Helo Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Diolch am yr holl waith yr ydych wedi gwneud ac am rannu eich lluniau! Roedd o'n hynod o galed i ddewis dim ond pum enillydd. Mae'r lluniau a ddewiswyd yn dod o ysgolion yng Nghymru sef ddim cymryd rhan yn y prosiectau estyniad Edina. Os ydych yn cymryd rhan yn y prosiectau estyniad Edina fydd eich llun hefo cyfle o ennill cystadleuaeth nhw, a bydd yr Edina yn cyhoeddi enillwyr yn fuan.

Dyma'r enillwyr:

Severn Primary School

Ysgol Trellech

Ysgol San Sior

Ysgol Abererch

Ysgol Pennant

Bydd eich gwobrau yn y post erbyn wythnos nesa Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn.

Rwyf isio ddweud diolch mawr i bob ysgol a rhannodd ei lluniau. Oedd o’n hyfryd gweld y gwaith rydych wedi gwneud, fallu plîs cadwch ymlaen yn rhannu gyda ni!

Cafodd llawer o sylwadau diddorol ei rhannu gyda’r cofnodion tywydd wythnos dwytha. Dyma rhai ohonyn nhw:

Eich sylwadau

YGG Tonyrefail: Mae wedi bod yn wythnos sych iawn....a very dry week Professor Plant!

Ysgol Tal y Bont: Mae'n oeri yn araf yn nhal y bont wythnos yma yr athro planhigin

St. Charles Primary School: The weather this week was cold and mostly dry.

The Blake CE Primary School: It has been a bit damp this week especially at the end of the week. It is starting to feel a lot colder as winter is coming.

St Robert's R.C Primary School: It's been getting colder!!

Boston West Academy: We think the weather has been warmer than we would have expected for this time of year and there has been hardly any rain.

Darran Park Primary: We have noticed that the temperature has started to drop over the week. It has been mostly dry, however, there was a shower on Thursday night.

Ysgol Iau Hen Golwyn: It was fun. There wasn't much rain.

Broad Haven Primary School: A dry sunny week cold in the mornings but warm by the afternoon. Rain expected this weekend -but only showers

Stanford in the Vale Primary School: Monday we had no school. Enjoying looking at our planted bulbs! We have had some frosty mornings.

Carnbroe Primary School: We have had a sunny, dry but cold week. We have decided to make predictions about our bulbs and we are all excited to find out what will happen.

Henllys CIW Primary: We have had no rain and we have been allowed out to play!!!

Hudson Road Primary School: It has been really nice Autumn weather. We hope our bulbs are warm in the soil.

Ysgol Rhys Prichard: First frost of the Autumn this Wednesday!

Auchenlodment Primary School: We all enjoyed collecting the data and from next week we will work in pairs to collect the data.

Trellech Primary School: Thank you for letting us complete the bulb activity we really enjoyed taking our measurements. Diolch yn fawr.

Professor Plant: Thank you for taking part Bulb Buddies, I’m glad that you are enjoying the project!

Breckon Hill Primary School: We have measured the temperature and the rainfall in the location of the pots (front of the school) and in the flower beds (at the back of the school). We have noticed that it is slightly warmer at the front of the school as this area gets a little bit more sun.

Professor Plant: It’s fantastic that you are observing these differences and logging them Bulb Buddies! Which bulbs do you think will flower first?

Our Lady of Peace Primary School: This was our first week. Mr Kelly showed us what to do.

Barmston Village Primary School: We are noticing some liquid in the rain gauge when it has not rained. We think it is like the dew that has been on the grass as there is only a little bit of it.

Professor Plant: Hi Bulb Buddies, well done for noticing the liquid and questioning how it will have come to be in the rain gauge! I suspect that you are right and that the water is the result of dew forming inside the gauge. Air contains water vapour, and the higher the temperature the more water vapour it contains. When the temperature drops (as it often does overnight) the air cools and releases the water vapour it has been carrying. When surfaces or objects cool to the point that the air around them can no longer contain its level of water vapour, the air will condense and form droplets on the surface of the object. Fantastic Work Bulb Buddies!

Law Primary School: All pupils in Primary 5 have really enjoyed planting the daffodils and crocus. They are working in pairs to record rainfall and temperature each day.

On a bright and breezy Saturday morning in September an enthusiastic group of children and adults gathered at the Mumbles in wellies and hi-vis jackets ready for a Big Beachcomb.

The Beachcomb was the first activity of Swansea Museum’s Lost Treasures of Swansea Bay project, which is being funded by the Saving Treasures; Telling Stories project based at Amgueddfa Cymru.

Led by Paul Huckfield of the Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust and Mark Lodwick of the Portable Antiquities Scheme Cymru we set out with the retreating tide to see what treasures of Swansea’s past we could find.

Searching

The vast expanse of mud, sand, rocks and shallow pools did not look promising at first. But almost as soon as we had set off Paul was showing us the blackened and glistening remains of a prehistoric forest. Within another hour he had pointed out the sites of seven shipwrecks, old mooring points and other remains of Swansea’s maritime past.

On the surface of the shore we found hundreds of pieces of old pottery, metalwork, animal bones, glassware and pieces of clay pipe. A particularly evocative find was the base of a wine bottle, dating back to the 1600s.

The glass was thick, and so dark that you could only see its muddy green colour by holding it up to the sun. This was a high-status object - once, it would have held a decent vintage rather than plonk.

Collecting

When enough pieces had been collected in carefully labelled bags we laid them out on the slipway and sorted them into categories with the help of Paul and Mark – ceramics, glass and metalware, organic material.

Imagining

We speculated about who the objects had belonged to, when they were made, and how they ended up in Swansea Bay. Some, such as the bottle and some of the pots, were imported items – could they have been among the cargoes of one of the wrecked ships? Had the pipes been smoked by sailors and fishermen with wheezy chests? Were the bones the remains of their dinner?

Our treasures have now been taken back to Swansea Museum where they will be studied by the Young Archaeologists Club and used as inspiration for the Dylan Thomas Centre’s Young Writers Squad.

Look out for the next chapter in their history in a future blog.

This week we managed to combine cleaning floors with a fitness routine and aroma therapy.  Who said housework can't be Fun!

Hannah Glasse, writing in her 18th century books ‘Servant’s Directory ‘ and ‘Housekeeper’s Companion’, advised using green herbs to clean wooden floors.
We couldn't resist having a go and it just happened that the floorboards in our 18th century Kennixton farmhouse required a bit of attention.

Like us today in the conservation team, wetting floors to clean them was considered to be a bad idea in the 18th century. It would introduce damp into the house and excess water could damage furniture and precious soft furnishings and carpets. 
Hannah recommended taking green leaves of Tansy, Lemon balm, Mint and Fennel, all of which we have growing in abundance in the cottage gardens. The herbs are then strewn across the floor and rubbed in with a broom.  The oils are released and nourish the wood, while the moisture activates the dirt, which is then taken up by the leaves.

We left the floor to dry overnight before sweeping up the debris the next day. Hannah then recommends polishing the floor with a dry rubbing brush, which should bring the wood up to a fine brown colour, just like mahogany. 

The herbs would also impart a sweet smell creating a natural air freshener. An added bonus for us is that the herbs Hannah recommended are also natural pest repellents that we normally dry and use throughout the cottages to protect our woollen textiles from moth or carpet beetle attack, so hopefully the lingering aroma will also deter pests from making a home.

It worked! All that Hannah promised came true. Our wooden floors appeared darker and shinier and the smell was amazing, we’ll definitely be doing this again.
 

Helo Cyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Rwy’n gobeithio bod pawb wedi mwynhau eu gwyliau hanner tymor!

Rwyf isio ddweud diolch mawr i bawb am eich gwaith caled ar y diwrnod plannu. Cafodd 13,829 o fylbiau ei blannu ar draws y wlad! Welais o’r llunia bod pawb wedi cael llawer o hwyl yn helpu!

Mae Cofnodion Tywydd yn cychwyn o 1 Tachwedd. Plîs wnewch yn siŵr bod eich mesurydd glaw ai’ch thermomedr wedi ei chadw mewn lle addas wrth ymyl eich bylbiau, fel medrwch gymryd eich mesurau cyntaf pnawn fory!

Mae’n syniad da i ymarfer cymryd cofnodion tywydd. Fedrwch chi wneud hyn wrth ychwanegu dŵr at y mesurydd glaw a chymryd mewn tro i gofnodi’r mesur. Wedyn, fedrwch gymharu i weld os mae pawb wedi cymryd yr un mesur.

Mae 'na adnoddau dysgu ar y wefan i helpu paratoi am gymryd cofnodion tywydd. Rwyf wedi atodi hyn rhag ofn bod rhai heb ei gweld eto. Mae’r adnodd hyn yn helpu ymateb cwestiynau pwysig fel ‘pam mae mesur tywydd yn bwysig i’n harbrawf o’r effaith mae’r hinsawdd yn cael ar ddyddiad blodeuo bylbiau gwanwyn’!

Defnyddiwch eich siart tywydd i gofnodi'r glaw a’r tymheredd pob ddiwrnod ysgol. Ar ddiwedd yr wythnos, cofnodwch mewn i’r wefan i rannu eich canfyddiadau. Fedrwch hefyd gadael sylwadau a chwestiynau i fi ymateb yn fy blog nesaf!

Dylai ysgolion sef yn cymryd rhan yn brosiectau ychwanegol yr Edina Trust rhannu ei chanlyniadau wythnosol ar wefan Moodle yr Edina Trust hefyd.

Plîs gadewch i mi wybod sut ydych yn wneud. A rhannwch luniau trwy Twitter ac e-bost.

Cadwch ymlaen a'r gwaith called Gyfeillion y Gwanwyn,

Athro’r Ardd

It’s a strange sensation, being guided across a street blindfolded. Time slows. Distance is distorted, directions skewed. You become acutely aware of changes in the surface under your feet; shadows; things unseen brushing past your arm or cheek.

Being the guide is less disorientating but can be just as strange. Knowing that you have complete responsibility for getting someone safely to their destination is unnerving. The street suddenly becomes your enemy. Cracks and kerbs, streetlamps, benches, bins become anxiety-inducing obstacles – and don’t get me started on the cars!

The training was delivered by our friends at Cardiff Institute for the Blind, who have been helping us pilot our audio description tours for blind and visually impaired visitors. We wanted to practice our guiding skills, but also to experience what it’s like to be guided without vision in an unfamiliar environment.

Our trainers, Michelle and Sian, also gave us helpful insight into the day-to-day challenges of living with a visual impairment and the array of tools and technologies that are available to help. We were given a selection of simi-specs, which simulate the symptoms of common eye conditions, and asked to do everyday tasks like read, write and count out coins from a purse.

Sian gave us a valuable account of her experience living with a visual impairment, and the role of the lovely Arnie, not just a guide dog but a lifelong companion and friend.

Everyone agreed that the training was a positive experience on many levels, and although we realise that what we experiences is not directly comparable to the experience of people with sight loss, it felt that we all came away understanding a bit more. And after guiding our colleagues across a city centre street in the rain, the prospect of guiding people around the Museum safely is far less scary!

Our audio description tours run once every other month. For more information and future dates, please call (029) 2057 3240.