Michael Turner

Septugenerian retired from all sorts of things - and living in the south-east of England having just arrived back from France where Christine and I lived for twelve years.

We - we being Chris my wife of almost 50 years and me, had enough of the adventure - twelve years is quite a chunk of life as a vacation and we wanted to get back to our roots. Finally we managed to tempt someone to buy our French house - I think the people who bought it are very lucky; especially with the garden; we created a park from a muddy field that had no more than a fig tree and 2500 square metres of wild garlic and geraniums, We miss that although not the work that went with it - or the costs. Au moins, je peux bavarder un peu en français.

We went to France with three larges dogs and a cat and returned with four cats - Chris worked for a cat charity and bought home her work!

Family, three sons their wives and their nearly all grown up children are nearby.

Things have moved on a little since returning to the UK. I have returned to an old interest - genealogy and family history. It's something I have been doing for nearly 25 years. A course offered by the University of Strathclyde tempted me and I have just completed the post graduate certificate in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic studies. I also lead a local family history group and am a member of various professional bodies. My blog will lead you to my website

Oh and I also try to play piano and cycle for exercise - but not at the same time. That would be silly.