29. Finishing the paper

Stella opened the door.

‘I think we can finish the first pass through the paper today’

‘So that’s the plan?’

Way back when we started, there was paper all over the house. Some of it was un-opened post, most of it was in tipping piles. The first step had been just to tidy the piles, square up the corners but to leave them where they were so that if Stella knew something to be in one pile or another she could still find it. 

The next step was to put the piles into individual boxes, leaving the boxes where the piles had been. Then, eventually we moved the boxes onto the landing. With all the unsorted paper in one place, it was easier to go through it bit by bit. We filed the paper to be kept in some small drawers. The next stage would be editing the contents of those drawers. Whenever there was some leftover time in a session, we’d do paper. The stack of boxes had been getting smaller and smaller.

Final two boxes of landing paper done!

‘I knew we’d finish the boxes, so I bought some cakes for our coffee break to celebrate.’

There was even time to carry on with the books, refining the piles and doing more alphabetizing. We went an extra half hour, Stella’s stamina is increasing.