Thursday Nov 9th
The latest Catholic World Report (Nov edition) is full of good things - it's an excellent, full-colour glossy monthly magazine and this edition has a super pic of the Holy father on the front and features on a wide variety of topics ranging from the West and Islam to the opening of a new college in Australia, from the veil of Manopello to further analysis of the H. Father's Regensburg address. In Britain, you can take out a subscription by contacting WORDS INK PO Box 2001 Petworth Sussex GU28 9YA.

In intervals of housework, rushed to local library to write weekly feature for Catholic Times - they only allow an hour on the computer and it switches off automatically when the time is up, with just a few minutes' warning flashed on the screen beforehand: this is good for encouraging concentration, and I am glad I was trained on busy newspapers where a tough news editor shouted at one to get on and hurry up! If readers of this blog don't get the Catholic Times they are missing out on my weekly column: hurry and get a copy either from your local church (lots sell it at the back of church, just pick one up after Mass) or direct from Gabriel Communications, St james Buildings, Oxford Street, Manchester M1.

Am about to hurry to London for a meeting of St Clare Media, the group established here to develop the work of EWTN. It is going well.....incidentally my TV series for Advent, featuring cookery ideas for the season, starts soon on EWTN....apart from the Christmas pudding coming out a funny colour (should be really dark and black, not gingery-looking!) I found the series great fun and we are planning more....lots of ideas about exploring places of Catholic tradition and heritage here in Britain etc etc...

Hecticv attempts to tidy up at home as we have a friend coming to stay, which means putting up a temporary bed in the study....moving stacks of books....

Phoned Mother. While I was busy in Ohio, and Jamie in Rome, she was marking All Souls with the annual Blessing of Graves in the local cemetery. She walked there ("Oh, I didn't like to nag anyone for a lift....") - it's about two miles and she is 86! - to be at Father's grave. There is a lovely ceremony in which people stand by the graves of family members and the parish priest comes round and blesses each one with holy water.....It is some twelve years since my dear father died, and his memory is still so bright with us: we all loved him dearly.