Table of contents for February 2024 in Take a Break Monthly

Our brilliant brain box! The rain didn’t dampen our spirits when my hubby Paul, 50, and I, along with our youngest daughter Sophie, 18, saw our daughter Lucy, 21, graduate. Rosemary Miles, 49, of Christchurch, Dorset Happily ever after My husband Nathan, 31, and I eloped to London and afterwards we did a photoshoot in front of some iconic city landmarks. Here we are in front of The Shard — it’s where we got engaged! Megan Barnes, 28, of Leeds Making a splash! When my grandson Charlie, seven, was given his first swimming certificate, we couldn’t have been prouder. Clare Williams, 63, of Deganwy, Conwy Eyes on the prize! Lens is more! My granddaughters Lydia, two, and Alice, six, both love birdwatching at this time of year. Can’t go without…

My mum, Tina, pulled a tray of homemade biscuits out of the oven. ‘They smell delicious, Mummy,’ I said, reaching for one. She grinned and said: ‘Sorry love, they’re for the neighbours. Can you take them over for me?’ It was typical of Mum. She liked making people feel special. If someone was new to the street, down in the dumps, or sick, she was there. ‘It’s nice to help,’ she always told me and my brother, Richard. She’d split from our dad a few years before, but we saw him regularly. Our grandmother was around a lot, too. She and Mum ran a sweet shop together called the Sugar Shack. It felt like a magical place, full of treats, toys and gifts. Mum, of course, couldn’t help giving away…

Write your answers following the arrows. Some of the boxes have clue numbers which refer to the clues below the puzzle. CLUES 1 Filled pasta parcels (7)2 Large grounds attached to a manor house (6)3 Vicar’s speech, homily (6)4 Comeback, sharp reply (7)5 All the actors in a play or film, eg (4)6 Earnings, salary (3)7 Tip of a pyramid (4)8 - - - of the Covenant, biblical artefact (3)9 Intrude on private land (8)10 Word that links cap, cube and lolly (3)11 Flightless Australian bird (3)12 Second-hand (4)13 Treatment for the hands and nails, anagram of RUIN MACE (8)14 Marine environment (3)15 Aesop’s tales? (6)16 Kiss the - - -, Elton John single from 1983 (5)17 Belisha - - -, zebra crossing feature (6)18 - - - and Furious, film starring…

As I was loaded into the back of an ambulance, my chest contracted in agony. But through the pain, I could only think of one thing. ‘Look after Brannie,’ I told my two daughters, Tasha, 20, and Nadia, 23. Worry was etched across their faces — but I was more worried about the dog! Brannie, our seven-year-old corgi terrier cross, was my pride and joy. She had won us over as soon as we’d brought her home from the rescue centre as a pup. She would sleep at the bottom of my bed every night and, as I nodded off, all I could think about were her chocolate drop eyes. In hospital, I was treated for a heart problem. Thankfully, everything went well, and 10 days later, I was discharged.…

Take your pick from ● Beefeater ● Pizza Express ● Brewers Fayre ● Café Rouge ● Planet Hollywood ● Table Table ● TGI Fridays ● Pizza Hut NETWORK ACROSS 1 Blizzard ● Mosque official2Floor of a fireplace ● Abel’s brother ● Historical period3Rodent ● Murder on the - - - Express, film ● Hold tightly4Solo ● Wise herb? ● Verbal5Standard golf score ● Gather ● Wheel surround6Pen tip ● Make minor corrections to ● Following7Prepare for publication ● Matching twosome? ● Cost8Strewn rubbish ● Yield ● Chum, friend9 The - - - and the Whale, Julia Donaldson book ● Equipment ● Catch sight of10 Scotch - - -, picnic staple ● Angry speech ● Overtake11 Lima’s nation ● USA’s northern neighbour ● Circuit of a track12 Wrath ● Silly ●…

Make Easter extra special this year with this fab prize… We’ve teamed up with Warner Hotels to give you the chance to win a three-night, adult-only escape for two at Studley Castle in Warwickshire, starting on Friday 29 March. Solve our puzzle and you could be settling into a sumptuous room, steeped in history and complete with all you need for a comfy stay. Explore the hotel’s 28 acres of grounds on foot or by bike, indulge in a few spa treatments, or try your hand at something new, such as archery or a cocktail making class. After dining at the hotel’s Market Kitchen and Brasserie32 restaurants, get ready for some grown-up fun with an exciting line-up of entertainment, including stand-up comedy, original theatre productions, live bands and late-night DJs.…

Looking for a relaxing way to start off the new year? We have just the break for you! Our Star Prize this month is a fabulous break for two to sunny Croatia. Solve our puzzle and you and a loved one could be heading to the Grand Park Hotel Rovinj on the beautiful Istrian peninsula for seven nights of pure bliss. The hotel is part of the Maistra Collection and one of the leading hotels in the world. Guests can enjoy fine dining in the seven eateries and bars, including the signature restaurant Cap Aureo, as well as soak up incredible views of Rovinj Old Town and the marina from the stunning pool lounge. The crowning glory of the hotel is the Albaro Wellness & Spa. It’s the biggest of…

Win! £100 CLONE AKINAMIDAMOKANTEDINEDYKEEMITEPICFLAK HEARHEROLADYMORENEAROMENONUSOPENPIKE PORERAINRAKERUSHSHOTSORTTURNUNIT HOW TO ENTER Fit the words in the list into the grid in either a clockwise or an anticlockwise direction. Where the squares touch, the letters in the adjoining boxes are the same, as shown with the ‘T’ in the starter word we’ve given you. Careful though, as one word won’t fit. This leftover word is the winning answer. Enter by post, phone, text or online — see page 73.…

Skeleton PUZZLE Given the starter clue numbers and black squares, can you solve this crossword? When complete, the pattern of the black squares will be fully symmetrical (the pattern will look the same if you turn the grid sideways or upside down). So you can deduce the positions of several more squares right away. Across 1 Tell porkies?5 Cooker top7 Grown-up9 Happen again10 Dodge, elude11 Buy and sell12 Judi - - -, British actress15 Serving spoon18 Trying out for a film role19 Alternative22 Capital of Egypt24 Glowing coal in a dying fire25 Pig feed26 In poor physical shape28 In front29 Fitting30 Tear Down 1 In favour of2 Breakfast rasher3 Our planet4 Sheffield metal?5 Stash6 Honey-maker8 Impossible to miss13 Precise14 Scrounge — a lift, eg16 Countryfile presenter, - - - Rani17…

Sighing, I added another pack of sanitary towels to my shopping basket. For weeks, I’d been experiencing painful, irregular periods and my GP had ordered an ultrasound. ‘You’ve got fibroids,’ he’d said, explaining that they were non-cancerous tumours that formed in the womb. ‘Lots of women have them.’ I’d had the coil fitted to ease the bleeding but there was no let-up. When my period came, I had to wear two or three pads at a time. One day, I got caught out wearing white jeans and it looked as if I’d murdered someone. Soon, I was too nervous to leave the house. Then months later, my periods just stopped. ‘Look how bloated my tummy is!’ I said to my partner Daniel. I looked four months gone, but pregnancy tests…

FITBACK 3 LETTERS ACEASSBEDELMFATFEDFITODERIPRYETHYTOY 4 LETTERS ABETAEONBEAMDEEDDEERDINEDONEDRABERNEEKEDEXITFLATLOOTPLOTRIDESITESOFASOONSOULSPEDSTEWTOOLTOOTUSED 6 LETTERS BOUNCEDWELLSELOPEDEVOLVEEXPERTMODERNSODIUMWALRUS 7 LETTERS EPITOMELOATHES HOW TO ENTER Fit all the listed words into the crossword grid. We’ve placed one word (DINE) to get you started. When you’ve finished, list the letters in the yellow squares for the winning word. Enter by post, phone, text or online — see page 73.…

A little figure jumped up and down by the door of our holiday caravan, and giggled with excitement. ‘Daddy, Daddy, come on!’ my toddler, Teegan, cried. My husband, Steve, smiled. ‘All right, I’m coming!’ he said. He took her hand as I grabbed my bag and keys. We lived in Manchester, but regularly visited our static caravan in Towyn, Conwy. We loved it so much, we’d recently bought a coffee shop nearby and planned to move to the area for good. Steve and I had been married for seven years and felt excited about what the future held. It was the day of the annual Rhyl Air Show, and we’d planned to watch the vintage planes fly overhead. A real daddy’s girl, little Teegan, aged two, tugged at Steve’s hand.…

Say what YOU SEE Use the pictures, going from top to bottom, to sound out the name of an Irish film star. Octograms Each clue leads to a five-letter answer that begins with ‘W’, which we’ve already placed. Write the rest of each answer so that the remaining four letters read clockwise in the octagons around their central ‘W’. 1 Don’t You - - - ’Bout a Thing, 1974 single by Stevie Wonder taken from his Innervisions album2 Put pen to paper, or compose3 Great anger, fury4 Sunken ship5 The - - - Is Not Enough, Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan as 0076 Worth your - - -, beneficial and not a waste of time7 Large sea mammal such as an orca (pictured)8 Marine mollusc with a snail-like shell eaten as seafood9…

Our Lives I double-checked our passports, then zipped them safely into my bag. I was heading to Cyprus with my children Aaron, 12, and Eden, seven, to stay with friends. ‘Time to go,’ I called, as our friend’s car pulled up outside to drive us to Gatwick. But when we arrived, we learnt that our already-delayed flight had been held up by another five hours. And, after a false start where we were removed from the plane due to refuelling issues, we found ourselves back in the airport, with a crowd of other passengers. What do we do now? I thought. It was 2am and, with no news of when our flight might leave, I got the kids ready for a night in the airport. Finding space on the floor…

1 Hit the water Punting is a quintessentially Oxford activity, and gives you the perfect opportunity to see the city from a new perspective. Originating in around 1860, punting after graduation became an Oxford University tradition. Whether you join a group tour, or fancy trying it out on your own, there is something for everyone. If you prefer more of a relaxed journey along the river, there are also regular boats for hire too. 2 Movie magic Fans of the Harry Potter franchise can see first-hand where parts of the movies were filmed in Oxford. The Bodleian Library acted as Hogwarts’ school library and Christ Church College features in the films multiple times. After a day visiting the locations, you can then pop to one of the many Harry Potter…

Andrew was a good baker. His bakery had won many competitions including ‘Best in Town’ six years running, and his takings were on the up. He only wished the same could be said about his love life. Still single at 37, his previous relationship had ended nine years ago, and he’d only been on two dates since then. In Andrew’s eyes, no one could quite match the girl he’d lost his heart to at school. Now that girl, Alice, had just recently returned to town. She was newly divorced and had decided she wanted to live closer to her parents. They’d been friends since school, but shy, reserved Andrew had never found the courage to ask her out. Over the years, they’d stayed friends, with Alice confiding in him after…

We might be shivering in the depths of winter, but it won’t be long before spring is on the horizon and, with it, thoughts of getting out into the garden to relax and unwind. With that in mind, we’ve got a fab prize to help you get your lawn in tiptop shape this year… We’ve teamed up with Handy, the UK’s favourite garden equipment manufacturer, to give you the chance to win one of four brand-new Webb Supreme petrol lawnmowers, worth £399.99 each. For gardeners who want a classic hand-push petrol rotary lawnmower, the Webb Supreme petrol lawnmower has everything you’re looking for. It’s easy to use, with no cables to get in the way, and has a large 65-litre bag to help finish mowing in less time. An established…

Turn over for our MONEY SAVING TIPS A simple trick to help you save Personal finance expert Rob Gardner explains how to build financial resilience by treating your savings like your smartphone battery… The average person in the UK gets into £439 of debt at Christmas, spending on average almost £740 more in December, according to a study carried out by the debt collection company, Lowell. And it takes most people four months to get their finances back into shape after the festive season. Debt, even in the short term, is an issue, as it can cause significant stress and prevent us from becoming ‘financially resilient’, which is what we need to break the cycle of debt. Financial resilience is your ability to withstand unexpected life events that impact upon…

You’re out shopping when you start to feel nauseous and a hot, panicky sensation. A pain pulses through your jaw. Probably just a passing thing, you tell yourself… but could it be a heart attack? The stereotype of someone suffering a heart attack — or myocardial infarction to give it its medical name, when the supply of blood to the heart is suddenly blocked — is middle-aged and male. Yet coronary heart disease, the biggest underlying cause of heart attacks, kills 24,000 women in the UK every year. That’s more than twice as many as breast cancer. ‘Each year, more than 30,000 women are admitted to hospital in the UK due to a heart attack,’ says Ruth Goss, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation (bhf.org.uk). ‘It’s important to…

Win! Prizes totalling £1200 Big Bonanza is Take a Break’s big prize, big choice comp. Our winner can pick any prizes on this page that tot up to £1200! Leap into action this leap year and get things done. You could take the car in for a service before putting time — and money — into your own bodywork! A new bike will help you shape up, while a trip to the salon will be the icing on the cake. Alternatively, stick a ready meal into your new microwave and spend all the cooking time you’ve saved blowing an Apple gift card! Or take £1200 in cash! CODE BREAKER Each number in the grid represents a different letter. We’ve placed one word which shows that 24=I,…

IN SEASON: APPLE Pork & apple casserole with sage dumplings Serves: 6 Takes: 2hr 30min ■ 1kg pork shoulder, trimmed and cubed■ 2tbsp flour, seasoned■ 2tbsp olive oil■ 12 shallots■ 2 apples, cored and cut into chunks■ 2 garlic cloves, crushed■ 350ml cider■ 150ml hot chicken stock■ 2 bay leaves■ Salt and freshly ground black pepper■ 300g baby carrots FOR THE DUMPLINGS ■ 200g self-raising flour■ 25g Parmesan, grated■ 1tbsp finely chopped fresh sage■ 50g butter, diced■ 125-150ml milk 1 Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan 140°C, gas 3). Dust the pork in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. 2 Heat half the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish over a high heat. Brown the pork, in batches, for 2-3min. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.…

AND THEN SUM This puzzle is like a regular sudoku, but with an added twist! Start off by filling in the squares in the grid, so that every row, every column, and each of the 3x3 squares contains all the digits from 1 to 9. NEED A HAND? To get you started, look at the bottom-middle 3x3 block. One of the missing numbers is 7. It must go in the bottom row as there are already 7s in the top and middle rows of the other 3x3 blocks along the bottom. HOW TO ENTER When you’ve completed the puzzle, use the boxes above to add up the three numbers in the pink squares in the grid — the total in the yellow box is the prize answer. Write this total…

Our Holidays Why go? Panama City Beach is in the panhandle of northwest Florida. It’s a beautiful spot boasting 27 miles of white sandy beaches fringed by the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It has a relaxed vibe and is sunny for most of the year, although temperatures do drop in the later months and warm up again around April. Although there are no direct flights from London, you can fly to Atlanta and then take a short internal flight to Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. The beaches They are simply stunning — among the best in Florida — with soft, white sand, lapped by a calm, clear sea, great for swimming and paddle-boarding. Get away from it all on seven-mile Shell Island, a protected beach which is…

I turned the key in the lock and immediately I was hit with silence. Coming home to an empty house could feel very lonely. I’d recently split with my partner Daniel. We’d been childhood sweethearts but the pressure and stress of my recent treatment for cervical cancer had taken its toll on our relationship. Thankfully, after a full hysterectomy, I was now cancer-free, but getting over that and the break-up with Daniel was proving tough. It had left me wondering if I’d ever feel happy again. The only things keeping me going were my three kids. Then one day, Ben, a friend of mine and Daniel’s, popped over for a cuppa and I found myself confiding in him. ‘I’m sorry you’ve had such a terrible time,’ he said. ‘Thanks for…