It was an emotional journey not least also because the sun came out and it was glorious cruising weather. The cruise was easy, no more locks and a prime canal section. We ended our boater life on a top note.

That was it on 2 July 2017 ‘living on the cut’ ended for us.

It was a lovely, often demanding time. We had happy moments, sad ones too. Challenges abound, how will we look back on those in a few years time?

Because now, a new chapter is ahead of us. A new country, culture and climate. And definitely more living space.

But one thing we know, there will be times we will miss Quintessence, she was a hidden queen.

There was a comforting thought, at least she’s in good hands with Braunston Marina.

And we wish the new owner best of luck.

Adnan dismantled the three projects ‘boattr’, ‘mazizone’, and ‘7067 – It’s not a Test’:

On the way to Flecknoe, a dead bush invaded by spiders.

Just after Calcutt Locks, which where the last locks we worked (for the rest of our lives?) we reached Napton Junction where we had to turn into Oxford Canal in direction of Braunston. We wanted to make a pit stop and once again the cat escaped into the bushes. So, we had to wait.

Which also meant time to catch up on emails…

But once the escapist was back we continued towards Flecknoe, our destination for the day, where Adnan was so exhausted he immediately fell asleep once we found our mooring spot.

It was still raining, it’s British summer after all, but rain drops look good on a perfectly painted boat.

Even the antennae looks good, the solar panels got a good wash…

And Behemoth, aka Sava, in her element.

We will have two days to pack most of our stuff and to stack up the card board boxes will be quite a challenge in that small space.

Waking up this morning, having breakfast and reading the news paper, a mixture of disbelief and shock overcame us.

Grenfell Tower in London was burning.

We haven’t heard of this tower block before but seeing the photos, reading reports and watching the BBC it became clear, a disaster has unfolded last night which will tarnish social housing in Britain for a long time.

Dozens of people burned alive in the 21st century, in a city like London, in the wealthiest borough of that city. Emblematic of what is so wrong with the housing situation in this country. Maybe not just the housing situation, but with the all pervading British class system, which still prevails.

RIP dear people whom we have never known, who died so so tragically.

The weather was picture perfect and we decided to go cruising again. After months of staying put, it was time to move Quintessence. We wanted to make the most of it since there was a change appearing on the horizon.

Adnan applied for a lecturing post abroad. And was offered an academic position.

The country? Malta. Malta? We both have never been there, we knew the geographical location and that was about it. So we decided to fly out mid June to have at least an idea about this tiny island nation on the fringes of southern Europe. Natascha had to see with her own eyes what this place was like and didn’t want to rely on Adnan’s usually rather overly excited telling (Coventry mooring comes to mind).

Natascha still had Switzerland as the next destination in mind and wasn’t exactly thrilled about this news. Once more, long discussion, we had to find a solution. Best then to go out to the country side and combine those with long walks. And tree watching. If Malta becomes a reality, surely there will be not so many trees?!

View ahead.

Turning around, el capitano.

Change on the horizon. Good bye UK?

Evening bliss, our bedroom window.

Divine nature, divine light

Eternal Shiva.

The canal water was full of algae and with the boater season starting, the turbines are acting as some kind of mixer, the water turned bright green, luvly.

Then on one of the journeys back to Kingswood the engine almost stopped working. Pffft, pffft, pffft – puff, puff. Hardly any speed we just about managed to get back. Really now? What could be wrong?

We called Ian from Knowle Wharf and when he came around the engine was running smooth, not a single sign of Pffft, pffft, pffft – puff, puff. But then next time we went out again, towards Knowle Wharf the problem started all over again.

Ian came and hopped on the boat and his conclusion was: Alternator needs replacing, now. How much is that going to cost? Roughly £300 it was in the end. And there it is:

It’s been an eventful time, May is here already and change is in the air. That’s usually the case when spring arrives but there is more to it. We are back from our Japan trip and things on Natascha’s side are as much up side down as this tree.

Japan was amazing, but had it’s problems. Natascha didn’t return perfectly rested and healthy. It’s related to her work, she ended the working in London abruptly upon returning from the trip.

Yes, Japan, the land of the raising sun, Mount Fuji and…

… Trump crackers.

Even the colour scheme of the packaging and the cracker itself is fitting. Different shades of orange. We wondered whether they relate to Trump? We didn’t like them, not our taste at all, same like the other name bearer.

Everything is in flux all the time. There were changes in Kingswood Basin too, when we came back Simon, our neighbor, moved on the other side of the pontoon. All of a sudden we had lots of light inside the boat, that was a great improvement.

Light falls on messy shelf unit.

A tender moment. White feather on blackened steel – pictorial poetry on a barge.

We only hope, she wasn’t the reason the feathers were on the boat… that feisty little one, sometimes.

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.