Nia's diary
July '11
I’ve just come back from ‘forest’ – a lovely camp in the Cilgerran area near Cardigan. I was there for a week filming the series cariad@iaith and I had a brilliant time!
cariad@iaith is a television series where we film a crowd of celebs learning Welsh and using their Welsh to do all sorts of things. There were 8 celebs and they were very likeable and adorable people.
The celebs were:
Helen Lederer who works in the comedy world. She had never heard Welsh before coming to ‘forest’. Her family come from Llanymddyfri.
Lembit Opik lives in Newtown and has been on a number of television series, like ‘I’m a Celebrity...’, ‘Come Dine with Me’ and ‘The Apprentice’. Lembit fell in the river a number of times but he was ready to have fun and a laugh all the time.
Rhys was from the band ‘Goldie Lookin Chain’ (GLC) a funny and an adorable man. He would record my voice on the phone every day to remember how to pronounce words.
Sophie Evans who plays Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in the West End sang all the time. She was great because I like singing in class – it helps people to learn things! She sings like an angel!
Matt Johnson was a likeable person. Matt comes from Caerphilly originally and he works on ‘OKTV’ on Channel 5 and also on ‘This Morning’ on ITV.
The rugby player Colin Charvis arrived late after working in Mallorca. Everyone turned to Colin as the captain and the natural leader. He’s a mischievous person.
The series was a competition and the presenter Josie D’arby came second – she’s a very happy and lively person and she worked very hard. She felt very proud to be Welsh.
The winner was Melanie Walters, the actress who plays Gwen on ‘Gavin and Stacey’. She went on an ‘Wlpan’ course years ago and she thought that she had forgotten everything; but a lot of her Welsh came back.
It was an unforgettable week and I had a very happy time. The weather was lovely and I had the chance to climb trees, canoe, and buy a sheep! I really liked working as a Welsh tutor again and also present a live programme – very exiting!
You can watch the programme on s4c.co.uk/clic during August and you can watch the lessons on the s4c.co.uk/cariadatiaith
June '11
It’s May and I’m sitting by the table in the sun in front of the sea in Nerja, Spain writing this diary! Me and the family are staying in a Villa for a week on holiday and relaxing. We’re having a nice holiday and today I swam in the sea.
Our friends got married in Malaga yesterday. Dafydd comes from Ffostrasol, Ceredigion and Conchita is Spanish. It was a fantastic wedding; the ceremony was in a beautiful church and there was a lot of food and drink and dancing.
April was fabulous because the weather was very nice and Hedd had his 1 year old birthday. Hedd had three birthday parties! One with his friends, one with his family and a big one to celebrate his birthday and my book launch. I’m not very good at making cakes but I made a car shaped cake with a lot of icing ‘buttercream’, blue!! It was delicious!
The Sunday before Easter me and my family went to Nant Gwrtheyrn to launch a book I’ve written with Mared Glyn – “Gwenwch!’. I’m not sure who will read the book, but I really enjoyed writing about my life. It was a beautiful day and Nant Gwrtheyrn looks fantastic in the sun.
April '11
The 24th of February was a very special evening – the first night in ten months for Hedd to sleep all night – from 7 until 5. Unfortunately, he hasn’t slept all night since then!
February and March has been a lovely time and I’ve seen many friends and family. We went on holiday to Kent to stay with my cousin and her husband and children. She speaks Welsh with her children and they watch Cyw on S4C.
March we went to Cumbria to the Lake District to stay in a cottage with my college friends and their families. My college friends live in Glasgow, Southampton and Reading, so we try and meet up every three to four months.
I haven’t worked much this year, so I’ve been doing a lot of stuff with Hedd. We went for a walk to the bottom of Snowdon one day before going to the mother and baby club in the new lovely café that’s there. We’ve also been swimming, shopping and seeing other mothers and babies.
We had a soup evening and quiz at Rhostryfan for St David’s Day this year; it was a lovely evening. We raised £170 for the 2012 Urdd Eisteddfod.
In April Hedd will be one years old and I’m looking forward to the party! I’ve also written a book about myself. We’ll be having a launch party and the book will be out in the shops in April.
I’m also looking forward for the Urdd Eisteddfod in May because I’ll be adjudicating the Learner’s Medal.
January '11
I love Christmas, shopping, writing cards, visit friends, wrapping presents. Christmas 2010 was the happiest we’ve had ever because I woke up on Christmas morning with my son Hedd Efan.
There were eight of up having Christmas dinner at my Mum and Dad’s house. We had amazing presents and the best present was that Hedd had slept all night – the first time in eight months! In the afternoon we went for a walk in the snow. There was snow on the sea side – very odd! In the evening we played games, things like Welsh scrabble, Dingbats and Trivial Pursuits.
I did a little bit of filming over Christmas with an athletics team from Angelsey. I like sports a lot but I was hopeless at athletics when I was in school – I was terrible at running 100 metres and doing the high jump.
Well, Christmas is over now and everybody’s back in work, but not me! I haven’t got any work. I’m sure work will come sometime this year but at the moment I’m enjoying being at home with Hedd. Housework isn’t easy, but it’s lovely being home with Hedd. I’m looking forward to 2011.
October '10
September was a very busy because I was filming a new series called ‘Doctor Doctor’ with Dr Gwyn Jones and Jamie Roberts, the rugby player. I enjoyed it very much because it was an opportunity to learn about things like the flu, heart problems, cancer and MS. I have an interest in things like acupuncture and reflexology.
On the 18th of September I walked 24 miles to raise money for NSPCC. I raised nearly £900, so thanks for giving us money. The journey started at Aberdaron at 6.30 in the morning. The first 17 miles were superb because were walking along the coast. But the last 7 miles were more difficult because we walked through fields and it was raining! 230 people came to walk and it was an amazing day. Next year, come with us!
Well isn’t autumn a beautiful season? I love seeing the leaves on the trees change to red, orange and yellow. We’ve been for a walk every day and we’ve walked miles with the pram, so it’s been a wonderful opportunity to see the trees change colour. When I lived in Cardiff and worked every day, I don’t think I stopped to look at the leaves. But Mum doesn’t like autumn at all because there’s a lot of work brushing leaves.
Now I’m looking forward to my best season, Christmas. This Christmas will be very exciting because this is Hedd Efan’s first Christmas. I’m like a child on Christmas day, I get very excited.
Happy Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody!