Amazing! After only nine months, I have managed to find the desk lurking underneath the papers in my study. Having misplaced some paperwork required for our upcoming wedding, I spent most of Saturday going through all of the papers in my study methodically. In the end, I found the papers exactly where they should be (filed away in the appropriate box file), but only after I had done most of the cleaning. In addition to a desk, I’ve also discovered that I have a carpet.

The net result is a tidy study, two bags of rubbish and six bags of recycling.

For the first time since I’ve moved into the house, I can finally see the surface of my desk and the carpet underfoot!

And here’s why it has taken so long — literally bags upon bags of old files and paperwork, some dating back to when I first moved over to the UK…

I’m convinced that my cleaner is going to come in on Thursday and call the police. She’ll think that burglers have been through the study and stolen everything.