Thursday Sept 28th 06
Some entries have come in for my Quiz (see entry for a few days ago - just scroll back) ....all from America! Are there any British Catholics out there? C'mon, I need to hear from you. Otherwise all the prizes will go to American families with (judging from their pictures) rather delightful children bearing confident grins and magnificent teeth.........

While working here at home, one can watch the H. Father on TV, without owning a TV set. Try linking to television catholique. You can see all the events in Bavaria, all on your own screen. There is some glorious music as well as lots and LOTS of wonderful scenes with the Holy Father among vast crowds of happy and enthusiastic people...I have just been seeing great scenes from Munich with First Communicants in white dresses and with tiny wreaths of white flowers on their hair..... beautiful Masses, walkabouts in packed streets with cheering crowds, and all the ceremonies and speeches and greetings....

I am off to Willesden tonight to give a talk to a group of couples preparing for marriage. Will offer a prayer at the Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden (revived from the Middle Ages and worth a visit: tube station is Willesden Junction). The marriage group I am addressing is at the other church, at Willesden Green, but I'll allow myself time to visit the shrine first.

Some commentators to this Blog have asked me about my books. Look up my website - just tap Joanna Bogle into the Internet and see what you get - and you can order them from there. And yes, to answer further enquiries, I am also "Julia Blythe" and have started to write children's books under that name: "We didn't mean to start a school", published a few years ago and still in print, is for girls aged approx 9-15 and is about some girls who establish a school of their own....a sequel is currently in the offing....

On Sunday I'm due to speak at a conference at Wickenden Manor in Sussex. Had planned to cycle there from East Grinstead station but it is rather hilly and will take ages, so have reluctantly agreed to opt for a taxi. Sussex in late September will be bliss (horse chestnuts, wide breezy hills, pubs with lights glowing warmly as evening approaches....). I am reading up Hilaire Belloc to get me in the mood.....have walked much of Sussex following the routes he gives in his books, and echo enirely his sense of primeval joy in the rolling Downs, which even the hideous horrs of modern motorways and "development" have not yet crushed. While I am busy with the conference (which is for families, and sounds fun: I am hopeful there will be Proper Cakes....) Jamie will represent us both at a wedding....this has been a summer for matrimony as far as we are concerned, as we not only celebrated our own unforgettable Silver Wedding but have been to various weddings throughout the sunny months. We are told marriage is going out of fashion which is alas true in Britain but not among young Catholics, it seems.....and not in our particular family either, as I am just wrapping and posting a couple of parcels to a dear nephew who is marrying in Australia in February.....