Pupils from Raglan VC Primary School took part in my Looking at Buildings session on Monday. Here are some pictures of just a few of the houses they made. I didn't get a chance to take photographs of all the buildings so if anyone at Raglan VC Primary School is reading this, please email me some more as everyone's building was looking so fantastic!

After being inspired by our Quilting Club (next meeting is March 5th), I have been doing quite a lot of sewing. Over Christmas I got out the sewing machine and made about 8 bags, but mainly I've been concentrating on my quilt (see picture above). I've never quilted before (or sewn much really), so am learning as I go, and have been loving it.

This foray into sewing has meant that I've been spending lots of money on material and equipment and reading lots of books and articles. One of my favourite things I've found out is that on February 8th it's Hari-Kuyo festival in Japan. This festival gives people the chance to thank and appreciate the needles they have used in the past year by sticking them in to a big block of tofu! As one of the monks from the temple said in the article I read on the reuters website 'Sometimes there are painful things and secrets that women can't tell men, and they put these secrets into the pins and ask the gods to get rid of them.'

It made me wonder if there are any pins and needles or sewing customs in Wales (and the rest of the UK), does anyone know of any? In Oriel 1 we do have a charm bottle on display which has bent pins in it which is meant to protect the owner of the bottle from witchcraft, and of course, pins would be used with a voodoo doll or a poppet...

I had a look in Steve Roud's book 'The Penguin guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland', and whereas there wasn't much about needles (other than if a needle breaks when you are sewing it will bring good fortune to the wearer of the article sewn) there are quite a few customs to do with pins. Pins used in the making of wedding dress are particularly lucky, you could also stick them into an onion as part of a love divination, but you shouldn't take pins on board a ship.

And back to quilting, and patchwork quilts in particular... 'If a lady completes one of these without assistance, she will never be married.'

Last week Bishop Childs C.I.W Primary asked: "If you plant your bulb at the same time as your partner will they open their flowers at the same time?"  

This is a very good question and if the bulbs were planted at the same time, were around the same size and kept in the same conditions then they could possibly open on the same day. But, all the bulbs are slightly different sizes and some may get more water or sunshine - so the tend to open on different days.

Generally, all of the bulbs in one school will open within a week or two of each other. At first, you get a few then the majority will open within a few days of each other, then a smaller number will take a little longer. It's a bit like a race, there will be a few quick ones, a larger group that arrives about the same time then a few slow ones.

In this experiment, we take the average flowering time. So we record each date from each flower then divide it by the total number of flowers. Look at the results from your school last year http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/2135/

Ysgol Glantwymyn asks: Ydy'r tywydd yma yn dda?/ Is this weather good? The recent warm temperatures we are having are good - as it is getting our bulbs growing. But, if we have a another cold snap it could be very damaging to our bulbs and slow them down again.

Good reports from schools:

Cwm Glas Primary:  We have got some shouts.

Maesycwmmer Primary School: A very frosty and cold week. We have noticed a few of our bulbs have started to grow. We have our chart ready and we are going to keep personal records of how much they grow each week. This is a great idea!

St. Mary's Catholic Primary School: It has been quite sunny this week and we haven't had a lot of rain.

Many thanks

Professor Plant

Rydw i wedi delio ag arddangosfeydd o bob lliw a llun yn ystod fy nghyfnod fel dylunydd yn Amgueddfa Cymru, ac roedd arddangosfa Cerfiadau Carreg Dazu yn sialens unigryw, yn enwedig y pennau!

Mae sawl pen carreg trwm yn rhan o’r arddangosfa, pennau sydd wedi eu gwahanu o’u cyrff drwy fandaliaeth hanesyddol neu draul amser (maen nhw dros 1000 o flynyddoedd oed wedi’r cyfan!).

Roedd hi’n broblem eu harddangos mewn modd diogel oedd hefyd yn hwylus i’r cyhoedd eu gweld. Roedd yn rhaid iddi fod yn system hyblyg a chyflym hefyd: dim ond deg diwrnod oedd gyda ni rhwng y cerfluniau’n cyrraedd a’u gosod yn eu lle!

Cawsom syniad yn y stiwdio ddylunio rai wythnosau’n ôl a gofynnom am gyngor arbenigol Annette a Mary o’r adran Gadwraeth i asesu rhinweddau ein syniad.

“Beth os bydden ni’n gosod y cerrig mewn mowld sbwng ehangol? Fyddai ganddo afael digonol yn y cerflun ac a fyddai’n dal yr arddangosiad yn ei le?”

Cytunai Mary ac Annette na fyddai defnyddio deunydd cadwrol o safon uchel a rhoi maneg o ffilm bolythen am y garreg yn effeithio ar y garreg (mewn termau syml). Byddai’n gweithio!

Yn goron ar y cyfan, tarwyd ar y syniad o ychwanegu gorchudd ffabrig fel gorffeniad fyddai’n barod i’w arddangos. Gwnaed model cyflym a gweld yn syth ei fod yn gweithio’n wych!

Diolch i waith caled Mary ac Annette cafod y pennau eu gosod mewn blychau wedi’i paratoi ymlaen llaw mewn labordy diogel yn ddwfn yng nghrombil yr Amgueddfa. Torrwyd y gorffeniad ffabrig a cafodd y blychau a’r cerfluniau eu trosglwyddo i’r oriel i gael eu harddangos dan oleuadau arbennig.

Mae’r pennau bellach i’w gweld ochr y ochr ag eitemau mwy ar blinthau arbennig a rhai cerfiadau cywrain iawn mewn casys. Dyfeisiwyd dulliau arddangos clyfar ar gyfer pob cerflun er mwyn gwneud hon yn arddangosfa aruthrol fyddai’n ysbrydoli.

Rydyn ni gyd yn llawn cyffro wrth weld yr arddangosfa hon yn dod i fwcl a gobeithiwn y bydd y cyhoedd yn ei mwynhau hefyd.

Simon Tozzo, Dylunydd 3-D, Amgueddfa Cymru

Gwelwch mwy o luniau Dazu ar Flickr, cewch y newyddion diweddaraf am Dazu ar Facebook a dilynwch @museum_cardiff ar Twitter  #dazucymru

Ydych chi'n mwynhau gwylio'r adar yn eich ardd? Oes 'da chi hoff le i fynd i wylio'r adar? Penwythnos 'ma (29ain a 30ain Ionawr) yw'r Big Garden Birdwatch, sef arolwg blynyddol o adar Prydain sy'n cael ei threfnu gan yr RSPB.

Dim ond awr sy angen i recordio pa adar sy'n ymweld a'ch ardd neu parc lleol. Am restr o parciau Caerdydd, cliciwch yma.

Gallwch hyd yn oed ymweld a ni yma yn amgueddfa Sain Ffagan i weld pa adar gallwch weld o'n cuddfan adar. Ble bynnag da chi'n mynd, cofiwch i wisgo'n gynnes, gall fod yn oer iawn!

Does dim tal i cofrestru ac mae'r holl wybodaeth 'da chi angen ar gael ar wefan yr RSPB: www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch 

Beth welwch chi??