I WAS summoned to Con's Bar in the River Island Hotel on the Friday afternoon of the bank holiday weekend. My purpose there was to attend the launch of the latest offering from the very active Castleisland Active Retirement Association.

Their publication, 'Words of Wisdom' was launched on that afternoon and its 46 pages, including the covers, are dripping with nuggets: as the title might suggest!

Handy household tips, cures and remedies, recipes, and more, are included for the readers' perusal. The publication marks the tenth anniversary of the founding of the association. The members meet every Thursday afternoon in St. Brigid's Hall in what they describe as their 'Cosy Nook' beside the Presentation Convent.

The membership ranges in age from 55 to 90 and they congregate to sing, dance, exercise, drink tea and, most importantly, to talk and laugh. The members also have an active social life outside of the hall: They play Pitch & Putt and take part in swimming and computer courses and are an integral part of the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade here in Castleisland.

The tips come in torrents such as: 'To ease the pain of plucking your eyebrows use a teething gel, like Bonjella, on the skin first; If you can't get the cork back on a bottle of wine, soak it for a few minutes in boiling water."

That never dawned on me as my bottles of wine soon become wine bottles – but thanks for the tip ladies.

The Clock of Life is a little poem which is printed towards the end of the book and it goes like this: The clock of life is wound but once, And no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time - for the clock may soon be still.

The poem was found in 1939 in the pocket of a man named Murphy after he was shot dead while sitting in a car. He was working for the infamous gangster, Al Capone at the time.