West Highland Way

A few pics and a wee video from our mini adventure:

We set off from just outside Glasgow

My 2 brothers David and Jim

After a steady days walking we hit Conic Hill on the way to Balmaha

Coming down the other side was pretty rough in the rain however we managed it

Loch Lomond side was tough but lovely

Ever onwards

Rannoch Moor

Buachaille Etive Mor

The Kingshouse Hotel

Through the hills to Kinlochleven

Leaving Kinlochleven 

Almost finished, Ben Nevis in the background

All finished in the town centre 

Tacloban Relief Goods

Hello, It's been a while, a good long while as my last post was way back on 20th January. I'm sorry as this again is not a hobby related post but hopefully I will get back to hobby stuff soon. If you have been following my blog you will know how the typhoon in the Philippines November last year effected our family and friends. So Mai and I have been spending our time working extra shifts and mostly gathering donations on our free time.

  

In total we have packed 6 boxes to be sent to Tacloban for our family and their local community and I would like to thank everyone who helped out in some way! Tunnocks of Uddingston, Lees of Coatbridge, Asda New Mains, St.Vincent De Paul Lanark, St. Margarets Hospice Carluke, Deans shortbread, Margaret and Bill plus the congregation of St. John's Church Carluke, Seewoo Chinese cash and carry, Jamie and the guys at Lanark job centre, Sana and his brother of The Raj in Carluke, Welsh Pharmacy New Mains, Jim Smith plus family my family as always and all the guys who contributed from Mai's work, Marizon, Ceasar and family plus farm foods Wishaw, you are all amazing!!! You all helped a great deal with essential goods. Also Jamie, Stuart and Cameron at the club donated their toys for the kids. My bro David and my Mum were brilliant when the typhoon 1st hit and helped us keep everyone with at least some food through the hellish 1st weeks and month.

Everyone thank you so much!!!

These were the 1st 3 boxes to depart on 9th Feb. Everything was broken down into manageable portions to fit every available space. To send over goods would not be a wise option normally as the postage for 3 is £130 and to fill them would take around £500-£600 however with all the help and prices being sky high for the basics it has been very worthwhile.

  

It is amazing the amount you can squeeze into the boxes. Almost all this lot went into 3 boxes as well as clothes to fill every gap. So 6 boxes away in total and we will be sending 3 more filled with goods mostly for the families down by the shore line who lost everything, mostly kids clothes, beddings etc. I'll post pics of the guys receiving the boxes soon. 

This was a wee idea of my own helped by the guys from the club to give our tribe of nephews toys to play with, probably not the best use of space in boxes so I will take them over myself next year and teach them how to play.

I had been picking up odds and ends for a good while that I planned to paint for them as the boys had all shown interest in the blogs. Just need some dice and measuring tapes now. Jamie very kindly donated some old codex.

The Skeletons were fun to paint as were the space orcs.

A good wee force that fits nicely into the blue box show in 1 of the pics and light as a feather.

  

Anyways guys thanks to everyone who offered support over the past few months, I really appreciate it. These are as you can imagine still tough times for the guys who are still in Tacloban but there are little signs of improvements. Communications are poor as the phone lines are still down but they are working hard to get the power up and running again.

So hopefully I'll be back doing Naps related posts soon guys. I have a long running project with Craig and also a wee project with Ken I need to get back on track (sorry gents!). I have a few more crazy shifts then I can get my head together. I noticed I dropped a few followers recently, all I can say is I'm sorry for the delay in posts but there were far more important things going on in our lives.

Best regards
Paul

Painting for the Philippines

Hello, If you regularly follow my blog you will know that my wife's family lives in Tacloban City, Leyte and was caught up in the typhoon Haiyan (Yollanda) that hit the Philippines in November last year. Things, as you can image are still tough for our family and there is still a long road ahead. We have started to help our family to rebuild etc and have a few things on the go to help that I'll post as they come together.

I've been thinking for a while about painting some Naps to sell to help raise cash for the rebuild and a few nights back began some Fantasssin and Old Glory command bases to test the water with a look towards doing AB commands and possibly other stuff if there was an interest, I'm basically trying to balance out if it's worthwhile or am I better just doing extra overtime shifts at work as Im doing at the moment? 

Anyways I'm havering, the real reason of my post . . .

Recently, I received a really nice email from Kurt over at Express Miniatures. As it turns out Kurt through past employment has had the chance to visit the Philippines on various occasions and was obviously concerned by the disaster that hit last year. Kurt has offered to purchase and paint up either a 36 man battalion (or 32 if you prefer Prussians/Russians/Saxons etc) or a 12 figure cavalry squadron of AB figures out of his own pocket and send them over to myself to either auction on ebay or sell here. The figures would be unbased so whoever buys them can base them in their own style or if you would like me to base them for you for a small additional fee I would be happy to. The proceeds would go to my family and their community in the Philippines to help out.

Just to let you know Kurt asked that this could be an anonymous donation but I feel it only right that he should get the credit for his work!!! 

The problem we have is what nation and what unit to paint. To offer the unit in an auction on ebay (losing money to ebay) or would someone want to jump in and order the commission for themselves? also what would be a fair price for a newly painted AB battalion? We have thought a price of around £90 as a fair price as the AB figures will be purchased by Kurt (what do you guys think?) postage would be at cost and if you want basing done by myself we can work out a price. I am opening this up to you guys for your views and if anyone would like to make an offer feel free. You can either leave a message here or email myself through my profile. Again the money will be going straight to the Philippines, no profit by Kurt or myself.

Tacloban Typhoon 5

Hi guys,
This is the progress so far.

We got a call from Mai's sister for around 20 mins, (globe mobile)  Some of the family managed to do a 2 day trip (7 hour trip usually) to an area in samar that was less effected but still had black out etc. However they had a bank and places to buy food, huge waiting lines. They can only take 20,000ph pesos a day but was enough to buy 2 weeks for the family and neighbours. The local boys (who remain) have bonded well and any intruders to the neighbourhood are questioned. Any family hearing anything starts banging metal  on metal and the boys come running.

we also had a little delivery of goods from the convoy. Mai's choir friend Richie and his group travelled days to get there from Manila. Relief goods are still to get to them!!!

The plan is to get the women and children to the place where they bought the food as Jnette sourced a pension at a reasonable price. She said its like tacloban before yollanda. It's just to let them get their heads together. And once they are safe the boys are going to  volunteer their services in the clean up. They have no plans to leave. Their great grandfather was the 1st post war mayor.

We are taking it a day at a time. There is going to be a lot of hard times ahead. The kids now know that a lot of their school friends are gone. little Mary now 14 has lost her closest friend. They were always together, I always seen them jabbering together.

Our farm building survived the typhoon as it was newly built and of concrete. The roof blew off and was a little flooded but as it is 2 stores it didn't matter.

The 5 families who live in little huts on the farm were in the farm building on the night of yollanda so they are safe and obviously they can stay there until their homes are repaired and it is safe to do so.

it was posted 2 days ago that 90,000 have left
the city so who knows how many remain?

I think that's me for now. I think ill try and finish my landwegr cavalry to get my head together. The last 2 days has been a little calmer but want to hear the women and kids are safe away first. It sounds pretty clean cut but many of our family like the rest of the city face a pretty bleak future at the moment. We will try our best but there are 5 family homes gone and it was hard to make a living before the typhoon. We all know how corrupt the Philippines is and the political positioning  has started already. The boys will be straight and honest and will help where ever they can.

Thanks
Paul

Tacloban Typhoon 4

Guys,
you are amazing!!!

I'll try to put my words down right but to be honest all the support you have shown my wife and I, and the people of the Philippines has been overwhelming!!! I'm going to blubber like a big wean a wee bit and that doesn't look good on a 16 stone ex-rugby player.

anyway, I have received almost 200 emails, countless txts and calls from friends around the world who share figure painting, wargaming and modelling as or hobbies. I really don't know how to tell you how much this has meant to Mai and me.  i thank you so much.

The donations you guys have made will make a huge difference. I hope the guys that offered money to us direct do not feel offended that I didn't accept. I just felt the whole community of the Visayas would need it more at the moment as so many have lost everything. Their jobs, homes but most importantly their families.

Our family for the moment are hanging in there and I and my brothers, parents and Mai 's sister have that covered. We just hope the military will get to them soon as there have been a lot of bastards trying to get in at them at night (they think escaped/Freed prisoners?). During the day is fine but at night things become dangerous. The neighbours have banded together along with a local police officer to protect their families.

They are 20+ in a 1 storey spanish style house. The boys have patched the roof with anything they could find and supported the damaged wall with old tyres (Filipino ingenuity) .

We managed to get food through to them from manila but its running low and the kids are exhausted  and traumatized by what they have seen . we have  another convoy of family and friends coming down from manila. With enough supplies for a week  and should make it down tomorrow.

it was unbelievable to see the US and international troops and ships arrive in tacloban and hopefully they will advance into the city, when we explained to the guys the level of response from the world the could not take it in. They had no idea the whole city was down. The guys know that their houses are gone but they have still to learn that their places of work are washed away.

 The roads up to V&G are blocked by over turned houses, trees etc and the guys felt  cut off from the world. Globe mobile we love you. If not for you bad mistakes could have been made.

 it's a long way still to go however now that boots are on the ground hope has returned . Again I cannot thank you enough for all your support!!!

Also I'm sorry if I havent gotten back to everyone I have been a bit tied with the situation. up all night and day encase of a call. And our living room is like a military command centre with numbers and scribled options.

Our very Best
Paul and Mylene Provan

Typhoon Appeal

Guys,
Some of you have emailed and also left comments on how to send help to the people of the Philippines who have been hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). As you know our own family are in Tacloban. we have limited 2-3 minute contact with Mai's sister Jeanette each night as well as news from friends in the same situation as ourselves through Facebook, twitter etc. The only news channel we have seen that told the situation as it is on the ground is Channel 4 news. There are not enough planes getting in and there simply isn't the manpower on the ground.

I can tell you
that the aid is just simply not getting through yet!!!

The airport is to small for the level of support needed and more organisation plus boots on the ground are needed. Our hope for our family to get out has fell through for the moment and the food/water the neighbourhood is sharing is almost gone. There are so many people out in the weather with nothing but the clothes they had on their backs when the Typhoon hit. The kids are so disturbed I just cannot explain. There is such a smell of death all round.

We have hope that the US/UK ships and aircraft will be there soon and will be able to distribute the back log of aid that is sitting in Manila and Cebu, however they are not due to arrive till Friday!!! There is another storm headed over. It may actually provide mouthfuls of water for the victims.

I cannot stress how hard this has hit my family, friends and all the people from the affected areas of the Philippines. I'll try to explain: Although from what we can tell Mai's direct family survived the initial Typhoon, News continues to filter through of school and church friends and people Mai grew up with who did not make it or are on the missing list. Some of the family members of Mai's inlaws are also lost or missing. This is a disaster of biblical proportions for the people of the Visayas region of the Philippines. As well as the loss of loved ones the people of the region have watched their homes, places of work and town that they know and love be washed away.

If you can see it in your heart to make any donation however small to the below charity that we believe will orchestrate the none military relief effort please, please do (or to be honest any charity organisation you prefer/trust) The people who have survived are hanging on dearly to life at this time. We will be donating to this charity also and have sent over money to our families bank account encase they manage to make it out to one of the less effected areas and can access banks and shops, however at this moment that looks very, very unlikely. The air flights run only in daylight, the queue at the San Jose airport runs back into the town and today there was a stampede at the gates. They have stood for days now, politely asking for help. If you can picture the stream of napoleons army leaving Russia you will get the idea except the people on foot have nowhere to go.

When things are stabilised our family here in the UK will help our family and friend in the Philippines to rebuild their homes and lives but at the moment only the world organisations can save the living!!!

If you can spare some money please help:

https://mydonatetelethonsappeals.bt.com/donate/philippines/index.html?utma=101452446.298955745.1384217577.1384217577.1384217577.1&utmb=101452446.9.9.1384217795045&utmc=101452446&utmx=-&utmz=101452446.1384217577.1.1.utmcsr=t.co|utmccn=(referral

Thanks you for taking the time to read this, I am sorry to ask for your help.

Our very best
Paul and Mylene Provan

Typhoon Haiyan Tacloban

Hellish, Hellish, 2 evenings.

The super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) hit the philippine city Tacloban and the Visayas region where my wife is from late last night.

We somehow managed to get through to Mai's home phone around 11pm (7am their time) last night. The roof of their home had been torn off in areas and her family were huddled in a room that still had a roof. Everyone was terrified as you can imagine. All the phones are down now and it is an agonizing wait. My wife has family all over Tacloban city.

Mai is listening to the DZMM live feed at the moment and the 1st Herc has just landed at the airport in San Jose. The runway is intact but the area is devastated and they have started to find some poor souls who have not survived.

If any of you guys are religious could you please say a prayer for the family of my wife and the people of the Philippines.

thanks
Paul 

Down on the Farm

Around about this time last year my wife and i were getting ready to return from the Philippines. We had spent 3 weeks with her family and had a great time. The kids beat us up daily, so happy to see us after such a long time and it was sad to leave. While over in the Philippines we had a thought on buying a small plot of land with a view to building a wee house to maybe use as a holiday home and in time even consider building something a little more substantial for when we are old and grey.

  

Anyway it didn't really turn out exactly how I had planned! Alvin, the brother of my wife cares for plots of land for a good few people and we tasked him with keeping an eye out for a bargain over the next year or 2!! Anyway Alvin mentioned this cracking place going for a song and we ended up buying the land within a couple of weeks of returning home!!!

  

Only it turns out we bought a fecking farm not a small plot of land. Alvin really done us proud and we have let him make a living from the place while keeping it in good shape for us in the future. The place was a complete jungle and after all the guys hard work it is really beginning to show fruit.

  

It turned out there was already hardcore and founds set for a large rice mill so these were utilised to make the big structure you see in the pics.

  

We had walked the land before we went for it but afterwards it turned the boundaries were way beyond what we had estimated.

  

So the guys have been planting corn, water melon and we have planted hundreds of different smaller fruit trees as well as a banana grove (and of course coconut trees).

   

A mini melon.

  

A single banana tree left over from the clearing.

  

The kids getting ready for a little harvest celebration.
  

I don't think it was the kids drinking the red horses? No.1 strong beer of the Philippines.
  

Sorting out the corn.
  

This was Alvin's 1st harvest so it was a test to see what crops would grow best on the land. By the time of the corn harvest the melons had been picked and sold.
   

Nikki Noo helping out.
     

The glamorous Maritese, 1 of my sister in laws.
  

There have been some great things to come out of our little project. 1st Alvin is loving it and 2nd the kids are having a brilliant time.
  

And 3rd we discovered that on the land there were a few families living and when we put a well on the land they were able to get a constant source of water.
  

On the farm we also have some livestock, pigs, goats, chickens, a caribou.
  

And ducks! It is great to think we are leaving such happy memories in the minds of our nieces and nephews!!!

Nothing to do with wargaming or figure painting but I just wanted to share with you some of our adventures. There is another big area still to be cultivated in time.

Carlisle or Bust

At the turn of the month Mai and I managed a little weekend away with our family. David spotted a campsite (mostly wigwams) online last year and we were keen to try it out. Just before we left Mai and I picked up our new car a wee Suzuki Alto (my 1st new car).

 Mai fell in love instantly.

 Me with the shugs outside Carlisle castle (Ian left, me centre and young David right)

 David with his WW2 Japanese infantry hat (nae it's from regatta).

 Most of the Motley crew, Mina P, Jim P (my oldest bro), David P Jnr, David P Snr (David started all this modelling/wagaming/figure painting stuff off! sometimes I wonder if David hadn't painted wee figures from childhood would I have started at all? All I was interested in as a kid was playing football and it was only sitting around looking over his shoulder as he painted his 15mm French Minifigs that I took an interest in toy soldiers,) plus Ian and me.

 Mai having her 1st drink of the night (a big event as Mai is usually smashed after 2 glasses of wine!!! Seriously!!!!)

 I seem to have grown an extra chin lately.

It seems our camera is great at catching pictures at night nad especially flames.

 Me and the boys keeping the home fires burning.

 This is the luxury the girls had to sleep in.

 Us guys were in a large tent. I had a camp bed and I kept my mouth shut as it was excellent. the Davids had an air bed that seemed to go flat each night. Jim, well Jim is ex army of 22 years and can lay down just about anywhere and get a good nights sleep (he had our new airbed and when I vaulted over him around 7.30am to go for a shower he looked like a little baby deer all snuggled up ;-)

Philippines 1

Well sadly that's us back from the philippines and back to work, the 3 weeks disappeared fast but thankfully we got the chance to have some fun!

The last time I was over was 2006 and the kids are all growing up fast.

We planned to go later in the year but Jim and Mina (already married almost 2 years ago!) decided to have their church wedding in May and as best man I had to be there. Try making a full room of Filipinos laugh at your best man speech when you have a thick Scottish accent! (I'm sure everyone in the room had a strong grasp of English but I do not!!!)

And the picture that proves that not only am I younger and better looking than my wife,
I'm also a better dancer ;-)

The Santa Cruz de Mayo, A religious celebration held each night during the month of May for the children of each barangy (mini council area).

This is my goddaughter Angel, the last time I saw her she was a baby and now she speaks perfect English (favourite fraze "Smack Down"). The kids watch far to much wrestling!!!

Some boating fun down at Raphaels Farm (our new neighbour).

Marky challenged me to a sumo fight off (I kicked his ass!!)


We didn't have much rain but when it did rain WOW!!!
This is a world famous Jeepney.

We also made some new friends on our travels.
This is Colin and Delia (lovely people) with Jim, Mina, Mylene and myself.

Roger as I know you love cats this 1 is for you buddy, When we were sitting in the garden late at night enjoying our chilled beers little visitors would drop by from time to time.