by Dee | Jun 3, 2019 | Featured, Travel
Glamping is definitely a trend that has grown incredibly in the past few years, so much so that even the rich and famous are heading out of town just to explore the countryside and instead of checking into exclusive hotels, are opting for a ‘five star’ experience in one of the great Glamping sites springing up all over the UK.
There is nothing better and more bonding for a couple or family, than sitting around a camp fire cooking and reminiscing, and in the absence of electricity, it is wonderful to switch off from the World and turn back the clock to those joyful pre internet days when communication was conversation.
One location I have tried and would recommend is Nethergong in Kent, which has been long established as a camping site, and now extremely well equipped with everything you would need for Glamping, if you wanted to stay in one of their Shepherds Huts, Bell Tents or Romany caravans.
Nethergong is a family run business who take care to ensure all of their guests have everything they need for a delightful Glamping experience.
They have a two-acre wood with tall, evenly-spaced poplar trees and grass underfoot. In addition to Glamping there are several grassed camping areas, including the First Field, the Fruit Trees, the Carp Lake and the New Duck Pond. Some areas can be let exclusively to groups of families dependent on availability and numbers. See their Map for more details.
One of our most popular areas is either side of our shallow Frog Pond, populated by many marsh and common frogs, toads, dragon flies and damselflies and the odd grass snake! The frog pond is suitable for pond dipping and paddling and nets can always be found in their shop (our best seller). Their one-acre Carp Lake can be fished by campers and is not open to the public. Every morning at 10am Jed, the owner, can be found with a throng of children feeding the carp which compete with the swans and the ducks for the food.
History of Nethergong
In the early 90’s Jed’s father planted 3000 English broad-leaved trees on our 26 acre piece of beautiful Kent countryside. Jed then dug out two lakes and more recently stocked the carp lake with thousands of carp for our campers enjoyment. Their oak, ash, willow, elm and beech trees are their pride and joy and at 25 years old are now coming to maturity.
Environment
The natural and unspoilt nature of Nethergong enables hundreds of wildlife species to thrive and live harmoniously with their temporary human guests. The wildlife includes:
- Hundreds of frogs. The marsh frogs’ chorus (best heard from April to July) has to be heard to be believed
- A resident swan family who have raised a brood for the past three years
- Rare dragonflies and damselflies
- Coots, moorhens and ducks of all varieties
- Newts, lizards and bats
- Rare visiting Turtle Doves
- Cuckoos in spring
- Nightingales singing at night
- Owls – From the riverbank you can also see the Barn Owl nesting boxes across the far side of the field. They also have Little Owls and Tawny Owls
- Marsh Harriers and Buzzards.
Glamping is ideal if you are travelling with kids and multi generations, some of whom may be in need more of their home comforts. This gives the family the outdoor experience, but will enable them to cook their favourite meals, if the tastes differ within a family. For instance, two members of my ‘tribe’ have special dietary requirements, whilst the others enjoy a good steak or burger. Mission accomplished and everyone catered for and the entire family happy and able to enjoy their holiday to the full.
Check out Nethergong for yourself at http://www.nethergongcamping.co.uk/
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by Dee | May 10, 2019 | Featured
As we dodge another barrage of social media comment on the newly born Archie Harrison from our beautiful Harry and Meghan this week, it does throw some light upon how we chose a name for our offspring.
In my humble opinion Harry and Meghan have made the right choice, and given their first born a name that sets him up to be a ‘normal’ child – and without a title, and one of the people. You couldn’t get more ‘ordinary’ than Archie. The Nation has really warmed to him already.
It speaks volumes about both parents and the ‘label’ they wish their kids to carry around with them for the rest of their lives, and so it is a huge responsibility to name a child.
Remember the song ‘A Boy Named Sue’? For those of you who don’t, it does as it says on the tin, and you can imagine the rest. This poor young man had to defend himself from bullying and ridicule, became a stronger person for it. But do we actually have to give our kids names to burden them even more to add to all the struggles that are thrown at us throughout our lives.
I know a lot of people who have named their babies after the Royal Family, so there are generations of Elizabeth, Margaret, Charles, William, Harry and now Archie. Perhaps they feel it brings them closer to the Monarchy or need icons to influence their thinking.
I speak as an expert on naming and shaming, as I was born in Mississippi to an American father and British mother, and was nicknamed Dixie to go with the territory. Can you imagine the burden of that as I was growing up in a Southern English county and educated at a Convent run by French nuns!!! Can you blame me for changing it to Dee as soon as I understood the cold stares of the nuns at assembly. Many of my school friends with whom I have been reunited as an adult told me they thought it such a ‘cool’ name. Perhaps it is why I named my own daughter Cyd, although she has never really taken to it!
All names have a meaning and if you look at this website https://www.behindthename.com/ you will see there are explanations for every name on the Planet. The name of the day yesterday was Silvia, which is spooky as my own Mother’s name was Sylvia, just a different spelling, whom as you know was the creator and voice of the character Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds. This centuries old name has various meanings like Beautiful Silver Flower or Spirit of the Woods. The latter definitely applied to my Mum as she was such a free spirit.
Many people I know and in the public eye have changed their names completely and reinvented themselves – Elton John and Freddie Mercury to name just two. Another friend who is a barrister changed it from Tracy to Olivia as she said it sounded better in court!
So how important do you think your name is to you? It is something to reflect on and I would be really interested to hear your comments. After all, it could be you are harbouring a gem that could transform the essence of your identity.
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by Dee | Mar 21, 2019 | Featured, GloWellness
Performers are always having the conversation about the fear of first nights, their nerves when singing or dancing for the first time in a show, or the fear of forgetting their lines. Their hearts pounding, mouths hellishly dry and beads of perspiration breaking out on their forehead. Then all is all resolved when they walk on stage, the symptoms miraculously disappearing, allowing them to perform perfectly without a glitch.
In the majority of cases performers are at home on stage or in front of a camera, but what happens if the nerves really do take over, and start wreaking havoc in a performer’s life.
Actor Denise Welch recently admitted to an overwhelming bout of anxiety whilst on tour, and explained how she suffered from bouts of depression. This brave lady has told the world how she has been suffering over the years, and how it creeps up on us without warning and sets out to wreak our lives.
Anxiety does not discriminate and can affect any one of us, and I am sure the majority of you will have suffered from this devastating condition at some time in your life. Thankfully it is no longer a stigma or considered a weakness to own up to mental health issues, and it is now being encouraged by public figures, actors and even members of our Royal family, to speak out about it, because when we share problems they are far more easily overcome.
I have suffered personally from acute anxiety and it began at school when I was asked to read in assembly when I was 14. I was incredibly excited as I had begun to be interested in a local amateur dramatic group for under 20s, and this was my opportunity to shine. To my horror, as I began to read my hands started to shake, my voice began to tremble and I had to walk offstage not finishing the piece of prose I had been asked to perform. I felt humiliated and desperate, which was not helped by the words of sympathy from my classmates, which only added to my grief. In those days anxiety and depression were swept under the carpet, and yet I had managed to give a highly visible display of acute anxiety in front of 200 people. I was devastated.
Fortunately, I had a wonderful teacher called Mrs Frears who taught literature and drama, who supported me throughout and encouraged me to get back on the stage and perform. I owe so much to her as she not only helped me turn it round, she also was a big part of why I went to performing arts school and worked in theatre and television.
The best advice that was ever given to me when I was tackling the ongoing problem of acute anxiety was from a brilliant psychotherapist who told me to embrace the anxiety, and not try to push it away. He said that I should give it a name as it was a living entity, and respect it and nurture it – I called it Martha.
I now live with the concept of ‘Martha’ and speak to her as a friend when she turns up unexpectedly. She can be high maintenance sometimes, in terms of time, but is well worth it as I can then get to grips with my own agenda and learn to live with my own fears and anxieties. It has certainly worked for me.
I now mentor and train speakers in Presentation and Public Speaking skills and a big part of that is managing anxiety. Why am I such an expert, is it because I have performed on stage for decades as an actor and singer? Of course that is a big part of it. But the most important aspect of my training is my ability to recognise fear of speaking in public because I have suffered badly from anxiety.
The condition is also not just reserved for performers and can infiltrate any area of your life, affecting your social interactions your relationships and even your everyday working life. It has no boundaries and there is no pattern of how or where it can manifest.
I have a friend who seems to have everything, a wonderful husband, beautiful kids, fabulous country house, great circle of friends, successful career – on the surface everything seems to be perfect, and yet she is the most anxious person I know.
There are so many ways of dealing with fear and anxiety, and these can be personal to you. You can begin by reaching out and knowing that you are not completely alone, which is a brilliant way to start.
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