Needle and ThREAD: Stitching for Literacy

Shelly asked about our accommodations.

We are staying in the staff lounge, which we now refer to as our cabin. This was the first building to go up last summer, and it was where the staff ate, hung out, got warm, watched movies, played cards. There is no trim yet, and the flooring is temporary. It’s purpose for most of this year is to support construction workers with dripping rain gear and muddy boots.

With a little stashing, stacking, and rearranging, we’ve made it our home.

We’ve just entered the front door. Beginning on the right, we have the office/desk/computer/entertainment center. The wood stove, our sole source of heat, with two pots of wash water always warm on top. Comfy chairs in front of the fire. Fabric “soccer chairs,” as I call them, are the only comfy chairs as yet. Having once spent a whole winter with a wooden bench as my seat six days a week, I think these are great. (If we don’t have it…)

Fridge coolers and freezer on the deck outside the back door. Cool wash water in the garbage bucket behind the back door. The craft table. The pantry. In the center of the “kitchen” area is our dining table.

At the top of the image, note the loft above the back half of the cabin.

Standing beside the wood stove, starting again from the right, we pick up with the pantry. The kitchen sink with a French drain. Propane stove. Propane fridge which is not currently on.

Propane is the one thing we don’t have in abundance, and we want to conserve it for use heating work spaces. We’re using the fridge as an icebox, with glacier ice from the beach, and I’m trying to freeze buckets of water that we can swap in and out.

We also have coolers on the back porch which are perfect for fridge items so long as the bears are sleeping. We can move them in and out as needed to regulate the temperature of the contents. It’s been a balmy 34-degrees F lately.

Remember the loft over the back half of the cabin? We’re sleeping in it. Extra food is stashed on the left; our clothes, backpacks, and personal items are stashed on the right. We can let the fire go out at night and be snug as bugs in a cozy loft with wool blankets.

I will write about our power, internet, and water systems in future posts. Other questions? Fire away.