior before and now shots. Sports court Pool from east Pool from west Great room exterior Observation deck East “lawn” Hot tub
Revisiting First Impressions, Part 1: Front Exterior
As part of the anniversary of us finding Purgatory, I’ve taken new photos attempting to match the views and angles of the original listing photos. (I’m…
So Many Birds
One fun thing about Purgatory is that we have a lot of wild birds. And I mean a lot. So far I have seen: Turkey Vultures…
Survey SAYS…
As part of the great wall project, we had geologists on hand a few weeks back to complete soil studies. They did three bores: one…
The State of Our Borders, Part 3: Fences
One day early in March, we took a drive down the low row to the bottom end of the property. As I mentioned in Part 1…
The State of Our Borders, Part 2: The Weeds
Continuing on from the last post–we have a lot of weeds and grass on the land. Most of the weeds are now taller than Agent Smith,…