THE BEAUTY AT FALSE BLUFF WITH CAYMAN ROCA ON THE HORIZON
30 June 2017
25 June 2017
Above it all, part 4
The work on K and L's house is ongoing and what a great place it will be to spend time in...especially the days spent sitting on the deep porch overlooking the Caribbean. Keep in mind all of this is 8' above the ground!
Two ways to get to the porch from inside the house...the south side of the house to a walkway heading east toward the sea (with a hint of the Caribbean seen through the trees)...
And from the east facing, or sea facing, part of the house where the porch is nice and deep and runs the full width (north to south) of the house but will look directly out to the sea...
Two ways to get to the porch from inside the house...the south side of the house to a walkway heading east toward the sea (with a hint of the Caribbean seen through the trees)...
And from the east facing, or sea facing, part of the house where the porch is nice and deep and runs the full width (north to south) of the house but will look directly out to the sea...
21 June 2017
It's nearly noon
Right in the front yard, our very own live sun dial giving us not only the time of day but coconuts as well.
17 June 2017
What we watch...
Years and years ago when I first began to contemplate what is now False Bluff, I read and read and read whatever I could find. And one of the things I found was an ongoing interactive conversation among people either already in Nicaragua or people like me - thinking about it.
But there was almost nothing at the time about the east coast, the Caribbean side, which is where my interest lay from the beginning of this adventure...except for Big and Little Corn Islands. That situation hasn't changed too much over time. Some, but not much.
But one guy from the United States routinely wrote about the Caribbean side where he was living in Puerto Cabezas (or Bilwi). His name was Allen and he is remembered still by a statement he made often enough that it has outlived him - a statement in response to a question he had apparently been asked a lot about what he did there: "Watch the zinc rust." Zinc is what metal roofs down here are called...almost always...and rust they do, almost fast enough to see.
At False Bluff we watch something different, and not just because our roof isn't zinc: We watch the sun come up over the Caribbean.
Of course, once the sun's up we just get busy with whatever else we want to do with our day at the beach.
From this vantage point you, dear reader, can't see the sea but come on down and sit in one of our chairs and it's in your face!
But there was almost nothing at the time about the east coast, the Caribbean side, which is where my interest lay from the beginning of this adventure...except for Big and Little Corn Islands. That situation hasn't changed too much over time. Some, but not much.
But one guy from the United States routinely wrote about the Caribbean side where he was living in Puerto Cabezas (or Bilwi). His name was Allen and he is remembered still by a statement he made often enough that it has outlived him - a statement in response to a question he had apparently been asked a lot about what he did there: "Watch the zinc rust." Zinc is what metal roofs down here are called...almost always...and rust they do, almost fast enough to see.
At False Bluff we watch something different, and not just because our roof isn't zinc: We watch the sun come up over the Caribbean.
Of course, once the sun's up we just get busy with whatever else we want to do with our day at the beach.
From this vantage point you, dear reader, can't see the sea but come on down and sit in one of our chairs and it's in your face!
13 June 2017
08 June 2017
Above it all, part 3
As I've recounted here in several previous posts, our remote section of Nicaragua is now electricity-enabled for the first time in history.
The national electric company ENEL (Empresa Nicaraguense de Electricidad) cleared a right-of-way, installed poles, and ran the wire along 26 miles of coast primarily to help Bluefields and "communities" along the way between Kukra Hill and El Bluff before the lines jumped across the bay to Bluefields.
Since we at False Bluff are neither Bluefields nor a "community" along the way, in order to take advantage of the power running through the lines over our property, we were required to buy and have installed our own transformer...the story of our transformer's arrival and installation has been told here earlier.
But don't forget the new kids on the block who are building their own house at False Bluff: K and L. Rather than tap into the already existing transformer and run hundreds of meters of wire beneath countless coconut palms that routinely drop really heavy litter they've opted to install their own transformer.
Here a crew from ENEL is carrying the transformer by hand ("by hand" is the way almost everything gets done in Nicaragua and particularly here at False Bluff) to their nearby building site where work on K and L's house is ongoing:
Once on site K and L's transformer is lifted into place by ropes and pulleys and attached to a pole very near their new house, ready to provide running water, ceiling fans, lights, music, etc.
The national electric company ENEL (Empresa Nicaraguense de Electricidad) cleared a right-of-way, installed poles, and ran the wire along 26 miles of coast primarily to help Bluefields and "communities" along the way between Kukra Hill and El Bluff before the lines jumped across the bay to Bluefields.
Since we at False Bluff are neither Bluefields nor a "community" along the way, in order to take advantage of the power running through the lines over our property, we were required to buy and have installed our own transformer...the story of our transformer's arrival and installation has been told here earlier.
But don't forget the new kids on the block who are building their own house at False Bluff: K and L. Rather than tap into the already existing transformer and run hundreds of meters of wire beneath countless coconut palms that routinely drop really heavy litter they've opted to install their own transformer.
Here a crew from ENEL is carrying the transformer by hand ("by hand" is the way almost everything gets done in Nicaragua and particularly here at False Bluff) to their nearby building site where work on K and L's house is ongoing:
Once on site K and L's transformer is lifted into place by ropes and pulleys and attached to a pole very near their new house, ready to provide running water, ceiling fans, lights, music, etc.
03 June 2017
Above it all, part 2
Although much of the living area of K and L's new house at False Bluff will be elevated about eight feet above the ground, when you're going to have a house at the edge of the Caribbean, the entire outdoors usually ends up being living space.
The only enclosed space at ground level will house a staircase and the well and probably some storage space, all of which can be secured in the owners' absence. The remaining ground level "house" space, the part that's under roof but otherwise open, can include whatever outdoor amenities K and L decide they just have to have: hammocks, outdoor barbecue sets, tables, chairs...
The columns supporting the upper floor (and a well) were the earliest parts of the house to be constructed, as shown in the previous post. The first photo below shows the enclosed space (which is at the rear or south-western edge of the house) at ground level - and the exhaustive support structure...
...for what is now the poured floor of the enclosed - or upper - part of the house. Cespar Fox, the builder, takes a break up there with the Caribbean at his back.
The only enclosed space at ground level will house a staircase and the well and probably some storage space, all of which can be secured in the owners' absence. The remaining ground level "house" space, the part that's under roof but otherwise open, can include whatever outdoor amenities K and L decide they just have to have: hammocks, outdoor barbecue sets, tables, chairs...
The columns supporting the upper floor (and a well) were the earliest parts of the house to be constructed, as shown in the previous post. The first photo below shows the enclosed space (which is at the rear or south-western edge of the house) at ground level - and the exhaustive support structure...
...for what is now the poured floor of the enclosed - or upper - part of the house. Cespar Fox, the builder, takes a break up there with the Caribbean at his back.
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