Our First Chainsaw Accident

During the routine task of cutting firewood for a Beach BBQ, we encounter our first official chainsaw disaster.

Konswan had her index and middle fingers cut to the bone in a split second when the chainsaw jumped out of control and landed on her hand.



Luckily Magnus, Merlin and Konswan were all working together very near to the Jeep when the accident occured. Within 5 minutes she was in the hospital.



The local hospital phoned a specialist on the larger island of San Miguel and a military trasport plane was dispatched to fetch her.

Once on San Miguel a plastic surgeon arrived within minutes of arrival and sewed her back together.

The tendon of the middle finger was severed and the knuckle joint destroyed. The quick action of all those involved managed to save her fingers without serious long term damage.

Spring Chickens

New technology is great. These little machines till the soil, eat insects and weeds, and return manure to the soil. After three weeks in this garden, the soil will be perfect for planting tomatoes.

After three years of experimenting with goats, sheep, ducks, turkeys and chickens...we have discovered that chickens are the best meat source for our lifestyle.


This year we ordered 40 chicks that are bred to grow fast and stay stupid! Ideal for our fruit farm we hope.

Our egg laying hens are doing excellent, and reproducing regularly.

Konswan built a new chicken pen to replace the one destroyed by a stray Acacia tree last year.



The new pen is large enough to allow the chickens to free range, but keeps them out of our veggies.

Hardwood Disks

We finally have the correct tools for the job...now we can begin getting this giant 12 ton tree out of our bathroom!



We are thinking of creative uses for the hundreds of disks we are making. Each one ways about 100 kgs or 220 pounds. This is seriously dense lumber!

Tree Adventures of the Past Three Years

We learned quickly which species of trees were prone to blowing over. The Acacia trees are subject to root rot and fall without warning. Not good for the chicken coop.

We had cut all but 2 small Acacias, when they blew over onto another larger Cryptomeria and Eucalyptus, causing a domino effect. Not good for the garden.

With strong winds fore casted, we decided to cut down a heavily leaning Eucalyptus behind our house. The steel cable we used to control the falling direction snapped and 5 tons of wood came crashing down on our bathroom slab. Not good for the bathroom.

Realizing we did not have the experience or tools to cut trees safely, we hired two men to help. Somehow in the translations, (one spoke German and Portuguese, the second German and a little English, and we spoke English and a little Portuguese) the idea to keep the trees out of the garden got mixed up and two Eucalyptus were dropped on top of our cold frames and garden.

So now, we have bought the equipment we need to do the job ourselves. We are reading books and articles to learn proper techniques, and have been practicing on trees away from our house. Hopefully this next year will be without disaster.