Table of contents for 07-Feb-2019 in Chat

All mums know that kids have accidents – but what happened to Gabrielle’s little boy will really make you wince (p52)! Grieving Jak found an out-of-this-world way to say a final farewell to her hippy hubby Phil (p34). And Denise learned the sinister truth about someone she trusted, but it came too late to protect her daughter (p40). We’ve loads more stories to get lost in, ideas to revamp your home (p27), the latest denim trends (p12), plus fast-and-easy lunchbox treats – just don’t tell the kids they’re healthy! (p44) And our usual fab prize puzzles. Hope you’re feeling lucky!…

In the bag My favourite handbag was looking a bit tired. Rather than throw it out, I lined the inside with a plastic bag, made a few holes in the bottom with a screwdriver and used it to plant some winter flowers. It really brightens up my outside wall! Carla Johnson, Harold Hill Tea time My daughter wanted to make a garden bird feeder for her next Brownie badge. She used plastic cups to give them little nooks for afternoon tea! Rebecca Westall, Erpingham On ice With an accident-prone child like mine, you need ice packs to hand. I keep a soaked sponge in a sandwich bag in the freezer. It's reusable and great for bumps! Lisa Adams, Halesowen Branching out My jewellery box was full, so I cut a…

GUILTY Judge James Garrett Wallace barred all spectators, except for newspaper reporters, from the court. Wayne Lonergan was convicted of second-degree murder on 17 April 1944 and sentenced to 35 years to life in jail. After spending 22 years behind bars, Lonergan was released and deported to Canada. He fought for years for a share of his widow’s $15 million (around £12 million) estate, but all the money went to their son, who changed his name to erase all links to his father. Lonergan died of cancer in Toronto, at the age of 67.…

Prostate-gland infection Q After months of pain in my back and pelvis, I've been diagnosed with chronic prostatitis. Is there a cure? Paul, Cheltenham A Prostatitis is an infection of the prostate gland at the base of a man's bladder, and might follow a urine infection or bladder surgery. If it's not treated fully then it can linger on as chronic prostatitis. Treatment means four to eight weeks of antibiotics, sometimes with other drugs. Write to Dr Martin Edwards at Chat, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Or e-mail chathealth@ti-media.com Sorry, he can’t reply personally.…

You can recognise false black widow spiders by the shape of their bodies and the distinctive markings on their backs. They aren't dangerous or deadly, like the real black widow, but can still cause a nasty reaction. Nocturnal, they spend their days sleeping close to their web, enjoying dry, warm environments. Although false widows release venom when they bite, most reactions are similar to a bee sting. The female spiders are bigger, more aggressive, and have a stronger bite. Symptoms include localised swelling, itching and sometimes nausea. If left untreated, an infection can become serious. If you think you or someone you know may have been bitten by a false black widow spider, it's best to seek medical advice.…

Now Cor answers YOUR questions Q How do you keep your spirits up? Kelly Marie, Liverpool A I keep busy and concentrate on others. If there's something defeating me, I get mad and frustrated but I find a way. Q You’ve turned a huge negative into a positive. Do you see what happened as a blessing? Debbie Hadden, Stourbridge A No, definitely not. I'd much rather it hadn't happened to me. However, it has and I need to live with it. Q Have you ever felt bitter that a simple cold had such a devastating impact on your life? Ann Johnson, Cheshire A Yes, often. But I try not to think too much - it won't bring my legs back. Q What would you like to achieve next? Manisa Kuinkel,…

Years passed – and though I did get a job, love never worked out for me. Collecting information for a census, I faced the public every single day. It helped to build my confidence. The stares and comments still punctured the wounds I’d suffered as a child, though. ‘What on earth is that thing on your face?’ A massive boost to my confidence, I felt unstoppable Nobody saw past the birthmark to the smile and kind eyes beneath. It’s why I never got into a long-term relationship, too scared of what men would think of me. But I was never lonely. Always with friends, my lovely mum or working, I busied myself. In summer 2013, I was at the beach when a wasp landed on my face and stung me.…

You'll spend less money and keep more cash in your pocket with these handy tips 1 Avoid temptation  When you're going to the shops to pick up bread or milk, do you find yourself getting side-tracked and start filling up your basket with things you hadn't planned to buy? Then stick with a list. Even better, leave your bank cards at home and only take the cash you need for what you plan to purchase. 2 Set targets  Spending little and often can eat a hole in your finances, whether it's a takeaway coffee on the way to work or a quick drink afterwards. So why not take the ‘no-spend challenge', and get through the day without parting with any cash by making smart choices? For example, instead of paying…

This week we thought we’d spotlight our Daily Play Games! Well, they are a member favourite. When you’re a member of Chat Mag Bingo, you can play one of our three great daily games for free so long as you’ve made your first £10 deposit and played £2 or more on any games in the previous seven days. Play either Doubly Bubbly, Daily Paper or Tiki’s Catch of the Day every day for free for a week to win cash and free spins. Doubly Bubbly Burst your way to cash wins and Free Spins. Visit the Bubble Grid every day for your chance to pop your way to winning Free Spins for our Doubly Bubbly slot game and up to £750 cash! Get popping! Daily Paper  Hit the headlines on…

Metcalfe’s Corn Chips (75p, 22g, Tesco) These light, crunchy snacks have a good coat of moreish seasoning and are available in Nacho Cheese and Sizzlin’ BBQ flavours. Better for you than a classic tortilla chip. BEPPS (£1.79, 70g, Tesco)  Made from puffed black eyed peas, BEPPS are a naturally high-fibre snack packed with flavour. Available in Sea Salt & Black Pepper, Sweet Chilli and Cheese flavour, they’ll satisfy any crisp cravings you have. Well & Truly Crunchy Sour Cream & Onion (£2, 100g, Tesco)  These addictive snacks are so tasty and crunchy that you really can’t tell they are better for you. With 40% less fat than regular crisps, there’s all the more reason to dig in. Hippeas Take it Cheesy (22g, 99p, Asda) These cheesy organic chickpea puffs are…

New York City, 1939. And a writing star was born. Her name? Lee Israel. After earning a degree at university in 1961, Lee became a successful freelance writer. She contributed film, theatre and TV articles to The New York Times and Soap Opera Digest, amongst others. Made a name for herself. Two successful biographies were to follow. The first was of Hollywood movie star Tallulah Bankhead in 1972, then a bestseller about journalist Dorothy Kilgallen in 1979. Lee’s star was on the up. Until her third book, a 1985 biography on cosmetics mogul Estee Lauder, flopped Lee’s career floundered, she struggled to pay the rent. Her gin habit didn’t help. Plus her sick cat needed life-saving medication Lee couldn’t afford. Then, in 1990, while researching an article about singer and…

Dear Desmond, I’ll never forget that day when I sat watching telly with your dad Andrew, 45, and a small figure tottered into the lounge. You were only 3, but you’d managed to slip into a pair of my heels and a pink T-shirt. So cute! While your big sister Meagan, 12, enjoyed sports, you loved dressing up. Always cobbling together costumes from bed sheets, bubble wrap – whatever you could get your hands on! In the shops, you headed for the Disney princess gowns. Your dad and I reckoned you were just creative. ‘All kids love dressing up,’ Dad agreed. Then, in the autumn of 2011, I was sitting watching RuPaul’s Drag Race. It’s a TV show where reality contestants compete to become the next drag queen superstar. Suddenly,…

Louise Sherriff, 40, Ashford April 2017 This month, I saw my baby for the first time – a little bean on the monitor at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey. ‘Look at that tiny heart beating,’ my husband Philip, 41, said emotionally. But, at 20 weeks pregnant, I’d been a little bit worried. Four years earlier, with our son Alfie, I’d had pre-eclampsia. I’d delivered him two months early, weighing 2lb 8oz. He was healthy now, but it’d been a troubling time and he’d been in hospital for five weeks. I’d feared it’d happen again. So doctors have monitored me closely, prescribing aspirin and blood thinners. But now that I’ve seen our baby – I feel nothing but hope and happiness. I left the hospital smiling, with the whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

Nipple trauma Q Swimming immediately makes my nipples white and painful! What's going on? Emily, South Shields A Could be Raynaud's phenomenon; a spasm of blood vessels triggered by cold. Usually it affects fingers and toes but sometimes nipples, especially if breastfeeding. Drugs can help, but treatment is mainly keeping warm - try to find a warmer pool! Odd lump Q My belly button is swollen and has a hard brown lump inside. I'm terrified it's cancer. Maggie, Merthyr Tydfil A Sounds more like an ompholith - clothing fluff, dead skin and hair trapped in your belly button that becomes glued together with body oil. It can lead to infection and is best removed, which might mean a general anaesthetic.…

2018: Drinks with a killer A vulnerable woman was stabbed to death by someone she'd socialised with hours before. On the evening of 5 February 2018, Lucy Casey, 44, returned to mother-of-one Hannah Leonard's flat after drinks at a pub in Kilburn, north London. There, Casey killed her victim, who suffered from Huntington's disease, with knives and scissors. In November, Casey was convicted of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 22 years. 1910: On the run  On the evening of 31 January 1910, Belle Elmore vanished from her London home. Her husband Dr Hawley Crippen said she'd fallen ill and died, but friends contacted police... Next day, Crippen fled to Brussels with his lover Ethel. While on the run, officers found Belle's headless body under the floorboards. Later, Crippen…

1 Carmex Lip Pot, £2.69 Call me an addict – and you’d be spot-on! If I don’t have one of these tingly lip balms in my handbag, desk drawer and on my bedside table at all times, I panic. It’s non-greasy, hydrating and has SPF15. What more could you want? 2 Lottie London Blush Crush in Harry, £4.95 If you’d asked what was my must-have product 10 years ago, the answer would have been mascara, no hesitation. Nowadays blush is my Number One non-negotiable – and this hot-coral shade makes me look fresh-faced when I’m feeling anything but… 3 Cerave Foaming Cleanser, £9 This does what so many cleansers claim, but fail, to do. It works into a satisfying lather, makes skin feel clean, not tight and the big, pump…

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Coronation Street Liz goes AWOL! With her court date looming, Jenny’s sure everyone’s staring at her - so she throws them all out of the pub! Gemma asks Imran to help Jenny, but he says the only thing that’ll help is if Liz (who Jenny ran over) doesn’t actually turn up… Later, police tell  Steve his mum was a no-show! Meanwhile, Emma realises that Chesney should be with Gemma so she dumps him so they can become an item! Emmerdale Jacob threatens Maya… Maya’s jealous when she spots Jacob and Liv going into Mill Cottage, so lets slip to Aaron that the pair are home alone. This prompts Liv’s big bro to burst in on them and throw Jacob out onto the street! However, when Jacob realises it was Maya’s…

Claire Josling, 37, Huddersfield Tapping away on my mobile, I was bursting with pride. It was November 2013, and my fave footie team, Huddersfield Town, had just won a match. Amazing! I typed on the club’s Twitter page. Not bad, wrote fellow supporter Dave Ellam, 47. Dave was a no-nonsense Northerner from Huddersfield, while I lived down south in Dartford, Kent. He had a dry sense of humour, loved a good moan. We were both obsessed with football, and had been chatting online for months. Despite the 15-year age gap, we had loads in common. Loved the same music – The Beatles, UB40, Madness. So in March 2014, when Dave invited me to an away match near London, I jumped at the chance. Dave loved kids, didn’t stop talking about…

It was the trial that would be labelled ‘New York’s greatest murder thriller’. The very first time homosexual relationships were reported in the city’s newspapers. And it all began with a passionate affair... Wayne Lonergan was born in Toronto, Canada, but moved to New York in 1939. And it was in the Big Apple where Wayne, in his 20s, first met William Burton – the boss of a lucrative beer company and also an amateur painter. The Lion Brewery in Manhattan Valley had been producing beer since the 1850s and had made William millions of dollars. He hired Wayne as a rickshaw boy to take him between exhibits at the famous World’s Fair in New York. But what started as a professional bond quickly turned passionate. William and Wayne became…

Dirty breathing Q I'm worried about air pollution and I've seen people wearing face masks to work. Should I wear one too? Marianne, Brixton A Masks can reduce particulates - potentially harmful specks of carbon and chemicals. But the mask has to be so close-fitting, it's difficult to breathe! Best to try to find a cleaner route to work. Post-flight deaf Q On my last flight, I had terrible ear pain as the plane came in to land. Two weeks later, I still can't hear properly. Satwinder, Southall A As the aircraft descends, air pressure increases and your Eustachian tube equalises pressure. A blocked tube can lead to eardrum damage and fluid in your ear. It should get better within a few weeks. My numb hand Q I'm woken up…

Jaime Anderson, 42, South Ockendon Skipping along the pavement, my daughter Bella couldn’t wait to get to her friend’s house for a sleepover. It was September last year – and, as I hurried to catch up, I noticed an angry, red welt on her arm. ‘That’s a nasty one,’ I said. ‘I know, Mummy,’ Bella, 7, replied. ‘But it doesn’t hurt.’ Bella and her big sister Laurena, 9, had been bitten to pieces by mosquitoes all summer. This latest bite had swollen to the size of a 50p piece. Not that Bella was complaining... But, after two days, the edges of the bite were blistering. I took her to the local walk-in health centre to get looked over. ‘No temperature,’ a nurse said, examining the wound. ‘Looks like it could…

Cor Hutton, 48, Lochwinnoch ‘ It’s time for a decision, I’m afraid,’ the doctor said. Looking at my arms and legs, I shivered in fear. Creeping up my limbs was a frightening black shadow. Sepsis. It was June 2013. If my feet and legs weren’t amputated, I’d be dead within weeks. All this from a simple cold that turned into pneumonia, before attacking my organs and tissues. After three weeks in a coma, the infection had gnawed away at my hands and feet. Now it was spreading. Closing my eyes I remembered hurtling across the finish line of the New York City Marathon, cycling the Great Wall of China, trekking the Himalayas. I pictured my son Rory, just 4, about to begin school. Without my limbs, would I ever hug…

Kiana Smith, 40 Running across the playground, I tried to block the cackles of laughter and roar of insults. ‘Purple face!’ ‘Prune face!’ Finding a hidden space inside an old tractor tyre in the play area, I curled myself into a ball. Then I placed my head in my hands and sobbed. Earlier that week, school bullies had stolen the wheels from my bicycle. Tracing my fingers over my cheek, chin and left ear, I wanted to scratch it all off. I tried to brush off the horrible comments Get rid of the reason they were taunting me. A big purple pigmentation, known as a port-wine stain birthmark, engulfed the left side of my face. I’d had it since birth – but now, aged 6, I was more aware of…

Aries 21 March - 20 April Just as you’re about to depart for new pastures, you take a last look over your shoulder at what you’re leaving behind and wonder if you’re doing the right thing. Yes, you are - and don’t be talked into staying. ● Call 0905 817 0690* for more Taurus 21 April - 21 May It’s tempting when you know that exciting things are on their way to start the party early - but that’s like opening your birthday presents before the day itself. Wait, there may be some last-minute surprises. ● Call 0905 817 0691* for more Gemini 22 May - 21 June You know how it is in a board game, when you land on a square that says, ‘throw the dice again’ or…

Celeb secrets Holly Willoughby reveals she adds a pop of colour to that famous smile with Burt’s Bees Glossy Lipstick, £9.99. ‘I wear the red one. Normally red lipstick goes all over your face, all over your teeth or sticks and get really dry, but this one feels just like a lip balm.’ Darcey Bussell brings spa vibes home with Sanctuary Spa Hot Sugar Scrub, £13. ‘I do enjoy shower scrubs,’ she says. ‘The Sanctuary does one that heats up – that’s my favourite. I rub it into my shoulders and the backs of my arms and it feels good.’ BARGAIN OF THE WEEK Not just one bargain, a whole treasure trove of them can be found in the unlikely location of Tiger – that quirky shop filled with household…

Three times a £1,000 winner… It’s triple the bingo joy for me! Jean Crackles, 74, Rhyl It was my idea of a good night in. Snuggled on the sofa, telly on low and Chat Mag Bingo on my laptop. But, as I logged on one night last July, something was missing – a cuppa! I nipped to the kitchen, flicked the kettle on and said hello to other players while it boiled I loved the camaraderie and though I’d bagged myself two £1,000 wins, it was the fun of playing that I really enjoyed. Heading for the Tiki Bingo game, I spent £1.80, which got me 18 tickets at 10p each for the next Link Game. I went to grab my cuppa and, as soon as I got back, I…

Dried fruit fingers Makes 10 Prep: 10 min plus setting For the apricot and ginger ● 50g raisins ● 200g dried apricots ● 50g crystallised ginger ● 50g gluten-free crisp rice cereal For the date and cranberry ● 150g dried dates ● 50g raisins ● 75g dried cranberries ● 50g gluten-free multigrain cereal flakes 1 Put the apricot and ginger bar ingredients in a food processor and blend until the mixture begins to clump together. Transfer the mixture onto a square of baking parchment and pat into a square about 2cm thick. Wrap tightly and press until firm. 2 Repeat with the ingredients for the date and cranberry bars, then leave for a few hours to firm up then cut into about 10 thin bars. The bars will keep for…

More than 25 years after her crimes, Lee Israel's memoir Can You Ever Forgive Me? has received the Hollywood treatment. The dark comedy, directed by Marielle Heller, should be in cinemas soon, and stars Melissa McCarthy as Lee and Richard E Grant as Jack Hock. Apart from the inclusion of a fictional - and brief - romance with a bookstore owner, the film sticks closely to the true events Lee laid bare in her 2008 autobiography. Reviewers say Melissa McCarthy gives some of her ‘best work' as the struggling, heavy-drinking writer. The movie looks set to be a big hit this awards season.…