Marc Provins

I've lost my voice recently. By this I don't me I'm hoarse and having to whisper, I mean I've not been able to write. As a consequence my blog has been neglected, stuck on pause for a few weeks. It's never happened before even when I've been incredibly busy and stressed I've still enjoyed making time to gather my thoughts and write an entry. Strangely it coincided with my all time page visits for this blog clicking past the 50,000 mark and one of my posts reaching 1000 visits on it's own. I know this is small fry compared to the big boys but I'm thrilled that my little endeavour has found an audience and I'm constantly heartened and encouraged by visitor's positive remarks.  Three pictures here taken in Nottinghamshire a few weeks ago. We stayed in a log cabin in Sherwood Forest right next to Edwinstowe, the village my mother in law was born in. She doesn't live there now but in the ex mining town of Hucknall, half an ho...

This weekend we were in Nottinghamshire to celebrate the 75th birthday of my partner's mum. The journey back to Manchester takes a couple of hours through spectacular Derbyshire valleys and woods, and there's nothing like an awesome view to give a bit of perspective on life. I was thinking about Joan's generation and the admirable qualities they have and the changes they have experienced over the duration of their lives. Things that must have seemed etched in stone as certainties evaporating over the decades. Like many women of her age, she is completely selfless, putting everyone before her. She is about as non-materialistic as it is possible to be, not lusting or craving 'things'. She was born just before the second world war, growing up as a child in a time of austerity, then thrown into a period of nearly full employment as an adult. The roles of men and women were very distinct and clearly defined, for better or worse. The world was in many ways muc...