November was the 3rd wettest month in 2012 so far with a rainfall in Glenbawn of 187.3 mm. June was the wettest at 212.9 followed by January in 2nd place with 196.5 mm. So places are wet, but, we are lucky that our houses are still standing and we did not get a lash of Hurricane Sandy like they did in the USA!

In the Spirit of all that is Local your Local Bookshop Newcastle West Bookstore in the Market Yard, Newcastlewest will host three local authors in the shop on Saturday next, 8th December at 2pm. They will talk about & sign copies of their books. They are: Peg Prendeville with her book “The Purple Pencil”, Patrick O’Shaughnessy with his book “On the Banks of the Allachán” and Gerard Curtin with his book “Every Field Had A Name”. Vicki and Avril from the bookshop invite you to come along and support these local authors.

I was glad to accept an invitation to Ballyhahill NS during last week to read some poetry but, even better, to listen to some of the students read me their poetry. It is great and gives one a real sense of hope for the future to see these young enthusiastic children eager and confident enough to read their lines and to ask questions. I know it sounds like I am one hundred years old but children have got so confident in themselves since I was a primary school student. One young girl was asked to stand up and thank me on behalf of the whole school and I admired how she did it with such clarity, certainty and respect. Well done to all. It was a lovely experience for me.

And we have a new author in the Knockdown area. John Harrison has had his book, Richard, Judy and Me, which he wrote while in Knockdown, published in Amazon Kindle. Go into amazon.co.uk and search for Richard Judy and Me and you will be able to download it on your kindle. Kindle is now getting very popular especially among the younger people who are into technology. It is like reading on a mini computer instead of from a book. Well done to John and best wishes to him in future endeavours.

Sympathies to our PP Fr O’Leary on the death of two aunts – sisters – in recent weeks. He will be visiting the sick and housebound of the parish on this Friday.