The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary 317
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 27 of our latest lock down. This morning the neighbourhood is cold with the winter freeze but soon we will experience the death of winter and the birth of spring, but also this morning in Ballinwillin we mourn the death and passing of Joe Mulcahy our neighbour, a legend in the music business and a founding member of the famous Maurice Mulcahy Band. A band that gave huge enjoyment to thousands of people worldwide. This morning our prayers are with his family, friends and neighbours. Now destiny calls Joe to a place of music where his trumpet will sound again for all our spiritual enjoyment, where his heart will always remain generous, all heavenly doors will open to his musical light as you now quietly befriend your death and you have no need to fear. You are among your own orchestra in the big band with your pure white suit you are now equal to your destiny and nearer to Earths heart. Rest in peace Joe. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 420
We only have today to live which gives us a freedom that no riches can give.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre. The 9th of May has a significance for The Mindful Farmer this year as I am looking forward to our International Mindfulness meeting. This meeting will happen on Zoom and like minded people from all over the world will join in and share moments of mindfulness and blessings with each other. These meetings are very nourishing where we radiate joy all around us so why wait until tomorrow? We only have today to live which gives us a freedom that no riches can give. So, on this Sunday, continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Sunday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 419
There is something in all our hearts and souls that depends on joy and when someone brings joy to your heart you feel warm, understood and seen.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre. When i looked out my window of wonder this morning I was overwhelmed to see the deer coursing around the fields. Joy is a gift. It is never expected. When you search for it you will not find it but pray for it and it surely will come. If we kiss joy on its arrival we can live in eternities sunrise. There is something in all our hearts and souls that depends on joy and when someone brings joy to your heart you feel warm, understood and seen. So, this weekend, radiate joy all around you. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your beautiful smile. Also, remember all the wonderful people who have lost their lives throufh loneliness and emptiness and say some deep prayers for their family and friends.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 418
This morning as I look from my window of wonder I admire the freshly cut grass of yesterday. I can still sense the smell of it from my hands and mind. What a wonderful sensation at this time of year and the vigour of that sweet smell still fills my senses.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre. This morning as I look from my window of wonder I admire the freshly cut grass of yesterday. I can still sense the smell of it from my hands and mind. What a wonderful sensation at this time of year and the vigour of that sweet smell still fills my senses. I pause in thanksgiving and now I must bring my mind alive today to do honor for the gift of today as it will invite me to explore new frontiers and break all the dead shells of yesterday and risk being disturbed and changed so that I would have the courage today to live the life that I would love, to postpone any dream no longer but to do at last what I came here on earth for and waste my heart on fear no more. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Friday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 417
Large problems can be solved a little piece at a time if you have the patience to keep going until the task or problem is complete.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre. It is another beautiful morning here this morning and The Mindful Farmer is gearing up to have the gardens in top shape for our opening next month. Yesterday and this morning I was putting the finishing touches to a stone arch, putting the big stones at the base and the smaller ones at the top for obvious reasons. They are extremely heavy but the biggest of spaces can be filled with small stones if you have the patience. This philosophy of course applies to more than stone wall building. Large problems can be solved a little piece at a time if you have the patience to keep going until the task or problem is complete. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Thursday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 416
It is very rewarding when your children appreciate nature in the way you have taught them. It is all our duty to teach our children in the way our ancestors have taught us and that is that earth is our mother and she cannot protect us until we protect every little thing on earth.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 126 of our latest lock down. I had a phone call last evening from our oldest daughter Sheena complementing me on the beauty of our gardens, trees, shrubs etc.and she also arrived with my Hayter harrier lawn mower repaired and serviced by an admirer for which I am extremely grateful. It is very rewarding when your children appreciate nature in the way you have taught them. It is all our duty to teach our children in the way our ancestors have taught us and that is that earth is our mother and she cannot protect us until we protect every little thing on earth. It is our duty to breathe with Mother Earth and relish her appreciating harvest. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Wednesday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 415
recognise the beauty in our world even if it is just a movement or a fleeting heart beat and enabling us to get back in touch with the wonder of ourselves, the wonder of being and being in the now
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 125 of our latest lock down. Isn't it wonderful we are beginning to ease our way out of lock down at 125 days. Hopefully it will be our last set back in this lock down at 125 days and we can begin again to recognise the beauty in our world even if it is just a movement or a fleeting heart beat and enabling us to get back in touch with the wonder of ourselves, the wonder of being and being in the now and the windows of wonder where we will find joy and peace and be able to recognise and understand the beauty in a little flower. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 414
Being Irish we withhold our dignity in the heart and soul of grace. I like to call these holidays a peace and soul weekend.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 124 of our latest lock down. It is Monday again and it is termed a Bank Holiday Monday, the May holiday. As I have said earlier, May is beautiful and all about it wonderful so why do we call it a bank holiday? The bank have never given our society, our community or our people a holiday from the pain and suffering of persuaded debt. Banks have flown in like the invisible raven and pierce through our lives, our families dispersing broken trust like flakes of snow on a cold winters day levelling us to near ground level and when they strike they break our faith of years, with one strike our roof is torn leaving only poison in the garden of our dreams. Being Irish we withhold our dignity in the heart and soul of grace. I like to call these holidays a peace and soul weekend. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your peace and soul weekend.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 413
When we arise early we are ahead of the day and have achieved something already and when you are out among nature and listening to the birds sing and the beautiful May flowers smiling at us
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 123 of our latest lock down. Another beautiful Sunday morning and another May custom is to wash your face in the May morning dew and if you take the time every day in May another custom practiced by our ancestors and it is very lifting and invigorating.and as we all know the early morning has its own quality. When we arise early we are ahead of the day and have achieved something already and when you are out among nature and listening to the birds sing and the beautiful May flowers smiling at us and I have in my heart for all of May my late Mam singing "the flower of the May" - two great reasons why I love the month of May. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Sunday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 412
Today is May 1st and last night, as is always tradition, I sprinkled holy water around the land, animals and the house. My parents said that it helped to protect all for the year ahead, keep all safe and bring a happy and fruitful summer and harvest . Blessings are very powerful and every time I leave the house I always reach for the holy water font and bless myself and then send blessings to all who I immediately think of.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 122 of our latest lock down. Today is May 1st and last night, as is always tradition, I sprinkled holy water around the land, animals and the house. My parents said that it helped to protect all for the year ahead, keep all safe and bring a happy and fruitful summer and harvest . Blessings are very powerful and every time I leave the house I always reach for the holy water font and bless myself and then send blessings to all who I immediately think of. When a person sends blessings to another they take that person into the core of their heart and this is a beautiful gift. We turn them into our soul and into divine kindness with no limits and this can open up a window of wonder through a wall of blindness. On this May day, send blessings to those who are near and dear to you, it will boomerang back ten fold. Wear your Saturday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 411
Beauty is available everywhere, even under the hardest conditions and then I think to myself no thing, plant, animal or person is ordinary just let it all be blessed and everything that walks on the earth and grows from the earth is blessed
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 121 of our latest lock down. This morning as I walked out on the farm I noticed a sycamore sapling growing from between two large rocks with no apparent earth to support it but it was growing away and surviving. In one way I thought this was extraordinary survival powers and yet to this young tree, totally ordinary. Beauty is available everywhere, even under the hardest conditions and then I think to myself no thing, plant, animal or person is ordinary just let it all be blessed and everything that walks on the earth and grows from the earth is blessed by the Lord. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Friday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 410
Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet. Sit down whenever and wherever you are. Listen to the birds singing all around you. Listen to the wind singing all around you and in through your veins. Be aware of the treasure that surrounds you.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 120 into our latest lock down. Today when you are out walking try this:- walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet. Sit down whenever and wherever you are. Listen to the birds singing all around you. Listen to the wind singing all around you and in through your veins. Be aware of the treasure that surrounds you. Let not today and now pass in quest of a rare and perfect tomorrow. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Thursday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 409
When the caterpillar thought his life was over he turned into a beautiful butterfly
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 119 of our latest lock down. This morning again the power and beauty of nature is laughing at Ballinwillin House Farm and happiness is very evident in the hearts of animals and the people here. The thirst for happiness is never extinguished in the heart of man but we must believe as belief is never far removed from disbelief, love is never far from hate, hope is just a short distance from doubt and joy lives side by side with tears. When the caterpillar thought his life was over he turned into a beautiful butterfly. So, for today, dream your dreams of happiness and continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Wednesday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 408
What a perfect peace that is deep within all our souls, below pain, below all the distractions of life.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 118 into our latest lockdown. There is a great peace here this morning at Ballinwillin House, only nature conversing with me and I thought to myself “what a perfect peace that is deep within all our souls, below pain, below all the distractions of life.” There is a silence vast and grand, an infinite ocean of calm which nothing can disturb, natures own peace which surpasses all understanding to the human mind. We seek it with passionate longing here and there and all over but it is there to find deep within ourselves, deep within our calm and peace. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Tuesday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 407
The weather is absolutely beautiful at the moment and there is a feeling of kindness and heat in the atmosphere and there is something deep in the human soul that seems to depend on the presence of kindness.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 117 of our latest lock down. The weather is absolutely beautiful at the moment and there is a feeling of kindness and heat in the atmosphere and there is something deep in the human soul that seems to depend on the presence of kindness. There is something deep inside us that expects it. When someone is kind to you and you feel understood and seen there is no judgement or harshness towards you. Kindness has a gracious eye and on this Monday morning where the light is amazing let kindness cast a radiant light and sunshine all around you. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Monday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 406
I really believe we as a people need rituals to negotiate the vital crossings in our lives. So, on this beautiful Sunday do something traditional and be alive, be caring and mindful
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 116 into our latest lockdown. It is another Sunday and another beautiful day beckons but going back to the old Sundays in West Limerick, Sunday was always full of ritual. Early morning milking cows then the big wash before first mass at 8am. Put on your Sunday best suit, collect the glistening, polished black shoes from the previous night and all off to the Sunday mass ritual and everyone corralled into the appropriate church seat. This was ritual at its highest order like it or not. Now our new Sundays are bereft of ritual and custom and yet with our new found wealth and technology we can be haunted by loneliness and I believe we have unlearned the grace and beauty of presence and belonging, I am not being an old fuddy duddy here, I really believe we as a people need rituals to negotiate the vital crossings in our lives. So, on this beautiful Sunday do something traditional and be alive, be caring and mindful, send blessings and healings to all who need it and wear your Sunday best smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 405
Our Celtic ancestors never took a new day for granted but as a gift from God and is understood as a time of reflective blessing which embraces God, self, others and nature.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 115 into our latest lock down. On Thursday evening last I was invited to join a zoom meeting of International mindful people from all over the world and this was led by the very powerful and brilliant Sue Cooper. Much was discussed particularly regarding the soil, earth and water and I thought to myself in the aftermath how our own Celtic spirituality is so important but much forgotten about by modern generations. Our Celtic ancestors never took a new day for granted but as a gift from God and is understood as a time of reflective blessing which embraces God, self, others and nature. There is a beautiful piece of poetry and often song as well called the Deers Cry and how opportunate as we opperate a deer farm. It goes as follows:-
I arrive today through God's strength direct me,
Gods might to uphold me,
Gods wisdom to guide me,
Gods eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
Gods word to speak to me,
Gods hand to guard me,
Gods way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
Gods hosts to save me from sneering of devils, from the temptation of vices, from everyone who wishes me ill, affar and anear, alone and in multitude. This poem articulates the Celtic recognition of the ever and always presence of God in our lives. Enjoy your Saturday and take a little time to lean on these words and wear your smile as you bless and heal all around you.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 404
There is a fantastic morning dew on the grass here this morning. It is a beautiful soft feeling to walk on this barefoot and also very refreshing and I give thanks for this beautiful day, this beautiful place and the arrival of a beautiful dawn.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 114 of our latest lock down. There is a fantastic morning dew on the grass here this morning. It is a beautiful soft feeling to walk on this barefoot and also very refreshing and I give thanks for this beautiful day, this beautiful place and the arrival of a beautiful dawn. This morning I feel relaxed and at home and look forward to the waves of possibility the day will bring and enable me to harvest the fruits of this new day and all the furtherings this new day will bring and inspire me to be generous in my awareness in my place of peace and joy and breathe in the pure life that Mother Nature is filling me with right now and remember there is a quiet, bright light that shines in every heart. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Friday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 403
I believe we should celebrate the earth every day and on discussing the subject with my son John last evening he was remarking how special and very different the smell of spring is at the moment. The soft rain massaging the fragrances from the trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses – all for us to inhale and heal us on this special day.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 113 into our latest lockdown. Today is a very historical Mother Earth day. It is ironic really that at such a beautiful time of the year we are celebrating Earth Day and totally fitting. I believe we should celebrate the earth every day and on discussing the subject with my son John last evening he was remarking how special and very different the smell of spring is at the moment. The soft rain massaging the fragrances from the trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses – all for us to inhale and heal us on this special day. Let us remember the sanctity of our ancient clay that holds the memories for all the seasons, past and present, live life to the full, to dream with the earth in mind, spirit and light. Have a beautiful, mindful, spiritual, special day and wear your healing smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 402
I see one of my beautiful signs on the thinking path " The quieter you become the more you can hear" If we could all see the world in a beautiful wildflower we could hold infinity in the palm of our hands and eternity in an hour and relax into a calm, peaceful and mindful day.
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 112 into our latest lockdown. This morning on the farm there is a beautiful soft peace and silence. Only the birds are making soft melodious music and I see one of my beautiful signs on the thinking path " The quieter you become the more you can hear" If we could all see the world in a beautiful wildflower we could hold infinity in the palm of our hands and eternity in an hour and relax into a calm, peaceful and mindful day. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all qho need it and wear your Wednesday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick
The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 401
In those times our genetic signature was in everything we thought and did. We were taught always to praise the imagination of the earth and that everything, with patience, came from this stillness of the earth. Take a little time today to salute the silence of the earth
Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 111 of our latest lock down. I don't know if you were watching the program on RTE on Sunday evening about the Burren. This is a program I would urge every Irish person to view. Why? Well firstly this was produced by fabulous researchers and narrated beautifully and softly by the soft voice of Brendan Gleeson and it traced our ancestors back over millions of years right back to our hunter gatherer times when we lived by and from nature. In those times our genetic signature was in everything we thought and did. We were taught always to praise the imagination of the earth and that everything, with patience, came from this stillness of the earth. Take a little time today to salute the silence of the earth and the sublime stillness that always dreams and fills our hearts. Let us pray that the kindness of the earth opening to receive our warm forms into the final stillness where we will dream with Mother Earth. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your Tuesday smile.
The Mindful Farmer
Patrick