The Ants Go Marching!

That is the new theme song for me in my kitchen!  I always have company in the kitchen and when I leave it often comes under great occupation especially after breakfast when there is a peanut butter knife laying around. 
That has certainly been something to get used to here.  If you don't want ants you need to keep everything very clean and even then sometimes it does not work.  One time I did an experiement.  I figured if the ants where so gung ho on cleaning up my food why not let them help me!  On an evening where the kids had eaten outside on the table on the deck, the table did not get whiped.  I noticed the next morning but by then the ants were hard at it and had invited all of their neighboring relatives, so I decided I would let them go to it and see how long it would take them to clean the table of scrapes.  Guess what by the afternoon the table was spick and span!  Maybe I should work with them? 
Actually, what normally happens when I find a line of ants marching in and out of my sink, I take great pleasure in seeing how many I can flush down the drain!  Poor critters they are so industrious and I just don't fully appreciate their inthusiasm.
TUPPERWARE!  The one thing that has saved me from great frustration!  What a huge blessing the gifting of tupperware was to me before we left!!  Plastic wrap certainly does not cut it, unless you are looking for a higher protein muffin!!
Blessings from Antie Mel
(this time the spelling mistake was intended!)

Meet Blue!

Don't those boys look happy, they have a new critter! He is a New Guinea Blue Tongue Skink and the boys have been having a lot of fun learning all about him.  One of their national buddies found it while walking and while they didn't think much of it our boys were thrilled to bring him home, give him a name and raid my fridge to feed him.  They have discovered that he is an omnivor, which is a good thing, that means we do not need to catch live things to feed it unlike the snake we are looking after, RATS!  The boys can often be seen packing him around and have discovered he is a burrower so would be happy to climb into your shirt.  Kaleb made him a little pocket that he likes to climb into.  He is a pretty slow mover and is really mild tempered although Kaleb was feeding him mango this morning off his finger and the finger got in the way and got a few chomps!  And yes his tongue really is blue!

Blue decided that he really liked Carters belt loop and any time he is tucked under his shirt likes to climb through them.  I think we should call him loopy.  OK I think he is pretty cool to!

Blessings from Lizzard Land

Mel for theMarshes

My garden begins

  I know what it looks like, and Mom confirmed it for me, but no it is not a burial plot, this is my new garden.  It is tiny but it turns out its big enough.  I can not stay out to long because if the sun does not cook me the mosquitos will pack me off, but I am determined!  Since this photo was taken I have planted cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes,  and hot peppers.  It is very exciting.  The garden is shaped this way since we get so much rain, and some times in short periods of time, so this allows it to drain better and not get washed away. 

Don't you like my planters?  A half a coconut works pretty good as a planter. These are my seedlings!

This garden I was blessed to inherit, the pineapple garden.  We have been able enjoy one out of this garden. MMMMmmm good!  I do wish that we could share some of these with you back home.  We have decided that here in PNG a 'pine'apple a day keeps the Doctor away! 
Mel for the Marshes

The Cook House

Unlike our houses in Canada, national houses here are very different as you can imagine.  One of those differences is you have a separate house to cook in.  Since the cooking is all done over a fire they do not want this smoke in the place where they sleep.  Most buldings here are built up on stilts to allow for better air flow and to try to keep a few of the critters out but dispite this nationals have to rebuild their houses quite often.  The pictures below are of the boys helping a family demolish their old cook house so that they could build a new one.  The mom shared with me that it was very old, about 8 years old and was getting very unsafe. The boys had a blast helping to tear the house down!  It is always great to make friends while wrecking something.  Here the boys are with their buddy Judah and  his little sister Esther. 

Oh what a face of great concentration and power (or is that fear)

The Bush Boy!!

                                                 
                                             Happy Birthday Kaleb!!


                                                  

Can you believe that he is twelve!   That is right today we celebrated Kalebs twelve Birthday, actually not tecnically until tomorrow back home but since we gained a day coming he got to sneek it in early.  Today at church, when Pastor Jacob called Kaleb up to pray for him he also got the whole congregation to give twelve claps.  It sounded like a lot of years.  He keeps reminding me that there is only one more year until he is a teenager!! YIKES Kaleb is also quite happy with the Tok pisin language, as there is no `c`in the language, they always spell his name right!

 

                                            The beautiful sky on the eve of Kalebs birthday! 

Snakes!!

                                                            Here we have Dr Addy!

 

and here we have the snake!

This snake is minus a head and it is a good thing for us, not so good for the gentleman who was bit the night before.  It is a good thing that the hospital is here as the man was able to get here late that night and as a result his life was saved!  The snake shown here is a death adder.  It is not very big but it has a deadly bite! 

The morning  these pics were taken we were invited up to the hospital for a snake talk.  Dr Addy was able to educate us on, first of all how to avoid getting bitten, and what to do if such a thing should happen.  It was great for the boys to see the real snake and to hear about prevention.  Hopefilly that will deture them from going where they should not be. 

Dr Addy in the picture above was taking a piece of the snakes tail to send away to Port Morsbey for testing.  They are currently doing some research on the death adder, as how it effects its victims seems to be changing.  The death adder bites side effects have been presenting as if it were a different kind of snake but this time they had cold hard evidence that it was an adder!

Stay safe, Keep your eyes down and your chin up!

Mel for the Marshes

Star Light Star Bright

Good morning everyone!  Last night we were able to see the stars!  This is so exciting because usually it is raining as we climb into bed and we don't get to see them twinkling.  Last night I was especially touched as I looked out, I saw the constilation O'rien, which is one of the two that I would be able to pick out of the sky at home, the other being the big dipper.  That was pretty cool and very comforting to me, that while we are a world away we are still sleeping under the same big sky!!  Thank you for sharing your stars with us!  Isn't God Awsome!
It makes me think of little mice and a  song "Somewhere out there".  Try not to break out singing!              Mel for the Marshes

Jay at work

Hi everyone, just wanted to send a long a few pic to share some of the work that Jay has been involved in so far. hard to believe we have only been here in Rumginae three weeks today! Jay is helping to load a medivac patient into the ambulance to carry him to the hospital. This man was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got in front of an angry man. The result was a spear in his back. Thank the Lord when they went in to operate they found that it had missed all of the vital bits! Later when Jay and Rick (fellow pilot) were able to go check on him, he was sitting up and able to thank them!

The medivac patient strapped into the plane. Not the most comfortable way to fly but a little difficult to sit up

Sign speaks for it's self. This is Jay`s home base!

Oh look!! The mail man has arrived! It is always exciting when mail comes in. Just one of the little but important things that Jay brings back with him. One of the others is fresh veggies every week!

Thanks for sharing in our life!

Blessings to you all!

Mel for the Marshes

Hieghts & Bites

What do you think of that climb? I took this picture just off of our balcony. This boy was elected to go up the tree to chop down some kulau (green coconut provide a very refreshing drink on a hot day, it even has a bit of fizz) for all the boys to share. It was pretty amazing to see him shimmy up the tree with a bush knife in hand. No sweat!! Depending who you are.

Ok another guess what it is?? Yes we are far away from home but we are not on the moon! Our last mystery pic was taken in Australia at the beach. The little balls are sand balls that the crabs make while digging their holes!

Thank goodness this leaf bug was found dead and I am not sure if he would bite you but he is really impressive. We are however receiving a lot of mosquito bites!! What a pain and a terrible itch! Those of you at home can take comfort in the fact that mosquito season is over!

Good bye for now,

Mel for the Marshes

Home Sweet Home

This is the view off of the balcony on the back of the house. The river level rises and falls quite quickly depending on how much rain we recieve. Right now the river is quite low and the boys have been enjoying floating down the river in tire tubes with new found friends. Jay and I have also enjoyed a refreashing dip in the river after a hot day, it is definately a blessing to have the river so close in a climate like this (averaging 30 C in the shade)!!!

And here we have the Hilton, as it is affectionately called here at Rumginae Station! This is the house that we are living in and while it may not look to special for some it has quickly become home to us. I would say that it is both roomy and rustic! There are a few things we are in the process of learning as we settle into our new surroundings here, some of which are; how to stay ahead of the termits, figuring out which lights are on gererater and which are 12 volt, how often I need to wash curtains and bedding to stay ahead of the mold, and how often to fill the tank so the water doesn't run out in the middle of a shower (but it sure beats the bucket shower at Munduku)

Sights of Australia

Hi guys i just wanted to share a very few of the many things that we have experienced during our time here in Australia. The first was a very regular sighting. A very thoughtful and preoccupied Jay. As he spent many hours studying and getting prepared for his lessons each day. Here is the plane (type) that Jay will be flying in PNG, the GA8 Airvan. This is the plane that they have been practicing in. It is hot off of the press and is actually on its way to serve in PNG as well. However I am not sure which base will get it.

One of my favorite sights GREEN. Even though it is dry season here right now it is still very tropical and green. It is so neat to see all of the different kinds of vegetation and birds.

Here is the famous kookaburra. This picture we took while visiting a Rainforest habitat and unfortunately have only seen one other close to where we are staying, however we hear them quite often. It is an unmistakable call and one that will put a smile on your face when ever you hear it, kind of like a crazy laugh! We have also spent a lot of time listening to other bird calls and trying to figure out who is making them. There are so many and all sound so different to anything we would hear at home, like the one we call the cat bird because it sounds like a cat meowing.

This is Jays new buddy. He quite liked him and had him all worked up!

We had to do the Australian tourist thing and feed the Kangaroos. That was pretty cool. They would hop up and eat right out of our hand. There were a lot here of all different sizes, kangaroos and wallabies.

This is a picture of our breakfast with the birds! This is a lorekeet, who joined us for breakfast along with a couple of others. They just helped them selves to our juice and the food on our plates. Some of their favorites were kiwi, peanut butter, apple juice, and my tea. That was pretty fun. There was also a couple of pretty pushy cockatoos who were stealing bacon off of other peoples plates.

Alright this is our Guess what it is picture?? Take a guess and and let us know!

I like this pic. Is it sunk in or is it popping out? Pretty cool optical illusion isn't it!

The boys had a blast playing in the waves at the ocean. They would go out a ways and then ride the waves back in to the beach. I must say that this is the first ocean that I have swam in! It was actually warm enough.

That is all for now! I would have loved to put on more pictures but i did not want it to take to long to upload or down load.

We have enjoyed our stay in Australia but look forward to getting back to PNG to settle into a community there and start to form some relationships.

We will be leaving here Wednesday September 2nd.

Sending our blessings and Love

Mel for the Marshes

Its a whole new world!!

Sorry this blog is a little mixed up as I try to figure this thing out, it is not being very coopartive. These are a few pic from our last great adventure, explained in the note to follow The boys and I hanging out

parrot fish, the colors were amazing

Cann't say that it is the most flattering pose

This was Walley the water puppy

Hey everyone,

Sorry we are so long in getting this up and running. It has helped being somewhere with good Internet connection.

We are currently in Cairns Australia, completing an orientation coarse as well as Jay will be doing some advanced flight training, before we head back to PNG

We once again are pinching ourselves as we experience things that we never even dreamed of doing. While here in Cairns, an opportunity came up for us to get out onto the Great Barrier Reef at a reduced rate. We could not pass up that chance of a life time so away we went.

The day that we went was forcasted to be a bright blue beautiful day, however, just like in Canada often something is lost in translation and it turned out to be pretty over cast, spiting rain and quit windy. That was all fine except it made for a really rough 1 1/2hr ride out to the reef. I took some Travelcalm before leaving in anticipation and was able to hang in there with great focus on the horizon! It is a blessing that the boys seem to have stomachs of steel as they did very well, much better than a fair few others, who were hanging around out off the back of the boat.

We arrived out at the floating docking station, from which we would be snorkeling and diving from for the next 4-5 hrs, and I must admit I was a little sceptical. I was not feeling to hot, the wind was blowing and the ocean was pretty rough. From the surface you could not tell much of what had been promised and boasted. I was encouraged to get into the water, that it would help my stomach to settle, so after squeezing into a wet suit, with a little fear slipped into the water along with Jay. (This was my first time swimming in the ocean also my first time snorkeling) After a second of questioning weather or not I could trust the mask I stuck my face in the water and was absolutely in awe of what I saw! It was like a whole new world waiting under there. The water was just teaming with life of all shapes and sizes. The boys at this point had opted to go into a little pend off area for kids, and I thought that would be okay,especially since I was not sure if I would sink or float at this point. However, upon discover that all of the National Geographic movies were for real, I needed to share that with the boys so we quickly went to collect them and take them out into the ocean. They were also thrilled! Carter kept trying to talk to me around his snorkel, which sounded a little some thing like mmmrrrlllpppfff!!!, but was translated at the delight in his eyes, to "look there is Nemo!!" What a great day it turned out to be despite getting out of the water a little later as my stomach was still threatening me. Jay was able to go out on a more extended tour to the edge of the reef where they said there are even more varieties of fish (hard to believe) and I was able to get back into Gods great aquarium after my stomach settled a bit! It is a definate recommed to everyone!

Many blessings and we will touch base again soon

Mel for the Marshes

The Arrival

We arrived 3 weeks ago today and are enjoying life here in Papua New Guinea thus far. Many new things to see and learn.