Table of contents for 03-Jun-2021 in Pick Me Up!

Stepping off the train, I felt giddy with excitement and joy. We’d just arrived in London and I loved visiting the city. My husband Michael, now 59, and I usually went for our anniversary, but this time, we were with our friends, Tracey, 56, and her husband Gaz, 60, to celebrate their birthdays. It was March 2012, and we were off to see Mamma Mia! in the West End. A big fan of musicals, I couldn’t wait for the weekend to begin. As we arrived at the hotel, I unpacked our bags, ready to glam myself up. Slipping on a nice dress and heels, I was ready to party. Only, just as we were about to leave, I caught my heel on the plush carpet and felt my right foot…

Dancing in the Mardis Gras, a club in Liverpool in 1970, I couldn’t help but notice a lad across the dance floor. ‘Wow, that guy can really dance!’ I said to my friend, gesturing to the boy who was busy busting a move. Despite being just 16 I was in my element. I’d never had any dance lessons but I loved music and dancing came naturally to me… which is more than I could say for most of the guys I saw on the dance floor. But this chap was different – and I was impressed by the way he moved. Jimmy O’Shaughnessy and I danced to mo-town classics until it was 11pm and time for me to catch the last bus home. ‘It was great meeting you – you’re…

Giddy with excitement, I held my husband’s hand, Danny, 29. The pregnancy had been great so far. Danny and I had been trying for a baby for a year and we were over the moon to finally be at the hospital for our 20-week scan in May 2018. I knew my boy, Joshua, 10, was going to be the best big bro. But, when the sonographer started looking suspicious and disappeared off to get someone who looked very serious it felt like my life was slipping into a sad scene from a soap opera. It didn’t feel real. The woman sat down in front of us and calmly introduced herself. She told us we were having a girl and used the probe to push down on my belly. ‘I’d like…

Pacing up and down the living room, I paused whilst my husband rubbed my back. I’m in so much pain,’ I sighed to John, 35. It was 13 April 2020, and I was 25-weeks pregnant. We were expecting our second baby – we already had a six-year-old daughter called Amelia. Up until this point, my pregnancy had been fine. But now, I was experiencing the worst back ache. ‘Everything hurts,’ I winced to John. I tried to lay down, which made it worse. ‘I’m calling 111,’ John said that evening, after I had suddenly vomited. The operator suggested that it could be a stomach bug. But within two minutes, I was in even more agony. An ambulance took me to Broomfield Hospital, where they checked me over and gave me…

Celebrate Armed Forces Day on Saturday 26th June by taking on the 13 Bridges Challenge to raise money for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity. In partnership with Fujitsu, Cors Security and Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, the event will take participants on a 10-mile walk through Greater London, exploring the 13 bridges that make up the city. Starting at Tower Bridge, the event will finish at Eel Brook Common after the final bridge, Putney Bridge, is crossed. The event will take place on Saturday 26 June and requires a £50 fundraising target per person, which will go to SSAFA to help them continue to provide vital support to the Armed Forces, veterans, and to their families. Sir Andrew Gregory, CEO at SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, said: ‘Armed Forces Day is a…

What a great idea With the world beginning to open back up, we can finally make plans and organise our time! Martha Brook’s mid-year diaries are perfect for pencilling fun plans for summer and beyond. Start afresh for the rest of 2021, and choose from a beautiful range of colourful, personalised notebooks. With monthly calendar pages, a yearly planner (July 2021 – August 2022) and weekly diary pages, reflection pages and additional notes – there’s everything you need to capture important dates. Lovingly made by hand in Martha Brook’s West London studio, the luxury hardback covers are coated in a specialist book cover material that feels soft to the touch and printed with real foil. They make a brilliant gift for a parent, student, teacher or any academic. ● Go…

Pottering around the kitchen, it was another busy day. As I got to work on a few chores, my daughter Daisy, then 12, was dancing around, listening to Ed Sheeran’s, Castle on the Hill. It was her favourite song, so we had to listen to it on repeat. Along with Daisy, I had my son Evan, then 10, and little Zak, then four, who I’d had with my husband Leighton, now 55. Leighton was Daisy and Evan’s stepdad, but he was amazing with them. We had a wonderful life, but in July 2015, it all changed. After complaining of leg spasms, Daisy was taken down for an X-ray. ‘We need you to bring her back in for an MRI,’ the doctor told me down the phone. ‘We’ve found a shadow…

Answer on page 47. ACROSS 6 Dracula’s title (5) 7 1977 sci-fi film directed by 18 Down and starring 1 Down, 4 Down, 6 Down & 24 Down (4,4) 10 Collide with (3,4) 11 Entertainment of Japanese origin (7) 12 Imprecise (7) 13 Indicator (7) 14 Obvious without proof (4-7) 19 Take advantage of (7) 21 Reinstate (7) 23 Braggart (4-3) 25 Coach (7) 26 Films (8) 27 Place of action (5) DOWN 1 Alec _, Oscar-winner for his role in 1957’s The Bridge on the River Kwai (8) 2 Verse of a poem (6) 3 Variety (10) 4 _ Hamill, star of 1980 epic war film The Big Red One (4) 5 To test (3,3) 6 _ Fisher, actor whose film credits include The Blues Brothers and When Harry…

How to register It’s so easy to do, just visit, comps.lifedeathprizes.com and register by hitting the join button and then you can enter as many competitions as you like. Go on, have fun! Look what you could have won! REGISTER NOW AND NEVER MISS THE OPPORTUNITY OF A WIN! For website rules of play, visit comps.lifedeathprizes.com/rules. T’s&C’s apply, UK only. * These have now closed.…

From maxi florals and ditsy prints to this season’s grown-up take on pink, consider this your capsule spring wardrobe! F&F ambassador Kelly Brook models the latest range of Tesco women’s clothing. The collection features much-loved classic silhouettes designed with all shapes and sizes in mind. 26 Top tip Follow @fandfclothing on Instagram for ideas! Top tip Inject some colour into your wardrobe this summer! Top tip Tesco denim range is made of 100% organic cotton! Find out more about our commitment to REAL woman womanandhome.com/real…

Let’s talk about periods. Although we may squirm at the word, they’re a perfectly normal part of the female body. However, with the average woman menstruating for 2,535 days of her life, our choice of sanitary products can have detrimental effects on the environment. According to the AHPMA (Absorbent Hygiene Product Manufacturers Association), around 11,000 disposable menstrual products are used in a lifetime, with 4.3 billion used in the UK each year. That’s a whole lot of plastic pollution that ends up in either landfill, rivers or oceans each and every year. With the average menstrual pad estimated to take up to 500 years to breakdown, it’s clear that something has to be done about this issue. The UK uses 4.3 billion period products each year Thankfully, in recent years,…

Research shows we’ve turned to food during the last year – and we’re enjoying homecooked Chinese food more than ever! Lee Kum Kee’s online shop (www.shopuk.lkk.com) has all you need to create authentic dishes, and there is a brand new ‘Wok to Wellness’ cooking bundle (£23.99), which includes an exclusive recipe book and expert tips. Here are some ‘feel-good’ recipes by celebrity chef Jeremy Pang to get you started. Serves: 4 Rainbow chow mein □ 200g wheat soba noodles, soaked in hot water□ 300g pork loin/pork fillet, cut into matchsticks□ 2 carrot, cut into matchsticks□ 1 yellow pepper, cut into matchsticks□ 1 green pepper, cut into matchsticks□ 2 spring onion, sliced□ 200g red cabbage, shredded□ 200g beansprouts□ 100g watercress□ 1 tbsp vegetable oil□ Dash of Lee Kum Kee Pure Sesame…

This week, our tip of the week will receive a great product from Addis! The sleek Mode two piece set is a great addition to the bathroom. The pedal bin comes complete with a separate liner and the ultra-hygienic toilet brush which offers a discreet place for your cleaning detergent. Hard wearing and won’t dent or rust. For more ways to make your life easier, visit addis.co.uk Wildlife whisperer After scooping the middle of a fruit, poke holes in the sides for string and hang up full of birdseed for a zero waste bird feeder. Laura Raynor, Bradford One too many! If you’ve spilt red wine, blot it with a paper towel, cover the stain with a thick layer of salt, let the salt soak and simply hoover to remove…

Staring down at the tear-stained letter beneath me, I let the words flow straight from my heart. You’re the person I’ve always dreamed of. All I’ve ever wanted from life is to be happy and that’s what I have with you. I’m not sure what lies ahead but we’ll take it on together, I scrawled on the two-page long letter to my soulmate, Nick, 41. Folding the paper neatly and popping it inside an envelope, I headed off to work with my friend as an assistant photographer at a wedding. It was 14 November 2020, and I’d received a phone call the day before to confirm my worst nightmare. It was breast cancer. I’d met my husband, Nick, when I was just 16 years old. We were working together in…

When first responders arrived at the scene of a serious road traffic accident on the Barnet Highway, in Vancouver, they could see the male driver was trapped in the vehicle. Straight away, paramedics and firefighters scrambled to rescue him, using the ‘Jaws of Life’ machinery to cut through the crumpled metal of the SUV. The man, Jan Poepl, had been driving the car when it had crashed at high speed into a lamp post. He was unconscious so couldn’t explain how the accident had happened. As police walked around the crash scene to try and determine the chain of events, they came across the unconscious body of a woman in a ditch. Shouts went up and paramedics rushed to help her. The woman was called Nicole Porciello, also known as…

PIMM’s Sundowner, £15 (70cl bottle), Sainsburys. Perfect to drink as the sun sets, the PIMM’s sundowner is best enjoyed as a Sundowner Spritz. Simply fill a wine glass with ice and combine 50ml of PIMM’s Sundowner with prosecco, top up with soda, then garnish with fresh raspberries. Grenade’s new Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Spread, £6.99 (360g jar), Grenade.com. High in protein and low in sugar, Grenade’s new spread is perfect for breakfast or dessert and has 86% less sugar than leading brands – without compromising on taste! Oxo Rubs and Marinades, £2, Asda. Unlike traditional marinades which can take hours to infuse, these Oxo marinades need just 10 minutes to add bold flavours to any meat, fish or veg! Walkers Football Themed Crisps, from 65p, supermarkets nationwide. Walkers have unveiled…

When I was 28 years old, I discovered the world of camming ‘These girls do crazy things and get paid for it!’ my friend told me. I was working as a travel agent in a 9-5 job at the time, and my first thought was: I have to try it! I rushed down to the shops, bought a webcam and signed up to a camming website. If I can pay for this webcam in a month, I’ll be happy, I thought. But pretty soon, I was making almost £1,000 a week. I was hooked! People paid me to perform activities, often sexual, in front of a webcam. I was authentically myself and guys seemed to pick up on how genuine I was. I soon learnt that there was less competition…