Wow! Somebody has been reading my blogs. Not sure if that makes me feel good or not, but it's a start. As the comments were in Welsh, I'll answer their queries in the Welsh version.

Since the last instalment, we've been struggling with a few technical glitches in Oriel 1 which are constantly random. The timed system doesn't come on at the allocated time, some pictures have disappeared off one of the touch screens, some of the listening posts are tempremental. There must be a technical term for 'Gremlins', but I prefer to imagine little green creatures eating the wires.

I'm involved in setting up two exhibitions for 2009/2010 at the moment. One is an exhibition of Italians living in Wales, and the other is on British Sign Language, which will draw comparisons between BSL and Welsh - a radical, new approach to the way BSL has been viewed in the past.

We also held a very successful Hindu festival, and will be celebrating the re-opening of the temple in Grangetown, Cardiff this Saturday the 22nd. Come along to sample the sights, sounds, food and fun!

Other than that, I've been meeting with a community from Johnstown to collect the objects that they've curated for our Community Dresser. If all goes well, they will be on display well before Christmas.

Last, but not least, an exhibition by Mary Lloyd Jones, the internatinally renowned artist, called First Language, is being set up at the moment. It will open officially on October 4th.

Please feel free to comment - at the moment I feel that my blogs are very technical and rather lifeless. If people comment, maybe I could relax a bit and adopt a more conversational tone. See you soon!

Our Early Christian Monuments (ECMs) are stones that can tell us about individuals, their beliefs, burial practices, languages, art and technology from the past. Some of them are huge and very heavy which makes them difficult to move and install. We were helped by Nigel Brake from Penybryn Engineering and Chris Perry from our Industry Department. You can also see Dr. Mark Redknap (Medievalist) from our Archaeology Department helping with the ECMs and ensuring their safety as they are being installed. It's nice to see people are willing to get stuck in and help!

An 'A' frame is used to raise and lower the ECMs. This is the frame from which the winch is hung to support the ECM and lift it up. The ECMs have got inscriptions on them from Early Medieval times that we can't scratch or damage so great care must be taken over moving them. Special steel supports have been made for the larger stones allowing them to be held firmly in place.

Before the contractors arrive on site our temporary exhibitions gallery looks almost empty. We used to use this gallery to hold large exhibitions at National Museum Cardiff and are now redisplaying and reinterpreting our Archaeology collections here in a new exhibition called 'Origins; in Search of Early Wales'.

We've installed some Early Christian monuments (ECMs) already and some are lying on pallets waiting for more action to take place. Dysons are the contractors responsible for creating the new exhibition space prior to us installing all the objects to bring it to life. They are due on site shortly to begin the construction in earnest.

The cases are from a previous Archaeology exhibition we did in partnership with the British Museum and others called 'Buried Treasure' about archaeological treasures from our collections and how they were found. We've had them refurbished and recycled for this exhibition to complement new ones we've bought especially for the new Origins gallery. The heavy steel bases and supports for the ECMs look good enough to be in the display themselves, but there are other plans for the finished look. The floor is protected in areas so the installation of the steel bases and ECMs does not scratch it. The ECMs weigh up to 2 tonnes each so moving them is a serious business involving heavy lifting gear, engineers, curators and conservators.

Wel dyma fi eto, mis yn ddiweddarach er mawr cywilydd, a finne wedi addo straeon am fywyd a chymeriadau Oriel 1.Rwy' wedi bod ar y galifant dros yr haf ar wyliau yn bwyta lot gormod o hufen ia.

Mae'r Oriel wedi bod yn llawn dros yr haf a phob math o bethau wedi digwydd! Penwythnos diwethaf roedd Pwyllgor Puja Cymru yn dathlu eu cysylltiadau a'r Oriel a chafwyd sioe ffasiwn, sgyrsiau a cherddoriaeth o India yn treiddio drwy'r Oriel.

Ar hyn o bryd mae'r ardal arddangosfeydd arbennig braidd yn llwm yr olwg, gwagleoedd ac olion papur wal gwaith yr artist Marc Rees yn dameidie ar y wal. Wir, roedd gweld ei waith a gwaith yr artistiaid Peter Finnemore, a Bedwyr Williams yn dod i lawr yn dristwch mawr! Rwy' wedi gweld eu gweithiau'n sbarduno cymaint o ymwelwyr i chwerthin, sgwrsio a chanu (!)yn yr Oriel.

Beth bynnag, mae'n amser cyffrous, mae'r waliau gwag yn aros i'w llenwi gan waith Mary Lloyd Jones. Bydd ei gwaith yn cyrraedd ddydd Llun ac ar y 4ydd o Hydref fe fydd lansiad y gwaith ac fe fydd hi'n rhoi sgwrs yn yr Oriel. Bydd gweithdai celf wedi seilio ar ei gwaith gyda'r cert celf yn ystod Hydref hefyd! Roedd y cert celf yn lwyddiant yn yr Oriel yn ystod mis Awst. Yn ogystal ag ysbrydoli'r plant yn yr Oriel bu Tracey Williams, un o'r artistiad a oedd yn gweithio gyda'r cert yn gyfrifol am fy ysbrydoli i wario ffortiwn ar baent acrylic i gael potsian fy hun!

Ar hyn o bryd rwy'n gweithio ar sesiwn i blant ysgol 5,6 oed i ddefnyddio'r Oriel.Rwy'n meddwl gwneud rhywfath o helfa drysor a chyflwyno'r holl beth drwy ddweud fod Anifeiliad yn byw yn yr Oriel ac eu bod nhw'n frindiau arbennig. Ond weithiau fy mod i'n drist iawn oherwydd fod fy ffrindiau i'n cuddio a weithiau mod i'n methu dod o hyd iddyn nhw. (Mae bob math o ddreigiau/cwn/ceffylau yng nghudd yn y gwrthrychau). Dim ond syniad! Rwy hefyd wedi bod yn gweithio ar sioe luniau i blant am begs dillad!!..Ym ie, cawn weld am hwnna!

By now I've started to do a bit of fieldwork. I started by recording Sirajul Islam, Bengali by birth, but now studying for a degree through the medium of Welsh. He has a fascinating story, and this will be in our archive for future generations to peruse and study.

Another project that I've started is trying to beef up the Youth corner of Oriel 1. The screen which is currently showing stills of Maes B events from the past will soon have a lively video of the events from 2007. The Meic Stevens guitar case will hopefully be clearly signed and will contain records and pictures to complement the story.

With the imminent launch of the Virtual Museum, there are a few projects to prepare for that, namely the Community Dresser objects, and interviews held with young people during Eisteddfod week.

I'm also involved in an exciting new project to build a turf round house at the Celtic Village, a radical new design that will turn archaeological theory on its head!

Other than that, I'm visiting Newport Museum this week to discuss their Pop exhibition plans, and have been on Welsh television and radio to promote Oriel 1 and the work that I'm doing. Things are beginning to move quite swiftly!