Orphans and Administrata
After a brief hiatus, during which I was busy coordinating projects and events here at Purgatory, I’ve finally had time to sit down and write a…
Category: Update
Of Mice and Mice
We are currently combating mice at Purgatory–we have caught close to a dozen of the little guys in the last two months. As you can see…
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…
Psst, want some pot(s)?
I got back on the stable clean-out project a few days ago. We already had a dumpster on the property as Agent Smith was working…
The Disemboweling of Purgatory, Part 4: Ducts
As noted in the previous posts, we had our furnaces tuned up and a new thermostat installed for one of them. The next step was getting…
The Bowels of Purgatory, Part 3: Thermostat Enlightenment
One of the more stupid things here at Purgatory was the location of the thermostat for Furnace A. (For those that missed the last few…
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…
The Bowels of Purgatory, Part 2: Furnace Stink
Continuing the last post, we’ve been slowly getting some work done on the heating utensils of Purgatory. Last year we scraped by with minimal knowledge of our furnaces,…
The Bowels of Purgatory, Part 1: Furnace Story
First a point of clarification: we have two furnaces of the exact same make/model. Furnace B handles the north wing of the house, and Furnace A the…
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…
The new list
While there have been a lot of fluff posts of late, work at Purgatory continues as the list of projects is unending. Since no exciting…
Pool lights at play
Last fall we had the lights in the pool replaced. This is what they look like at night now (although the LED lights actually also…
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…
In the bedroom
As mentioned in the previous post, we didn’t have much furniture when we moved in to Purgatory and we have been very slow in buying…
Our lack of a Chesterfield Sofa
Shortly after we took possession of Purgatory, it became apparent that we were going to need more furniture. Going from one master bedroom, two offices,…
“Whatever happened to the kittens?”
A few folks have asked “what happened to the kittens from May?” Well, we got a call from HSSV (the shelter we took the kittens to) about…
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…
The merits of Craigslist
Since taking ownership of Purgatory, we have used Craigslist to rid ourselves of many things left by the previous owners or things we didn’t need.…
The Hiatus Explained
Things got super busy here at Purgatory over the last few weeks. Immediately after the feral kitten saga, we had house guests for a week,…
Dear House/Ranch/Awesome Abode…
It was one year ago today that we closed and got the keys. Happy anniversary! This is a song we have been humming quite a…
Expanding Borrowed Time
Our wireless network here was adequate but not ideal. Reception in some areas was spotty, so we picked up a few more Ubiquity access points…
Historic House Images
We really enjoy finding odd tidbits of information about our house and land. Recently, when looking a house nearby for sale, I discovered something rather…
Water, Water Everywhere, Part 3: And Some to Drink
Carrying on from the last post about water here at Purgatory–because we use a sodium-based water softener, our normal tap water tastes a tad salty.…
Feral cats > rattlesnakes.
So I took momma to a vet clinic as planned last Thursday and she was successfully spayed. The kittens were dropped off at a shelter…
Momma and Kitten Update
Wednesday marked the third full day we’d been taking care of the feral mother and kittens and thankfully, if things go as planned, it will…
Revisiting First Impressions, Addendum
In addition to the spare bedroom, alcove space and my office, the south wing of the house includes a couple of bathrooms off the linen…
Revisiting First Impressions, Part 6: North Wing
The south wing of the house includes a couple of bathrooms off the linen hallway, a spare bedroom, the boys’ space and my office. First,…
Revisiting First Impressions, Part 5: Foyer and Master Bedroom
Then-and-now photos of the foyer and master suite. While the before photos are usually retouched, the now photos are not. The foyer as it was.…
Revisiting First Impressions, Part 4: Kitchen and Great Room
Then-and-now photos of the kitchen and great room. Keep in mind the now photos are unretouched. Kitchen: a few changes in color and a different fridge, and…
Revisiting First Impressions, Part 3: South Wing Interior
Then-and-now shots of Agent Smith’s office, the guest suite, and studio (which is a separate building from the main house). South office (formerly an extra…
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…