Table of contents for 17-Oct-2024 in Pick Me Up!

Collecting my bunches, I hopped in the van and started doing my usual rounds. As a florist, I often had leftover blooms – and hating them going to waste, I’d arrange the leftovers in pretty bouquets and drop them round my local area for people to find. On 8 March this year, that’s exactly what I was doing. Dropping off five bunches, I posted on my Instagram, letting my followers know the flowers were waiting to be found. My last stop was Gathurst train station. I’m not sure I can be bothered to go up there, I thought. It was awkward driving the van up all the way up there. No, I’ll go, I decided. And leaving the flowers inside the station, I headed back to my studio, Olive Owl.…

Carefully collecting freshly laid eggs, I relished in the freedom of the farm. Going to visit my grandparents in Lepton, roughly twice a year, I found their old-fashioned way of living fascinating. Me and my sisters would be given little jobs in the morning, and then we’d be free to explore the land for the rest of the day. At 12 years old, life on the farm was very different to our usual routine at home. Although we had a lovely upbringing, we’d visit my mum Hazel in hospital often. She had multiple things wrong with her – she was always poorly. So, when I was sent back to the farm in summer 1981 with one of my sisters, I assumed that Mum needed surgery. But we didn’t mind –…

Chopping up potatoes, I dropped them into a pan and put them on to boil. I was just about to start chopping veg when my phone buzzed on the side. Taking a quick break, I read the message that had popped up on Instagram. I’ve got something to tell you. It was from a girl named Liv – I didn’t know her, and I didn’t recognise any of her photos. Assuming she’d messaged the wrong person, I just ignored it and got back to preparing my Sunday roast. My phone pinged again. You’re with *Joe, aren’t you? It’s about him. I felt a sudden knot in my stomach. I’d been in a relationship with my partner Joe for four years. And while I trusted him, straight away my mind went…

Scrubbing my hair in the shower, I suddenly jolted when I looked down at my hand and saw spots of red. That’s weird, I thought, touching the bleeding spot on my head gently. I must’ve knocked it. It wasn’t unusual for me – being a clumsy person, I’d often find odd cuts and bruises. But after a few days, the wound wasn’t healing. ‘You should get that checked out,’ my wife Lisa, 49, encouraged me. The scab was the size of a piece of bubble wrap, so I didn’t think it would be anything serious – but I booked a GP appointment in October 2019. They didn’t seem concerned, but sent a biopsy off to be checked. Months went by, until I received a call from an unknown number while…

Verdict: GENIUS! Kick back and relax Lazy Glasses, £8, from Flying Tiger You can’t beat lying down and relaxing. Snuggled up in a blanket, the only problem is that you can’t quite see the TV! But with these lazy glasses, cleverly angled mirrors allow you to see the screen without lifting your head. Which means you can still lie flat on your back. They are also amazing for reading in bed, you can hit peak laziness at a low effort. This product will truly elevate your lazy Sundays. Verdict: BONKERS! Eye see you All in this together Just think about how many people you know who wear glasses. If you could make a chain of those glasses, how long do you thinkit would it be? Back in 2022, the New Jersey…

Bitesize! pg 3 Card Strike it! pg 13 Rotation (Cross out: 2, 11, 18, 23, 32, 45, 56, 64, 79, 81) Crack it! pg 23 Toothbrush Fill it! pg 13 Canasta Sudoku pg 36 5,1,3 Cross it! pg 36 Patience Number fit! pg 13 9129 Spot it! pg 20 Follow it! pg 8 Black jack Name it! pg 24 (Alicia Keys, Miley Cyrus, Tom Jones, Dolly Parton, Shawn Mendes) PLEASE NOTE Pick Me Up! will still be bringing you great puzzles to pit your wits against, but will no longer be offering prizes. Don’t forget, you can do puzzles for big cash prizes every weekin our sister magazine, Chat.…

SERVES: 4 What’s better than an indulgent hot choccy? A peanut butter hot chocolate float! • Follow this recipe from SKIPPY® for the ultimate autumnal beverage… □ 250g SKIPPY® Smooth Peanut Butter□ 500ml almond milk□ 50g sugar□ 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder□ 450g vanilla ice cream□ Chocolate syrup□ 340g baking chocolate□ 130g finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts 1. To decorate the cups, melt chocolate according to package directions. Turn mugs upside down and dip the rim in chocolate, twisting to remove excess. Dip chocolate covered rim into peanuts. Drizzle mug with melted peanut butter. Chill for 30 minutes in total. 2. In a medium saucepan combine milk, sugar, cocoa powder and SKIPPY® peanut butter. 3. Heat, stirring constantly for three to five minutes. Transfer mixture into four mugs. 4. Top each with…

This week, our tip of the week will receive an amazing prize from Addis. This Handi Airer can be used indoors or outdoors to dry all your household laundry. With convenient hanger hooks and four ground pegs to secure to the ground, you don’t have to worry about your clean whites toppling over! Plus, there’s over 17m of drying space as well. For more ways to make your life easier, visit: addis.co.uk Love a freebie We got a free cupboard off Gumtree and placed it above the mirror which is for the dresser. We keep spare bits and pieces in it and have attached sticky back lights underneath it. Rebecca Key, Norwich Cool as a cucumber When making a sarnie with cucumber or tomato, put the slices between two pieces of…

Flicking on the TV, I loved a movie with a powerful female character. So it was no surprise that Kill Bill was one of my favourites. Watching The Bride kill her way to Bill, I was enthralled. But it was watching her wield weapons that had me on the edge of my seat. I want to do that, I thought. I loved trying new tricks – I could do a handstand at three. ‘You spent more time upside down than upright as a kid,’ my mum Danielle, 60, joked. And it was true! So much so that my parents enrolled me in gymnastics. But aged 17, I fancied a bit of a change. I’d been learning to use aerial silks as a fun way to stay fit, and my instructor…

Carefully rinsing a metal tube under the tap, I gently scrubbed it with a little brush. Placing it on a towel to dry out, I wasn’t cleaning a reusable straw. It was a little silver tube to help me breathe. Because ever since I was a baby, I’d had a tracheostomy. I was born with a rare condition called Pierre Robin syndrome – which meant that my lower jaw and upper airway hadn’t formed properly. It wasn’t something that had been picked up on while my mum Jules was pregnant with me, but as soon as I was born it was clear something was wrong – and at just 12 hours old, I was diagnosed. My Pierre Robin was a severe case – my lower jaw was very far back,…

Seeing my son Mason wince as he turned his head, I frowned. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked him. ‘I’ve got a sore neck,’ Mason, seven, said. ‘Maybe you slept funny,’ I soothed gently. Mason wasn’t usually one to make a fuss. Going back to his Sonic the Hedgehog game on his Nintendo Switch, he didn’t complain, but I could tell he was in a lot of pain. So to be on the safe side, back in January this year I took him to A&E, just to get checked out. Of course, his favourite Sonic teddy came along with us, too – he was obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog and it rarely left his side. Having autism spectrum disorder, his sensory Sonic toys were his coping mechanism, and having them around him…

Complete the grid then read down the shaded squares to reveal the hidden answer. Clue: Type of rummy. Answer on page 44. ACROSS 6 __ Coogan, star of TV series I’m Alan Partridge and film A Cock and Bull Story (5) 7 Instances (8) 10 Whirlwind (7) 11 __ Phoenix, star of films Walk the Line and Napoleon (7) 12 Taron __, star of films Rocketman and Eddie the Eagle (7) 13 Fake __ Trees, 1995 Radiohead single (7) 14 Taken (11) 19 The Cherry __, 1999 period drama film starring Charlotte Rampling and Alan Bates (7) 21 Cost (7) 23 Floating frozen hazard (7) 25 Space __ 76, 2014 sci-fi parody film starring Patrick Wilson and Liv Tyler (7) 26 Flammable gaseous element (8) 27 The __ Limits, 1963–65…

Things can only get Better Did you know Better leisure centres have teamed up with the NHS to help encourage people to get their symptoms checked? Placing hundreds of stickers on mirrors and in changing rooms in leisure centres across the UK, they hope to raise awareness of symptoms and the importance of checking anything unusual. Because the earlier cancer is found, the easier it is to beat. The eye-catching stickers will feature the message ‘Check you out’ and ‘Know what’s normal for you’, before reminding people that if something in their body doesn’t feel right, to contact their GP practice. The new initiative comes as a survey of more than 2,000 people by Better found that only 55% of respondents check their bodies for physical changes regularly, and one…

Getting the kids ready for bed, we headed to the bathroom for the last part of our nightly routine. ‘Scrub them all,’ I’d insist as my daughter Lejla, now nine, brushed her teeth. Roki, now one, was still trying to find his gnashers, so we didn’t need to worry about those just yet. As a stay-at-home mum in Ohio, US, suffering from cerebral palsy which had paralysed my right side, I pretty much did everything with one arm. From cooking, playing and brushing my own teeth, too. It didn’t stop me though. Especially as my hubby Amir, now 41, rarely left my side. As a result of my condition, I had muscle issues in my throat which meant I needed surgery every year to stretch them. Only, it wasn’t a…

Hit the streets in perfect autumn style with help from supermarket giant ASDA. Whether you need to layer up or want to stock up on your faithful seasonal coat, there’s plenty of choice to keep you cosy! • Shop in store or online via: direct.asda.com Utility styles give a classy and chic look with minimal effort, too!…

Paddy and Chris: Road Tripping, BBC One For their final journey, Paddy and Chris are heading to Switzerland to explore its multi-million-pound wellness industry. The lads travel to a top resort for a full body MOT to assess how well they’re ageing. After a consultation with specialists, they’re put through a rigorous training programme that reveals their true biological ages, bringing surprises for both of them – and a real shock for Chris, too. Eager to address his concerns for his thinning hair, Paddy heads to Zurich to a men-only clinic to explore available treatments. Will he be able to turn back the clock and reinstate his crowning glory? And the boys head to one of Switzerland’s most famous mountains, Mount Rigi, for some fresh Alpine air and to learn…

Standing in my high vis, I was ready for another day at work. As children ran towards me, huge grins on their faces, I couldn’t help but smile to myself. Having been a lollipop lady for the last 51 years, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t love my job. I landed the role fresh out of school at 15 – and I’ve never looked back. Living right next to the local crossing, my husband Sidney used to wave at me every day from the living room window. Sadly, he passed away 28 years ago, so now my kitty Crimble watches me instead. Walking up to the crossing every morning for 8.25am, I know I have a huge responsibility on my hands. That was made very clear…