Yr efail/the smithy

Our local blacksmith doesn't operate under a spreading chestnut tree but beside the village street, and his door doesn't stand open to let the children peep in on their way home from school (the village school has closed anyway.) Our local blacksmith and his sons (fourth generation in the trade) are artist-craftsmen who work to commission, turning out beautifully designed seats and gates and screens one of which was standing outside the workshop today. It looks to me as if it represents the harbour at Newport a few miles up the coast with the incoming tide sweeping up the estuary.

Weather vanes are a speciality and there was a good selection on display: puffins, fish, gulls and a lobster were among the emblems and you could have a choice of either language. In English the points of the compass are clearly distingishable: N,S,E,W. In Welsh though there's a problem because the four points don't all have different initial letters. The respective words are Gogledd, De, Dwyrain, Gorllewin.
So what you get is G,D,D,G which can be a little confusing. Have a look here to see what I mean. The English weather vane is on the left, the Welsh on the right.
So which way is the dragon pointing? The answer is blowin' in the wind.