August began with the most awesome purchase of a really great bookcase. I can't get enough excited adjectives in there, it really was just the best thing ever. Such a great day. It was the 2nd of August and I was a bit bored and checking my email in the evening. Then there was an email saying one of the bookcases I was watching on Trademe had a buy-now added. A buy now of $150 for a rimu bookcase, 2 metres tall and 1.3 metres wide, in great condition. That is such an amazing deal. I bought it and then emailed them immediately because I wanted it right away. We got to pick it up two days later, on Sunday morning. It's huge! And so great. Maybe they are moving house and want to get rid of stuff because when Nathan collected it they said 'do you want this mirror' and so next thing you know we have a new mirror too! It's a full length mirror, solid wood frame and backing, really good quality. I was in need of a good mirror.
I also got new gumboots at the start of August. It sounds boring but it was actually great - I got a refund for the cute ones I bought online that turned out to be rubbish and it was enough to get the good gumboots that I wanted, because they were on sale! They arrived super fast and then I didn't have to suffer through wet feet on any more dog walks. And I have a new coat - I made it. I started it last year and got discouraged so I put it away in the closet. I finally pulled it out when the weather got really cold and now it is finished. Of course, it's not cold enough for a wool coat now but I wore it into work once, and everything asked where I got it (it's amazing and purple you see). Now it will be waiting for next winter. Finally since we're talking about wardrobes, I also feel like I have new boots because I bought these great green leather boots in Amsterdam last year, but then I put them in the closet and didn't wear them. After looking at a shoe sale and nearly buying new boots, I decided to save money by wearing the ones that I already have. And they are great.
The biggest event in August was the book fair. After buying a great bookcase we had lots of space for new books. We got up really early (well normal time but it was Saturday), walked Cher and headed into the city to get in line. I got puzzles and books, he got cds (for the car) and books. I would have stayed longer but it's probably better that I got pulled away. We spent $100. And it was still early! So off to the market for fruit and vegetables - unfortunately the rain didn't hold off and we got soaked. So we went for brunch and read new books while we were there. It was nice, we don't go out often any more. Then when we got home and I arranged all the books in our bookcase.
At work our team had to put on a morning tea for our directorate - we take turns to do a themed morning tea. It's a little competitive. Our team in the past has done high tea, international soils day, and the most epic May 4th Star Wars morning tea. This time we wanted to have a science theme so we made it 'Science Fair'. It was a bit stressful to be honest, as I am the organiser and everyone was pretty busy and there was not much time for everyone to get into it. It went well, people were impressed and they really liked the food. One of the top hits was my colleague's sourdough, and she gave out starter for people to try making their own sourdough bread.Mum came to visit for a night, it was only the second time she has been to our house and a lot has changed since then. I took her to the fabric store (they had a big sale) and I got lining for my next sewing projects, we went to Spotlight for patterns on sale (yay new dress patterns), we went to the new little art gallery that is right here in Wainui (and of course mum talked to the artists for ages) and then we went over to the little boutique 'eco' dress shop, where the lady makes clothes out of old clothes (Mum talked to her for ages too). In the evening we went to an event, it was why I invited Mum up. A friend invited me because she didn't want to go on her own. There is this thing called Sew Social and they put on events for people who sew. This was a cocktail event, it was quite cool to see what a lot of people have made. But it was also very loud, there were a lot of people in a small space. I won a prize, so now I have $50 to spend at a local fabric store. So it was well worth going to the event, I got some nice drinks, the food was decent (though not enough dessert so we had to get ice cream after), and I got 2/3 of my ticket price back in the form of a fabric store voucher.
All in all it's been a busy month. Now it is spring and time to start getting our veggie garden. Nathan made me a little greenhouse out of our old BBQ.
