At St Raphael's...

...the beautiful church on the outskirts of Kingston, with a fascinating history now the parish church for the Catholics of Subiton....the funeral of Ruth Real, long-time secretary of the Association of Catholic Women. The church was full, and afterwards there was delicious food and wine in the parish rooms and an opportunity for us all to talk...old friends, a sense of gratitde for dear Ruth's life and her generous work in so many fields...

The parish halls at St Raphael's were originally built as a school for the local poor children, and have recently been refurbished to offer good facilities for parish needs. In addition to the lovely room in which we were all lunching, with its bright and well-equipped kitchens, there is a fine library in whch I browsed, borrowing a couple of good books by and about St John Paul...

Then a walk along the river to catch the train up to London, for a meeting of the Ladies Ordinariate Group - and finally a late train out into the country, to stay with Clare Anderson, my colleague on various TV projects for EWTN.

Because I travel about a lot, I seem always to be trundling a small suitcase-on-wheels, and have discovered that this is turning into a sort of Auntie Joanna trademark - "here she comes, sounding like a railway..." . The suitcase means that I can have my laptop, plus overnight clothes etc, plus a couple of books and the papers for whatever is the latest project - and occasionally also some sewing or other work. I have tried using a small knapsack but I think I look stupid - you can see an example when the latest EWTN programme is aired. I'm wearing a bright red-and-yellow backpack acquired at the Madrid World Youth Day, of which I became rather fond. Looked great at WYD, looks hopeless three years later with a smart jacket-and-skirt-for-TV....