IRISH BREAD & BELFAST - without the Associated Press

The sun is setting on this ST PATRICK'S DAY. It began with the making of traditional Irish Soda Bread and bringing it to the office along with some Irish Breakfast Tea. My recipe for the Irish soda bread tastes like a creamy, caraway scone...real butter is encouraged, and the tea was the perfect beverage that hour of the day.

The traditional Irish Blessing is offered with the bread.

This afternoon I was back at my computer, and happened to come across a really cool photograph of a St. Patrick's Day parade in Belfast, Ireland. The photo was very interesting (and very cute!) and slightly confusing, as the young paraders were all wearing curly, purple wigs, orange shirts and yellow coveralls...a few were carrying yokes with milk buckets hanging off of them, and some were carrying large, paper-machie mushrooms, painted in oranges, reds and blues. My first thought was: 'Are we color blind?' I don't understand the lack of green, and I'd love to learn the story behind this colorful St. Patrick's Day parade that lacked GREEN! I was entirely enthused about sharing the photo find. It was posted by the Associated Press. For the first time ever, I actually went through the process of writing to them for permission to use this photo for a blog post---and, of course, promising to credit AP and anything else they wanted.

After several emails back and forth, mainly reassuring them of my intent, I was told I could post it for one month for $75 or for a year for $150, and then it would have to be removed. NO LUCK! I was more worried that I might forget to remove it in a year, and then I'd worry all year about forgetting. I just couldn't afford it financially or psychologically, if you know what I mean. I was not happy to have my fun spoiled. I really wanted to share it with YOU! So...a little leprechaun sketched it out and did somewhat of a rendering of the photo. I hope it gives you an idea of the St. Patrick's Day Parade today, in Belfast, Ireland----with colors like you'd never expect at a parade on this day---like the one in Chicago!

WISHING YOU LUCK FOR A HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

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Active in Alabama, Mara Hawks, REALTOR with FIRST REALTY of Auburn, AL, #1 Real Estate Team in Lee County, THE LEADER in professional real estate services in Auburn, Opelika & Lee County for over 3 decades! Committed to INTEGRITY, KNOWLEDGE & SERVICE.

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Disclaimer: All information provided by this author is strictly an opinion, is not guaranteed, may be based on information collected from several sources, which may or may not be deemed reliable at the time of researching this article and may be time sensitive.