A Closer Look at the Manager's Cabin

As I went through previous entries on the blog, I realized I hadn’t shown any pictures of the Manager’s Cabin where we’re staying so here we go. It’s a two story house with the kitchen, bathroom and main living area on the first floor and a bedroom/loft area upstairs. It’s really a very basic structure with no drywall, just the wood paneled siding and exposed electrical conduit. On the main floor, we have a small dining table and a couch as you can see from the pictures. The couch had been left outside for sometime and was leftover from when the Nickelodeon team was down here for a photo shoot some time ago. It’s actually pieces of a sectional on rollers that we (Jim) nailed together with metal plates so it won’t roll apart when we sit on it. In addition, it was originally an off white color that had orange swirls all over it so, in an effort to tone it down a bit, we (Jim) painted it beige which worked out quite well!

When we decide to watch a movie on the computer,(thank God for Netflix!!) there are definitely a few steps involved. First, we move the computer and portable dvd player to the edge of the dining table, which puts it at the perfect distance. Now, the fun thing is we found out that with one of the cords that was left here, we can hook up the computer to the stereo system and have a surround sound system - aren’t we living it up!! In order for the cord from the stereo to reach the computer, we have to put the stereo on a chair next to the table. This then creates somewhat of an obstacle course with the cord stretched across the room, but that’s a minor sacrifice for all the comforts of home, right?

You can also see how tightly we tuck the mosquito net in every night. That's actually the last step in our nightly ritual: First we check inside all pillow cases for any intruders, then check under the sheets and once the coast is clear, we're ready to tuck. That's when we do the famous "la finca limbo", when we untuck just enough netting to shimmy underneath and then tuck ourselves back in. Phew!!

Our artwork consists of a National Geographic map of the world, with one side being the topographical version and the other side is the one that shows all the countries. For the month of July it was showing the side with all the countries outlined so to add a little spice to our lives, we flipped it over for August to show the lovely topographic side with all the underwater ridges and ice shelves. For September, it’s back to the country side. To contribute to our surroundings, we have put up the lovely cards we received from Tina and Sharon and Jeannie and Deb, Barb and Jennifer & Dan which are carefully pinned to the pillar in the middle of the room. That is the extent of our artwork, such as it is!

Where we are really fortunate is the window coverings. You see, when we first settled in here, there were makeshift drapes stapled over the windows and the material was…..oh, how should I put it……a dreary and faded design that was probably purple in its heyday but had faded into some sort of dishwater brown color. At any rate, it just wasn’t going to do at all. So, my lovely and energetic sister in law Michele ever so kindly sent us some gorgeous fabrics - some a bright tangerine color and some other that is kind of a sage. So far, we’ve replaced the most dreary window coverings with the tangerine dream material and actually had enough left over for a table cloth along with a runner made out of some other material she sent us! Now we just need to work on the other windows. Chele, you’re a doll, for sure!

Love to you all,

David