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Harry and Oliver are off to college on Monday. Emma, their mother, is breathing a sigh of relief.
Ihad coffee and crisps with the boys and a friend of their's recently.
The friend was returning to universityfor his second year studying physics. I asked if he likes it and he did.
Harrywas unsure about how much more education he could'stand'. Oliver nodded agreement.
The friend said they'd be fine once theygot started on their courses.'You get addicted to learning' he told them. The boys looked amazed.
'What? You get addicted to learning?'
('Can't see that happening to them', Emma said, when I told her).
The trouble is, Harry and Oliver havebeen talking to friends taking a 'gap' year.
'What are the benefits ofit?' I enquired tentatively.
They had their answers:
'You get a break from study'.
'You come back more mature'.
'You come back ready to learn' (!)
'It looks good on your CV'.
Employers are culpable for putting too much emphasis on the benefits of a gap year. Students taking gap years are a year behind when applying for jobs and a year behind when seeking promotion.
I went to my school year's reunion a while ago. Most of my classhad left school at seventeen, goingstraight into jobs like the bank or Civil Service. They hadsupported themselves for most of their lives. Money was in shorter supply at that time and education was seen as an expensive 'extra'.
Whilstthat situation was not ideal, many got promoted in their jobs andended up a long way from where they had started.
Education is a contentious issue. It is a privilege, too. Knowledge is power. Never underestimate it.
Today was Day 2 of NAFOW. Lots of wonderful people came to our booth and I, personally, had a swell day of talking to people about books :D which I love.
Today's activities included the beginning of the eisteddfod, with Adult Recitation; a bunch of seminars, including genealogy by Darris Williams (americymru member) and others, the history of Welsh law, Welsh language , Welsh history in Ohio and a lot more . Tonight was the banquet, with entertainment by Megan Morris and Alan and Greta Upshall, which I missed but peeked in for a pic.
Today Wales [Footie/Soccer team]got their 1st win in the Euro 2012 qualifiers.They beat Montenegro 2-1.
Steve Morrisson slid home his 1st ever international goal after David Vaughan sent in a low cross.Wales captain [Arsenals]Aaron Ramsey scored the 2nd after Gareth Bale [Spurs]cut the ball back to him.This is Wales 1st win under new manager Garry Speed and their new captain.Well done boys.
Next up it's the big one England at Wembley on Tues.Game will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel.2.30pm Eastern.Les Jenkins.
Peter told me he'd been readingthat supermarket bread contains relatively lowlevels of salt compared tospecialist 'artisanal' baked bread.
He's fond of bread andeatsa few slicesa day, but has to watch his blood pressure.
'Don't worry about it', I replied.'You would probably haveto eat quite a lot of salty bread before itraised your blood pressure'.
Usually, I don't eatbread but Iate thebreakfastbread in Cannes and the croutons and tapenade supper-time.
Katekept remarking onthe armfuls of bread batons French women bought.
A book she'd read claimed French women don't get fat because they eat only small portions of delicious food. 'But they're alwaysbuying bread', she said,incredulously.
'We haven't actually seen them eating it, though', I pointed out. 'Perhaps it's for theirfamilies.'
By the week's end, Kate had come to a conclusion. 'It's not that they eat small amounts. They just don't eat'. She had a book title in mind: 'Forget food.Have an expresso and a'smoke' instead', because that's allmany people around us were having.
'Anyone who doesn't eat can bethin', she declared. (I could see another good book titlethere).
One evening, Maudiewanteda bedtime storyso I told herabout the 'Lady of the Lake.' (I had just seen part ofa television programme about rebuilding the village hall in Myddfai.)
As life is short and my story long, I shall askyou toforgive me foreditingthis tale.
A shepherd boy fell in love with a beautiful woman who emerged from a lake called 'Llyn-y- Fan- Fach' ,which isin the Black Mountainsof Carmarthenshire.
Attempting to share hisbread with her, she spurned him, saying, 'Cras dy fara, Ni hawdd fy nala'- 'Your bread is hard, you will not catch me'.
That night, his mother heardwhat had happened.
She suggestedofferingsomedamp dough the next day, because the ladylived in the water and might prefer it.
Next day, the girl was offeredthe bread mixture, but mocked him. 'Llaith dy fara','Damp your bread, I will not have thee.'
Dejectedly, the boy related to his mother what had occurred. Her suggestion was thathetry a half-baked loaf the following day.
All the nextday the shepherd lingered by the lake but with no sign of his love. Evening fell andhe was about to go home when he threw the bread in the water and the lady appeared. This time, she accepted his gift and his marriage proposal butshe made some conditions.
If he struck her three times, even very gently, he would lose her.
They were married and, in time,a baby boy was born. One day, when the lady was slow getting ready for a christening, her husband put his hand on her back andurged her to hurry.
'Blow number one', she declared.
Thenthey had a second son. Attending a wedding shortly afterwards she cried loudly. Her husband tapped her arm, in an effort to comfort her and quieten her.She told him that was the second time he had struck her.
Shortly after havingathird son the husband and wife attendeda funeral, where the ladylaughed uncontrollably.
This resulted in her husbandslapping her cheek.lt was the third blow and she disappeared into the lake, never to return, leaving her husbandand their three sons distraught.
The lady'slegacy was to endow her sons with the gift of healing. Their fame spreadand theywere known as the 'Physicians of Myddfai'.
NEWS!!! "That Feeling" (written by D.Parry/L.Williams) wins a semi-finalist position in the 2011 UK Songwriting Contest judged by top industry professionals (score 8/10).
This follows a win in the awards in 2004 ("Reality") and finalist position in 2008 ("Slippin' Away").
More info at: http://www.songwritingcontest.co.uk
Ceri and I made it to Cleveland, Ohio, to go to this year's North American Festival of Wales. We've set up our table in the Welsh Marketplace with David Western's incredible 2011 West Coast Eisteddfod Lovespoon on display and piles of great books from Y Llofa and Cinnamon Press heaped high in front of us and more incredible titles from the University of Wales, via the University of Chicago Press, behind us.
When we got in, we were very happy to find that lovespoon carver Laura Gorun is sitting right across from us. She and David Western collaborated on last year's gorgeous LCE lovespoon but I hadn't ever got to meet her in person and neither had Ceri. Her work is completely incredible, totally different than any other spoon I'd ever seen - very delicate and full of curves and beautiful detail. She laid out dozens of spoons along the table in front of her and then sat down and pulled out her tools and continued working on a new spoon. She said that all her spoons are carved by hand, she never uses power tools, which is amazing when you see the detail on them and how thin she gets some of the elements. You can see some more of her spoons on her site: http://www.blakespa.com/
On our other side is My Grandmother's Teapot , with three tables heaped with gorgeous stuff - all kinds of beautiful pots and cups, quilted covers for tea pots, runners and aprons and napkins and other linens, Glengettie tea from the UK, some Welsh dolls, jewelry and a lot more. I've fallen in love with a beautiful tea set with daffodils on it and the Glengettie tea, which I hadn't ever had before - the ladies at the booth cackled evilly when I said I drank Lipton, called me a Glengettie virgin and said I'd be addicted after my first cup, and they were right, it was really good tea.
The Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project is just down from us and at their table you can get information about getting translations from Y Drych, the more than a hundred year old America-Welsh newspaper which once listed every arrival from Wales and all their births, deaths, marriages and news, as well as copies of "Hanes Cymry America = A History of the Welsh in America (1872)" - I'm still reading this and will do a review but this book is an inventory of Welsh communities in the United States in 1872 and is an original primary source document, absolutely packed with the most amazing historical and genealogical information about Welsh heritage in the US and if you're interested in that (and I am), it's gold.
I also went over to the Infamous Welsh Cookie Company table and they have lots of delicious flavors this year (some of which are also in this year's tea room), including traditional Welsh cakes, chocolate mint, blueberry, pumpkin raisin, lemon sunflower, apricot almond, cranberry orange, chocolate peanut butter and limited supplies of two new flavors they're introducing: spiced apple cranberry and coffee cocoa almond. So far I tried the cranberry orange and it was delicious.
Lots more to look at - the Moch Pryderi table and they're performing as I write, and more and more and more! If you're at NAFOW this year, come say hello to us in the market room!
I was young in the age when you visited your relatives and enjoyed it.
I had twin cousins in Llanelli, both members of the 'Hywel Girls' Choir'. (This has nothing to do with my story but someone might be interested).
On one of my visits, theytook meto the 'twlc' (pigsty) in the garden where a piglet was snuffling and grunting his way through a moundof vegetable peelings.
This wasthe rescuedrunt of a litter, who had been very small but was now very porky (sorry) on the twenty four hour buffet they plied him with.
Whenthegate ofPiglet's run was openedhe raced across the grass and into the kitchen, where he appeared to be quite at home, eating the food in the cat's saucer.
After much squealing (his and ours) we shooshed him back into his temporary accommodation and made our way to the corner shop, a herbalist's.
Mr Jones sold dried nettles to make a teawhich was claimed to cleanse the blood. It was especially effective in spring time when there was a lot of weakness around ('gwendid', he used to say).
Herecommended mustard baths andsoaking the feet in a pan of hot water and mustard if suffering from a cold. The steam from hot water and mustard helped unblock sinuses if inhaled.
Ginger, infused in boiling water with a teaspoon of honey and a sliced lemon, soothed a sore throat, and tastedpretty good
He had a myriad other things on the wooden shelves but we were there for the Spanish Root, of which my cousins were much fonder than I; to me it felt like chewing old rope but the name was exotic and appealing.
I've always liked liquorice, which contains extract of the root. Recently a pharmacist told me too much liquorice can causeblood pressure to shoot up.
(I don't think the sweets contain very much liquorice but best to be careful).
I was in Carmarthen today and, like most towns, it has it's fair share of health food shops. This made me wonder why these shopsare so popular:are we convinced of the power of herbs or merely cynical about conventional medicines?
On August 24 last week, exactly at ten o'clock at night, we watched afireworks display, held to celebrate the liberation of Cannes, which occurred sixty seven years ago.
We had gatheredon the Croisette with hundreds of others, manyof whom had come fromNice by train.
In the morning,aplatoon representing the 51 Highland Division marched past, and Ffion was very taken with their mascot, a colliedog. In one of the quieter streets a tablehad a displayof gasmasks and helmets from World War 11. An elderly lady, who was helping on the stall, wore a flowered dress from the 1940's, which was accessorised by a beret, army boots and socks.
There was a large gathering atthe Memorial and 'God Save the Queen' was sung. One hundred vehicles took part, including Sherman tanksusedfrom 1942to 1945 andthe jeeps were decorated with French and American flags.
In the evening, weate early at the 'Grand Cafe', afterwards sittingdown with ice-creams on the Croisette, watchingas a few jeeps went by. Crowds began thronging the pavements, spilling over into the road then, when darkness fell, the fireworks shot into the sky, framed by the dark silhouette of palm trees. Green, red, gold and silver stars formedgreat arcs of light, which went on for half an hour.
Opera music was played and the voice of Andrea Bocelli brought proceedings to an end.
A night to remember and one to be grateful for.
The MeetUp group of American ex-pats in Cardiff are looking for helpers to organise their monthly meet-ups in the real, not 'virtual' world.
Can you help? Follow this link for details.
R
Kate wanted to go to Antibes, a distance of less than fifteen minutes on the train from Cannes, to see the Picasso Museum.I'dbeen told by people renting a villa there that it wasa small place, with not much to see,but we were undeterred.
The way to the museum was through the old part of the town and, as the temperature had reached the nineties, we were glad ofthe shadynarrow streets.
We stopped to study sardine tin labels in one shop window. Littleworks of art, they showed wicker baskets brimmingwithharvests ofsilver fish and boats with names like 'Stella Maris', Star of the Sea. It waswith difficulty I resistedbuying a tin but I compensated that night by having large, herbstuffed sardines inCannes, with a bowl of my favourite 'pommes frites'. (I'll have sardines on thickly buttered toast later this week, too).
Then I popped into the Yves Rocher shopand bought a coral shade of lipstick and blusher.
Ah, the distractions for the unwary are plentiful and the next one was the market.
'Madame, tapenade?' 'Oui, Merci!'
As I made my way around the stalls, I was given an apricot, a shaving of fromage, a strawberry, an oliveand a crouton. Iused a wet wipe to tidy myself up.
The next delight wasthe salt stall with its box of Rochelle Salt. We use this every day in the hope it will help Peter's thyroid problem, as it isrichin essential minerals. First prepared in the 17th centuryby Pierre Seignette of La Rochelle, it is only in recent yearsthat I have come across it. Kate uses pink Himalayan salt, packed with eighteen different minerals and they had this, too, plus many others.
Sunflowers, lavender from Provence, apricot and raspberryconfiture, olive oils, jars of pickled squid, bunches of herbs andfreshly cookedpancakes gave a lingering pungencyto the air, but the Museum was just a few steps away and wehurried over, afraidit might close at midday.
Housed in an old building,weviewed the Picasso paintings and some of the artist's pottery.To see these works, near towherehe had a studio at one time, was poignant.
Afterwards, we walkedin the grounds of the Museum and took photographsof each other withthe coastline of Antibes in the background.
We were ready for foodnow, so found a little place where we could eat black olive bread spread withsalt butterand huge salads. Someone told us that Roman Abramovich wanted to dock his yacht, 'The Eclipse'in 'Billionaire's Quay' but theeight hundred million pounds boat was too large for the harbour and remained outat sea.
As we walked back to the train station, I saw some graffitti. From the mouth of a painted cow came a word bubble: 'ici pas de pizza ou de caviar?' I think we hadtasted both, actually.
