Pelagia's Entryway Redesign

Pelagia has been working for the last month or two on redesigning the entryway to our apartment. Originally, it was my “office” space, but there was so little to recommend it (no windows, no natural light, constant interruption from the door), that we moved it into the extra room (the guest room). This left Pelagia with a space to redesign.

A practical problem which needed a solution was this: The dog, Argos, is still a puppy, and he hasn’t quite gotten over the fact that there’s also a cat here, Mo, so the dog constantly torments the cat. Pelagia decided, therefore, to build a cat refuge. So she built these benches (complete with drawers underneath for storage) and the overhead cat refuge from an old wardrobe (which was too big to get rid of) and an old wooden ladder she found. Total cost: $0!

(You notice the lattice on the ladder, which allows the cat to scurry up there.)

Pelagia is the master at finding old things on the street and seeing a new use for them. She also found the mirror (with lights) that you see in the second photo. She fixed it all up, made the lights and wired them in, and voila! The area right around the door had been very dark, but this mirror/light combination brightened the whole area.

She also borrowed a friend’s sewing machine and made the cushions for the bench. And all this in her free time, when she wasn’t painting and doing other jobs for people.

That’s about it for the news here, so there hasn’t been much excitement to post on the blog. Pelagia keeps getting job offers and I’m still translating and trying to read for my dissertation. That’ll be pretty much it until we leave for Serbia in about two weeks.