Well it poured and poured yesterday on and off. I can tell you the exact moment it rained at it's heaviest. It was when my sister and I were out shopping for my Dad! We were soaked, it was bouncing off the pavements and stupidly I had forgotten my umbrella as it had been glorious sunshine when I left home, so had to share my sister's one. What a sight we were carrying bags of shopping and trying without success to avoid the massive puddles on the pavement, under one little umbrella. As my sister said "Oh to be in England now that spring is here!" The annoying thing was, the second we arrived back at my Dad's house it stopped and the sun came out again. I think it will take days for my shoes to dry out! Despite all the rain and cold my Dad's beautiful orange azalea has come into flower. I look forward every year to seeing this.
Yesterday I made a decision for Tom and I to try to learn to speak Welsh again. Tom's Dad was Welsh and he would love to find out more about his family tree on that side. His Mum and Dad are long dead and his Dad never talked about his childhood at all, Tom didn't even know his grandparent's names. I have tried to find out more on online sites but having one of the most common names in Wales doesn't help at all. I found his Grandparents names but that was it. At the beginning of last year we had planned a trip to Wales to try and find out more but of course along came coronavirus. Tom and I decided we needed to fully embrace "The Land Of His Fathers" as Tom likes to call it and learn the language.
I downloaded the Duolingo app and started learning while I was on the train. I'm not sure what my fellow passengers must have made of me sitting with earphones in saying "Welcome Dragon" in Welsh but I felt I was making progress (I'm not sure how useful that would be, but still that is what the app said). We started talking Welsh at home and even youngest son and daughter entered into the spirit of it all, although it was hard to take youngest son seriously as for some reason he insisted on taking on the demeanour of Merlin casting a spell in the TV programme as he said that is what it sounded like. Then we all caught coronavirus and for several weeks forgot all about it, after that we had unfortunately lost the momentum.
Yesterday I downloaded the app again and was amazed how much I remembered. By the time I got off the train I was saying things like "Good Afternoon Owen" in almost perfect Welsh. I was very pleased with myself. In the evening, after we had eaten we were all practicing again . The app has a leader board of people who are learning and you can see how well you are doing in comparison to other people. After all my efforts yesterday I had jumped into 10th place, there I was Jane, above people like Domingo and Gustavo. I was so pleased! I was showing youngest son as I have never been on one of these boards before and it definitely has awakened my competitive spirit. "Who's number one?" asked youngest son. I looked "Someone called Sayeed" He has a profile picture and there is a young Asian man smiling back at me. "I can get there" I said. Youngest son replied "Mum you need to learn something I learned years ago, on every online leader board, there will be a young Asian at the top, it is the way it it is!" Well that is a challenge I intend to take on!
It's raining again today so I think apart from trying to coincide walking the dogs with a dry spell I will be inside most of the day. Plenty of time to practice my Welsh whilst I'm working! I hope everyone has a lovely day whatever the weather. xx
