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".

§ Lunch Bell!!! Time to Eat...

Bud took me out for my annual, deep fat fried shrimp for my birthday lunch. As always it was delicious. This particular restaurant that we have dined at has the sweetest, most tender, fresh, butterflied shrimp I've ever had. And this year it was a special treat. It's been since 2020 [when the so called pandemic struck our country and everything was in lock-down]. Two years since I've celebrated my birthday, and I felt very privileged. Surprisingly, our waitress was still working! She remembers us, and we had a nice catching up chit chat while our meal was being prepared...Come to find out she will retire in March. So, I was glad to talk with her. Rarely do you find a waitress that is close to our age and we can make opinions, and give view points from our age group without offending anyone. Pleasant day!!

Afterwards, Bud wanted to stop for his Shiner's Bock on the way home. I perused the floral section while he was galivanting around the store picking up his things. I marveled at the beauty. Shook my head at the "Jacked-up" prices of bouquets, etc. They still gave me pleasure. Of course, it was all set up for Valentine's Day next week.  I especially loved seeing the deep sunny yellow calla lily!  Don't you think they have such an elegant blossom; flowing in curves so subtle and smooth?...

While Bud was busy and off somewhere with our cart, and I finished walking thru the floral with cellphone camera in hand, I then remembered that I wanted to look for something locally before I break down and have to order thru amazon. I found it.  Even with the exorbitant price for it at the store, it is STILL cheaper than Amazon Prime.  Talk about a rip off....Amazon used to be cheaper even if you paid postage and handling...not any more.  Amazon price [same brand and weight] for this particular item is twice the cost than the local HEB store.   And I'll tell you all about it in my next post!!