We’ve been cleaning out a space upstairs in the next-door house, where our daughter lives. It was tidy at one time, but when we moved out we dumped a lot of stuff we couldn’t be bothered sorting out in there. Kate had been going through it and bringing over things for me to decide whether to chuck or keep.

Some have been treasurers, such as my father’s detailed account of his time in the army in World War 2. Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 26th Battalion. Sent to Greece in time for the retreat when the Germans invaded. Back to Egypt to fight in the relief of Tobruk and captured by the Germans in one of the big tank battles in that campaign. Three and a half years as a prisoner of war, first of the Italians and then the Germans when Italy capitulated.

More prosaically, we’ve been able to clean out some untidy shelves in our office where I had thrown junk I couldn’t be bothered sorting. They now hold books we’ve brought over from next door.