I miss...

Hi all - Daisy contacted me on Facebucket suggesting I say might 'hello'. It's incredibly kind of you all to ask after me. I might try and visit here more often this year. Mind you, last year was one of those privotal times when everything flips over. My job went south due to 'organisational restructuring'. A few people got the boot, and after 14 and a half years I was pretty angry to say the least. I kind of saw it coming, but hung on for redundancy. Moving on is hard, but I'm not a bitter man.

A few months later I found a similar job here in Birmingham, so now I'm in Digbeth working (would you believe it) directly behind the oldest pub in the city. How old? It dates from 1368, founded at the same time as the Ming Dynasty. Ironically, I rarely drink there. Brum has a fascinating history, but it takes a long time to figure it all out.

On the plus side I've ramped up my musical exploits, and I regularly take part in my local pub's folk night, bang in the city centre. I'm trying to branch out to a few other venues, though I only play for free with a few friends. I don't write so much poetry these days, but a female friend suggested I should try that again. She's very talented herself. I mean, she's actually brilliant. I own a few decent guitars which I bought when I was better off.

I've been spreading my wings a bit more too: last year I went to Manchester a few times after a friend moved there to get married. I went to a couple of weddings, and though things are shakey sometimes due to elderly parent, precarious living and working conditions, etc., it's no worse than most peoples' experiences in today's Britain. I mean, things are pretty strange at the moment. Another trip to the North West is on the cards this year, combined with a bit of hill walking.

I got into genealogy last year because I didn't know much about my dad's family tree (I was desperate to know), and I found photos of my great, great grandparents floating around on ancestry.com - it was quite a ride! I mean, I knew I was descended from a lot of North Western farmers, domestic staff and rural poor, but I found links to Staffordshire, Shropshire and even London. The biggy (and I can hardly believe it myself) is that I seem to be directly descended from Anne Boleyn's sister, Mary. And from a map maker who hated Shakespeare. I dined out on this for a while until it became clear that it's incredibly common. Thousands of Brits are descended from that lot. I'm also a bit Scottish, but I think they were Border Reivers. Lock up your sheep.

Speaking tangentially of which, it's nearly St Patrick's Day, and Digbeth is about to host one of the world's biggest St Paddy's Day Parades. I don't usually go because it can get a bit riotous, but this year I just might.

All the best, your friend John

Sounds good to me.