::Personal Retreats ::

Take advantage of this unique possibility to join our household for a few days.

Spacious Private room (double bedded) with shared bathroom and kitchen.

Self Catering with possibility of some shared meals.

Payment by free will offering suggested at £15-£20 per night (3 night minimum, week- long retreat recommended).

Private guidance for meditative practice while here. Also join in weekly group meditation sessions and other programmes on during your stay. Miles of walking at your doorstep, 2 acre garden complete with walking labyrinth.

Please Note: This is suitable only for people WITHOUT animal allergies, as we share our home with several cats and dogs.

Comments from recent retreat guest:
The invitation to undertake a retreat at Sally’s felt like a blessing and a gift at a time when I was feeling overwhelmed and stressed. All I knew was that I needed to be still and close to nature, and the images on Sally’s website of her garden, coupled with her carefully chosen words and quotations, drew me there. My large comfortable room, overlooking the garden on two sides, still bore the traces of Sally’s eldest son, now at college abroad, and was at the very end of Sally’s house, affording all the quiet and solitude I needed, as well as ample space for yoga and bodywork. Sally’s home is light-filled, its focal point the garden, and is suffused with a sense of ease and relaxation. It is the perfect place to just be. It offered me the chance to slow down completely, to stop and ‘smell the roses.’ Sally’s gentle presence was a blessing; she has that rare gift: a wholly unobtrusive availability to her guest(s).

Central to my experience was time spent outdoors, from the gardens to Sally’s woodland and the winding road by the lake. The dogs were the perfect companions on my daily rounds, and I was blessed with perfect spring weather. In addition, I attended Sally’s regular meditation classes. I also took a private yoga class in the yurt, and had Reiki treatment and massage, all arranged by Sally and provided by visiting therapists. I found the labyrinth powerful and inspirational.

I love that Sally’s retreat space is local; it somehow reduces the gap between the retreat and the ‘real’ life; I hope that this will make the integration of some of the retreat’s lessons and practices easier for me. I left feeling rejuvenated and with a clearer sense of how I might slowly effect small changes in my life.

Paula, Belfast , March 2009

The Hermitage Cottage

Long Term VOLUNTEER (1week to 3 months) ~ ROOM & BOARD provided

In exchange for room and board ( a room in my own house in the wing where I also provide self- catering retreat space for individuals in my shared kitchen)

I invite help with the following:

General Exterior ~

Power spraying the yard
Clean ~ wipe down ~ facia board of house
Wash windows of house & outbuilding
Firewood Supply ~ autumn /winter months
Cut and brought from woodland autumn/winter
Chop where necessary autumn/winter
Stack in Garage autumn/winter

In the Garden ~
Generally ~
Winter :cutting back, mulching, firewood
Spring: Garden bed preparations (mulching, weeding)
Summer: WEEDING, planting out; lawn maintenance; hedge cutting
Autumn: ‘Putting garden to bed’; mulching; firewood; leaves

Some common tasks:
Cut Ivy off trees
Clean beds, cut back plants & weed where appropriate Spring/Summer/Autumn
Late spring mulch in April/May
Beginning in March plant potatoes in allotments
All summer ~ pest control & WEEDING

Help with Yurt~
Occasional hoovering
Assist with food delivery to groups hiring space
Assist with food prep for groups in Yurt

General Household~
My house, and the Hermitage Cottage and yurt is completely
NON SMOKING.
I have two dogs and four cats. Occasionally the volunteer would be asked to
feed and/or clean after them.
Weekly hoovering of parts of house being used. As regularly as
necessary in the kitchen (probably more than once per week; at least once per week)
Regular cleaning of volunteer's bedding and towels.

Any other tasks arising

'Room and Board' to me does NOT mean I will cook meals for you. It means we will share my kitchen, and share the food prep for one main meal a day. Food stuffs for Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
It is negotiable to also receive room and board long term for those who ALSO work part time elsewhere. Ask for more details
Volunteers are free to use the Yurt for their personal meditation or Yoga practice (when not otherwise in use)

Tell me a bit about yourself, and why you think
this a be a good fit from your side? What specific skills do you bring?

sally.taylor803@btopenworld.com