Week 29 - Teaching in Dolgellau, and another Sesiwn

Path near Dolgellau

Gwilym and I taught in Dolgellau at the Welsh language school.  Gwilym was amazing!  Really, I was so impressed.  He had the whole lesson planned out.  We both had to speak to the kids in Welsh so that was a challenge.  We played the kids a few tunes and then gave them some instruments to play.  Gwilym explained to them how each of the instruments worked and some basic music concepts.  I played them the trombone just to give them a laugh.  All of them seemed interested in learning more.

Week 28 - Sild gig in Cardiff

I went down to Ystalyfera to rehearse with Martin and Sille for the Sild gig.  I was already getting nervous about the show.  I think we went to the local pub again.  I can never remember the name but they sell these real nice home brews all named after Buddy Holly. 

Anyway, we made the trip to Cardiff in good time.

Week 26 and 27 - Weddings, Telyn Deires and Llangadfan

Gwilym, the last bard...

Martin and Sille had to leave on the Tuesday.  They were playing a twmpath somewhere with Julie and Ceri "Ffliwt".  Man, I wish I could have gone to it.

Of course, Erin left for Harvard and I'll miss her.  But I did manage to hang out with Kelly and her boyfriend Rhys.  Kelly had to leave for Cambridge shortly after that.

Week 24 and 25 (day 159-172) Cwrs Haf

I call this one "Rainbow"

Here's a picture of a rainbow in Aberaeron.  I think we stopped here for some food, which, unfortunately wasn't great.  The sunset, however, was.

There were loads of Welshies in Aberaeron, named of course, after the river Aeron.

We went to Llangranog at some point.  I can't really remember anymore.
I remember that both Pwyll and Enfys were a bit busy so we went for a swim in the ocean.

 It was much colder than Mwnt.  But still just as many people.  Loads of them were trying to body surf.

And this one is "Sunset"

My parents returned home some point during this week.  I think they needed a holiday from their holiday!

Week 23 part 2 (Day 152-158) Ystrad Fflur, Cors Caron, Aberteifi

Going down?

My parents and I did a lot of traveling during the next week or so.

We made a trip to Ystrad Fflur, the old ruined abbey.  It's just outside of Pontrhydfendigaid, Ceredigion which is not too far from Aberystwyth.  Founded by some Cisterian monks back in 1164, it later came under the patronage of the Lord Rhys.  There's not much left of the abbey these days but there are still some great things left there to see.

Week 23 part 1 (Day 152-158) Mwnt, Aberteifi and Devil's Bridge

The harp concert was pretty good.  I had to play for nearly two hours, just myself and my harp.  People wandered in and out of the bandstand on the prom and was a relatively relaxed event.  Of course, I was still very nervous but I think it went pretty good, only a couple of missteps.  Or maybe a few...

Week 22 (Day 145-151) parent's visit

Melody and Dad

My parents were here in Wales for their holidays.  I hadn't seen them since March so it was good to have them here.

The first day after the cwrs, we were in Cardiff and had a big family supper with Guy (Pibs), his girlfriend Zara, John, Paul, Melody, Cos, Bob and my folks.  It was great to have such a big portion of the family together.

Week 20 and 21 (Day 131-144) Cwrs Madog

I spent hours every day working on Cwrs Madog.  And finally the Cwrs arrived!  It was all very exciting.  It was good to see everyone again.  I really enjoy these weeks and as much work as it was, I was glad to be part of it.

Week 18 and 19 (Day 118-131) Elsa's keys, Dolgellau school

So I had a chance to meet up with Gwilym and Elsa once again.

On the day, Elsa showed up at my door slightly late and slightly out of breath.  I asked her, jokingly, if she'd been running and to my surprise she said yes.

It turned out she had lost her car keys.  I asked her where all her instruments were and to my now shock, she said she'd left them by the car.

Week 17 (Day 111-117) Madog and Gower

Again, I'm having trouble remembering everything... I did see Harriet play a show at the bandstand.  Almost a marathon, nearly a full two hours solid.

I was doing a tremendous enormous amount of work for Cymdeithas Madog.  Actually, it took up most of my time for the next few weeks.  So much time, that once the course was done, I was done.  Absolutely fried!

I have been meeting regularly with Gwilym and Elsa.  I think nearly every week.  I love playing with them.  I'd like to find the three of us some gigs and I have some ideas.  Fingers crossed...

Week 16 (Day 104-110) Dolgellau sesiwn, Paul McCartney Cardiff

I was in Pencader again.  I don't really remember what happened there.  I know we went for a big walk around the fields.  Found out there's a farm called Plwmp.  "What, there's another Plwmp?"  I remember taking the bus back to Aber, just relaxed a bit.

There was another session in Dolgellau that week.

Week 15 (Day 97-103) Pencader, Aber, Y Gelli, Abercych

This little dog was hanging out in Y Gelli with us and belongs to Tamara.  Cute little dude...


I hung out in Pencader after the twmpath.  I didn't have my harp so couldn't jam with the others.  My fingers were itchy.  I think I played a little piano.

On the Monday, I caught a ride back to Aber with Julie and Ceri.  Julie was catching the train to visit her mom.

I practiced my tunes as much as I could.  I had to get ready for the gig in Y Gelli (Hay-on-Wye).

Week 14 (day 90-96) Julie in Aber, session with Elsa and Gwilym

 

I've been really busy the last month with Cwrs Madog and have nearly forgotten everything that's happened before that.  Here's a small chunk of what I can remember...

I saw Fran at some point during this week.  Another nice visit with Brychan and Cristyn as well.  Still haven't seen Damian yet as he's busy all the time.

Wednesday, Julie stopped by Aber.  We walked to TreeHouse and bought some bread.  Then we played through some tunes.  Again, another great experience with Julie.  She's a beautiful musician!  I seem to remember it being a short session.  Both Julie and Ceri Ffliwt were impressed with the house I'm staying at.

Week 13 (Day 87-89) A night out with Bjorn

On the Thursday, I went to hang out at this cafe where I knew a Welsh learners group met every week.  The group was small that week but it was nice to have a good conversation in Welsh and meet some new people.

I met this Irish girl, Madison, who had grown up in Plwmp.  Her Welsh was amazing.  And I think she may be Boudica re-incarnated.  Tall, deep flaming red hair, punk ear things, blue arm tatoos, scars from old piercings.  After the tea, her and I took a short walk and continued our conversation in Welsh.  That was pretty cool.  She's looking for a job in Aber so might run into again later in the fall.

Week 13 (Day 83-86) The Cwps Folk Session

I went to the Cwps at some point this week.  Maybe the Tuesday?  Anyway, I had heard about an "open mic night" and I wanted to check it out.

Turned into an epic night.  Truly epic...

Before heading to the session upstairs, I made some new friends on the lower level.  Bjorn and Ifor.  Bjorn is from Norway but also speaks Welsh and English.  Typical Norwegian, he's probably 6''5' or so, blonde and blue eyed.  And Ifor is a typical Welsh boy, short stocky and dark hair, Welsh speaker, who works up at the National library.  They were a good laugh and we drank a bit before I convinced them to visit the session.

Week 12 (day 81, 82) - Harriet and Gwilym

I met Harriet for some tea and tunes.  We've been exchanging ideas.  She taught me some Irish tunes and I showed her a couple of Welsh tunes that I knew.  I also taught her my new tune 'Aderyn Du Aberdâr'.  Her version of it was fantastic!  Almost like a fantasy.  She's very quick, picks up and expands on things extremely well.  She's got incredible technique, very fast and fluid, with lots of ornaments.

She's also very generous.   Somehow, she found the time to get me a pile of little presents for my birthday.  That was really touching!

Week 12 (Day 80) My birthday

There I am on my birthday.
I didn't do anything really.  I'm not much for celebrating birthdays these days.

I got loads of messages on facebook which surprised me.  I didn't expect that at all.  It was comforting to know people back home were thinking of me.

Sille sent me a great version of Winnie the Pooh in Russian.  I laughed so much, it's brilliant!  Much better than the disney version by strides.

Week 12 (Day 78, 79) - Cei Newydd

Another random photo, near Llangranog...

I went straight to Cei Newydd, harp on my back, to met up with Aunty susan.  I had some trouble with the bus.  That is to say, I missed my first bus out of Ystalyfera.  Had a nice chat with Sille though and she played me some hurdy gurdy.  Once I got going, it must have been about a 5 hour ride.

On one part of the journey, I met this woman named Marionne.  She offered to give me a lift with her husband from Caerfyrddin to Cei Newydd.

Week 11 (Day 75-77) - Ystalyfera, Llandeilo, Carn Coch

Shamefully, I didn't bring my camera.  Which was too bad, there was lots to see.  So here's a random picture instead.  It reminds me of that saying, "Red at night, sailor's delight.  Red in the morning, sailor's warning."

Anyway, I caught the bus to Swansea once again.  It was ridiculously crowded and hot.  Barely got the harp to fit in.  I met this fellow named Mike from Nigeria.

He was studying philosophy at Llanbedr.  He told me how much he missed both the music and food from his home.  He often traveled to Abertawe to get Nigerian food.  Mike was eager to talk philosophy with me.  He was enjoyable to chat with though I had to disagree with some of his reasoning.

Week 11 (day 73, 74) - Dolgellau sesiwn

I took the bus up to Dolgellau for another session.

It was the same bus driver, who when I asked how he was doing said, "I'm fair to immoral".  He always comments how I'm sneaking in my baretta disguised as a harp and tommy gun with ammo as a trombone.

It was about a two mile walk from Dolgellau up to the hotel, Gwesty Gwernan.  The walk is up a rather long hill which was hard with the harp on my back.  A woman saw me and felt sorry for me, so she ran and got her car and gave me a lift.

Week 11 (Day 70 - 72) Irish dancing

Alright, some more time in Aber.

I met Harriet for some Irish dancing.  It was pretty good.  The people there were all really nice.  Though, it didn't seem that different from the Welsh dancing I'd done.  Maybe, Irish dancing is done in more of a circle rather than long lines but basically very similar.  Maybe, faster twirling as well because I do remember being quite dizzy.

Mainly, I've just been practicing and learning new tunes.  I average around four or five hours of practice a day when I'm not traveling.  Not sure how many tunes I've learned at this point.  My brain started to hurt so I turned to some other creative ventures.

Week 10 (Days 68, 69) - Aber

I definitely met Harriet for some tunes when I got back.  We've been trading and exchanges music and ideas.   She's been helping me with my harp technique, which is quite home-grown.

Harriet is really generous of her time, house and food.  Her harp technique is unbelievably good.  Very quick and virtuosic.  She learns things extremely quickly as well.  She does a ton of gigs, mostly on the road.  She has decided to stick around Aber a bit more as she's getting tired of traveling.  She was doing a gig on the weekend with this fellow from Basque.  Slightly worrying as he may have been a terrorist!  Makes for a good story for sure.  (Fortunately, I heard it all worked out just fine...)

Week 10 (Day 66, 67) - Aber and Llangranog

Well, I'm never gonna catch up but I'll try...
I worked on tunes on the Wednesday.  Did I see Harriet?  Sai'n cofio nawr.  I've met with Harriet several times, trading tunes and ideas.  She's extremely talented and generous but more about Harriet later.

Definitely went to Llangranog on the Thursday.  It took me two hours and two buses to get there.  I walked from this place called Brynhoffnant.  I hitched a ride part of the way down the steep hill.  I went to meet with Pwyll and Enfys first.  I'm related to them through the Foel family somehow but it is quite distant.  They are very good friends of my Dad's from way back.  Met Ceri Ffliwt just outside their house by luck.


Ceri Ffliwt started talking to Pwyll and Enfys in Welsh and I did my best to follow.  It was all a bit fast for me though and I was making a lot of guesses as to what they were saying.

Week 10 (Day 64, 65) - Pencader again

Back in Pencader once more.  I rehearsed with Julie some more.  The tunes were really falling into place.

All of the songs are amazing but one in particular that she wrote is absolutely heartbreaking.  It nearly made me cry, it's so beautiful.  We played most of the day.

Julie and I went for a nice walk through the hills and farms to clear our heads.

Week 9 (Day 62, 63) - Twmpath, Stackpole, Sir Benfro

We got up early-ish.  Sille was up already making a potato salad.  We had stayed up real late, into the whiskey, so how she was even moving is beyond me.  But she was chipper as ever.  Me, on the other hand, I was moving very slowly.  Martin, always generous, drove me to the train station in Abertawe and I caught the train to Caerfyrddin.  I waited there for a couple of hours and then caught a ride with Julie and Ceri to Stackpole Centre, which is a beautiful little retreat on the south coast of Sir Benfro.

I met the Twmpath band in it's entirety.

Week 9 (Day 59-61) - Ystalyfera with Sild

I woke up a bit late the first day.  Sille made me some more Estonian porridge, this time with some tobasco sauce.  Tobasco, salt, butter, milk and basil.  Oddly refreshing...

Sille and I worked on some tunes while Martin was at work.  She taught me some background harmonies to an Estonian tune.  It was cool to sing in Estonian but I couldn't quite get the accent right. I also learned a couple of Estonian sacred tunes on the trombone.  Trombone with the hiiu-kannel sounds really beautiful.

My chops aren't in shape anymore so it was tough to play softly enough.

Week 8/9 (Day 56-58) - tunes with Julie

Well, it's been awhile and I'm having trouble remembering now all the things that have happened.  And quite a lot has happened.  So forgive me if the next few posts are somewhat spotty.
Here we go...

I traveled to Julie's house in Pencader.  Ceri Ffliwt was away in Cornwall celebrating May Day and doing some recording with Christine Cooper.  Anyway, traveled to Pencader on the bus carrying my harp and my trombone and my knapsack (or rucksack?).  That was interesting.  One fellow on the bus leaned over to me and said, "I brought my harp to the party but no one asked me to play."  Yeah, that's about right.  Guess it's from some song.

Anyway, Julie met me at the bus stop and she helped carry my trombone up that big long hill.  We chilled out for a bit and ate some nice food.  Then we started playing and it was amazing!  Julie's voice is so beautiful and emotive.  We worked on some Welsh traditional tunes and some more on her originals.

Week 8 - another digression, Flea

Flea

I'm a massive fan of Flea.  He's a great bass player, a great musician and full of heart.  Trust me...

Everything you need to know about music is on this vidi.


Not only do you get to hear some sweet music (Flea jamming with Chad), the interview is hilarious to watch. Flea is being interviewed by River Phoenix.  River is clearly tripping out during taping and Flea is probably stoned... but having said that, Flea says some really beautiful profound things.  Everything I do in music is an attempt to emulate this dude.

Here's one of his quotes, "Make sure you're not a victim of a guy who's ALL FLASH AND NO SMASH!"

I suppose it doesn't look like much of a quote... but this simple phrase says all that needs to be said about music.
I'll explain...

Week 8 (Day 50-55) - some proper time in Aber

Back home now and it feels really good.

I worked on some more jazz with Harriet.  She picks things up so fast!  Also, I talked Welsh most of one night with Sarah, Gwen and John.

I'm understanding more again and speaking a bit.  John's got a north Welsh accent and I was still only catching a little over half of what he said but enough to get the gist.  Even answered some questions which is good cause my brain usually burns out at that point.

Talked to my girlie, Elissa, she's doing good.  She was excited to chat and I was excited to listen.  She's already grown so much!

Tuesday - Went to Idloes' farm.  He was nice enough to take me for a visit.  I helped a little with the sheep.  There was a dead newly born little lamb, left by its mother.  Idloes was saying that sometimes the young ewes don't know what to do with a baby lamb and sometimes just leave them out in the field.  We also found another other dead lamb, slightly older.  Don't know what happened to this one.  Idloes had to give one sheep some anti-inflammatory and penicillin.  The poor sheep had one of it's eyes pecked out by some crows and magpies, her face was covered in blood.  He was bottle feeding her two lambs until she recovered.

Day 48 and 49 - back to Cardiff and Aberdâr

"Dark night of the soul..."

I couldn't sleep this weekend.  There are many worries on my mind...

I came at a bad time.  I had to leave Aber because I couldn't stop playing the harp and my fingers hadn't calloused over yet.  My fingers were starting to squeak against the strings which is never a good sound.

So, off to Cardiff and my timing wasn't good.  Mel, Paul and the boys were having a tough weekend.  That should teach me.  Can't just keep showing up at people's doorsteps unannounced.

Shame though, cause I like the idea and it reminds of the way the old Melba used to be.

Let me explain the Melba.

Day 46 and 47 - Practicing in Aber, drinks with Idloes

(Part of the beach at Aber, the tide is low here)


I've been practicing like a madman.  These tunes are destroying me.  Completely at the edge of my abilities.  What a challenge!  Worked hard to get the tunes up to speed and learned a few more tunes.  I haven't even got through one side of one tape yet.

Same routine again, the last couple of days.

Get up, practice.
Late breakfast.
Walk to the beach, take in the ocean.
Climb the cliffs.
Find my seat beside the Tylwyth Teg homes.
Back down for more practicing.
Make supper.
Listen to some new music.
Chill out.

I want to be ready for the next time I meet with Martin and Sille, so I've got to keep it up.  I've lost my callouses on my fingers, so they're pretty sore and blisters are starting to form.

Day 45 - Dolgellau and the Sesiwn

Tonight, I went to the session in Dolgellau hosted by Ceri Ffliwt.

Thankfully, Harriet drove there and I caught a lift.  I was going to take the bus but after getting there in the car, seeing how isolated the pub was, I have no idea how I would have done it otherwise.

I met Gwilym there.  He's a great fiddle player, I think about 21 or so but he looks like he's about 12!  And he was ripping through those tunes!  Beautiful player.  He had a nice calm attitude, a great dry sense of humour and was super supportive.  Very cool to meet him and hope to catch up with him sometime to do some playing together.

Jem was there (who also plays flute on Blodeugerdd) and he played flute and pibgorn through the evening.  The pibgorn is a traditional Welsh instrument, I think single reed but I'd have to double check that.  It's basically the chanter of the bagpipe.  The 'bell' of the instrument is made from horn (presumably cow or goat), I think wood for the finger holes and then the reed is covered with a 'mouthpiece' also made of some type of horn.  I expected it to be louder than hell but it wasn't too bad.  Softer than other pipes I've heard.  I really like the sound as well.  Difficult to describe the tone... middle eastern sounding, slightly exotic, maybe snake like...

Day 43 and 44 - Enjoying the Sun in Aber

The next couple of days were spent in Aber.  This is the house I'm staying in, on the second floor (first for you Brits) and side facing (not the front bay).

My new room is really cosy and I do feel at home here.   I made some curry and shared it with Sarah and Gwen.  For the moment, I've got a bit of a schedule now.

Get up, practice the harp til I get hungry, eat a late breakfast.  Then down to the beach to breath in the ocean.   The sun was out the entire week thankfully.

Climb the cliffs, take my seat...

Day 41 and 42 - Pencader and a Teifi harp

One more word about Sild.  Sild means 'bridge' in Estonian and that's exactly what the group is.  Their two CDs literally bridge Welsh and Estonian music as well as traditional and modern experimental.  It's a great sound, very atmospheric.  I love these CDs ('Priodi' and 'Tro') and think that everyone back in Canada should search them out.
Probably good to go to the Fflach site.  http://www.fflach.co.uk

I had to get up early in the morning in order to get to Llandysul.  Martin gave me a lift to Neath (THANK YOU Martin!) ... it would have been tough going otherwise.  Caught the train all the way to Carmarthen and then a bus to Pencader.  I was on my way to meet Allan in Llandysul and decided to make a pit-stop at Julie and Ceri's.

Day 38 thru 40 - Ystalyfera with Martin and Sille

(A quick note, Martin and Sille have a band called Sild, and you should all buy their CDs.  Trust me, they're incredible!)

The bus trip from Aberystwyth to Swansea (Abertawe) was a long three hours.  When I got there I did a quick search for cassette tapes.  Nearly impossible to find.  In all the stores I asked for them, almost all of them laughed at me like I was crazy.  "Tapes?!  What are those?!"  Duw, duw... tapes are way better than CDs (and vinyl way better than tapes).  They think they're cool but they don't know...  did a recording with Howe Gelb and Giant Sand down in Tucson which was mainly done on an old 8 track tape cassette recorder.  What a sound!  It doesn't get better than that!

Anyway, Martin was kind enough to meet me at the Tesco in Swansea and gave me a lift back to his house in Ystalyfera.  As we talked, found out that he knows my friend Barney and my other friend Chris Reynolds, both from the Swansea area.  How crazy is that?

Ystalyfera is a little village down the Swansea valley.  Martin and Sille's house is built on a tall bank that looks down on a large part of the village.  The view from their backyard is stunning.  Across the massive valley below is a large round mountain that reminds me of the Okanagan.  Similar to the Okanagan but somehow different.  The village itself has a lot of Welsh speakers and heard it almost everywhere I went there.  This day was the first of four days of sunshine.

Day 36 and 37 - A home in Aber!

I arrived back in Aberystwyth on Monday and met with Sarah and her five year old daughter Gwen.  She had a quaint studio en-suite room available for a really good price so I took it immediately.  She's friends with my cousin Fran so I knew they'd be nice people.  Both Sarah and Gwen are Welsh speakers.  Gwen speaks very beautiful Welsh.  It's so cute to hear little kids speak in Welsh!

It was nice to finally unpack.  Put all my books out and hung up my cloths.  Definitely a big relief in a way.  The name of the house is Min-y-Fron, which I think means "Edge of the Bank".  The house is on Fordd y Gogledd (North Road) with a row of lovely houses.

From the house, it's about a two minute walk to the ocean front.  Absolute perfection!

I'm on the second floor and the view from my room is of some tennis courts and a row of trees.  I find it oddly comforting.

Day 34 and 35 - The Bay with John, Iestyn, Helen and Caradog

(This picture is a couple of years old - left to right, Ceri Mutual, Ceri Harp, John "JC" Rhydderch and Iestyn)


I met John in town on Saturday.  Bought him the Artist's Way, a book I'd recommend for anyone.  Thought it might be helpful for his writing.  Parts of it are a bit too religious for me but on the whole it's been very useful.

Stopped by his flat briefly.  It looks very similar to the last one he was living in.  Very nice place with a beautiful view of the river.  He lives down in the Bay area which has been built up quite a bit.  Lots of new condos and lots of new shops and restaurants.  The area used to be referred to as Tiger Bay which included the Cardiff docks and Buttetown.  It was here, during the coal rush, that all the migrants settled and mixed which continues to give Cardiff it's metropolitan feel (apparently some 45 different nationalities).

Day 33 - and yet another digression - Diarmuid Johnson

Diarmuid Johnson is one to remember...


I met Diarmuid in Aber about two years ago on the Welsh language course.  He was one of the teachers.  Diarmuid is Welsh on his mother's side and Irish on his dad's.  He speaks Welsh, Gaelic, Breton, possibly French and I think Polish.  He's written poetry in Welsh, Irish and Breton (has a full book published of Irish poems, Suil Saoir) and is an amazing flute player.  His knowledge of Irish and Welsh music is legendary.  He's got an encyclopedic brain and last I heard, he'd learned over a 1000 tunes by ear.

I heard him play a couple full nights of Irish music, one with the Uilleann piper named Bruce and the other in a session in the Ship and Castle.  He also did a concert of Welsh music with Ceri Rhys Matthews.  He's got a big massive emotive tone and has a piercing intensity in his eyes and an aggressive full on approach to music.  He's ridiculously and unbelievably good!

One night, I was heading to the pub with my classmates and there was Diarmuid, just hanging out on the street corner.  I stopped to talk for a bit and tried my best to speak in Welsh, which made the moment even more poignant.

I told him how much I enjoyed his music and all that sort of thing.  We had a brief conversation.

Then I told him how hard I found it to understand native Welsh speakers because they talk differently, shorten words and speak in a very lilting melodic rhythm that isn't taught in the classroom.

He stopped and looked at me with those intense eyes and said, 'When you speak Welsh, you have to learn to speak from your heart.  When you speak English, it's from your head.  But Welsh has to be from your heart.  It's like a song.  Speak as if you were singing a song.  Speak from your heart. "

Then, as we parted ways, he turned back to me and called out "Remember... Remember the song!"


Yeah, brother... I'll never forget...

Day 32 - another digression - Taliesin and Myrddin

Both Julie and Ceri are well versed in poetry (an interest amongst many other interests).
Actually, it was Julie's reading of a couple of Thomas Hardy poems that really turned me onto his work.

At some point, we started talking about Dylan Thomas, easily my favourite poet.  Ceri suggested I check out Vernon Watkins, best friend to Dylan.  Apparently, the two helped each other with their poems, often exchanging ideas.  They belonged to a group of artists in Swansea called the "Kardomah Boys".  One of the painters was Ceri Richards who painted a poem of Vernon Watkins called "Music of Colours".

Which brought us to a discussion of Taliesin and Myrddin (Merlin), poets from the Celtic golden age.
Here are the legends for both of them.

Day 29 thru 33 - Cardiff once again

(The picture here is of a druidic stone circle in Cardiff, in Bute park with Cardiff Castle on one side and the River Taff on the other.)



Okay, back in Cardiff (Caerdydd) and finally got my new boots!  Dawgs in Canadianese or Doc Martens in the Queen's english.  And now, I must say farewell to my Black Spots, poor old shoes so full of holes.  Cheaper than brand name shoes and guaranteed no child labour.  Pick up a pair if you can.  And so, an ode to my Black Spot canvas shoes...


Englyn - Black Spots

Over cliffs we nearly fell - through grass blue
yellow gorse, tales we'll tell,
now there rings the dying bell,
But, oh my, how you did smell!



Good bye my friends, may angels take thee to thy rest!  I was thinking of using Black Spots as a pun on the old name for the area around Cardigan.  At one time, it was called The Black Spot because it was mainly full of Unitarians.
"Some would say we're going to hell..."
A bit over dramatic for a pair of shoes!

Day 27 and 28 - learning tunes with Harriet

On the Saturday, I learned tunes with Harriet.  Harriet is unbelievably generous, just like most Welshies.  We played for about four hours without even noticing.  She taught me three Irish tunes and worked on some finger exercises with me.  She kept catching my hand positions which are always a bit funny.  She studied the Salzedo style I think.  Elbows high, fingers pull straight into the palms, thumbs up high, fingers pointing down.  Classical style.

And then there's me - the ox...

There are definite advantages to the classical style that I can see.  At least in theory, it's supposed to keep tension out of the hands.  It also gets a very specific round tone.  To me, it sounds like the difference between the orchestral trombone and my little peashooter horn for jazz and ska.

Day 26 - Aber, jamming with Martin, Sille and Harriet

Sille and I were both in rough shape.  I think I was worse off.  Really, my brain never reached a normal functioning level at any point in the day.  Kept waiting for the gears to kick in but they never did.  My stomach was not feeling so hot either.  Harriet invited me to join them for breakfast which was a nice thing to do but I didn't really feel like eating too much.

Once we got going, we had a jam session that lasted most of the afternoon.  Sille played this great Estonian violin called a Hiuu Kannel.  (hope I've remembered that right...)  Violin isn't really what it is, it's more like a crwth or the bowed lyre.  The strings are made of horse hair and is bowed sitting upright in the lap. There are four strings and I think the bottom two are for droning. She uses both sides of her fingers to pull out notes from the strings.  By that I mean, her fingers fit through the strings, one string she uses the front of her fingers and the other string she uses the back of her fingers.  What a gentle sound, the sound of wind and horses.

The front of her Hiuu Kannel has snakes carved in front for a sound board.  She said it was the Snake King which is based on an Estonian legend but she couldn't remember the story.

Day 25 - Aberystwyth

Today, I went back to Aberystwyth to see Harriet.  Harriet is a fantastic harpist, very virtuosic.  She mainly plays Irish tunes, but really can play almost anything.  Turned out she was having a visit from Martin and Sille.  Third week in a row to run into them.  They're all great people so I was really looking forward to seeing them again.

Tough to get to Aber today.  Eventually made it.  The bank holidays are the worst for getting around on public transport.

I visited the Aber castle briefly.  It's in complete ruins, blown up during the time of Cromwell.  In the distance, you can see Pen Dinas, the old iron age fort.  Probably created to watch for Irish pirates and to do trade, like most of the forts on the coast.  It's extremely large and the name actually means 'chief city'.  Probably not it's original name.

There's also the old college down on the promenade (the original Hogwarts!) and within the castle is a modern stone circle, constructed in 1916.  The stone circles are put up in every place that is host to a National Eisteddfod.  Then the druids hold a special ceremony in the circle to open the event.

Day 24 - Aberteifi

Today, I went with Sam to Aberteifi (Cardigan in English).  A friend of hers was doing a poetry reading in a cool little bar called The Cellar.  The pub has a great vibe and has live music on the weekends.

Aberteifi (Mouth of the River Teifi) has an old castle that is only now just being renovated.  An old woman lived there until recently so unfortunately the place is in disrepair.  Aberteifi is having a big 900th birthday celebration this summer so the whole town is being fixed up for the party.

Day 23 - Capel y Wig, Pen Foel, Cwm Tydi

In the history of all the stupid things that I've ever done, today may have been close to the stupidest.  

I thought it would be a good idea to go on a coastal path walk on a day threatening snow.  What could possibly go wrong?

It was a cold damp day and I still only had my Black Spot shoes, full of holes, so I put on two pairs of socks, wore my pj's under my jeans, two shirts, my hoodie, scarf, toque and my heavy plaid jacket.  Even just waiting for the bus, my feet were cold.  That's when it started to snow big flakes.  Caught the bus up to Synod Inn (not much there but a pub, and the craziest intersection ever created) and after a twenty minute wait, caught the next bus to Pentregat (gate-town).  From there, I started my walk down the side road towards Capel-y-Wig.  I was still feeing cold so I tried to hitch a ride.  One fellow actually turned around to pick me up.  A real nice English fellow named Frank, I think.  He had lived in Wales for the last 25 years and his little border collie sat at my feet.  He dropped me off at the Romani covered wagon just around the corner from the graveyard behind Capel-y-Wig.