Norman Darlington

@NormanDarlo (1071)

Ireland

Joined myLot 6 years ago

Irishman, poet, gardener, publisher, translator, traveller. Father of 4 living in rural Ireland, who has called many places home.

darlingtonrichards.com

Norman Darlington's Discussions

A Trip out to Trastevere

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 11 Nov 18

On my last visit to Rome, I took the bus out to Trastevere. The name comes from Latin trans Tiberim ("across the river Tiber") and it is an area that has been somewhat apart since ancient times. In the early years it was a...

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6 people

Mapped Out

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 10 Nov 18

MAPPED OUT My relationship with maps has been intense and even physical Via cartography I occupy a landscape, my knight errant free to ghost across the heath Thanks to the warriors of the OSI I inhabit crustal...

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6 people

November Wettens

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 9 Nov 18

I got out in the garden this morning, and with some help, got lots achieved, turning over compost, trimming harvested bamboo canes, raking leaves. But it was windy and cloudy from the get-go, and come midday the heavens opened up...

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8 people

Sicilian Caponata

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 8 Nov 18

Sicilian Caponata I love travelling, and the main thing I enjoy about it is soaking up the local colour and culture. Nothing embodies local culture more than its cuisine, and few things give me more pleasure than sampling...

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4 people

Nice Parking, Mr Oil!

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 7 Nov 18

Electric cars are the way of the future. Or maybe it'll be donkey and cart, but let's try to remain optimistic! The Irish government has tried many schemes to try to encourage drivers to exchange their petrol- and...

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8 people

A Vatican Perspective

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 6 Nov 18

Earlier this year, I visited Vatican City in Rome for the first time. I went during low season, so there were no crowds or queues, as that can be a problem if you visit at a busy time. One of the most intriguing areas, for...

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9 people

A Question about Facebook

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 5 Nov 18

Has the "Timeline Photos" album disappeared from Facebook on the PC? There used to be an automatically-created album called Timeline Photos, that held all the photos you posted directly to your timeline rather than in an...

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5 people

US Mid Terms: Your Prediction and Take?

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 3 Nov 18

On November 6, the US goes to the polls. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives as well as 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate are being contested. In addition, 39 state and territory governorships are being contested. The...

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8 people

Stranger at the Gate (a ghazal poem)

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 3 Nov 18

Stranger at the Gate Who cares about the stranger at the gate? I do not know. The poor orphan, abandoned to his fate? I do not know. Where once I had the answers, now my mind is full of doubt; how do these certainties...

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4 people

BUGFEST: My Pizza with Mealworms and Crickets!

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 1 Nov 18

For this evening’s meal I started out with a plain margherita pizza (base, tomato sauce and mozzarella). In the freezer I found a forgotten bag of mealworms and crickets, left over from an earlier episode of...

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9 people

Natto: Fermented Soybeans with Mustard

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 31 Oct 18

Browsing through the deeper reaches of my chest freezer today, I came across a long-forgotten styrofoam container. Contained in that container was some Natto, a fermented soybean product from Japan. There are competing theories...

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12 people

An 11th Century Love Story from al-Andalus

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 30 Oct 18

In 1059 the governor of Shilb (modern-day Silves in Portugal), Prince Muhammad ibn Abbad, was visiting Seville. He was taking a walk along the river Wad al-Kebir (the modern-day Guadalquivir) with his friend, the renowned...

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5 people

A Family Day in the Capital

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 29 Oct 18

Today our entire family, the five of us, converged on Dublin, where we had a nice wander around in the fine autumn sunshine, ate a top-class vegetarian lunch in Cornucopia, and visited the Dublin Wax Museum. Here's a collage of a...

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8 people

Reflections of Light and Shade

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 28 Oct 18

Today I decided to take advantage of the crisp, bright autumn weather and took a walk in nearby Altamont Gardens. The colours of the leaves, both on the trees and on the ground, were wonderful, and the quality of the light was...

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8 people

On the Bank of the River Barrow

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 27 Oct 18

The River Barrow is supposed to have got its name when Dian Cécht, the god of healing, slew three dragons found in the heart of the Morrígan's --the Phantom Queen's-- infant son and threw them into the river, causing it to...

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8 people

Black pudding and apple: Savoury/sweet combo

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 27 Oct 18

I was visiting the Delta Sensory Gardens in Carlow the other day, and feeling peckish, I dropped into their small restaurant. Well, when I saw Hot black pudding and apple salad on the menu, I thought, that's quite daring, and...

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4 people

Can anyone tell me what these are? (WITH PHOTO!)

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 26 Oct 18

Anyone know what these are? I found them and brought them home as they looked slightly useful. They are small, each about as long as one finger-knuckle. @Courage7 @db20747 @amadeo

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7 people

What's your Favourite Bagel?

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 21 Oct 18

I discovered bagels on my one and only visit to New York (in fact, my only visit to North America) some 20 years ago. I was so impressed with the choice of bagel and fillings available that I tried a different one for lunch...

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5 people

Where do you go to restore your spiritual balance?

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 19 Oct 18

Ganesha plays the Uileann Pipes This is a shot from a wonderful Indian sculpture park in the Wicklow Mountains, about an hour north of here. In this statue, Ganesha is playing a traditional Irish musical instrument, the...

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7 people

My house got a makeover…

Norman Darlington @NormanDarlo (1071) • Ireland 17 Oct 18

Only kiddin’! This morning I was looking to visit a garden elsewhere in Wexford. In the end I got a call and had to leave before finding my goal, but look what I came across in Ballyedmond I had a good poke around,...

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10 people