Kate Davis-Holmes

Dorset is a county that I don’t know very well at all. My parents took me all over England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland but some counties slipped through the net. Dorset was one of them and I visited there for the first time when I became a nanny many years ago.

Of course, so many friends have recommended the county to me as a holiday destination. It’s about time I took Dorset off the bucket list and actually booked a holiday cottage break for us all. I think most people know about the fine beaches and the Jurassic nature of the coastline. Fossils and dinosaurs always appeal down the generations. However, I decided to look into the other things families might enjoy in Dorset before we make your trip there.

Nature

I love to encourage my children to get away from screens and outdoors as often as possible. My parents used to take me to country parks as a child and it is great to know that Durlston Country Park offers 280 acres for them to explore. There are walking trails which we always enjoy, beautiful views and wildlife which can inform our home education journey.

I have always admired the work of the RSPB. My late Mum loved watching birds and knew a lot about them too. So in her honour it would be great to visit RSPB Arne Nature Reserve where you can also see beautiful butterflies and six British reptile species. Again, this visit would add loads to our home education journey.

History

I was brought up with a love of learning and my oldest son has a passion for it shared by my parents. My younger two did not enjoy history much in school but they do now. Dorset is full of historical locations including Sherborne Abbey, Maiden Castle and Dorchester’s Roman Town House I am particularly interested in Tyneham village which was evacuated in World War Two and stands still deserted as a memorial to those very challenging times in British history.

Beaches

There are lovely beaches around the UK but Dorset’s really do stand out. Studland Beach is one example where you can swim safely and even catch a glimpse of the Isle of Wight. I am not really a fan of beaches which are not sandy but you have golden sands in plentiful supply here and in the county as a whole. Check out Durdle Door’s arch and beach. This is part of the Lulworth Estate and the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

I have more research to do but Dorset clearly has so much to offer for a great family holiday. I would love to hear your tips about the best places to visit especially those that might appeal most to teens.

Days Out In Dorset For The Family

I know it might not suit many home educators but I have decided I need a written home education plan to steer our days and to help me on those days where I wobble a lot about our decision to home educate. I thought I would share what we are working to currently in case readers are looking for a home education plan. We can all learn from one another.

My personal struggles with mental wellbeing have proved to me how valuable it is go get outdoors for some of that delightful Vitamin D. It is also a good time to talk and to share. We live in the countryside so the beauty feeds our souls and we can take our two dogs and cat with us. Yes, I have a cat who loves to go on walks!

One of the things I have missed not knowing enough about in life purely for my own interest is art appreciation. So I try to ask the children to consider a painting every day and to share their thoughts and feelings.

On the other side of things, I cannot quite abandon the idea that they do need to have good English and Maths abilities. I use Edplace and other resources online to help with this. My son in particular enjoys doing worksheets whereas my daughter is more reluctant but will do them in amongst her self-directed learning.

We do worksheets on science too and the occasional experiment but I plan for that to be part of our standard home education day moving forwards. There are so many fun things you can do in the kitchen or outdoors teaching you lots about physics, chemistry and biology.

I love history as did my parents. I want my children to share that passion ideally. We watch documentaries about history a lot and will be doing more visits to enhance our history studies.

I did not study geography myself for long but I can use online resources to help with this. I certainly want them to have an awareness of diverse countries, their cultures and foods. I know there is more to geography than that so need to do further research as to how best to teach this.

I was always impressed how my brothers could always find work in cookery jobs as Mum had ensured that they could cook from an early age. She was a trained cook so they have very good skills or should I say had remembering that my oldest brother passed away last year.

Languages wise, we will focus on French for now and again there are so many resources online and I have my French A-Level to help me a bit.

As I write this I realise I need to build in money management and also music. My parents never taught me about money and I want my children to be equipped for the financial side of life. Music was a big part of my life growing up with so much singing in the house and on stage too. My youngest son has a real feeling for music so I want to encourage that. Music, like a good story, can ensure you realise you are not the only one to feel a certain way. As my late Mum said to me “With a good book you are never truly lonely”

What do you think of my home education plan? Have I forgotten something? What would you add?

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I did not have a clue what title to use when writing this post. I don’t want to get the tone wrong in the slightest way but I do feel I want to say something. If anyone has an issue with this post at all, please let me know and I will take it down.

Last Sunday, I was outside a bar as France won the World Cup. I felt a little tearful as that day would have been my Dad’s 91st birthday. He died in 2012 so the grief has eased so that I love to think of him and almost always with a smile. We talk of him often as a family and he is very much a part of who we are and what we do.

Monday passed apparently uneventfully (little did we know) and then the blogging world was rocked when we heard the news that the amazing woman Kate behind the blog WitWitWoo has passed away. At first the information did not compute with me – it could not be true. I did not know Kate particularly well but I did know she was so full of life with strength, humour and the warmest of hearts that it seemed impossible that she had died. Of course she was very young too and leaves behind 2 sons and other family members who will miss her desperately I am sure.

Please take a look at this page and if you can help at all financially please do so because you know what, Kate would have done.

https://www.gofundme.com/funeral-fund-for-mum

The thing about blogging is that when big things happen, you very quickly get to know what bloggers think and feel. We all like the sound of our own words after all or we would not be bloggers in the first place. At the beginning of the week, I had to come offline as there were so many tributes to Kate and the more I read them the more unfair it seemed that such a good woman should be taken too soon.

Kate was not one of my blogging buddies which is why I feel a bit uncomfy writing this post. She had commented on my posts, I had commented on hers from time to time and we had tweeted. What I can tell you is that every time I saw her at a blogging event I used to think to myself “Why can’t I be more like her?” There are some beautiful bloggers with lovely qualities but Kate stood out in every way. She appeared to be permanently smiling or laughing and with gusto too.

Blogging had apparently changed over the years. It felt to me as if the thing had lost a little of its original soul. Connections seemed a little more shallow and bloggers are driving themselves so hard to increase statistics, gain an award or a ranking or make money. There is nothing wrong with those things but I missed the old days when it felt that every blogger was at least a little bit your friend.

Kate passed away and blogging founds its soul again. A Twitter hashtag of #bemorewitwitwoo started up and reminded us to live hugely and with good hearts like Kate did. Even if you are not on Twitter join today and check out that hashtag and you will be saner for it. Lessons are shared with that hashtag that are already changing the world one baby step at a time.

People started living their lives differently. They allowed themselves treats. Mine involved hot chocolate with swirly cream and chocolate sprinkles. They indulged in self-care. I felt a need to nap. They wore make-up if they didn’t normally and if they did, they went bare-faced. I very almost wore red lipstick last night and I never wear make-up. I bottled it but will put that right soon. How incredible that Kate continues to make such a strong impact even after passing away.

Today, people have faced their fears and punched through their own comfort zones to post pictures of themselves in swimwear. Take a look on Instagram again looking for that powerful hashtag and see an array of beauties because we all are you know. It is just that some many of us struggle to feel that.

I don’t know but I can guess that behind those photos are several outtakes that never saw the light of Instagram. How many of gave into negative self-talk tearing our bodies to bits before finally realising that body confidence is a choice or at least increased body confidence is. How liberating to show our true selves wobbles, back fat, mum tums stretch marks and all!

I did not own a bikini so I went to buy one today. I clearly bought a size too small. It went on but there was much boobage escaping out of the sides. I looked at myself, I slated myself and then I had a firm word with myself. We can always do more than we think we can and today I posted myself in a far too small bikini out in the garden. It felt quite liberating.

So a woman called Kate died last week and her legacy is already huge. How amazing is that! She will remain a positive influence in so many lives moving forwards.

Instead of saying “Why?” let’s say “Why not?” and see what happens.

Rest peacefully Kate and thank you.

I have always known how important taking out the right insurance is. My Dad worked in insurance for a number of firms. I cannot remember a time when I did not know what insurance was all about. Today I am talking about the importance of commercial building insurance for those in business.

Things go wrong for business owners from time to time. If you have a building, you might wake up one day to find your building is fire-damaged. What happens if you lose all your fixtures and fittings? What if a car crashed into your building? It can be so dangerous to think these things will never happen because history proves they do. Some landlords rent out property to businesses such as shop owners and some also might be letting out flats above such premises. It is vital to find the right commercial property insurance policy and ideally at a competitive price.

Commercial properties tend to be riskier than residential ones often due to the number of employees using the premises or any potentially hazardous materials kept on the premises. Don’t neglect your hard fought for business for not having the right insurance in place. It is soul-destroying to see a business go down in any circumstances but if you know you should have done something to prevent it, is it that much worse.

Tales of the unexpected always cause stress of course and it will not be an easy time for you as a business owner if you are faced with a huge flood or an employee experiences a devastating injury. However with the right insurance in place, you have one headache less at a challenging time.

If you are not sure where to start it is a good idea to consult a broker such as Rigby’s Financial to work out your next steps.

Dating does not come super-easy for many people and yet the whole topic fascinates so many of us with folks joining sites like Match Me Happy in the hope of finding love. It is like we are looking for the ultimate answer to getting it right. The viewing figures for Love Island prove this for sure. It seems just about everyone is watching it and when it is not on they tune in to hear about it on the television daytime shows or keep updated on social media.

Love Island involves contestants coupling up, completing challenges with some perhaps really looking for a soul mate and others attracted by the potential cash prize at the end. There is a huge debate about how the individuals concerned are treating each other. Another topic is folks wondering if it would be better if the contestants were not quite so stereotypically attractive when really in the real world, beauty if very much in the eye of the beholder. What sort of dater are you?

Commit too early

Loyalty is a lovely quality to have. However in the dating world it can hold you back. Just because you have a date and find someone attractive does not mean you should let your mind run wild imagining that the person is your one and only for life. Whilst they may be looking for a casual thing, there you are planning the wedding and dreaming about what your babies will look like. Take your time until you get to know someone properly and take the time to find out what they are really looking for date-wise too.

Hard to get

The other extreme is being so proud or perhaps shy and insecure that you end up playing hard to get. Keeping a little held back is great as advised above but if you do that too much, the other person does not know where they stand. After a while that gets tedious so they may and probably will look elsewhere. Be brave if you like someone and tell them so. Life is too short not to take a chance. Far better to take a rejection which hurts in the short-term than to live with a lifetime of regret for not taking a chance on love.

Flirty Frolics

It is fun to flirt and indulge in word play and banter. Laughter is a great aphrodisiac. However, if you do it too much and with too many people, you can come across as insincere. Nobody wants a partner who does not mean what they say. A lot of people hide their insecurities behind a flirtatious manner but in the end calm it down a bit, take your time and establish genuine connections.

What sort of dater am I?

I don’t have a heap of dating history to be honest as I was a very shy young woman. I have never had a clue about those things people call signals. However, shy or not, even I have managed a date or two along the way. In my teens I did not always recognise what was a date and what was just an invitation for a coffee or a pizza.

I do have the habit of falling for someone I am dating way too quickly. I have not learned how you can give just a percentage of your heart so I give it 100 per cent and that can lead to heartache in the end. So if you are dating, do try not to commit too early learning from my past mistakes.

Weirdly, I can also be hard to get. I tend to be crippled by insecurity about myself which does not help me be carefree and relaxed in dating scenarios. I have certainly hidden behind apparent nonchalance or a witty wisecrack only for the guy in question to get fed up and pursue someone else. How dozy is that when you have actually fallen for someone hook, line and sinker? Again, learn from my experiences and if you want someone, be brave enough to tell them so.

The perfect date

I think the perfect date is one where both parties can relax. Initially I think it can be good to be in a group situation so it is not quite so intense. Moving on, I like a dinner date as it means if conversation does not flow easily at least you can talk about the food and drink. Another good date idea from my point of view is walking as you don’t have to give each other long lingering looks until you are ready to do so and can at least enjoy the scenery along the way.

The wonderful news now is that is so easy to say what you are looking for by joining free dating sites and exploring who might be your perfect match.

What sort of dater are you?