New sofa and shopping spree

My life is just full of new things. There's the new job, of course, which I'm enjoying very much and which is really turning out just as I would have wished it to be, even if the first week stress gave me a nasty headache on Friday. It's a challenge and I'm sure there will be times that I won't be loving it, but so far it all seems very manageable and I'm looking forward to a very good time at this school.


On Friday, our much-anticipated sofabed arrived, and Alan spent the morning putting it together, so that I could take a nap on it when I got home. It's so nice to have a sofa at last; it makes the flat seem so much more comfortable and homely. That's me relaxing on it in the picture at the top of this post, wearing my new, very cheap trousers which I picked up in a little shopping spree on Saturday. Other purchases included the novel Atonement, which I want to read before seeing the new film (but as it's almost 400 pages long, it may take a while!), some smart black trousers and a few bargains. The fair trade shop, one of my favourite haunts, had a sale on. I picked up this skirt for a mere five pounds:


Very nice, isn't it? I was also very taken with this shirt, which I had my eye on back when it was full price:


It'll be good for work, and the material is lovely:



And it's all fair trade, yay! Two lovely items for only ten pounds. I was quite chuffed. On our way home, we swung by a cool second-hand clothing shop, where I encountered this crazy jacket, which Alan persuaded me to buy:


It's pretty cool, I think! It's got a funny beady pocket as well:


Now I need a long purple skirt to go with this, and ideally some of those high-collared Victorian blouses I've spotted in the new People Tree collection, another firm favourite of mine. At least I've got some spiffy clothes to keep me going for a little while.

I'm still working hard on the chest of drawers, which is now almost ready for assemblage. The quilt is gathering dust at the moment, because I need a lot of time for preparation! I will get back to it when life is a bit more organised. Slowly but surely, the flat is coming together.


I just want to point out that the wall-hanging wasn't my idea! I don't mind it, but I wish it was a little less brown (although Alan claims it's orange). Oh well, at least I am in charge of making a tablecloth for our cluttered little coffee table.