Table of contents for 10-Sep-2020 in Pick Me Up!

I’m no stranger to fancy dress – everyone who knows me knows just how much I love to dress up. A few years ago, I bought a T-Rex inflatable costume for Halloween and have made use of it ever since. When we knew the schools would be closing due to Covid, I wore it to pick up my 10-year-old boys, Adam and Yanis. And when lockdown was enforced in the UK, myself and a few others in the community came up with an idea. Putting on my costume, I joined the likes of Spiderman, Superman and Batman to go and cheer up the town. Using our daily exercise as a way to make people smile, soon more people wanted to get involved in it. Slipping into costumes, we had the…

There’s nothing better than the smell of a barbeque on a hot summer’s day, and it’s made even sweeter when you get to spend time with family. ‘Sausage or burger?’ I yelled to my son Lee, 18, as he splashed around in the paddling pool, soaking up the glorious sunshine. ‘Burger please,’ he replied. ‘But can Dad do it instead? He’s better with the BBQ.’ ‘OK,’ I sighed, aware that my husband Simon, 41, was a top chef when it came to theBBQ. Simon wasn’t moving at all ‘But then you’d better make room for me in that pool!’ ‘Yes!’ Lee exclaimed, chuffed that he’d haggled his way out of a charcoaled burger. Thankfully, Simon was ready and waiting on a deck chair just metres away. My Simon was always…

Be a winner! This week, our tip of the week will receive a great product from Addis! This window vac will make light work of cleaning windows (£24.99). This household cleaner is multi-purpose, offering effective cleaning on windows, mirrors, shower screens and fighting against condensation. For more ways to make your life easier, visit addis.co.uk Goodbye grease! To remove grease stains in Tupperware, simply fill halfway with hot soapy water and add a piece of kitchen roll. Shake vigorously for one minute. Boom! Oil stain gone. Alexandra Low, Midlands Clever hack Remove stains on your sofa with shaving foam. Simply spray it on, leave for a few minutes and blot with a kitchen towel. A. Cairns, Essex Sit and relax! I use two stretchy elastic bands to keep the cushion…

Anew study has discovered that those who are pessimistic die earlier than those who don’t have overtly negative or positive views. Researchers in Australia found that those with negative outlooks about the future died around two years earlier than the average person. But surprisingly, being particularly optimistic didn’t mean an increase in life expectancy. The team behind the research believes that pessimists are less likely to look after themselves well, resulting in their health declining sooner than people with more positive outlooks! 520,000… That’s the number of people in the UK that have dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease, with that figure set to rise. Have you tried… Nutriburst gummy vitamins, from £19.99, www.nutriburstvitamins.com From brand new vitamin brand, Nutriburst, these gummies are a great way to give yourself an extra…

Everyone remembers their first crush, the rush of adrenaline when they look your way, or, if you’re lucky, flash you a smile. For me, it was Josh*. At eight years old, I was head over heels. So it was no surprise that my stomach was doing somersaults when he took a seat next to me in our last class of the day. Josh flashed me a dashing smile, and I was on cloud nine, not paying any attention to what the teacher was saying. A few minutes later, though, I had a problem. Out of nowhere, my stomach started to feel heavy, like I needed the loo. Too embarrassed to ask permission to leave, I sat there, hoping it would ease. But, sat next to my crush, my stomach started…

Wrestling with my little pup, I pull my sock out of his mouth. ‘That’s not yours, baby shark!’ I say, cuddling him. My four-month-old pup Chip loves to chew anything he can get his mouth around. That’s how he got his nickname ‘baby shark’. Luckily, his lack of coordination results in very little chewing damage. You see, Chip has Cerebellar Hypoplasia – a condition that affects the part of his brain that controls motor skills. It causes him to wobble when he walks and runs, but that doesn’t hold him back from playing and getting up to mischief. In May 2020, I fostered Chip’s mum Linda from a hoarding situation. Then Chip and his seven littermates were born at my house in Maryland, America. Chip is a mix of Cocker…

GOOD DEED OF THE WEEK Every 90 seconds on average, someone in the UK is diagnosed with cancer. On 25 September, show your support by taking part in Macmillan’s Coffee Morning, an annual event dedicated to bringing people together over a cuppa to raise funds for charity. Simply sign up at www.macmillan.org.uk, then host your own coffee morning, either in your garden, office kitchen, school, or even on the street. Macmillan is also encouraging you to get involved in different ways – for example, you could run, cycle, knit or bake. Every penny raised at a coffee morning helps Macmillan to provide vital support to people with cancer, who need it now more than ever. We’re loving this! Fashion has always had a part to play when it comes to…

EXPERT TIPS Achieving a perfect smile is something we all want. Unfortunately, professional whitening and dental services can cost a fair amount. So, this week, Dr Deepak Aulak from Arm & Hammer is here with his top tips for achieving a brighter smile from the comfort of your home. 1 Avoid food and drink that cause staining. These can include wine, smoking and black coffee. If you are to have one of these, it is important to clean well after with a baking soda toothpaste such as Arm & Hammer Charcoal White, which is powered with activated charcoal to remove surface stains. 2 At-home whitening – this can be done using a dentist prescribed system. A good system is Tooth Fairy (toothfairyapp.co.uk), which allows one to whiten their teeth using…

Complete the grid then read down the shaded squares to reveal the hidden answer. Clue: Painkiller. ACROSS 6 Gain access to (3,2) 7 Illegal (8) 10 European country (7) 11 Top musician (7) 12 Repeat (7) 13 Country between France and Spain (7) 14 Blown-up photograph (11) 19 Require (4,3) 21 Casey _, star of 2007 crime film Gone Baby Gone, directed by his brother Ben (7) 23 Medium-sized monkeys (7) 25 American city (7) 26 Throw this at a wedding (8) 27 Arrive at (5) DOWN 1 Sudden rush of animals (8) 2 Verse of a poem (6) 3 Mistake by a person (5,5) 4 Silent or sullen (4) 5 Channel for carrying away rainwater (6) 6 Greta _, director of 2019’s Little Women (6) 8 Cajole (7) 9…

Pressing her ear against my belly, my little girl listened intently. ‘That’s right,’ I smiled at her. ‘There’s a baby in there.’ A few hours before, in December 2018, my husband Adam, now 26, and I had sat our daughter Devon, then two, down to reveal the good news. ‘You’re going to be a big sister,’ Adam explained, and Devon had been over the moon. ‘A little sister for you to play with,’ I added. ‘We don’t know it’s a girl,’ Adam laughed. ‘I’m sure it is,’ I said. ‘I can feel it.’ A few weeks of morning sickness passed by, and at my 20-week scan at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, I was proved right. ‘Congratulations, you’re having a little girl,’ the sonographer chimed. Our baby was poorly but I…

Making my way into work, I was just getting used to my normal routine again. Having been furloughed for nearly a month from my job at B&Q, the store hadn’t long opened back up. And after the last few months, it was nice to finally get out and about again. Plus, at work I got to spend even more time with my boyfriend, Craig Oddy, 48. He worked with me at B&Q too and we’d only been together a short while. While I’d been working at the store for five years, Craig had been there just 18 months. We immediately hit it off, but nothing ever came of it - both of us too shy to tell each other how we really felt. But at the Christmas party in November…

Nadiya Bakes, BBC Two After winning GBBO in 2015, Nadiya Hussain has inspired us to be passionate bakers. In this series, she returns to celebrate the joy of creating sweet treats, just as she loves to do for her loved ones. Nadiya will share her favourite homemade cakes, bakes and delicious pastries alongside exciting new recipes inspired by other passionate bakers. In each episode, Nadiya will delve into different, delicious bakes, from choux pastry to celebration cakes and biscuits. She’ll be travelling around the UK, visiting extraordinary bakeries to discover the stories behind the treats that make her happiest and bringing those new recipes back to her own kitchen to create mouthwatering twists on the original. She’ll also share a range of hacks, tips and cheats that make baking as…

Family run business Fairburn’s Eggs are proud to produce organic, freerange, barn, and colony eggs for leading UK supermarkets. Award winning chef Rachel Green has created some recipes to celebrate their eggcellent range! Espresso profiteroles Serves 8 ☐ 150g plain flour ☐ 2 tsp caster sugar ☐ 100g butter, cut into small pieces ☐ 300ml water ☐ 3 x Fairburn’s free-range mixed weight eggs, lightly beaten ☐ 750ml double cream ☐ 1 tbsp espresso coffee, mixed with 1 tbsp hot water ☐ 1 tbsp Kahlua, optional ☐ 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces ☐ 25g icing sugar, plus a little for dusting 1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F/Gas mark 6. Sift the flour into a bowl and stir in the caster sugar. 2 In a saucepan, heat the water and the cubes of butter over a low heat until…

Listening to the doctor tell me I may never be able to have children, my heart broke. I was just 19 and as the doctor diagnosed me with polycystic ovary syndrome, the family I’d dreamed of having one day looked to be further and further away. ‘Is there anything I can do?’ I asked, totally gutted. ‘Losing weight might help,’ the doctor explained. ‘We can’t say for sure, but being a healthy weight can definitely help when it comes to trying for a baby.’ While still a teen, I hadn’t planned on having children just yet, but I knew I always wanted to be a mum. And as I stared down at my growing size 24 frame, I knew the doctor was right. If I wanted a family one day,…

Sat in the waiting room, I wrung my palms together, my heart thumping in my chest. Taking deep breaths, I tried to control my nerves. But as a voice called ‘Mr. Michaelides?’ my body started shaking. No one enjoys going to the dentist, but for me, it’s a crippling fear. Sat back, I felt myself being turned horizontal by the motorized chair. What’s he going to do to me? I thought, glancing over at the dentist’s collection of sharp tools, all neatly laid out. I was only in for a checkup, but the thought of needles and drills quickly swarmed through my mind. My vision went blurry, and before I knew it, I’d passed out, fear consuming me. I’ve been terrified of the dentist for all my life. As a…

Bouncing my little boy, Saul, on my lap, I couldn’t believe how happy he was. He was a cheery little boy and barely ever cried. At first, I worried he was broken – no parenting book tells you what to do if your child refuses to bawl and howl. But I soon learned that’s just the way he was, and I felt so lucky to have such a healthy and content boy. Saul quickly grew into an energetic chatterbox. He was a little geeky and I never had any trouble with him. I could feel a lump on the side of his ribs As well as behaving like an angel, he looked like one – he had blond, curly hair that ran down his back. ‘You’re my little superhero,’ I’d…

H&M is thrilled to announce a collaboration with Sandra Mansour, the Beirut-based brand known for its dreamy and daring aesthetic – always with a modern coolness to it. Inspired by strong female artists and the beauty of nature, the collection features edgy ruffles and romantic fabrics. Anatomy of Style Diane von Furstenberg said: ‘Style is something each of us already has, all we need to do is find it.’ From her years as a fashion journalist, New York Times bestselling author Sophie Gachet, shows us how with her new book Anatomy of Style. A fun, practical guide from the eyes of a fashion guru! Through photos of both iconic and individual styles, Sophie deciphers the stylistic quirks of 120 celebrity looks and fashion trends, making them accessible and easy to…

More and more women are looking to switch their careers and financial independence for tending to hearth and home. #TradWives are a growing community of women who are reverting to a 1950s style of living, spending their days cooking, cleaning and putting their husbands first. They embrace super traditional and conventional gender roles by choosing to care for their families at home, instead of earning a living. The Vintage Housewife blog explains the society: ‘The interest in being a Traditional Wife seems to speak to women who want to get back to simpler times, and take pleasure in traditional domestics, femininity and wifehood. ‘In a nutshell, a Trad Wife devotes herself to her marriage, household and family, and pursues old-fashioned homemaking skills such as cooking, baking, sewing, and household management.’…

On the Sunday morning of 16 October 2016, Maria Lutz called her mum and they chatted from different corners of the globe. Maria’s mum was in Bogota, Columbia, while Maria was in Sydney, Australia, where she lived with her family. Maria, 43, had grown up in Bogota and missed her family, but loved her life in the leafy suburb of Davidson. She was married to Fernando Manrique, and they had two children – Elisa, 12, and Martin, 11, who everyone called ‘Tin’. As Maria chatted to her mum, Fernando, 44, was busy tinkering in his shed. It seemed like some of the recent troubles were behind them, and while Maria knew her marriage was over, she was optimistic about the future. The couple met while they were teenagers in Columbia.…

ARIES 21 March–20 April Watch what you say about the lives of your friends and family. The things that you are making light of may mean more to them than you can imagine! You could well be causing more heartache than you can imagine, so a little tact and diplomacy please, Aries. Being the one who is nice to start off with this week puts you back in a position of power and negotiations. Call: 09058 170 710* TAURUS 21 April–21 May You’ve come so far from where you first started. You see this by the way others react to you when you ask them for things. Don’t turn your head to the past now, Taurus. Not when there is so much to be gained by turning your face to…