Adolygiad newydd / a new review

Mi gafodd Storyteller newydd ei adolygu ar y gwefa Powell’s ddoe. Roedd o’n adolygiad arddercog, yn dda ei ysgrifennu ac yn mewnweledol. Mae yr adolygwr, Carrie Uffindell, yn codi y pwynt bod y taith Gwernin yn yr hanner cyntaf Storyteller yn debeg â’r taith Gerallt Gymro yn yr ddeuddefed ganrif. Dyma’n wir, ond dweud y gwir, roeddwn i wedi angofio am Gerallt: mae y taith Gwernin tebeg â’r taith bues i newydd gwneud cyn i fi ysgryfennu i’r cwedlau cyntaf Gwernin. Efallai mae yn glocwell y ffordd arferol mynd o gympas Gymru!

Y wythnos diwedda dw i wedi bod yn darllen am Gymro arall enwog – Dafydd ap Gwilym. Roedd Dafydd yn fardd Cymreig enwogaf y bedwaredd ganrif ar ddeg – wedi Taliesin ac Aneirin, y bardd enwogaf yr hanes Gymru. Roedd o’n meistr dros ben o’r ffurf barddonol sy’n gael ei alw e’r cywydd. Nid fyddai e’n amhosibl ei gyfiathu, byddai e efaillai mor enwog â Chaucer, pwy buodd yn byw yn yr un canrif. Dw i wedi bod yn darllen am Dafydd oherwydd bydda i'n rhoi darleth amdano fo penwythnos nesaf – ond mae hon yn chwedl am ddiwrnod arall.
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Storyteller got a new review on Powell’s website yesterday. It was an excellent review, well written and insightful. The reviewer, Carrie Uffindell, raises the point that Gwernin’s journey in the first half of Storyteller is similar to that of Gerald of Wales in the 12th century. This is true, but to tell the truth I had forgotten about Gerald: Gwernin’s journey is like the journey I had just made before writing the first of the Gwernin stories. Maybe clockwise is the normal way to go around Wales!

For the last week I have been reading about another famous Welshman – Dafydd ap Gwilym. Dafydd was the most famous Welsh poet of the 14th century – after Taliesin and Aneirin, the most famous poet in Welsh history. He was the greatest master of the form of poetry called the cywydd. If it weren’t impossible to translate him, he would possibly be as famous as Chaucer, who lived in the same century. I have been reading about Dafydd because I will be giving a talk about him next weekend – but that is a story for another day.

-GRG

Dail hydref / autumn leaves

Dim lawer i ddweud heddiw - mwy yfory, efallai. Dw i wedi bod yn brusur ysgrifenu, gweithio yn yr ardd, cymryd lluniau...
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Not a lot to say today - more tomorrow, maybe. I've been busy writing, working in the garden, taking photos...

-GRG

Bod yn ddau lle ar unwaith / Being in two places at once

Y wythnos hon mi gwrddodd yr dosbarthiadau canolradd a uwchraddol (lefel 2 a lefel 3) fel un, oherwydd nid allodd yr athro lefel 2, Elis Owens, mynychu. Yn hytrach na fy mhynd o’r un grwp i’r llall, mi benderfynais i gyfuno y ddau mewn “dosbarth i gyd”. Mi ddarparais i daflen a roedd yn cynnwys sawl testun ymddiddanol a ffurfiau brawddegol, ac mi es i trwyddo yn gyntaf gan yr canolraddau. Wedyn, mi dreuliais i ryw prid gan y grwp i gyd, yn holi cwestiynau i pobl yng Nhgymraeg, ac yn cael atebion yn yr un iaith – pethau siml fel "beth gwneuthoch chi dros y penwythnos?" ac "sut roedd y tywydd ddoe?" Wedi roedd pawb yn barod, ymrannais i’r dosbarth mewn dau grwp ac gadawais i iddyn nhw mynd ati gan gael sqyrsiau gan eu gilydd, tra symudais i’n ôl ac i ffordd yn gwrando ac ryw pryd yn cydroddi.

Roedd pawb bod yn debyg i gael hwyl, a dw i’n meddwl bod ceisio helpu ei gilydd yn siared a deall torrodd i lawr yn tipyn bach y nervusrwydd sy’n ymosod pawb sy’n canolpwnt y sylw pan mae’r athro yn holi cwestiwn iddyn nhw. Awgrymodd un o’r canolraddau wedi hyn a ddylwn i trefnu y grypiau tro nesaf fel bod y pobl yn leai brofiadol sy’n cael holi y cwestiyniau, a’r lleill sy’n rhaid iddyn nhw deall ac ateb – syniad da, dw i’n meddwl!
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This week the intermediate and advanced classes (level 2 and level 3) met as one, since the level 2 teacher, Elis Owens, wasn't able to attend. Rather than my bouncing back and forth between the two groups, I decided to combine them in a "dosbarth i gyd" - a class of the whole. I provided a handout containing some conversational topics and sentence templates, and went through it first with the intermediates. Then I spent some time with the whole group, asking questions to individuals in Welsh and getting answers in the same language - simple things like "what did you do over the weekend?" and "how was the weather yesterday?" After everyone was warmed up, I split the class into two groups (each containing intermediates and beginners) and let them get on with having Welsh conversations among themselves, while I moved back and forth monitoring and sometimes contributing.

Everyone seemed to have a good time, and I think trying to help each other speak and understand broke down somewhat the nervousness that attacks anyone who's the focus of attention when the teacher asks them a question. One of the intermediates suggested afterwards that I set the groups up next time so it's the less experienced people who get to ask the questions, and the others who have to understand what they've heard and answer -- a good idea, I think!

-GRG

Penwythnos cynnes olaf? / Last warm weekend?

Mae'r hydref yn llithro yn araf i ffordd. Roedd y penwythnos diwethaf yn cynnes ac yn hefryd, gan deil bron pob coeden wedi eu troi i felyn neu fflamgoch neu aur. Yn fuan byddan nhw yn hedfan ar y gwynt, ac yn syrthio i'r ddaear. Dyn ni'n cael rhew bron bob nos nawr, a mae lawer planhigion yr haf wedi marw. Ddoe mi torres i i lawr y planhigion tomatoes olaf, a roedd yn barod wedi marw. Mae gen i o hyd lawer o domatoes coch a gwyrdd yn y garaj a squash yn y gegin, a mae'r wynwyn gwyrdd yn dal i dyfu yn yr ardd llysiau, ond mae popeth arall wedi gorffen. Mor gyflam mae'r tymor wedi mynd!

Ddim ysgrifenu dros y penwythnos - roedden ni Dydd Sadwrn yn digwyddiad SCA, ac ddoe roeddwn i'n gweithio yn yr ardd. Gobeithio bydd y penwythnos nesaf yn wahanol!
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Autumn is slipping slowly away. Last weekend was warm and beautiful, with the leaves of almost all the trees having turned yellow or flame-red or gold. Soon they will be flying on the wind, and falling to the earth. We are getting frost almost every night now, and many of the summer plants have died. Yesterday I cut down the last tomatoe plants, which were already dead. I have still lots of red and green tomatoes in the garage and squash in the kitchen, and the green onions are still growing in the vegetable garden, but everything else is done. So quickly the season has gone!

No writing over the weekend - we were at an SCA event Saturday, and yesterday I was working in the garden. Hopefully next weekend will be different!

-GRG

Noswaith oer arall / another cold night

Roedd neithiwr yn noswaith oer arall. Y bore 'ma roedd rhew trwm ym mbobman - ar fyn nhryc, ar y glaswellt, a'r blodau. Roedd ia trwchus ar y bath adar am yr ail tro.
Pan cyrraeddes i gartref ddoe, roedd y planhigion tomatoes wedi marw. Bydd rhaid i mi eu tynnu nhw penwythnos nesaf. Roedd popeth yn y "cold-frame" a dan y blastig yn iawn.

Dw i wedi bod yn meddwl, fel gwnaf i ambell waith, sut roedd yr hydref i pobl yn yr oesoedd canol. Buodd yr haf wedi mynd, gan ei frwythiau a'i tywedd braf, a buodd y gaeaf yn dod yn fuan - amser tywyll, oer, a chaled. Roedd yr hydref yr cyfle olaf dathlu - pen draw yr hanner golau y flwyddyn.

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Last night was another cold night. This morning there was heavy frost everywhere - on my truck, on the grass, and on the flowers. There was thick ice on the birdbath for the second time. When I came home yesterday, the tomato plants were dead. I'll have to pull them up next weekend. Everything in the cold-frame and under the plastic was fine.

I have been thinking, as I do sometimes, how autumn was for people in the middle ages. Summer was gone, with its fruits and its fine weather, and winter was coming soon - a dark, cold and hard time. The autumn was the last opportunity to celebrate - the end of the light half of the year.

Penwythnos oer / a cold weekend

Roedd y tywydd yn oer yma Dydd Sadwrn a Dydd Sul - cymylau, man glaw, a gwynt bach cas o'r gogledd. Mi tynnais i'r tomatoes olaf - y rhan mwyaf ohonyn nhw yn dal yn wyrdd -a'r ciwcymers a'r basil, a rhoi amrhyw plantigion yn y "cold-frame". Y bore 'ma mae popeth yn yr ardd llysiau wedi rhewi. Mae gan dail y tomatoes cot ia clir a thrychus, yn edrych fel dwr - ond dwr sych a chaled. Efallai mae'r squash yn dal yn byw dan ei phabell blastig - wn i ddim. Mae'r haf wedi mynd yn wir.

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The weather was cold here Saturday and Sunday - clouds, drizzle, and a nasty little wind from the north. I picked the last tomatoes - the greater part of them still green - and the cucumbers and the basil, and put some plants in the cold-frame. This morning everything in the vegetable garden is frozen. The tomato leaves have a thick clear coat of ice, looking like water - but dry hard water. Maybe the squash is still alive under its plastic tent - I don't know. Summer has gone indeed.

-GRG

Summer's Gone / Mae'r Haf Wedi Mynd

Mae'r haf wedi mynd. Y bore 'ma pan mi ddes i allan o'r ty, welais i bod ni wedi cael rhew trwm dros nos. Roeddwn i wedi gorcuddio y tomatoes olaf a'r squash, ond wn i ddim os ydyn nhw wedi goroesi. Does dim ots, yn wir, oherwydd bydd mwy o rew yn cyrraedd Dydd Sadwrn - ac efallai, tipyn o eira! Mae'r hydref yma nawr!

(Dim ysgrifenu dros y Sul, dim ond garddio. Gobeithio, mi fydda' i'n gwneud mwy y penwythnos nesa'.)
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Summer's gone. This morning when I came out of the house, I saw we'd had a heavy frost overnight. I had covered the last tomatoes and the squash, but I don't know if they have survived. It doesn't matter, really, because more frost will arrive Saturday - and possibly a bit of snow! Autumn is here now!

(No writing this weekend, only gardening. Hopefully I'll get more done next weekend.)

-GRG

Busy week

Lots of this and that going on. Last weekend I finished another chapter of The Ash Spear, which makes 16 so far of an estimated 30 - figures on the sidebar as usual. Also Welsh classes started this week, and as a result I've been busy setting up a mailing list group and a blog for the class.

The garden is winding down, and I think we will probably have frost Sunday or Monday night - time to pick the rest of the tomatoes, protect the squash, and start moving semi-hardly plants into the cold frame for the winter. Then comes the garden clean-up... In and around this activity I hope to be writing more this weekend - the story is moving into a new phase, which should be interesting.

But that's another post.

-GRG

Another Autumn Day...

Another bright September morning. I'm supposed to be writing, but the sunshine in the garden keeps luring me outside. The asters are blooming as always at this time of year, and the bees and I are both enjoying them in our different ways.

Less writing progress this week due to various interruptions, but with luck I'll get another chapter done this weekend. In the meantime, I thought I would start occasionally including random bits from the first two books in this blog. The first sample is from the beginning of "Flight of the Hawk".
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It began on a bright spring evening two days before Beltane. The birds were singing passionately in the new-leafed trees; the cattle were lowing in the green fields outside the court; and I and my girl Rhiannedd were seated on a rough wooden bench close by Cyndrwyn’s mead-hall, passing some moments pleasantly enough until it was time to go inside for dinner. I had my arm around her slender waist, and was just about to kiss her, when we were interrupted by the sound of approaching horses. Into the muddy courtyard there rode three men, and two of them, to my astonishment, were familiar to me. The slight, dark man in the lead, Taliesin Ben Beirdd himself, I would know, I think, at the world’s end—always supposing that he himself wished it!—and his apprentice Neirin mab Dwywei’s dark red hair and lean build were hard to disguise by any light. The third man, a fair-haired youth who rode behind them and led their packhorses, was a stranger to me...
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Back to work now -- or maybe back to the garden!

-GRG

Nol i'r Cymraeg - Back to Welsh!

Mae'r hydref yma, a mae'r dosbarthiadau Cymraeg yn ail-dechrau yn fuan. Mae'r Colorado Welsh Society (CWS) yn eu cynnig nhw bob blwydden. Eleni bydd tri lefel gyda ni - dechreuwyr, canolradd, ac uwchraddol. Bydd y dosbarthiadau yn dechrau am yr 30ed Medi.

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Autumn is here, and Welsh classes are starting again soon. The Colorado Welsh Society (CWS) holds them every year. This year we will have three levels - beginners, intermediate, and advanced. The classes will start on September 30.