Hootin' Anni's Day Trippin'

Did you miss me?

I am going to conclude the series of posts of our trip to Ireland with this entry! Personally, I am getting tired with it. Keep in mind I took over 1300 photos [just on the camera...not to mention the hundreds on the cellphone] in the 15 days we were there, and I am STILL working on them to resize and get in chronological order [addendum: I finished them and all done...Monday afternoon!! Time to celebrate]. I planned on putting them all on a disk when complete and then a flash drive. Yes, I know, there is "Cloud", and backup galore online...but, I want the safety of a disk/drive also in case accounts go belly up or disappear on me. I want MY OWN secure collection of photos. It was a long work in progress, and I do have a life outside of Ireland where I feel compelled to share OTHER little ditties like the destruction and re-'building' of our home exterior, witch hunt/dolls for the season, yard work, etc. I haven't taken the time to walk much other than re-landscaping what was torn up from the work done, and most of all NO serious trips; birding...boredom has overtook me. With serious lack of blog gumption. So, this is the last. And it's eclectic:

This photo above was left huge so you could open and read the history...

...some colorful flowers along the way. At the most northerly pub in Northern Ireland, our guide showed us "wild lilac". I took a photo of it, but have yet to find anything even close to "wild". When and if I do, I will share the gorgeous bush.

...a bit of Irish Culture...

...lastly, as you know Bud's ancestors came from Northern Ireland. The day we stopped for a jaunt downhill to the sea at Giant's Causeway, I took off by myself. I had carried a Rx vial with me from the very beginning of my trip. It was in a zippered compartment of my boho bag. I walked off the beaten path away from all the tourists, and sat down, opened the vial, and scooped up some soil from his homeland as a gift for him. I got it thru all the TSA in Ireland AND America. Got it home and put it in a small glass container, tied ribbon around it [Northern Ireland colors] and a County Antrim lapel pin. It's now displayed properly [and I hafta say, proudly by Bud] on our mantel. Also, somewhere along the way, I found a white, green, and orange stone [one each] for the colors of Ireland's flag. They are polished and next to the jar of Irish soil.  The photo directly below is where I got the soil.

I didn't shop much for souvenirs tho. For Bud, I found Titanic Shot Glasses, and an Irish Coffee cup. For me, I bought an Irish linen hankerchief and spent way too much [hundreds of pounds] for a pair of Ireland's symbol...earrings made of mined Irish Gold [yellow gold AND rose gold] ...the harp.   They are still in the box, so when I get them out to wear, I will get a photo.  All that I bought were either small enough to put in my luggage or carry as a carry-on bag. Nothing needed to be shipped!! Yay.

This concludes my once in a lifetime trip to Ireland! A gorgeous sunset from the plane's window bid us adieu from the "mother land". I'm definitely glad to be home. And tho the trip was fun, and exciting, I am like Dorothy "There's NO Place Like Home".