The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 326

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 36 of our latest lock down. Earlier this morning I was taken by the amount of water flowing off the land and into the river and all rivers are full now and many overflowing in forests due to the continuous heavy rain but The Mindful Farmer has always been fascinated by rivers and I have written many pieces over the years about my relationship with one river in particular and they always remind me of our own lives. Even if blocked or dammed the river will always force a new route first as our lives do and when things change within our lives with work, personal issues, sickness etc we first take a new course just like the river. Similarly we need to accept change in our lives otherwise our lives will never flow with ease. In everyone's life the same stream of life runs through the world. It is up to us to dance in rhythm, step with Mother Nature, the waters and the wild. 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 325

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 35 of our latest lock down. Yesterday, as you may be aware, was Candlemas Day where candles are brought to the church to be blessed. Now I believe we should all bless our own candles as everyone has the power to bless. In the older Celtic tradition there was the belief that spring came in the form of a maiden who returned to earth from the underworld where she had hidden all winter and the people would celebrate her return with offerings of various kinds. Then they would seek blessings upon the candles who had seen them through the long, hard winter and the imagery is very powerful. Maybe we can all take a lesson from this tradition. Many people today, including The Mindful Farmer, will always finish a meeting or a chat with "God bless you" and many people I know do likewise. I wonder do we really realise how powerful this exercise is and when we bless someone we draw a circle of light around them to protect them, heal and strengthen them, wishing that a slow world would wrap a cloak of love and protection around you to mind you and those in your life. 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 324

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 34 of our latest lock down. Well if the rest of February and the rest of 2021 are like yesterday, the first day of spring, it will be a great month and year. Great work was achieved on the farm, in the butchery and in the house. The women are painting mad with great results. It was what I can call very soothing, very satisfying and very calming the way the day flowed. I know I start every day with thanksgiving and a warm welcome for the day but it is up to all of us how we commence, receive and complete each day. It is up to each and every one of us to change our attitude to what is happening to us and that in turn affects everything the day brings no matter what. It isn't what we get each day that matters, it is what we do with it and may every morning be fulfilled with the harvest of the night and may every morning be filled with innocent beginnings. 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 323

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 33 of our latest lock down. Today was always celebrated back in West Limerick as it signaled the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring and also we celebrated the Feast of Saint Brigit, Lá Fheile Bríd. When going to school we gathered the rushes to make a St. Brigit cross and the excitement of returning home with two crosses. The crosses are made of sixteen pieces of rushes and are believed to keep the home safe from any misfortune. We always kept one in the house but also in the animal houses to keep them safe. This day has huge symbolism this year as it will give us great encouragement and lift our hearts and spirits. We have a belief that every dream will realize itself and reach out and lift us to greater heights. In my heart there is a hidden voice that calls out for freedom and creativity. Let today, 1st February 2021, be your day to listen to your hidden voice and go forward now that spring is with you. 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 322

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 32 of our latest lock down. Well it is another Sunday and another week of sadness really for many people. Covid19 has robbed so many families of really great people and also robbed them of the traditional "send off wake" that we Irish are famous for. Now well over 2000 people have been lost but what Covid can't rob us of is our self esteem because with self esteem we cannot lose, no matter what we lose. When we have a sense of ourselves no one can really defeat us. If on the other hand we lose our self esteem then we lose all. My Mum used to always say to us "those who respect themselves are safe from others." So, on this Sunday, be sure to rest in a quiet place. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your coat of self respect - nothing can get through that and of course wear your smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 321

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 31 of our latest lock down. The Mindful Farmer has experienced a very challenging January apart from all the stresses and pressures of running a business. I have endured a horrific month of pain in relation to my back and both legs, all down to being overrun with stress and work during 2020 my whole system shut down and with the help of Dr. Clint and my chiropractor I am on the mend, thank God. What I should have seen were the boundaries that would have prevented me from becoming worn and burnt out. I promise myself that for 2021 I will set limits rather than being constantly forced to respond to demands and pressures set by others. So we all need to imagine it first and then do it. The old folks at home had a saying "spend the afternoon - you can't take it with you". Being mindful and focusing on prayer and talking to all my friends and followers helped me through this time and that is why I am always there for them also. 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 320

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 30 of our latest lock down.What a beautiful sky this morning at Ballinwillin - bright red. I often heard it said by my parents "red sky in the morning, shepherds warning" so we will have to wait and see what the day brings. The birds are in full early morning song. It is beautiful to listen to and a great encouragement to go and do a great days work as encouraged by Mother Nature this morning. Every living thing, birds, animals, whatever, are capable of living in a balanced way and resting and living with nature in times of darkness in Winter and times of light for the other seasons. Isn't it time for us humans to live each and every moment in the fullness of time and in rhythm with nature. 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 319

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 29 of our latest lock down. Many of us spend a lot of time rushing here and there yet the Eastern philosophy of life focuses on the harmony between the ying and the yang which really is the power of the quiet and the power of activity. Now we in the West seem to spend life burning the candle on both ends, running ourselves into the ground in order to meet targets set by so called modern society. We must all learn to be still in the midst of the noisy world and to be vibrant and understood when quiet and may we all understand that our soul is unique and behind the facade of everyone's life there is something beautiful and eternal happening. 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 318

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 28 of our latest lock down. Walking the fields this morning I noticed the first bunch of primroses just about to open up their beautiful petals. They have beaten the daffodils to bloom this year. It is always a great contest between the two of them who is first to bloom. These two great competitors are plants of great courage as they emerge from the dark, cold soil to offer warmth and encouragement to us. We too are people of courage and hope but it is natural to feel afraid at times during this pandemic but by being courageous we stay open to our fear and rawness without shying away from it. None of us are courageless all of the time. We all have a little fear or anxiety in all new journeys but we must always be courageous and face pain head on just as the beautiful primrose faces into the world every spring. This morning, witnessing this moment of magic their beauty dazzled my eyes with wonder as the spring rain softened the earth with tenderness. Another beautiful morning on the farm. 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 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 316

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 26of our latest lock down. Another new Monday, another new week and we are all still coping with our unknown comrade Covid19. It is leading us all into unknown territory and we must find our way by following all the strict guidelines and through trial and error and perseverance. Many of our familiar ways must be left behind for the moment and it is very difficult for everyone. I only have to see the amount of people who make contact daily expressing anxiety and loneliness but we must give ourselves permission to understand that this darkness has some purpose, hidden as it may be at present and gradually it will lead us to the gift that life requires hidden away in the corners of the night. We must endeavor to learn the pain of this suffering believing that a new and forceful confidence will once more come alive and lift us all to a higher ground, our most rewarding threshold. 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 315

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 25 of our latest lock down. Another beautiful morning here at Ballinwillin and another beautiful Sunday or a day of partial rest anyway. A day in gratitude and thanksgiving when I look back over the years. I was thinking this morning if this time on the farm has taught me anything it is to be true to myself and if you are doing your best then you are doing well enough. When we look around us we do so much humility and appreciation and we breathe in the beauty all around us and if we allow it, the morning beauty of this morning first allows us to see the beauty inside ourselves and teach us more than schooling has ever done. Nature, unlike us, never apologises for its beauty. Our life as celebrated on this Sunday should be about the journey and not the destination. Have fun today, live for the now and may every morning reap the harvest of the night and your morning eyes be seduced by the sounds and wonder of Mother Nature and may this morning be an innocent beginning to a wonderful and happy Sunday. Be mindful, be happy, be silent, be joyful, send blessings and healing to all who need them and wear your Sunday best smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 314

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 24 of our latest lock down. This morning as I was walking the fields alongside the road what disturbed my morning stroll was the noise of trucks and traffic and I made a quick and conscious decision to retreat down the farm towards silence only to be greeted by the morning chorus of my birds. I thought to myself noise versus silence. No contest - silence wins all the time. A lot of our days are laden with a hectic, mechanical type lifestyle, from the alarm clock, traffic, planes, lifts, gadgets and home again to endure it all again. If we only make time for silence and for prayer, mindfulness and meditation and all in small pieces it is then we give ourselves a chance to remember who we really are and what life is all about and to allow us time to respect our own individuality and difference and in doing so, for a little time each day, we will power the light of our souls, all our souls. 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 313

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 23 of our latest lock down. Another beautiful frosty morning here at Ballinwillin and the Galtee mountains almost kneel down in their snow clad coat to touch the farm gently. The snow clad fields adorned with their glistening oak and beech trees complete the picture postcard here this morning and The Mindful Farmer is reluctant to imprint the tapestry but I know this land and it knows me so I will be forgiven by the gentility of nature and today this snow covered winter soil will soon facilitate a lush and flourishing growth. Living and working in this great environment allows us to express ourselves with each other and also enables us to support each other and allows us to value this pure, crisp air of this fabulous morning. There is no particular pathway for me this morning and no formula for me to discover it. I will follow my heart in my unchartered walk where each day I open new and beautiful doors to the chambers of Mother Nature. 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 312

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 22 of our latest lock down. I love watching the swearing celebrations ceremony of American presidents. Something always fascinates me about these historic days and in many cases they are of great interest to us Irish and no more so than the 46th American president Mr. Joe Biden, steeped in Irish ancestry and history and it reminds us once again how powerful a little nation we are. What a vibrant island race of people we are. We have travelled the world and by en large have done our island and nation proud. It is amazing when you believe what you can achieve and I believe that Mr. Bidens achievement should bring encouragement to us all that if we awaken our spirit of adventure, hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk, very soon we will find our new rhythm for the soul senses of the world that awaits us. Remember, "if it is to be, it is up to me". Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your smile. The Mindful Farmer is very happy today - it is "Farmers Journal Day".

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 311

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 21 of our latest lock down. Last evening I received word that a friend of mine had taken seriously ill and this was a great shock as this person was a dear and ernest friend for years. A friendship over the years, over the travel, over the fields of time, laughter at the table and stories told, and stories recalled. Now is the time when many of our people are seriously ill or in hospital with Covid. We pray that they will keep faith with their minds and bodies as the holy sanctuaries that they are and that this night inflicted wound will gradually heal with the light and freedom of dawn. Nothing before has made us so isolated and lost. May we all have the wisdom to see inside illness and why it comes to challenge our society and may we have the resolve to trust, the resolve to love and may our senses be windows of wonder and our strong minds be steel to our spirit and soul. 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 310

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 20 of our latest lock down. Before Covid19 struck we all travelled all over the world and carried maps with us to find our destinations but what fascinates me is that we "never see a safe place mapped". We all have a safe place to hide away things and possessions but we never seem to have a safe place for ourselves where we can retreat to, where we can be alone in silence, where we can meditate, where we can rest, where we can pray. We are too busy and going to other places so why not during these challenging times do we not create our own safe place? The Mindful Farmer has many private and safe places in the garden and on the farm where I can carry out all of the above and it is wonderful and refreshing to visit a safe place on a daily basis so that is my challenge for you all during 2021 - find your own safe place and flourish and may your heart be tranquil there, blessed by a peace the world cannot give. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your beautiful smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 309

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 19 of our latest lock down. It is Monday and the beginning of another week and this morning as I walk the fields northwards facing into the wind and view of vast Galtee mountains, the mountains seem to approach like a vast fleet of ships heading in my direction. As I get nearer I see closely her green clothed slopes, the dark grey rack as it lies cold and bare. I suddenly feel that I am privileged to have entered and witnessed the continuity of nature here. A landscape that has been here for millions of years before any human foot tread upon it and now on this Monday morning as the rain and wind bluster its force, the mountain stands there unemotional as if she knows the wind and rain for millions of years and absorbs its nourishing presence. So, on this Monday and the beginning of another week, go forward and believe risk is our greatest ally if we are to live a truly creative life. That is the message from The Mindful Farmer on this Monday.

Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all those who need it and wear your smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 308

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 18 of our latest lock down. It is another welcome Sunday where we can rest a little and embrace nature. The days are getting longer, the grass is beginning to grow in the garden and on the farm, the birds are getting bigger and it is all about growth into the future. Growing mostly happens unnoticed by us with a gentle nudge from Mother Nature. Most of the time in growth I mean personal growth, we just have to be present to ourselves and to others. Caring is like growth - it is a natural process and it should come naturally to us, almost in silence as long as we are receptive to its blossoming. Even the smallest, most ordinary acts of kindness can reveal a glimpse of our own divinity and humanity. It is done with respect and unconditional love. So today, lets grow into the forthcoming season and shine the light on growth, caring and love. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all those who need it and wear your Sunday best smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick

The Mindful Farmers Daily Diary Day 307

Good morning everyone and welcome once more to Ballinwillin House Farm, gardens and RetrEat centre on day 17 of our latest lock down. January is always a month where we wobble a little especially after an indulging Christmas period and we dip in and out of life before we plan our year ahead but we must face each year with confidence and you must say to yourself "I am going to launch myself into a new and positive activity or programme" and by regularly telling yourself I am confident, I am strong, I am enjoying my walking, I am enjoying my gardening, I am enjoying my farming, I am enjoying my reading and so on. You must be positive at all times and you want to finish with flourish all things you start. You must visualise the new and positive you and then you become that positive person you are meant to be and by doing so you stimulate incredible growth and incredible change and a new found energy will flow and our thoughts will be a true light finding their way into words and life. Continue to pray, bless and power healing to all who need it and wear your smile.

The Mindful Farmer

Patrick