Love actually ...

Hi, it's Biskit. I haven't blogged for a while.

But I have something to tell you. Something exciting. It is about my new friend: Mia McCann.

She is a Yorkshire terrier.

And she is very pretty!

Mia is Andy’s dog and Andy visits Phoebe quite often … and, the rest of the time, Phoebe visits Andy and, sometimes, when Andy comes to our house, he brings Mia.

I like it when Mia comes to visit. We run up and down, around, the house sniffing. We gambol in the garden, with our tongues hanging out, panting. We drink out of the same water bowl and stare through the glass doors waiting.

We are like peas and carrots, Mia and I, jelly and ice cream.

Yesterday, Liz told me some very good news – she said Mia is going to become part of the family. I wasn’t sure what she meant at first. Was she moving in? Was I moving out? Was it going to be one of those weekend access kind-of-things?

But now, I have it all sorted.

You see, I love Mia, and Mia loves Andy, and Andy loves Phoebe and he … has asked her to marry him.

Yes, that’s right.

Phoebe has a ring on her finger and a smile on her face. She is like a rose in spring, a wattle in winter, the soft red tipped new growth on a gum tree.

She is engaged.

This means Liz will be Andy’s mother-in-law and Andrew will be Andy’s father-in-law. It means Jack, Seth and Priya will get a new brother-in-law and, of course, Ness will still be the best daughter-in-law. But, most of all, it means Mia and I will be related.

It is, of course, a little sad because when Phoebe gets married she won’t live here anymore. She will live with Andy. When she gets up in the morning she will have coffee with Andy. When she goes for a walk it will be with Andy. When she goes home … it will be with Andy.

Liz says it’s ok, that she will visit … sometimes, that when she comes to visit, she will bring Mia. Sometimes they will stay for lunch. Then Mia and I will race up and down the house with our paws skidding on the wooden floorboards. We will go in and out in and out of the back door, not sure whether to run in the garden or to stay with the family. We will tussle over toys and stand by the laundry cupboard begging for treats.

We are like peaches and cream, Mia and I, brandy and pudding.

She is the soft centre in my Cadbury Roses, and the liquorice in my all-sorts. She is my meat, dry biscuits and my marrow-bone-jelly. She is eyes and ears and a furry tummy. I think about her all day, every and throughout the day. I couldn’t stop, even if I tried.

I think it’s love actually.

My 'almost' good news ...

Hello People,

I just wanted to share my 'almost' good news. I entered my Welsh wartime story into the Phoenix Park short story competition. It didn't get a place, but it was one of those competitions that offer an assessment for $6.00 extra. Well, I have just heard back from Stuart Reedy (my new best friend). Here is a summary of what he said:

It just missed out on being short-listed (yeah! or is that booh?)

He enjoyed the narrative voice

I captured the character's innocence

I used enough detail to create an authentic picture

Metaphors like, a Guy Fawkes without stuffing, gave the character a really unique voice and took the story and event beyond cliche

That I obviously had a good feel for my subject matter (thanks to Doug and Joyce fore their drives around Port Talbot).

Characters are well drawn

Dialogue covered accents and personalities well.

Dear, sweet wonderful man this Stuart Reedy (I could kiss him)!

Here is why it wasn't shortlisted:

The story didn't take off until after page two (ok, so it's only an eight and a half page story).

The early stages were not quite powerful enough to grab the reader.

That's all! Two itty bitty little pages.

I should be able to bust my brains and fix that up - then it's the Bridport for me!

LOL!

Responding to a phone call ...

I haven't posted in Cymraeg for a while.

I bet you thought I was slacking off.

But rest assured the pursuit of bilingual proficiency is still gyda fi - with me.

Last week I learned about how to respond to phone calls. Now this is a great relief because, when I grow up, I want to live in Wales.

I plan to work in a library.

Now, I am presuming old ladies are the same all over the world. That somewhere in Wales there is a library, like my current branch, that specialises in services to the antiquarian female of the species.

Just in case you are not familiar with the antiquarian female. They are renowned for worrying about their fines - even when their seniority makes them exempt. They chase up their reservations with terrier like tenacity. They also like to speak to their favourite librarian - which can be a problem when a library service employs a new phone system, and their call no longer goes to a specific branch.

But not to worry. Now I have done Gwers un deg tri - that's lesson 73, I reckon I am now employable anywhere in the Welsh speaking world.

Here is how I think it will go:

It is 10:01 am. The library opens at ten, and if the antiquarian female is not pacing up and down outside the library door, she will be on the phone.

Bore da, ga i'n siarad gyda Rhiannon, os gwelwch chi 'n dda? - Good Morning, may I speak to Rhiannon, please.

O (that's, Oh, in Welsh), mae Rhiannon yn mewn y cyfarfod, bore ma. Ga i chi helpu chi? - Oh, Rhiannon is in a meeting. Can I help you?

Nage, unig Rhiannon - no, only Rhiannon (you gotta hand it to the elderly, they are persistent).

Ga i ymryd neges? - May, may I take a message

Wel, dw i 'n eisiau yn gwybod a Rhiannon wedi ffeindio fy llyfr - Well, I want to know whether Rhiannon found my book.

Beth ydy y llyfr enw? - What is the name of the book?

Dw i 'n ddim yn cofio enw. Roedd e'n enw doniol - I don't know the name. It was a funny name.

Gadw Rhiannon yn llyfr i ti? - Did Rhiannon reserve the book for you?

Wel, dydw i ddim yn gwybod! Dw i 'n eisiau gofyn Rhiannon - well, I don't know! I want to ask Rhiannon.

Ydych ch yn cael y card llyfragel? - Do you have a library card?

Wrth gwrs! - Of course!

Fe fyddi di 'n darllen y rhif yn y card cefn, os gwelwch chi 'n dda? - Will you read the number on the card, please?

Here, you must bear in mind that I have had to repeat these quetions a number of times, in a very loud voice, but I am not sounding harrassed or impatient. I am impeccably polite. It is the first thing we learn in library school - especially in regard to old ladies.

O, mae 'n dau, sero, sero, wyth, pedwar, sero, sero, dau, pump, naw, un, pump, dau, saith - Oh, it is: 20084002591527

Ydy y llyfr enw y Guernsey literary ac tynnu croen taten cymdeithas? - Was the name of the book, the Guernsey literary and potato peel society?

Ydy enw yna! Sut oeddet ti 'n gwybod? - Yes, that's the name! How did you know?

Fe welais i 'n ar y cyfriadur - I looked on the computer.

Wel, dyna deallus! - Well, there's clever!

That's it folks, five minutes in the life of a bilingual libararian.

I will not tell you how long it took me to write that crisp and rivetting piece of dialogue. Nor will I let myself think of the possible number of mistakes, contained therein.

I will simply sit back and await lucrative job offers from all around Wales. I will probably get Llareggub (that's buggerall backwards, in case you were thumbing through your dictionary).

So I won't be giving up my daytime job, just yet.

Guilt free chocolate ...

It is the season of Lent, a time when Christians traditionally reflect on the message of Easter.

Many denominations fast during this time.

Some give the money they have saved to the poor.

I go to a Baptist Church. We are not doing Lent (heaven forbid that we would be involved in something so ecumenical)! But we are doing a programme called 50:50. Which has a strong social justice focus – I have found myself really challenged by it.

Last week we had a message about consumption. The speaker challenged us to: Consume fairly; Consume ethically and Consume sustainably.

We were given a huge wad of information.

We were then encouraged to make small steps.

The two products that grabbed my attention most keenly were: chocolate and coffee.

My two vices – my two favourite things (apart from Andrew, of course)

These primary products for coffee and chocolate are cultivated primarily in developing nations. Child slavery is common. People are paid an unfair price for their beans. We saw a DVD on some Fair Trade companies.

It was inspiring.

This week I changed my coffee brand to Fair Trade. I am also looking at alternative chocolate sources. A student who is doing a placement at World Vision explained that Cadbury UK are committed to sourcing Fair Trade cocoa beans.

I Googled Cadbury Fair trade and found this link:

http://cadburydairymilk.typepad.com/fairtrade/

The opening message was as follows:

"100 years ago William Cadbury chose beans from Ghana. A year ago we founded the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership. And from Autumn 2009 Cadbury Dairy Milk will be Fairtrade certified. Welcome aboard."

Let’s hope Cadbury Australia will follow suit.

Imagine eating chocolate guilt free. I could get religion on that!

In the meantime, we can put the pressure on our supermarkets to stock Fair Trade coffee and chocolate, in fact, Fair Trade everything … Apparently Coles supermarkets stock Fair Trade Chocolate. I couldn’t find any at Safeway (and I searched pretty desperately).

I haven’t tried my Fair Trade coffee, yet. I am still finishing my previous, before-I-got-religion, packet. But last night, Andrew asked me what I was going to do if it didn’t taste nice.

‘Hey, this is religion,' I said. 'I’m not even going to think about it.'

I have blind unquestioning faith.

Mae fy mab, Seth

Dyma mae fy mab Seth – here is my son Seth

Mae e ’n un deg naw mlwydd oed, nawr – he is nineteen years old now.

Roedd e n penblwydd am mis Chwefror dau deg wyth – It was his birthday on February 28th

Mae fy mlog yn hwyr achos mae fy chyfrifriadur wedi cael yn firws ‘da fe – My blog is late because my computer had a virus.

Ond, fe gwnaethon ni yn dathlu! – But we did celebrate!

Fe aethon ni allan ar ginio – we went out for dinner

Fe fwyton ni ’n Little Creatures neuadd bwyta yn Brunswick – we ate at the Little Creatures Dining Hall in Brunswick.

Rydyn ni ’n wedi teimlo yn soffistigedig – we felt very sophisticated.

Mae fy merch Priya yn diflas, tipyn bach – My daughter Priya was a little bit bored.

Mae hi’n anodd i body yn ifancaf – It is difficult to be the youngest

Pen bywydd hapus, Seth!

My Welsh Class ...

I am studying Novel Two at TAFE this year and, I must say, it is nice to be back among my fellow writing wannabes. Sadly, the subject is on a Tuesday night, at the same time as my Welsh language class.

Now, I am not Hermione Granger. I cannot be in two places at once so, for one year only, Welsh will have to take second place. I will not give up on the language entirely. I have an iPod and audio lessons from BBC Catchphrase and the Rosetta Stone language program.

I will not fall behind!

In an effort to reinforce my progress, I am going to publish some of my lessons. Now I know this may alienate the majority of my readers (you know, my husband and my brother), and confound others (that’s you Fiona). But fortunately it will not seriously impact my blogging income ;-).

In the past, when I have put Welsh on my blog, I have had it corrected by my teacher, beforehand. But seeing as I now have no, official, teacher, you will see my linguistic skills in their pure and unadulterated form.

If anyone out there would like to correct my work, please leave a comment in the comment box.

Otherwise, be prepared for awe.

I am currently studying: gwers saith deg dau (that’s lesson 72 for the uninformed) It is: trafod y teulu (about the family). My prose may get tipynbach (a little) repetitive. But overlook that and – gollwch i ti, (lose yourself), in the poetry (or butchery) of the language.

Dwy enw Lisabeth – my name is Elizabeth.

Mae fy ŵr enw Andrew – my husband’s name is Andrew.

Roeddwn ni ‘n briodi am dau deg pump blynyddoedd – We have been married for twenty five years (Andrew that is your cue to make a loving comment).

Rydyn ni ‘n cael yn plant pedwar, dwy ferch a dau fab, gyda i ni – we have four children, two daughters and two sons.

Mae fy mab hynaf enw, Jack.

Mae fy merch hynaf enw, Phoebe.

Mae fy mab iau enw, Seth.

Mae fy merch iau enw, Naomi Priya.

I think you can work that out. Here are some clues: enw = name; hynaf = elder; and iau = younger.

See, Welsh is easy!

Mae Jack ‘n dau deg pedwar flwydd oedd – Jack is twenty four years old. Mae ei wraig enw Vanessa – His wife’s name is Vanessa.

Rydyn ni ‘n byw o Canberra – they live in Canberra.

Mae Phoebe yn dau deg un flwydd oedd. Mae hi’n ddi-briod. Phoebe is twenty one years of age. She is not married.

Mae Seth yn un deg naw oedd a mae Naomi yn un deg pedwar oedd– Seth is nineteen and Naomi is fourteen. Mae nhw yn ddi-briod, wrth gwrs! – they are not married, of course.

Mae fy Mam yn byw o Adelaide – my Mum lives in Adelaide.

Mae fy mrawd yn byw o Malawi, canolbarth Affrica, gyda ei deulu – My brother lives in Malawi, Central Africa, with his family.

Mae fy Mam daeth yn Gymru yn wreithiol – My Mum comes from Wales, originally.

Mae fy mrawd a i fi gawson ni ngeni yn Loegr – My brother and I were born in England.

Roedd ein Tad yn Saesneg –My Dad was an Englishman.

Fe symoddon ni yn Awstralai ym mil nawr chwech nawr – We moved to Australia in 1969.

Are you confounded?

Yes, so am I!

Mostly by the mistakes I'm certain I have made.

But I am going to put this on my blog anyway.

I hope some of my Welsh class take pity on me (an exile for the arts) and respond with corrections.

Hwyl

Lisabeth

A prayer for the still warm earth

Oh God, we are shocked by the fires that swept through areas of our state, indeed our nation.

As we sit in the comfort of our lounge, watching a flickering TV screen, we experience a roller coaster of emotion.

We feel gratitude for the roof over our heads. We feel horror at the way people have died. We ache for those who have lost everything. Words can't express the sorrow we feel for those who have lost dear friends and family. Because in our anguish, we need to feel something bigger than ourselves, we come before you on our knees.

For those who have lost people they love, we ask for comfort and a time to grieve.

For those who have lost their homes, we ask for material benefits.

For those who are even now fighting for their lives, we ask your blessing.

For those facing a long and difficult recovery, we ask courage.

For those who have only been affected from afar, we pray generosity.

For those frightened by own narrow escapes, we ask peace.

For those who may have unwittingly contributed to the damage, we ask mercy.

For those who have knowingly caused harm, we ask justice.

Lord, we cry out over the still warm earth, and ask you to hear us.