What kind of duvet filling is the best? If your choosing a duvet it’s a question you’re bound to ask, unless of course you’re a goose or a duck, and then the answer is pretty straightforward!

You see duvets these days seem to come in two major categories: Natural or Synthetic. Natural duvets contain feathers/duck or goose down and synthetic duvets are usually made from polyester.

So which one is right for you?

Well, first of all it’s important to remember that the warmth a duvet generates is measured by it’s tog value (see our previous article: Duvets - What is a Tog Rating ) and therefore from a warmth point of view there shouldn’t be any difference between a Down Duvet rated as Tog 12.5 and a Synthetic Duvet rated as Tog 12.5.

So you’re probably asking by now. ‘What’s the difference?’

Natural Duvets

As we’ve already mentioned, natural duvets are normally made from Duck or Goose down. Now ‘down’ is the soft plumage from the bird’s chest area and as such is full of tiny filaments, which entwine to form natural pockets of air, which in turn keep in the warmth. (And that’s possibly the reason why you’ll never see a Siberian Goose wearing a scarf and sitting next to a radiator to get warm.)

Apart from that, natural duvets offer:

• Great body support
• Feel somewhat heavier and more substantial than their man made counterparts.
• If they’re professionally cleaned can have a bed life of up to 30 years.

Synthetic Duvets

Usually made from polyester, synthetic duvets have one undeniable advantage over natural duvets and that’s price. Simply put they’re cheaper than down!

Apart from that you’ll also find:

• They’re ideal for allergy sufferers as they can be treated with anti-bacterial and anti-microbial chemicals.
• Much lighter than a down duvet.
• Easier to clean, you can stick them in a washing machine
• They’re bed life is normally somewhere around the 10 year mark

Oh yes! And there’s one more thing about synthetic duvets…

‘If you use one, you’ll never wake up feeling down in the mouth’.  (I’m sorry, but I couldn’t resist)

If you lie awake in bed at night, unable to sleep, because you’re afraid of the dark, the chances are your suffering from nyctophobia. Taken from the Greek ‘Nycto’ meaning night and ‘Phobia’ meaning fear; nyctophobia is something usually associated with the fears of growing children. However, it’s a condition that can survive into adulthood and then, although it seems totally irrational to everyone else, is prone to totally ruin your sleeping habits.

Childhood sufferers frequently have a fertile imagination where monsters under the bed or shadows lurking in the corner of the room are the norm. Thankfully in these cases, a little understanding from a parent and a comforting night-light or landing light left on, can make all the difference.

Adults however, can suffer with symptoms of nausea, disorientation, sweatiness, loss of control and even panic attacks. Something that’s made even worse when psychologically you realise you’re safe in your bedroom but somehow you just can’t control how you feel.

Although often ignored, nyctophobia is a recognised sleeping disorder that affects more people ,than at first, you might think. Help though is at hand as many sufferers have been seemingly cured through Hypnotherapy, Neuro Linguistic Programming, Homeopathic Remedies and of course discussing the matter with their G.P. and then acting upon their advice.

Is this the latest way to beat Insomnia? If you’ve not seen the clip before, check out the ‘Boogie Woogie’, tap dancing sheep.  

You’re tired, you’re sleepy, all you want is a good night sleep but there’s a pesky mosquito zipping around the room and the noise is driving you mad. Welcome to the long hot summer!

Worse than that, you’ve just seen a spider dangling from the bedroom light and there’s no one around to get rid of it. Short of jumping out of bed, running through the doorway and standing as a quivering wreck on the landing, there’s not much else you can do!

Well thankfully, all that has now changed. All you need is the handy ‘Spider and Bug Buster’. Shaped a bit like a light sabre crossed with a vacuum cleaner, it’ll suck the offending bug or spider, (while the little monster is still at arms length) into its clear plastic tube and the jobs done. Then all you do is take the ‘Bug Buster’ to a nearby window and release whatever you’ve caught, humanely into the night air.

Once you’ve used it, you’ll wonder how you ever survived without your trusty Spider and Bug Buster.

What to know what dreaming about Teeth, Cats and Flying mean? Then read on as the interpretations are interesting, entertaining and sometimes psychologically revealing. 

Flying
In dreams, as in life, the best kind of flying is the kind where you make a good landing. If you dream you’re flying high over green fields then good fortune and business advancement is on the way. If you’re single and you dream you’re flying from city to city, then a troublesome time on the dating side of life could be on the cards. However, don’t despair as in the near fortune an old friendship will blossom into romance.

Teeth
First of all the good news! Dreaming of teeth falling out by themselves is lucky. However, if you or a dentist, pulls your teeth out then it normally means you’re worrying about something you’ve no control over. Probably it’s a niggling irritation but you feel powerless to overcome it.

Cats
As a symbol of power, independence and femininity, cats are pretty hard to beat. If you dream of a cat crossing your path and then meowing, then not only will you overcome any obstacles that you might come across, but you’ll easily make friends. If the cat in your dreams purrs around your legs, then it’s a sign that contentment and happiness are just around the corner.

Some things in life are just ‘Laugh Out Loud’ funny and Sgt Bilko is unqustionably just one of those things.

To the uniniatiated Sgt Bilko, or to give the programme it’s proper title, ‘The Phil Silvers Show’, is just another 1950’s, black and white, American Sitcom. But to those of us in the know, ‘Bilko’ is just about the most consistently funny situation comedy there has ever been. In fact it’s the bench mark that shows like ‘Cheers’, ‘Friends’, ‘Frasier’ and ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ tried to emulate and only very rarely succeeded.

Now available on DVD ‘The Phil Silvers Show 50th Anniversary Edition’ features 21 of the best episodes and even includes the never-beeen -seen-before pilot episode.

In short if you can’t sleep, want to take your mind off any pressing worries and know that laughter really is the best medicine then grab a copy of this Sgt Bilko DVD now. 

 Can’t Sleep in the Hot Weather? It’s an age-old problem but thankfully here are 5 top tips that might just help you when the temperature outside gets to hot to handle.

• Draw your bedroom curtains during the day. If you keep the sun out, your bedroom won’t feel quite so hot at night.
• Get a 5litre/1 gallon water container, cut the top off and then fill it three quarters full with water. Stick it in the freezer until the water’s frozen solid and then take it upstairs to your bedroom. Finally place it behind an electric fan (away from the electrics) and turn the fan on. You’ll notice the difference almost straight away as the fan starts to circulate the cooler air.
• Invest in a chillow pillow and start to comfortably lower your body temperature.
• Forget your duvet for a bit, grab your bed sheets, place them in a plastic bag and then stick the bag in the fridge for a few hours. Then just before bedtime get the cold sheets out of the fridge and remake your bed. Just make sure though that the sheets are only cold and not damp. You don’t want to wake up with pneumonia.
• Ditch your synthetic pillow and get a feather one with a natural cotton pillowcase. Surprisingly synthetic pillows retain their heat compared to feather/down pillows.

Your favourite sleeping position can, apparently, give deep insights into your personality. Following a report last year by Professor Chris Idzikowski, director of the UK Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service, scientists now believe that common personality traits are related to our favourite sleeping positions. O.K. so if you want to analyse the personality of a partner or loved one, make a note of the way they go to sleep (assuming this wont cause too much embarrassment…!) and then take a look at the chart below.

Foetus
This is the most common position for women with a high 51% saying they prefer this position. According to the professor, people who curl up in the foetal position seem tough on the outside but really have quite a sensitive core. They can appear shy and retiring when in strange company but soon learn to relax. More women than men tend to adopt this position.

Log
This position entails the sleeper to lie on their side with both arms by their side- hence the rather apt name of “The Log”. By all accounts, well by the accounts of this survey anyway…the people who sleep like this are easy going, social creatures who like running with the “in-crowd” They are very trusting of strangers and can be quite gullible.

Yearner
Again this is like the log except both arms are stretched out in front of the sleeper. These people are said to have an open nature but they can be suspicious and cynical. The report also mentions they are slow to make up their minds but once they have then they are very unlikely ever to change it again. An astrologer friend noted this and said you could also say that about any typical stubborn Taurean…
 

Soldier
This position of lying on your back with both arms pinned to your side has been dubbed “The Soldier”, because, I suppose, it makes you think of those little toy soldiers of yesteryear that every toy-box worth its salt had. The people who sleep like this are generally quiet and reserved. They don’t like a fuss of any kind but they set themselves and those about them very high standards.

Freefaller
I can see why they called this the Freefaller – the sleeper lies on his front with his head to one side and his hands around the pillow. However, it seems that someone who sleeps like this can be gregarious and brash but nervy and thin-skinned underneath all the bravado. They don’t like criticism or extreme situations.

Starfish
This is like the Freefaller except the sleeper lies on his back. These people make good friends and are always ready to listen and help out when needed. They are also not keen on being the centre of attention.

So, there you have it, Professor Idzikowski maintains these are the six most popular sleeping positions but somehow, I don’t think you should get too upset if you think you married a quiet, retiring person and then discover they sleep in the freefaller position!
Personally, I have loads of questions I would like to ask the good Professor, such as what if you don’t stick to one position during the night? I mean. there’s many a time when I can go bed a soldier and wake up a starfish! Who knows, I may have run the whole gamut of foetus, log, yearner and freefaller inbetween.
There was another interesting point, however, it seems going to sleep on your front can help with lowering high blood pressure and the freefall position is good for digestion. So I presume the old Prof might say that if you’ve had a heavy meal just assume the freefaller and you can throw those indigestion tablets out the window.

 There’s nothing worse than getting off an aeroplane and feeling absolutely shattered with ‘Jetlag’. If you’re starting your holiday it’s a total pain, if you’re travelling overseas for a business meeting it could mean the difference between success and total failure. Thankfully though, there are some simple remedies that may make all the difference and help turn your potential overseas nightmare into a relaxing trip of calm and total tranquillity.

So what causes Jetlag in the first place?

Well to be truthful there’s no ‘just one answer’, it’s normally a collection of little things that coalesce together to catch you unawares.  A biggie though is crossing time zones, in fact the generally accepted wisdom, is to allow 1 night’s catch up sleep for every hour you’ve lost or gained. So if you’ve travelled half way around the world and lost say, 7 hours, your body should acclimatise itself back to normality in a week. The trouble with that is, your holiday will probably be already half over - and who needs that?

Another pitfall is the aeroplanes dry atmosphere. You know the situation, your throat’s itchy and dry, you need a drink, so you get a tea or coffee or even an alcoholic beverage. STOP! Don’t do it. You’re giving Jetlag a head start. The caffeine in the tea and coffee will only keep you awake when you need to sleep and surprisingly alcohol is 2 to 3 times more potent on your body chemistry when your flying than when your on the ground. And if that wasn’t enough, lack of exercise and too much airline food eaten on a scrunched up stomach won’t do you any good either.

So what’s the best way to avoid Jetlag?

O.K. the best place to start is at home. A few nights before you fly, try to go to bed slightly earlier than usual. Cut down on your alcohol intake and get some exercise, nothing too strenuous, but just enough to blow the cobwebs away.

Exercise is a wonderful weapon in the war against Jetlag, so try and regularly stretch in your seat or walk up and down the aisle a bit. O.K. You might feel silly but it’ll be worth it in the long run. Remember though, be aware of the cabin crew’s feelings and whatever you do don’t cause a riot or an air-rage incident of international proportions. And when you’re airborne try to cut down on the caffeine and alcohol and choose good old water instead your body will thank you for it.

Next up sounds a bit weird, but its thought your direction of flight may contribute to your Jetlag. Seasoned travellers the world over argue about this one but currently the debate seems to favour flying in a Westward direction as opposed to an Eastern one. Also flying by day as opposed to flying at night is thought to reduce the effects of Jetlag.  

Finally, when you’re on terra firma and back in your home or hotel room take your shoes and socks off and scrunch your toes in the carpet for about a minute or two. Then go and have a shower. Your muscles and circulation will feel revived and your jetlag will simply start to melt away.

CHOICE FOR JUNE

Bond is back! In a cocktail of murder and mayhem that’ll leave you feeling shaken and undeniably quite stirred! To celebrate Ian Fleming’s centenary, Penguin books commissioned Sebastian Faulks to write a brand new exciting Bond adventure in the style of the master spymaker himself. The result being, ‘Devil May Care’

Set in the swinging sixties with the Cold War at its height ‘Devil May Care’ feels and reads like vintage Bond. With a plot of murder, narcotics and global catastrophe, 007 is ably assisted by the glamorous Scarlett Papava in his mission to thwart the maniacal plans of the evil Dr Julius Gorner. - Bet you’ll be humming the Bond theme before the end of the first chapter.