Winter was luckily not a cold one, mind you now that we have a fixed mooring and access to electricity we bought a swanky Dyson, which we use to heat the back side of the boat. That makes a huge difference.

Maybe this was the last Dyson product we bought? Not just because of the price. Mr Dyson is a Brexit supporter. And speaks to the hearts of the Brexiteers. We really, honestly wonder, how many of the Brexit supports can afford a Dyson product?

Back to nature. It was wet of course but we weren’t hindered by the weather to go out for walks, our wellies made it possible to walk the wet land. As always, nature as a means of therapy.

Tree hugging was still going strong. But how can you resist this?

As February approached it became clear that it was time for Natascha to pack her stuff and leave the UK. Time was up after almost 15 years.

Work turned out to be a heart ache and Natascha handed in her notice. The idea is to spend the summer and autumn with Adnan in the UK and then towards the End of 2017 to move back to Switzerland. It wasn’t an easy time and such decisions are never made lightly but for her something had to change. Switzerland has its perks too, and is not part of the EU, but for now the most sensible option seemed to go back home.

The whole Brexit madness only contributed to her decision, why staying in a post Brexit Britain, a country having severed its ties to the rest of Europe? And a UK which could quite possibly align with Trump’s nightmarish ‘make America great again’ vision? It was time to make a Brexit exit. Really dark days during the dark winter time.

This photo is quite fitting of the feel at that moment, a tree without leaves, unprotected and exposed in the dark, hoping for brighter days to come soon.

Of course the spring sun came back out, the moss is reaching up to catch the rays. March is here.

We have a trip planned to Japan in April and we were ready to go, three weeks away from all the complexities of the day-to-day existence. And explore a new culture, to visit friends in Tokyo and then some time on our own with a Japan Railway pass in tow. Kyoto, Koya-San and a visit to an onsen, then Osaka was on our agenda.