If It's Spring, It's Time to Nest

The new furniture we ordered here in Buenos Aires finally arrived and the apartment is looking more and more like a home than a work in progress. The mattress is now up off the floor (for which we give thanks) and storage units (bookcase, buffet, bedside table) are filled. The dining table required special handling, a need that only became apparent after the delivery crew had twice lugged it up the stairs, trying two different orientations without success. Elevators in these old building are generally too small for large items; sometimes other eccentricities also prevent delivery. In our case, the stairwell curve to the landing on the third floor (where we live) is 5 centimeters narrower than on the previous floors. That's all it takes.

Fortunately, there's always air delivery. A special crew was dispatched to haul the piece in through the balcony off the dining room. Piece of cake, they said, before heading off for the next job: an air delivery up to the 31st floor of a downtown highrise. 

The balcony, having served a functional purpose, has been returned to its decorative uses. Just today we made urban gardens of it and its companion off the living room, each with four hanging planters filled with flowers. "Alegria" is their name in Spanish (or Castellano, as the Argentines say) - "joy" in English. A nice name.