A Year Without

Over a year ago we discovered a water leak in our between-floors attic space.  We brought tons of accumulated possessions down and started to sort through them all, chucking huge amounts out.  However, tons still remained to be examined, often personal papers sheet by sheet, and the months of having our front room out of action with boxes piled almost to the roof and no light coming in, dragged on and on.  Today, I took the bull by the horns and started the final purge, with Dd joining in no uncertain manner both to accelerate the chuck out and to protect cherished possessions.  We now have a stack of boxes in the hall ready to go up again and a front room that is nearly usable again, at least, the windows are open, the floors hoovered and the chairs wiped . . . the shelves still need thorough attention but we are getting there.  It was like taking dust sheets off and opening the shutters in a long-abandoned room!