Table of contents for 20 January 2022 in Chat

This is me and my rescue dog Alfie on our first walk together. We’ve never been apart since. He is such a lovely dog – he’s even learned to fetch me my slippers! Lindsay Matthew, Heywood On a day out with the grandchildren at a local farm park, my dad Richard couldn’t resist having a turn on the go-karts. He might be retired, but he’s still young at heart! Karen McGuire, Grimsby My daughter Bianca was a bit unsettled, so her daddy decided to bake muffins with her and she loved it! I think she’s going to be a little baker. Maria Van Raalte, Norwich Our little tortoise Georgie likes to join in with all our family fun. Jodie Giblin, Vale of Glamorgan My husband and our new puppy, Douglass.…

WIN £1,001 Puzzle 4 Actor Julia Roberts has said The Wild Palms by which author is her favourite classic novel? To find out, solve the crossword then read down the shaded squares to find the two-word prize answer. ACROSS 11 Yearly (6) 12 Space traveller (9) 13 Make tea (4) 14 Olympic event (4,4) 15 Passage (5) 16 Small red fruit (6) 17 Nationality of a person from 44 Down (7) 18 Star of Speed and Point Break (5,6) 20 Flower (5) 22 Move (9) 24 Revises text (5) 28 Conversing (7) 29 Runner (7) 32 Instant (6) 34 Mexican hat (8) 36 Italian bacon (8) 37 Baby’s toy (6) 39 Stringed instrument player (7) 40 At last (7) 45 Power tool (5) 47 Misfortunes (9) 48 Tough metal (5)…

He vomited up blood! Q My husband was rushed to hospital vomiting blood, and the doctors have found varices. What’s that? Audrey, Harrogate A This sounds appalling for you. Varices are veins that have swollen and enlarged, just like varicose veins in your legs. Varices that form in your stomach or gullet are particularly dangerous as they don’t usually cause any symptoms, but are liable suddenly to burst and bleed, causing vomiting of blood. Some 40-70% of people die from blood loss, so it’s good that your husband made it to hospital in time. Most varices are caused by liver damage, often cirrhosis due to overdoing alcohol. Treatment usually means urgent surgery through an endoscope, a flexible camera tube passed into the gullet, to tie a band around bleeding gullet…

TEEN KILLING On 11 February 2003, schoolgirl Sarah Robson, 14, was plied with alcohol by her friend Thomas Davis, 18. He then dragged her to a field where he raped, beat and strangled her before calling police. Her body was found just 200 yards from her East Cramlington home. Sarah’s distraught parents had been out celebrating their silver wedding anniversary but returned from dinner early after Mrs Robson had a bad premonition. Davis pleaded guilty to Sarah’s rape and murder, and was jailed for life with a 10-year minimum tariff. LARGEST MANHUNT The UK’s biggest manhunt ended when police cornered gunman Raoul Moat in the village of Rothbury on 9 July 2010. Armed officers drafted from countrywide had spent a week hunting Moat, 37, across Northumberland. He’d left letters saying…

FILL ME IN WIN £100 puzzle 14 Yellowcake is an intermediate product in the extraction of what element? Solve the puzzle by following the arrows and writing in your answers. Then read down the letters in the shaded squares to find the prize answer. Your answer: CIRCLE TIME Which British sitcom is set in Button House? Fit the words into the grid, then read down the letters in the shaded circles. 3 letters AIM ARC ASS AWN BUS BUT OWE WOE WON 4 letters GREW RATE RULE STEW TOFU YARN 5 letters MASKS SACKS SOAPS URGES 6 letters COBWEB CRYING TAINTS THUMBS 7 letters ADAMANT EIGHTHS WIN £100 puzzle 15 Your answer: TO ENTER Turn to page 56 for details or visit comps.lifedeathprizes.com/puzzles…

Aries 21 March-20 April You go out of your way to help others, and it is appreciated. A friend might be looking for some advice, and as you’re honest about things, they will be grateful. • Call 0905 817 0690* for more Taurus 21 April-21 May You are inviting the family around for a catch-up. Everyone is bringing a plate and a bottle, so the event won’t cost you the earth. Make up some goodie bags! • Call 0905 817 0691* for more Gemini 22 May-21 June Uranus is urging you to relax, as you‘ve been rushing around and organising everything on your days off. Let someone look after you for a change. • Call 0905 817 0692* for more Cancer 22 June-23 July This week you’ll find luck is…

Natalie Bradley, 33, Manchester Sitting in the doctor’s office, I tried not to cry. ‘You need to lose weight,’ he said in October 2018. A familiar voice was already whispering in my head and I tried my hardest to block it out. Hit the gym now. Count calories. No carbs. See, now, aged 30, I was clinically obese. But not so long ago, I’d been desperately thin, hospitalised with anorexia. It had started when I was 10. I’m bigger than my friends, I’d think miserably. So I began obsessively counting calories, walking miles each day. My dad Gary, then 32, tried desperately to get me to eat properly. He couldn’t get through. No one could. By the age of 13, I was skin and bones, and also severely depressed. For…

The advice you need Sophie Smith, 17, Torquay Standing at the bottom of the stairs, I felt like I was about to take on Mount Everest. How is this so exhausting? I thought, dragging my feet. It was 2017, and I was only 13. But all I wanted to do was stay in my room and sleep most days. Maybe it was teenage hormones kicking in. ‘Or maybe you need more shut-eye,’ my mum Sarah, then 53, said as I slowly shovelled cereal into my mouth one morning. I’d go through the school days in a daze, struggling to follow conversations. And I wasn’t just tired, I was ghost-white, always at the GP with one thing or another – headaches, exhaustion, migraine. But blood tests all came back clear. My…

OVER TO YOU Can you set a puzzle in this format? Send it, Cwith a photo of yourself, to the address on p3. There’s £20 for every one we use! This week’s puzzle was compiled by Bailey McGuire, Cleethorpes, NE Lincs WIN 5x £25 Puzzle 6 ACROSS 1 Foot warmer 2 Old-fashioned term for ‘you’ 3 Breezy and fresh 4 Decays DOWN 1 A light in the night sky 2 State in the USA 3 A sure thing 4 Door openers Your answer CHAIN WORDS Nephrite is one of two varieties of which precious stone? Get from Start to Finish, making words by joining two boxes together as you go, eg: GUI + TAR, TAR +… you decide! When you reach Finish, two unused boxes join together to give you the…

ARROW WORD WIN £1,001 Puzzle 10 Which country’s monarch, on the throne since 2016, is considered to be the richest royal in the world, with a personal fortune of over $30bn? Follow the arrows and write in the answers. Then read down the shaded squares to find the prize answer. Your answer SUDOKU To solve the puzzle, each 3 x 3 box, each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 to 9. Solve the puzzle and the numbers in the highlighted squares will give you the prize puzzle answer. WIN £60 Puzzle 11 Your answer: WORDSEARCH WIN £50 Puzzle 12 Written by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, I See the Light is the theme song for which Disney movie? The answer is the one missing from the grid.…

Hubby’s a cyber flirt Q My husband of two years has been flirting with other women online. He deleted his social media accounts when I first found out, but he reinstalled them a week ago and has been flirting again. I don’t trust that he’ll ever stop. What can I do? Amanda, 47 A I can see why you’d feel betrayed, lovely. Regardless of whether he met these women in person or online, this is still cheating, if you ask me. What is he getting from these women that he’s not getting from you? And is he sure it’ll never go further than cheeky messages? Are you sure? I’d sit down with him for a frank chat. Ask him what needs of his your relationship isn’t meeting and why he’s…

3 Ways to… cut your food bills These clever tips will make your grocery spend smaller 1 Use up what you already have Check out Tesco’s ‘What can I make with…’ recipe finder tool (realfood.tesco.com/what-can-i-make-with.html ), which shows you delicious dishes you can make with all sorts of ingredients you may have and which need using up – like slices of bread, eggs and vegetables. Even if you need to buy some extra ingredients to make a particular recipe, by using up food you already have, you’re saving money and avoiding food waste. 2 Have a fakeaway Ordering a takeaway can be appealing – particularly if you’re tired after a long day. But they can leave a big hole in your finances, especially if you get them regularly. Instead,…

Dancing On Ice ITV Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield host a new series of the celebrity figure skating competition. Among the famous faces getting their skates on this year are Coronation Street’s Sally Dynevor, S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens, Strictly star Brendan Cole, Bez from the Happy Mondays and rugby player Ben Foden. Olympic legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are also back to help mentor the celebs and to judge their performances alongside fellow judge Ashley Banjo. Who will take the crown from last year’s champion Sonny Jay? Munich – The Edge of War NETFLIX Jeremy Irons stars as British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in this drama about the real-life events of autumn 1938 when the world was on the brink of war with Germany. This story is…

Tanologist 360 Spray Tan Mister, £9.99, Superdrug Fake tan in winter is the best way to look glowy, even if you don’t feel it. But how to reach those hard to get to areas? With this genius mister, that’s how! Pour in your favourite tanning water, then let the spray do all the hard work for you. Maybelline Colossal Curl Bounce Mascara, £10.99, feelunique.com You can throw your eyelash curler away thanks to this clever mascara that contains memory-curl formula, so once it’s lifted your lashes up, that’s where they’re staying. Essence Hello, Good Stuff! Cica Face Cream, £3.79, justmylook.com As the weather gets colder your skin barrier (the top layers of your skin) needs extra protection and hydration, and that’s exactly what this nifty moisturiser does. It leaves skin…

Chat winners issue 40 (7 October 2021) £1,001 CASH B Harris, Truro £1,000 CASH S Ford, Surbiton £500 CASH L Hutchin, Worthing; R Measures, Nottingham £250 CASH A M Martin, Bathgate £150 CASH S Raeburn, Aberdeen £100 CASH S MacEy, Norwich; E Glover, Bridgwater; M Johnson, Macduff; G Powell, Deal; M Owen, Gillingham £60 CASH M McBryde, Gateshead £50 CASH S Kingston, Reading; A McStravick, Crumlin; M Poole, Belper £30 CASH A R Hughes, Sale; C M Bailey, Manchester; C Mengual, Gillingham; E Bell, Chatham; A Goodyear, Spalding £25 CASH C Sherratt, Burton-on-Trent; P Cox, Swadlincote; A Guntrip, Winchester; S Lambert, Grantham; M Masters, Holsworthy; M A Harding, Shrewsbury; S Thomas, Ipswich; S Tivey, Brinsley; C Armstrong, Crawley Anyone from your town in the list this week..? Chat PUZZLE 1…

Both Micheail Ward and Kenneth Williams were convicted of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery. Hadiya’s dad Nathaniel gave a whoop of joy outside the court, while her mum Cleopatra said tearfully of the verdict, ‘There’s justice for Hadiya, finally, because she didn’t deserve it.’ Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy pleaded for mandatory minimum sentences for possession of an illegal firearm. He argued Hadiya would not have died if the law was changed, because Ward had pleaded guilty to illegal gun possession in January 2012, but served no jail time. The politicians took heed, and Hadiya’s death has influenced proposed legislation that would make trafficking firearms a crime. It would punish anyone giving a gun to someone illegally. Before sentencing, Judge Nicholas Ford lambasted Ward for his lack…

Claire Roberts, 46, from Swansea We’d hardly got through the door with our newborn Henry when his brother Edward, then 6, raced over. ‘I can’t wait to play with him,’ Edward grinned, bouncing around. Me and my husband Alexander, then 38, laughed. It was May 2012, and with our two boys, our family felt complete. Only, baby Henry was unsettled. Cried constantly and had difficulty feeding. ‘It’ll be reflux,’ the health visitor assured. Where a baby brings up milk during or after feeding. But by 5 months, Henry’s vomiting had worsened, he seemed weak. And he was losing the ability to hold his head up properly. Worried, in October 2012, we rushed Henry to an out-of-hours GP. The doctor dismissed his symptoms as a virus, but a mother’s instinct told…

Cat-astrophe! Picture this: you’re swiping through Tinder and a profile pops up of a man with his adorable cat in the pic. You’re tempted to swipe right – you love cats! And furry pals are always a great way for a man to show his softer side. But wait, men who own moggies are more likely to be unable to keep their paws to themselves than dog owners. Better stick to a loyal pup than a roaming tom. One of a kind Studies show that those without siblings are 34% more likely to cheat on their partner, potentially linked to wanting more attention. Maybe it’s time to look for a fella with a family that rivals the Von Trapps? Big feet, big fibs If you’re worried your man might be…

Simone Williams used to love reading the Guinness World Records book at her grandma’s when she was little. She didn’t imagine for a second she’d be featured in it one day, though, let alone embroiled in a giant battle of the ’fros, vying for the coveted spot of World’s Largest Afro. ‘I started growing my afro about 10 years ago,’ says Simone, who lives in Brooklyn, New York. ‘I had straight hair before then, and I just decided to try the natural look.’ Simone had been visiting hair salons multiple times a month, spending anything up to £75 a time. ‘So I decided to grow my hair as a way to save money,’ she explains. ‘Once I started to see my new growth and hair texture, I just kept it…

I sat, rapt, in front of the telly as a documentary about transgender people played. Listened as the folks on screen explained that they’d been born in the wrong body. ‘Oh my God,’ I muttered. ‘That’s what’s different about me!’ I wasn’t a tomboy or gay. I was a man born in a woman’s body. Everything made sense. It took years to come to terms with it, but in 2010 a friend found me a local trans support group and I began my journey. Many of the group were transitioning from one gender to another. I knew I had to do the same thing. Once Destiny, then 19, finished school in 2011, I sat her at the kitchen table to tell her the truth. ‘I want to become a man,’…

Beauty director Sarah Cooper-White shares her favourites E.l.f. Holy Hydration Melting Cleansing Balm, £8, elf cosmetics.co.uk This gorgeous, buttery cleanser will take off all your make-up in one go and leaves your skin feeling plump and soft. Soap & Glory Glow Your Mind Nourishing Cleansing Balm, £9.95, Boots Packed with all the skin-boosting ingredients every skin type needs, such as vitamin C and hydrating oils, this also has a delicious scent as a bonus. The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter, £11, The Body Shop If you wear contact lenses or have sensitive skin, this is the cleansing balm for you as it gently cleans all the impurities away without stripping your skin of everything it needs to stay calm.…

PLEASE USE BLOCK CAPITALS THROUGHOUT HOW TO ENTER TEXT Simply text CHATD followed by a space and your answer/s (spaces between answers please) full name, door number and postcode to 63333 Texts cost 50p plus standard network charge (maximum 160 characters per text). When you enter by text, you may in future get SMS marketing messages from Future plc and Chat. If you want to receive these, please end your text with OPTIN. Texting tips • Don’t put any spaces in an answer that has several words: eg: CHATISTHEBEST not CHAT IS THE BEST. • If the answer is a name, you need only give the surname: eg: CLOONEY not GEORGE CLOONEY. • You can use capitals or small letters, but don’t use any commas, etc. • Leave out answers you don’t…

Dear Rachel, I’ll never forget the first time I saw you. Tearing open that white envelope, I was so excited to see your photograph for the first time. And there you were, smiling back at me. Just 4, you looked so shy. But, underneath, I could see how brave you were. Growing up in Pajule, Uganda, you may not have even had your picture taken before. But you were so eager to learn. About everything. It was December 2019, and just a month earlier, I’d signed up for World Vision’s child sponsorship scheme Chosen. It gives underprivileged children around the world a choice. Instead of me selecting a child to sponsor, the power was placed in your hands. And you chose me. I was honoured. I liked your pink dress,…