The tide has turned and our furniture and bits (far too many) have been moved (efficiently and quickly) from Leisure Island to Thesen Island. For now, we straddle both islands as the staircase at the apartment isn’t finished and the rails around the patios still need to be painted and strung with their stainless steel wires.

Rain pouring. One part of the studio turned into a box room. Furniture, either into the apartment (up the staircase, or over the patio railings) or into the garage if we weren’t sure where it would fit in the apartment.

A bit of blood. A bunch of stiff muscles.

Power Van, a railway trip up the Outeniqua Mountain with Dad and Mary. Quaint, interesting and gentle. Fabulous views through the mountains as the line twists and turns through tunnels, cutting and across bridges. The flowering plants along the route, stunning. The picnic stop is too short and we should have planned to eat at the dinning car in the railway museum.

Amongst the general chaos of moving, we managed to finalise the sale of the painting of Ernest to a collector in Johannesburg. The first sale from the studio! The painting was also a winner of an Honourable Mention at the 2015 London International Creative Competition.

The first storms have roared through the apartment. Rattling windows, and finding weaknesses. A few issues to sort. Mostly with what we leave out on the patio, to be ravaged by sun and rain. For now, the wind has gone to rest, the sunset is brilliant, and the lights shine, creating pictures in the reflection of the lake.

Our lives defined, by the the sound of halliards knocking against the masts of the yachts moored in the deep water channel of the lagoon. Changing light in the water and grasses of the estuary. And, surprisingly, given that we have no garden, bird song.