Dyma obeithio y cewch chi wyliau gwych a’ch bod yn edrych ymlaen at weld eich bylbiau’n tyfu yn y flwyddyn newydd!  Byddwch yn ailgychwyn ar eich cofnodi o 4 Ionawr.

Mae rhai ohonoch chi wedi rhoi gwybod i ni’n barod am flagur yn ymddangos yn eich potiau! Fel arfer, dydyn ni ddim yn cadw golwg am flagur tan fis Ionawr neu Chwefror, felly mae’r rhai yma’n gynnar iawn! Rydyn ni’n credu eu bod nhw’n ymddangos yn gynnar am ei bod yn aeaf mor fwyn. Bydd yn ddiddorol gweld a fydd ein cennin Pedr a saffrwm yn blodeuo’n gynharach nag arfer. Yn 2007 a 2008 oedd dyddiad blodeuo cyfartalog cynharaf y project hwn. Dyddiad blodeuo cyfartalog saffrwm oedd 16 Chwefror yn y ddwy flwyddyn. Dyddiad blodeuo cyfartalog y cennin Pedr oedd 14 Chwefror yn 2007 a 6 Mawrth yn 2008.

Beth ydych chi’n ei feddwl gyfeillion? Beth am daro golwg ar adroddiad 2005-2016 ar wefan Bylbiau’r Gwanwyn i weld sut mae eich data chi yn cymharu â’r blynyddoedd a fu?

Mae Ysgol Gynradd Llanharan wedi anfon lluniau atom o’u blagur cyntaf nhw. Edrychwch yn fanwl ar y lluniau i gael syniad o beth sydd i ddod!

Mae llawer o flodau’r gwanwyn wedi bod yn ymddangos yn gynnar eleni. Dyma luniau rhai ohonynt yn ardal Caerdydd. Os welwch chi unrhyw flodau cynnar, rhowch wybod i mi yn yr adran sylwadau wrth nodi eich data ar ôl y gwyliau. Gwell fyth, tynnwch luniau a gofynnwch i’ch athro eu hanfon ataf ar Twitter neu mewn e-bost!

Nadolig llawen iawn i chi, a blwyddyn newydd dda,

Athro’r Ardd a Babi Bwlb

Eich cwestiynau, fy atebion:

Ysgol Deganwy: Do we round up or down with rainfall totals greater than 20?

Professor Plant: That’s a great question Ysgol Deganwy. You round the rainfall reading up or down depending on which reading it is closest to. If the reading is less than halfway between two marks (say 2mm and 3mm) then you round down, if the readings are halfway or higher (so in this example 1.5mm or over) you round up! Here’s a fun clip on BBC Bitesize to help illustrate estimating and rounding numbers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zgnyr82 Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies!

Dasfen Primary School: Where doesn't seem to be an option to input 0.1mm etc, please advise as to how I am supposed to input this data. Thank you.

Professor Plant: Hi Dasfen Primary, in this instance you would round down to 0mm. Ysgol Deganwy asked a similar question above!

Law Primary School: It snowed a little today at lunchtime.

Professor Plant: Fantastic Law Primary School. I hope you enjoyed the snow. Elsewhere the weather has been warmer than usual and spring flowers have started growing!

Ysgol Rhys Prichard: It was very windy over the weekend and on Thursday night. Some of the plant labels blew off so we had to staple them on to the pots.

Professor Plant: Good thinking Ysgol Rhys Pritchard, stapling your labels to your pots is a great idea. I hope the weather has calmed down for you now!

Abbey Primary School: Friday 13th November is a local holiday. I have used figure from BBC weather website as I couldn't send no record.

Professor Plant: Great work Abbey Primary School. Apologies that the ‘no record’ button wasn’t working, it should be working again now.

Carnbroe Primary School: Look at how much rain we had on Thursday evening. We had our parents evening on Thursday night and had climb a fence as part of the main entrance was flooded!

Professor Plant: Wow Carnbroe Primary, there must have been a lot of rain! Castlepark Primary also commented that they were surprised by how much rain they had.

Saint Anthony's Primary School: M and me found it interesting seeing how the rain gauge after storm Abigail.

Professor Plant: Hi Saint Anthony’s, I was interested to see your rain readings after the storm. Other schools reported heavy rain fall for this week, including Silverdale St. John's CE School: ‘Another wet week - we certainly don't need to water our bulbs!’ and Drumpark Primary ASN School: ‘We had lots of rain and wind at the end of the week from Storm Abigail.’ And Shakespeare Primary School: ‘Dear Professor Plant, We got absolutely soaked on Friday. It rained nonstop! We are loving the project though.’

Bent Primary School: Sorry we were at a residential trip for 3 days and although we asked the weather to be recorded , we do not think their results are accurate enough to add to the data.

Professor Plant: Not to worry Bent Primary School, thank you for trying to arrange for the data to be collected but you did the right thing by entering ‘no record’ if the readings weren’t accurate. Keep up the good work!

Teacher: On Thursday we needed to keep our plants in because of the strong winds and rain also because the storm [Abigail] was going to blow them away or make them fall over.

Professor Plant: Hi there, well done for looking out for your bulbs. We do ask that the pots are kept outside to ensure a fair experiment, but you did the right thing by taking them inside until the storm passed. It’s always best to keep them in a cool area as a warm room could affect the results. Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies.

Calderwood Primary School: We have had such stormy weather this week with really high winds. It is also to be very cold over the weekend. We hope that our bulbs outside will be ok. We have been taking good care of our bulbs in the class.

Professor Plant: Thank you for taking such good care of your bulbs Calderwood Primary. Remember that all your bulbs in pots should be kept outside in a sheltered area. If some are inside and some are outside you can compare the flowering dates to see if those inside or outside flower first. If this is the case then please only enter flowering dates to the Museum website for the plants being kept outside. Keep up the good work bulb buddies!

Betws Primary School: A stormy week, we are hoping our plants are not too soggy! St. Paul's Primary School: Another very wet start to the week! We wonder if the extra rain will affect how the bulbs grow later! Are they drowning?

Professor Plant: Not to worry Betws and St Paul’s Primary, the bulbs like the rain and will be fine. The holes at the bottom of the pot allow excess water to drain away. If it is raining a lot and the soil is moist then there is no need to water the plants. The amount of rain does affect the development of the plants, they develop later in years with less rain and less sunlight hours. Why not have a look at the report 2005-2015 on the Spring Bulbs website and compare your readings so far this year to the average readings for last year? Do you think your flowers will appear earlier or later this year?
 

East Fulton Primary School: Thank you for the super seeds and certificate - it is now up on our Science wall!

Professor Plant: Hi East Fulton Primary. The seeds and certificate were provided by the Edina Trust – I’m glad you liked them! I’m sure the Edina Trust would love a photo of your science wall! Keep up the good work Bulb Buddies!

Ladywell Primary School: We have still yet to experience the flowering of our plants and hope we get to see them soon.

Professor Plant: Hi Ladywell Primary you have a little while to wait yet! Your plants should flower between February and March. Well done for looking after them so well. Keep up the good work!

Following on from Sioned’s blog about our work with Mat Fraser in 2014 and the anonymous ‘invalid chair’ she found in the collection, in this blog I’ll be discussing another object which featured in Mat’s performance – an 18^th century woollen suit from the Llantrisant area.  

Unlike most of the disability-related collections in the Museum, the suit in question comes with a personal story and a file bulging with snippets from local history books. Worn by Hopkin Hopkins – better known as ‘Hopcyn Bach’ [Little Hopcyn] – the frock coat and matching breeches are among the oldest items of clothing in the collection. They were acquired by the Museum in 1920, before it was common practice for curators to document their reasons for accepting artefacts into the collection.

Hopkin Hopkins (1737 - 54) was born with a growth restricting condition. His physical appearance became a source of income for his family. It may seem repugnant to us today, but at the age of 14 he was taken to London by his parents and shown publically for money. Billed as “the wonderful and surprising Little Welchman”, his perceived ‘freakishness’ was a source of entertainment in polite society. In 1751, Hopkin was presented to the Royal Family who gave him a gold watch, an annual pension and ten guineas for each appearance he made at Court.

In the same year, he was also ‘on display’ in Bristol. This vivid account of the visit is taken from a letter sent by John Browning in September 1751:

I am just returned from Bristol where I have seen an extraordinary young man, whose case is very surprising; he is shewn publicly for money, and therefore I send you the printed bill, which is given about to bring company… I went myself to view and examine this extraordinary, and surprising but melancholy subject; a lad entering the 15^th year of his age, whose stature is no more than 2 feet and 7 inches, and weight 13 pound, labouring under all the miserable and calamities of old age, being weak and emaciated, his eyes dim, his hearing very bad, his countenance fallen, his voice very low and hollow; his head hanging down before, so that his chin touches his breast, consequently his shoulders are raised and his back rounded not unlike a hump-back, he is weak that he cannot stand without support. [Letter from John Browning to Henry Baker, 12 September 1751. Quoted in Sem Phillips, The History of the Borough of Llantrisant, 1866.]

How did Hopkin feel about being an object of curiosity? We simply don’t know. Although we have numerous descriptions of his body, his voice is missing from the narrative.     

Mae’r flwyddyn yn dod i ben a dw i’n adlewyrchu ar ddwy ran o fy ngwaith sy’n gorffen fuan. Mae @DyddiadurKate (1915) yn gorffen yn mis yma, a fy ngwaith ar Chynllun Addysg Y Rhyfel Byd yn Cyntaf dod i ben yn Mawrth 2016.

Mae Cynllun Addysg y Rhyfel Byd yn brosiect rhwng Amgueddfa Cymru a’r Llyfrgell Genedlaethol, sy’n cynhyrchu adnoddau ar gyfer ysgolion. Ni'n defnyddio deunyddiau o gasgliadau’r ddau sefydliad i greu adnoddau dysgu digidol am Gymru yn ystod y Rhyfel. Trwy’r flwyddyn, gweithiais gyda chydweithwyr o’r curaduron i’r archif i ddewis y deunyddiau gorau i fynd gyda phob thema yn y cynllun. Y themâu y gweithiais arnynt yw ‘Bywyd ar Ffrynt y Gorllewin’, ‘Meddygaeth’, ‘Cymru ar draws y Byd’ a ‘Straeon Personol’.

Ar y prosiect @DyddiadurKate, dwi’n casglu'r ystadegau o Twitter a ‘di creu dau flog, un ar recriwtio yn y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf ac un ar alcohol a dirwest. Trwy’r flwyddyn mwynheais y gweithgareddau dyddiol ar y blogiau gahanol gan y curaduron a’r archif, oedd yn rhoi mwy o wybodaeth am y prosiect.

Yn Hydref ces y cyfle i ddod â’r ddau brosiect at ei gilydd, yn yr adnodd ‘Straeon Personol’. Mae’r adnodd yn edrych ar bobl dros Gymru yn y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf ac effaith y rhyfel arnyn nhw. Roedd stori Kate Ellis yn rhoi cyferbyniad i straeon milwyr a nyrsus, i ddangos bywyd sifiliad. Un peth sy’n ddiddorol imi yw fod pobl yn ymladd yn y rhyfel, ac ar yr un pryd, roedd llawer o’r gweithgareddau dyddiol Kate yn cario ‘mlaen heb lawer yn newid.

Dyw’r adnoddau ‘Straeon Personal’ a 'Cymru ar Draws y Byd' ddim ar yr HWB eto, ond mae llawer o’r adnoddau arall lan nawr. Dilynwch y linc i HWB i ddefnyddio’r adnoddau am ddim.

Wel dyna ni, dim ond cwpl o ddyddiau sy’n weddill nes bod @DyddiadurKate 1915 yn dirwyn i ben. Ceir ei chofnod olaf ar y 15^fed o Ragfyr, ac mae’n rhaid i mi gyfaddef, â hithau ‘di bod mor selog yn ysgrifennu, ro’n i’n siomedig nad oedd hi wedi rhoi pen ar bapur dros gyfnod y Nadolig. Ro’n i wedi edrych ymlaen cael darllen am baratoadau’r Nadolig a’r Flwyddyn Newydd, ac wedi bod yn dyfalu p’un â’i gŵydd yntau asen o gig eidion fyddai’r wledd? Pwy fyddai’n galw heibio? A fyddai’r teulu’n mynychu gwasanaeth y Plygain? A fyddent yn addurno Tŷ Hen? Ac a fyddai Kate yn “gwneud cyfleth” neu’n “mynd i noson gyflaith”? Yn anffodus, nid oedd i fod, ond rhaid diolch iddi am y gwledd a roddodd i ni dros y flwyddyn.

Cyd-ddigwyddiad llwyr oedd i mi dderbyn copi mis Hydref 2015, o bapur bro Bala a’r cylch, Pethe Penllyn ac ynddo erthygl, ‘Noson Gyfleth Coed y Bedo, Cefnddwysarn’. Roedd cyfeiriad ynddo at deulu Yr Hendre, sef cartref genedigol mam Kate, yn ymuno yn yr hwyl. Felly, dyma fanteisio ar y cyfle i sôn am arfer hwn, oedd yn draddodiadol mewn rhannau o ogledd Cymru dros gyfnod y Nadolig a'r Flwyddyn Newydd. Byddai teuluoedd yr ardal yn cymryd eu tro i gynnal nosweithiau o’r fath, gan wahodd eu ffrindiau i'w cartrefi fin nos. Wedi gwledda, byddai pawb yn mwynhau rhyw fath o ‘noson lawen’, cyfle i sgwrsio, chwarae gemau, adrodd straeon, canu a thynnu coes, ond canolbwynt y noson fyddai tynnu cyflaith.

Dyma rysáit o’r Archif yn Sain Ffagan a gasglwyd o ardal Pennant, Trefaldwyn:

3 phwys o siwgr llwyd, meddal

½ pwys o fenyn hallt (wedi’i feddalu)

sudd 1 lemwn

¼ peint o ddŵr berw (neu ragor os bydd y siwgr o ansawdd sych)

• Tywallt y siwgr a’r dŵr i’r sosban. Toddi’r siwgr yn araf uwchben tân gloyw, a’i droi'n gyson â llwy bren nes iddo doddi'n llwyr (gall gymryd ryw ugain munud).
• Tynnu’r sosban oddi ar y tân, ychwanegu’r sudd lemwn a'r ‘menyn, a'u cymysgu'n drwyadl.
• Berwi'r cymysgedd yn weddol gyflym am ryw chwarter awr heb ei droi o gwbl.
• I brofi os yw’n barod - gollwng llond llwy de o'r cymysgedd i gwpaned o ddŵr oer. Os bydd yn caledu ar unwaith, mae’n barod.

Dyma gychwyn yr hwyl! Rhaid oedd tywallt y cyflaith ar lechen, carreg fawr neu garreg yr aelwyd oer wedi'i hiro â ‘menyn – dwi’n gwybod o brofiad pa mor danbaid boeth yw’r gymysgedd. Byddai pawb yn iro'i dwylo ag ymenyn (er mwyn arbed llosgi eu dwylo ac i ychwanegu at y blas a’r ansawdd) ac yn cymryd darn o'r cyflaith i'w dynnu tra byddai'n gynnes. 'Roedd hon yn grefft arbennig a’r gamp oedd tynnu'r cyflaith nes ei fod yn raff melyngoch. Byddai'r dibrofiad yn edmygu camp a medrusrwydd y profiadol, tra bo methiant ac aflwyddiant y dibrofiad yn destun hwyl i bawb. Gwyddom pa mor gymdeithasol oedd cymuned @DyddiadurKate, ac mae’n hawdd ei dychmygu’n rhan o’r hwyl a’r sbri!

Diolch i bawb sydd wedi dilyn y dyddiadur yn ystod 2015. Cofiwch ddilyn hynt a helynt Kate o’r 1^af o Ionawr 2016 ymlaen, wrth i ni agor cyfrif newydd i drydar cynnwys dyddiadur arall o’i heiddo, a roddwyd ganddi i Archif Sain Ffagan ym 1970. Dyddiadur 1946 yw hwn, gyda Kate bellach yn briod, yn fam ganol oed, sy’n cofnodi ei bywyd ar ddiwedd yr Ail Ryfel Byd.

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi gyd, ac os ydych am roi cynnig ar wneud cyflaith – cofiwch beidio llosgi eich dwylo!

What do our museum scientists do out ‘in the field’? One of our museum scientists, Ray Tangney, has just returned from the Falkland Islands. See what he got up to.

"There are 3 of us, myself, Matt von Konrat from the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA, and Juan Larrain from the Universidad Catolica de Guayaquil, Santiago, Chile; and we were in the Falklands as part of a Darwin Initiative funded project, recording and conserving the lower plants. This means we were searching for plants such as mosses and liverworts (small, low growing plants that do not produce flowers).

We spent most of the time in ‘Camp’ (the name for the hinterland beyond the capital, Stanley), visiting locations in a 4 wheel drive on East and West Falkland, and on Pebble Island to the north. We estimate we found 14 plants that had never been found growing on the Falkland Islands before; 8 mosses and 6 liverworts.

I gave a talk about the project to the Falklands Conservation AGM. We also ran a school activity session at Fox Bay School. The children collected and created their own herbarium specimens, making them accessible for scientists in the future. They looked at mosses under a microscope and observed details they would never usually have been able to see in the wild. Image 1 shows the children being asked by Juan whether the plant is a moss or a liverwort! It’s a silver coloured moss we also have in Wales called, rather unsurprisingly, Silver-moss (scientific name, Bryum argenteum). In January, the Lower Plants Project Officer, Dafydd Crabtree, ran a similar activity session about lichens with the children. Have a look at some more photos from the Falklands Conservation Facebook page here.

We found a number of new records of mosses for the Islands during this trip. Image 2 shows a misty Mount Donald on West Falkland at about 600 metres above sea level. The moss Bucklandiella pachydictyon growing on rocks here was a brand new record for the Falklands. It wasn’t all sunshine. The next day on Mount Adam we had rain, sleet, hail and snow, along with strong winds!

A characteristic feature of the Falklands are sea inlets. Streams that feed into these inlets are an important habitat for mosses and liverworts. One moss (Blindia torrentium) that only grows in the Falklands is commonly found on rocks in these streams.

Tiny plants such as mosses are such a big feature of the Falkland Isles landscape. School activity sessions, as well as talks, are crucial to increase local knowledge of, and interest in, the unique natural environment of these fragile, beautiful islands in the Southern Hemisphere."