Irish TV came to visit me at home! Watch the interview and brief guided meditation here. Plus, a bit about the history of the house.
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of having Judie Russell from Irish TV call in to me at home. We spoke about mindfulness, and I led a very brief guided meditation.
This little framed picture was one of many clippings and words of wisdom my grandmother had pinned to the wallpaper, a fixture of my childhood, and my mother's, too.
We're living in an old schoolhouse where my grandparents lived in their retirement, an idyllic spot beside the River Bride and just down the road from the family farm. I don't know when it was built, but we know it was in operation at least from the 1830s. My grandparents had the most beautiful garden here, a whole acre with apple trees, flowers and shrubs of every imaginable variety, little shady benches, grapevines, beehives, hens, veggie patches. Old variety roses rambled up arches and jasmine cascaded down walls - in the summertime the air was dizzying with their fragrance. No visitor was allowed to leave without an armful of whatever was in season- grapes, cabbages, eggs, honey, tomatoes, cucumber, potatoes...
A lot of that is gone now, but as each new season arrives a little splash of colour appears in some corner of the overgrown acre. I try to bring something of the garden into my classes each week; a few blooms, or a bowl of apples for the full day of mindfulness during my last Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course. My participants, some of whom knew my grandparents, check out the flowers each week.
My parents renovated the old schoolhouse with vast reserves of love and patience. The walls you see above have been plastered by hand with hemp and lime, mostly by the two of them, but with the help of some friends and family who came over for plastering parties. The lumps and bumps are actually the imprints of many generous hardworking hands!
Speaking of family, the painting above the mantelpiece is by my husband's aunt, Jackie Gardiner. It was her wedding present to us; the Baltimore Beacon. I love the relaxing blues and greens. A serious contrast to the blazing fire, which almost melted myself and Judie during the interview!
Anyway, without further ado, to the clip!
Click the button below to watch, and skip to about 06:10 on the player. The piece is about 6 minutes long and concludes with a very brief guided meditation.