Mae periant bara gyda fi - I have a bread machine

Rhoidd ein plant i ni beriant bara am Nadolig – Our children gave us a bread machine for Christmas.

Yn gyntaf, ro’n i’n synnu gan y anrhegion – at first, I was surprised by the gift. 

Dw i ddim yn ‘domestic goddess’ neu ‘earth mother’ – I am not a domestic goddess or an earth mother. 

Dw i wedi bod gwybod i ddweud ‘best thing’ ac ‘sliced bread’ yn y un frawddeg – I have been known to say best thing and sliced bread in the same sentence. 

Ond y mwy meddyliais i e, y mwy wnes i sylweddoli  roedd e’n syniad da – But the more I thought about it, the more I realised, it was a good idea. 

Dw i ddim yn gallu bwyta gwenith – I can’t eat wheat. 

Prynais i bara arbenigedd a rhio e yn y rhwegell – I buy specialty bread and put it in the freezer. 

Ond fy ngŵr, Andrew, ddim yn hoffi bara wedi i rewi – But my husband, Andrew, doesn’t like frozen bread. 

Mae fe’n prynu bara ffres – he buys fresh bread. Ond wedyn, mae gormod o fara gyda ni – but then we have too much bread. 

Mae rhaid i ni daflu e yn y bin yn aml – we have to thow it in the bin often.

Roedd periant bara yn syniad da – the bread machine was a good idea!

Darllenais i llyfr gwydbodaeth – I read the information book. 

Wedyn, es i allan a prynu y blawd arbenigedd – then I went out and bought the specialty flour. 

Roedd amser yn dechrau – it was time to begin. 

Wnes i mesuro y blawd ac y ‘yeast’ yn ofalus ar fy nghlorian newydd – I measured the four and the yeast carefully on my new scales. 

Wnes i dywallt y dŵr mewn – I poured the water in. Ac wedi troi y periant ymlaen – and turned the machine on. 

Wedyn arhosais i ac arhosais i – then I waited and I waited. 

Cymerodd y periant pedair a hanner awr i bobi y bara - the machine took four and a half hours to bake the bread. Ond pan daeth e allan o'r periant roedd e’n berffaith – But when it came out of the machine, it was perfect.

Diolch yn fawr plant – thanks very much kids!

Mae'n ddrwg da fi am y llunia yn ddrwg - apologies for the bad photos (and Welsh). 

Dw i ddim gallu bod yn dda yn bopeth - I can't be good at everything. :-)

Great little giant

Cawr mawr bychan — great little giant,

Cryf cadarn gwan, gwynion ruddiau — strong, mighty weakling, pale of cheek.

Cyfoethog tlawd — poor wealthy one,

A'n Tad a'n Brawd, awdur brodiau … our Father and Brother, author of brothers ...

Isel uchel — low and high,

Emmanuael, mêl feddyliau … Emmanuel of honeyed thoughts ...

Pali ni myn — he won't have silk,

Nid urael gwyn ei gynhiniau — of no white weaving are his rags;

Yn lle syndal — no fine linen

Ynghylch ei wâl gwelid carpiau … where he lies, only tatters ...

Ei leferydd — and his words

Wrth fugelydd, gwylwyr ffaldau — are for shepherds, the fold-watchers,

Engyl yd fydd — there'll be angels

A nos fal dydd dyfu'n olau- like day, night will become bright ...

Nos lawenydd — a night for joy

I lu bedydd; byddwn ninniau — for all Christendom; so let us be.

This lovely poem was written by Brother Madog sometime in the twelfth century.

Gwlyio y pel-droed - watching the football

Mae heddiw yn y rownd terfynol o bel-droed, rheolau Awstralian – today is the final round of Australian rules football. 


Dyn ni’n enw e 'r ‘Grand Final'  – we call it the Grand Final.

Mae gyfrianchol gyda fi – I have a secret. Dw i ddim yn hoffi pel-droed – I don’t like football. Dydy e ddim yn Awstralian iawn – this is not very Australian. Efallai, dw i’n gwylio y pel-droed gyda fy nghwr, Andrew, prynhawn yma – Therefore, I am watching football with my husband Andrew, this afternoon.

Dyma ydy e'n bwyta creision – here he is eating crisps.

Mae fe’n gallu bwyta creision achos mae fe’n mynd i feicio bob dydd Sadwrn yn y mynydd – he is able to eat crisps because he cycles every Saturday in the mountains. Dw i ddim yn bwyta creision achos dw i’n cysgu bob dydd Sadwrn yn y gwely gwastad – I am not able to eat crisps because I sleep in every Saturday, on a flat bed.

Achos, dw i ddim hoffi chwaraeon, dweudais i i fy nghwr – bydda i’n gwylio y pel-droed os dw i’n gallu gweithio yn fy nghyfrifriadur a yfed coffi. Because I don’t like sport, I said to my husband – I will watch the football if I can work on my computer and drink coffee.

Dw i’n cael y prynhawn hfryd – I am having a lovely afternoon. Dw i wedi ysgrifennu llthyr i fy Nghefnder yn Gymru – I have written a letter to my cousin in Wales. Dw i’n ysgrifennu y blog yma, nawr – now, I am writing this blog.

Fel i ddweud, dw i ddim yn hoffi pel-droed – like I said, I don’t like football. Ond dw i’n gobeithio bod y tîm Gathod yn enill – but I hope Geelong wins.

Pam? Why?

Pryd, daeth fy nheulu o Lloegr i Awstralia, daethon ni fyw yn dref Geelong – when my family came from England to Australia, we lived in Geelong. Roedd fy Nhad yn gweithio i ‘Ford’ – my dad was working for Ford. Effallai, dw i’n gobeithio bod tîm Geelong yn enill, heddiw – therefore, I hope Geelong wins today.

Mae nhw yn enill, nawr, am y trydydd chwarter – they are winning now, at he third quarter. Mae y gêm yn mynd yn gyffrous – yn gyffrous iawn, iawn. The game is getting exciting – very, very exciting.
Mae rhaid i fi stopio ysgrifennu, nawr – I must stop writing now. 

Edrych â y gêm – watch the game.

Efallai, dw i’n gwneud hoffi pel-droed tipyn bach – perhaps, I do like football, a little bit.

Efallai, dw i’n tipyn bach Awstralian, hefyd – perhaps I am a little bit Australian too.


Mae flin da fi, am fy nrwg Cymraeg - sorry about my bad Welsh. :-)

How to make Pice Bach

Life has been unbelievably busy since returning home - with interviews, articles to write, library work to catch up on, a language to keep learning, and a family all deserving of my time.

I have thought about blogging so many times, but it has never quite happened. Today, at last I show up with a recipe. The Anglicised name for this sweet treat is Welsh cakes. But the Cymraeg is so much more evocative - Pice Bach ar y maen - little cakes baked on the stone.

Cynhwsion - Ingredients

• 8 owns blawd hunan-codi (hint: hunan-codi means self raising)
• 3 owns menyn (butter)
• pinsio halen (I leave the salt out)
• 3 owns cwrens (currants)
• pinsio sbeis cymsyg (mixed pice)
• Wy (an egg - the w is supposed to have a little accent but I don't know how to achieve this, yet)
• tipyn bach llaeth i gymysgu (a little milk to mix)

Dull - method

• Rhwbio 'r menyn i mewn i'r blawd hunan-codi nes iddo edrych fel brwision bara - rub the butter into the self raising flour until it looks like the bread crumbs 
• Ychwanegu y cynhwysion sych, yr wy a 'r llaeth - add the dry ingredients, the egg and the milk
• Cymysgu i does ffyrm - mix to a firm dough
• Rholio allan, a thorri yn grwn - roll out and cut into rounds
• Pobi ar y maen dros wres cymedrol - cook on the stone (cast iron pan will do) over a medium heat.

Mmm ... delicious - mwynhau!

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.