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I have never been this long without Steve since we are married. It seems strange but I do get used to it, I get into a routine for myself and for Oscar and it works. But it’s hard work to be the one always responsible. So I am definitely looking forward for Steve to come […]

Well, the “milling” part of our milling trip is now officially over as our second large chainsaw is now refusing to work. It started yesterday when my only reward for laboring constantly at the pull cord was a resounding backfire, which at least was entertaining for the spectators involved. All is not lost though! We […]

I nearly died today, or at least mangled a limb, but I didn’t get a single scratch, which is pretty neat! So you recall that gravy train tree I was talking about in our last post? The gravy train tree even looks like a train Well the bottom of it (which is lying on the […]

Today was fun! I had no idea it would be fun, but the fun came anyway! Normally, the people like to rest on Sunday, fine by me. But today when I woke up I was surprised to see the place was packed. Folks from every village were here, and not just the dudes, whole families. […]

Well, we’re off again into the wild blue yonder and looking forward to what this next trip has for us. Today has been a little quiet as the rain rolled in early in the afternoon and we’ve retreated to our tent house. Still though, we were able to get our house in order and our […]

This is our last night for this milling trip, the chopper should be coming to pick us up tomorrow morning. I would say that this trip has been mostly successful as there have been some setbacks. The pile of wood we have is modest, but it includes the most difficult pieces of wood to cut. […]

Milling posts. That has been the focus for the past few days and today just might be our last day of it! The prospect of being finished with house posts is especially pleasing since the sort of tree the posts are made out of are a little bit nasty! What makes them annoying is the […]

We’re only a few days into this first milling trip and already a problem is beginning to emerge: They feed us. Way. Too. Much! Yesterday is a fine example. I was hoping to start the day with a roasted tuber of some sort which I could munch on the way to the worksite. That’s not […]

Well our milling trip is finally under way, a few days late but no big deal. We were a little concerned about some rumors we had heard that the Kovol people were upset, but their enthusiasm dispelled these fears pretty quickly! Steve and Josh, the tech specialist, were the first in while my dad and […]

This last weekend we got the chance to see a little more of PNG. Some friends of ours had some time sensitive work to do in Lae, but when they couldn’t make it they asked us if we would be able to go. We found ourselves with a free weekend, so we jumped at the […]