The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1026

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to The Mindful Farmers window of wonder. When I look out my window of wonder today my mind races back to West Limerick and the fuss my Dad would go to in preparing he goose. It was a custom to cook a goose for ladies Christmas. The woman of the house would not do any work or cooking and then us males would realise the amount of work that my Mam did each and every day and how content and happy she was doing it. On every womens Christmas while she was alive the flowery bib would come off and off she would go around the land to enjoy her contentment. She would rejoyce for her happiness and our thoughtfulness and when the day was coming to an end she would say I realise there is nothing lacking when the whole world belongs to us. Her nearness still fills the air today and no deeds, seeds or seas will ever erase how I feel and remember this faithful day. Happy memories. Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all and wear your Friday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1025

Good morning everyone and welcome. Yesterday I spent much of the day in the garden with my fellow gardener and great friend Eddie. We were clearing and tidying up and as my late Dad would say we were doing "kind" work. Kind work means working away in silence for periods of time then resting and having a chat for a while and more times talking to each other about life and generalities. It reminded me that this is a time of year also when we get in touch with the stillness and condition of our own garden, our inner garden. This garden at times can be like the four corners in our hearts. It is important not to ignore them, shine some light into this dark area, talk with a friend while you are doing some kind work, Work, fresh air, the outdoors and nature will cure most ills and I am speaking from experience. Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all and wear your Thursday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1024

Good afternoon everyone and welcome. Today was a most amazing day. I was taken on a tour of the Connemara Isles by Feidhlim. What a wonderful experience. The beauty of our country is amazing especially along the coastal and island areas. At this time of year when the weather is inclement the rain blowing in and the wind whistling in your ears it is easy to take the safe option and remain indoors in comfort but there is no growth in staying comfortable, no sense of achievement and certainly the views along the way will fill up your senses. A great way to enjoy a January day. When the tour was over I said to myself and my guide "surely God is in this place". Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all and wear your Wednesday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1023

Good morning everyone and welcome to another day of peace, rest and solitude. When we sit in silence and in solitude we learn to explore our inner feelings, our inner selves and in this time capsule of stillness we come to see that this is a time for new beginnings and this is the perfect time of year to make the time for new beginnings. It is a time to stop, pause, be silent, a time to listen and to dream. When we do so it is very refreshing and invigorating. Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all who need it and wear your Tuesday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1022

Good morning everyone and welcome. This is the time of year that I make a great effort to get ahead in the gardens and clear away dead branches and leaves. All gardens know in spite of the frosts and storms and harsh weather we know that the spring bulbs are preparing to make their adventure into our world of light. It is a time of year where we get an opportunity to emerge from the dead shells of the past year and shine our positive light on all and everyone around us for the year ahead. It is a time to be patient with ourselves and appreciate the inner strength that is now quiet. For the year ahead it is important for us all to embrace that inner beauty within us and at every opportunity in the coming year to sit in silence and in peace and if at all possible have a peace seat in your garden where you can pray, bless, power healing, peace, love and happiness to all who need it and wear your Monday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1021

It is the beginning of another year, the first day and when we think about the year past and we give thanks for all its trials, tribulations and triumphs and we look forward with fresh eyes and a bright free breath that has been born. It is a day when we should all allow a little time to feel the soul of the earth as many of us are still on vacation. The coming year will present many opportunities for our eyes to delight on. It is also a day when we can promise to be compassionate in our hearts, clear in our words, gracious in our awareness towards others but we must be courageous also. I always pray on this day for the continued miracle of our health as we never know when it may forsake us. It is a day to embrace peace and give thanks again for the ever embracing arms of the Lord to guide and protect us and keep us safe for the year ahead. May we all have the courage to live the life we would love, to postpone our dreams no longer but to do at last what we were born here for and waste our hearts on fear no more. Happy New Year and all its blessings.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1020

Good afternoon everyone and welcome. It is that time of year when we look back and give thanks for all of 2022 and I meal all as every happening is meant to be and that is how experience is achieved. For 2023 we look forward of course but looking with faith and not by wish or sight as we only have now and being a peace coach my wish for you all for the coming year is that your peace will come through being at peace and where is peace. It is simply and always here in silence. That is how The Mindful Farmer feels today and I wish you all this peace for the here and now and for all of 2023. Thank you all for your prayers and support during the past year and Happy New Year. 

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1019

Good morning everyone and welcome. This morning at 3am I left for Dublin airport with our baby daughter Elayne who is flying back to Abu Dhabi to recommence her teaching job on Monday next January 2nd 2023. It is always a very sad and lonely day but it is her choice of life. I worry always about her living in a very foreign land in a very different culture far, far away but I must remain upbeat and positive. Elayne and I share a very holy and spiritual space and in this space there is no distance and never will be. She will have traverse many thresholds until we meet again that will test their conviction and instinct but the bounty of blessings sent to her each day and many times a day. When we intake blessings we erect a sheltering wall of rest and peace around a person. This wall will always protect and enable. Today I ask you all for your blessings for my baby girl Elayne. Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope and love to all who need it and wear your Friday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1018

Good morning everyone and welcome. This time of year at Ballinwillin House Farm, Gardens and RetrEat centre is very quiet, calm and peaceful. We are closed for guests until Janaury 3rd and it gives us all a chance to recharge the batteries, a time to rest and a time to feel belonged. Belonging allows us time to find the harmony between our soul and our life, a time to experience the generosity in our dreams for life and the future, a time for us all to find kindness when we gaze within and for me personally this time of peace I find all the beauty around me here at Ballinwillin and the beauty of the invisible world gathers around me and fills my heart, mind and soul so deeply that it embraces my happy place of belonging and I cherish it deeply and give thanks for all that I am so fortunate to experience for my short time in this beautiful nature filled world around me. This is what belonging means to my heart. Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all and wear your Thursday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1017

Good morning everyone and welcome. This morning as I walked the fields I was very conscious of every step I took on the earth so full of nature and power. Without a healthy nature we have no future and the power, the magnetic force of Mother Earth is there for us all to harness. Healing from this powerful source is not guaranteed but it is available to us all and everything that I have experienced during my life gives me confidence that we all have it in us to harness the healing powers of Mother Earth it must be felt and believed and then it will happen. When it does, our returning to wholeness can begin. Nature was always intended for us to enjoy, harness, absorb and then heal. Healing of mind, body, heart and soul. Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all who need it and wear your Wednesday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1016

Good afternoon everyone and welcome. This time of year, much of my daily chores are based near the house when the farming jobs are done. The clean out of the fires in the living room and the sitting room, the setting of the log fires as it is lovely when the family arise and enter the rooms that they are warm and welcoming. Then there is the work of drawing in enough firewood for the day. All this work, I saw my own Dad doing when we were children. His main aim on a daily basis was to create a happy, warm and peaceful home and he would often remind me of this message. I will never forget it. He had a phrase that went "there should always be great delight and happiness around this hearth and may this home always be a place of welcome." Then Granduncle Jack would say "no visitor should arrive without the gift of themselves and no visitor leaves without a blessing." All beautiful in their time and still even more beautiful and we should not forget them. One other thought - as people we always gathered around the hearth, the fire of the home. It was where we spoke about all our problems, we shared all our stories, even when we were alone we talked into the hearth of the fire. Nowadays we are not allowed have a hearth in our homes. What planners denied us our tradition, our lifeline, our culture with no hearth in the home all our hearts will suffer. Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all who need it and wear your Tuesday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1015

Good afternoon everyone and welcome. Well, today I am getting a little bit of extra jobs done outside and trying to burn off some turkey and ham from yesterday. Always, on St. Stephens day I like to walk the fields and give thanks for all I have, speak to the animals and pamper them with some extra food and on my way home I see the chimney pots puffing out the smoke and I think about everyone inside, my family, and no matter what or how we think of them they are the jewels in my life and my home and I treasure them and now I am homeward bound having a beautiful, mindful, peaceful farm tour and I am sending prayers, blessings, hope, love, peace and happiness to you all. Have a beautiful, restful, mindful, peaceful day.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1014

Good morning everyone and welcome. It is that time of year again. It is now 1.41am as I write my Christmas day blog. We have been to mass. A new midnight mass at 10pm and it was a beautiful ceremony. We then went home to Ballinwillin House and sampled our beautifully roasted and glazed ham, had a lovely glass of wine and then presented each other with our Christmas presents. It was a beautiful evening, night and now morning and it inspired me to put pen to paper while some thoughts were fresh in my head. Firstly, we honoured tradition by doing all the above but foremost in my thoughts was that this time is all about the magic. Why do so many people cram into a church to pray? Why do so many people celebrate the birth of Jesus? I can't speak for everyone but it must be something special as it is for me. It rekindles the joy and love in my heart and I pray that it does for everyone else out there. I ask you all to pray for happiness, love, blessings, peace and hope for everyone during this season and be grateful and to not take this time with the special people in your lives for granted.. Have a merry Christmas.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1013

Good morning everyone and welcome. Traditionally this is a very special day all stemming back to my childhood days in West Limerick. We would always like to have all the farm jobs complete by midday. Then the turkey and ham would be prepared and ready for the big day. The turkey would always be in the range of 14kg, specially selected from our own crop as my late Mam was a great turkey breeder and famous for the quality of her produce. My Dad bred the pigs and cured the hens all organically fed. He always insisted on two hams. One would be cooked and glazed for the crowd that would arrive after midnight mass. There was always a full house from about 1am to 3am. The ham would disappear right to the bone. This was a lovely custom. All the neighbours would arrive and really it was about thanksgiving for all their help during the year. A great night was always had and finished off with tea and homemade Christmas cake. The big day, Christmas day, would soon follow but before the crowd of neighbours disappeared my Mam would say there few words - "we bless the year for all we have learned, for all we love and for all we have lost and now again for the quiet and beautiful way it has brought us all together." Then she would bless everyone with Holy water as they crossed the threshold towards their home wishing them all a happy Christmas. I wish you all the same.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1012

Good morning everyone and welcome. We are all in a very relaxed mood here this morning. The feeding of the animals is done and we are all parcelling off some gifts for the very special people in our lives and for the great people who have supported us during the year. For our work during the year and also at this time for it to be fruitful and worthwhile we must do it with trust, abandonment, vision and commitment and move slowly through time and at all times give thanks for the miracle of life, health and the embracing arms of God. Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all who need it and wear your Friday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1011

Good morning everyone and welcome. This time of year I believe we all think of loved ones who have passed on especially parents, relatives and close friends. We feel many different emotions, love, loss, sadness, emptiness, loneliness and even anger. Many and all these great people filled our lives as well as living their lives to the full and with joy and happiness until they drew their last breath. What it should remind us all is that we only have this time, this second, this minute, this hour, this day and all it should signal very clearly to us that we are fully present. Know it, feel it, live it and know why. Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all who need it and wear your Thursday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1010

Good morning everyone and welcome to Ballinwillin House Farm and Gardens where this evening we will be celebrating the rebirth of the sun as the days incrementally begin to lengthen from now onwards. This was an old Roman period of feasting and celebration. It also sends us a message to rest, recover and appreciate the wonderful world around us and how nature and life inspire us .In Ireland down through the ages this was a day we reconnected with nature and the history of our earliest ancestors so today and during this time take a little time out to rest and experience the magic for yourself and of course it combines with another great celebration, the birth of Jesus. We have a lot to be thankful for at this time of year so be sure to take time out and be thankful and prayerful. It is the season to share goodwill with all.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1009

Good morning everyone and welcome. What I was thinking of earlier this morning as I looked out my window of wonder at the garden side was the trees were bowing to the wind but steadfast, the birds, all breeds were going too and fro like sailors on a ship but all relaxed and knowing and red berries of the holly trees and red berries from the roses illuminating a dark, wet scene, a different scene for a different day. Isn't it wonderful we have the sight to see all things beautiful. When we take time to look and listen deeply and attentively we can hear deeply with our inner ear, see deeply with our inner eye and heart then everything can be different. As Granduncle Jack used to say "one eye sees, the other feels." Continue to pray. We had some great news yesterday and we are very grateful for all your prayers. Continue to bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all who need it and wear your Tuesday smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1008

Good morning everyone and welcome to a very wintry Ballinwillin House Farm, Gardens and RetrEat centre. This morning I was having a laugh with Ada and  JJ in Melbourne, our two grandchildren. They are in great form and full of Christmas cheer and when I came off the phone I thought to myself that for this week I must really focus and know again what it is to be a child "not very difficult for me!" Knowing what it is to be a child is something very different from the man of today. I think it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness and most of all to believe in belief and we must kneel down so that the little elves can reach to whisper in your ear. Nothing can compare with this experience in the company of children. For sure we are not the children we once were and we cannot have that time back but we must do everything in our power to protect, appreciate and love that condition and if we do so we may find ourselves remembering how to believe in belief. Thank you Ada and JJ for reminding me to remember. Continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all and wear your Monday Christmas smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 1007

Good afternoon everyone and welcome. Well, we are after a week of hard winter weather here. A lot of extra work, burst piper, frozen pipes, trying to access fields with feed for the animals but now this morning our usual wind and rain is back and there is a sense of relief around and especially noticeable with the bird family. They seem more relaxed and less anxious. The past week wasn't all bad and difficult. There was magic to be felt in the fields and gardens, the plants and trees made it look like a wonderland. Also, the Christmas lights outside along the avenue, at the entrance and then of course more magic inside at the beautifully decorated Christmas tree and the log fire burning, all leading to a wonderful lead into the Christmas week. All of the above would be worthless if it wasn't all wrapped up in love and happiness. I am asking you all to get into the child-like Christmas spirit and have a lovely peaceful, restful, mindful Sunday and continue to pray, bless, power healing, peace, hope, love and happiness to all and wear your Sunday best smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick