Pick Me Up!05-Aug-2021的目錄

As a teen, I always wanted to be cool. I dumbed myself down and failed my exams on purpose to fit in. Only, it wasn’t long before I realised that was dumb! So, I enrolled in night school and went on to gain a degree, Diploma and an MBA. Afterwards, I became a serial entrepreneur and focused all my efforts on my career. I was making money and losing it in equal measure. However, by the age of 40, I was completely burnt out and unfulfilled. Taking a year out to reassess, I recognised my need to inspire and support others to shine in life, so I trained to be a coach and therapist, and soon started working with women. After five years as a coach, speaker and author, my…

Scrolling through Instagram, a message popped up from a guy. Hey, I used to do Park Run, it read. He must have seen my recent post about doing the local run. Browsing through his account, I didn’t recognise him. Ignoring the message, I didn’t think anything of it. However, over the next three months, he was persistent. Are you going to keep ignoring me? he typed. Feeling a pang of guilt, I decided to reply. Sorry I’ve only just seen these messages, I lied. We got chatting in early 2017 and he told me his name was Tom Coughlan, then 27. He was a bricklayer who lived near-by. Although I’d been hesitant at first, Tom and I hit it off and soon we were messaging back and forth. Would you…

Worth £189! This week, our tip of the week will receive a great product from Addis! Creating a clean and neat space can help makeover a room with a minimal cost yet maximum impact. This 50l recycling hub is the ultimate solution for storing all of your recycling items in one unit. To embrace and love your space visit addis.co.uk Minty fresh Perfect placement Mint grown on the windowsill not only fills the kitchen with a lovely fresh scent but it also helps to deter flies from entering. Tina Vowles, Gloucs Tip of the week Eyes on the prize Buy a cheap ball machine off eBay, pop some stickers on it, and every time your little one does a chore, they get a coin and a spin to win trips…

Heading to my first day of nurse training, I smiled proudly to myself It was 2005 and I couldn’t wait to start. As a senior nurse checked us over she smiled at me and glanced at my petite figure. ‘What size are you?’ she asked, while searching through the uniforms. ‘I’m a six,’ I beamed. ‘We only have a size eight, but you’ll be a size 14 soon enough,’ she chuckled. Yeah right! I thought to myself. Not me. I worked all hours training and I also held down a second job in a kitchen and bar for a little extra money. But, I still managed to avoid unhealthy eating which came hand in hand for lots of people who were working long, difficult shifts. While the other nurses would…

Shaking the rattle in front of my little girl, Katherina, she continued to cry. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get her to stop. I did a funny face and poked my tongue out, and she cried. I sang songs and held up her favourite dollies. She still cried. ‘Oh, my baby…’ I groaned to her. Crying, it seemed, was my daughter Katherina’s favourite thing to do. She was the first baby for my husband Lyudmil, 36, and I. We didn’t know how babies behaved so just thought we had a particularly moody and grumpy baby. At three months old she barely smiled and just cried all the time. I’d see other babies her age giggling and laughing. Katherina sobbed and screamed instead. One day I decided that there…

Pulling out baby grow after baby grow from my shopping bags, my boyfriend looked on and laughed. ‘Surely we’ve got enough now?’ William, 19, chuckled. ‘I couldn’t help myself. Look how cute these are!’ I beamed. Three months pregnant, I could barely stop myself from shopping for our baby boy. Due in May 2020, I was over the moon to be pregnant. And although we were young, William and I couldn’t wait to be parents. In fact, it had taken us so long to fall pregnant that we’d ended up getting a little Pug to keep my broodiness at bay. And now our little boy was on the way we were chuffed to bits. Juggling my work as a community carer, the early stages of my pregnancy went smoothly, and…

Throwing my bag onto the floor, I kicked off my mud-coated wellies and fell onto the sofa. Glastonbury was over for another year. I had memories to last a lifetime and enough mud on my clothes to fill a field. But I was happy. I’ve been going to Glastonbury since 2009 and never missed it. My whole family were Glasto fans. My big brother had gone first, then my sister Becky, then me. We loved it. It was the highlight of our year. But then coronavirus hit. Glasto won’t be cancelled… I convinced myself. But coronavirus stuck around. And Glastonbury was cancelled for the first time. I was absolutely devastated. How will I cope? I thought. On the day the event would have started, I got some mates round and…

Digital nomads are taking the tropics by storm! HAVE YOU HEARD OF? Picture this–you’re lounging by the pool under the scorching sun, whilst leisurely replying to messages. Sounds a heck of a lot better than working in the office, right? Well, ‘digital nomads’ seem to think so! Typically considered something only a select few can do, this laid-back way of working is certainly on the rise. Thanks to the power of technology, and one of the few blessings of the pandemic, more of us can now work from anywhere and everywhere–so why not do it from an exotic destination?! We’re loving this Take a trip down memory lane with heartwarming jigsaw puzzles from Lucy’s Farm. The 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles will keep the whole family entertained on a wet day in…

JUST FOR FUN Complete the grid then read down the shaded squares to reveal the hidden answer. Clue: Cheese. ACROSS 1 Craftsman in wood (6) 4 _ Report, 2002 sci-fi film starring Tom Cruise as a PreCrime Captain (8) 10 Voted back into office (2-7) 11 Elicit (5) 12 Bridge of _, 2015 Cold War thriller with Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance (5) 13 At random (9) 14 Illegal (7) 16 Legal inheritor (4) 19 1975 thriller film starring Roy Scheider as the police chief of Amity Island (4) 21 2012 historical epic starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the titular US president (7) 24 Steven _, filmmaker who directed 4 Across, 12 Across, 19 Across, 25 Across & 1 Down (9) 25 _ Me If You Can, 2002 film starring Leonardo…

BIG health story Blinking my eyes open, I frowned. I was suffering with a cold and my head felt fuzzy, but I heaved myself out of bed and padded into the bathroom. Bleary-eyed, I squeezed toothpaste onto my tooth brush and started brushing. But as I did, a terrifying realisation washed over me. I can’t smell. Panicking, I desperately started sniffing, wondering if it was all in my head. But my sense of smell had completely vanished. In shock, I rang my GP. ‘It’s probably just because you’ve got a cold,’ he said. ‘Once that clears up, your smell will come back.’ When I’d had colds before, I could still smell to an extent–it was just a bit blocked-up. This was different. I waited for six weeks, but while my…

Top tip Take a pair of flats for dancing at night! Don’t wear plain white or black outfits to the event Your outfit should never upstage the bride Complete your outfit with the perfect clutch from Accessorize Find out more about our commitment to REAL woman womanandhome.com/real…

The world has changed over the past year, affecting every person differently. One commonly shared change has been a shift in career, or a loss of a job. It’s had devastating effects on people all over the globe, and we’ve even spiralled down into a recession here in the UK. But, it’s widely agreed that a recession is a great time to start up a business due to the increased amount of support available as well as the fact that any viable businesses will grow as the economy returns to normal. While people were trapped in their homes during the lockdowns, many took the opportunity to put time into their hobbies, some of which, inspiring individuals to start a business. Dawn Rondeau is the chief operations officer for We are…

Treat of the week Strawberries make us feel like summer is finally here and they taste amazing right now! Tesco have created some delicious dishes to make the most of strawberry season whether you’re at home or in the great outdoors. • For more inspiration visit: realfood.tesco.com Strawberry tart recipe Serves: 10 FOR THE PASTRY □ 200g (7oz) plain flour□ 125g unsalted butter□ 30g (1¼oz) icing sugar□ 1 large egg yolk FOR THE CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE □ 350ml (12fl oz) full-fat milk□ 4 large egg yolks□ 100g (3½oz) caster sugar□ 15g (½oz) plain flour□ 15g (½oz) cornflour□ ½ tsp vanilla extract□ 600g (1lb3½oz) strawberries□ 3 tbsp apricot jam, sieved 1 Blend the pastry ingredients in a food processor until the mixture first forms clumps, and then comes together in a ball.…

Sesame Prawn Bento Box, £5.50, Sweet Chilli Chicken Bento Box, £5, M&S. M&S is bringing you a taste of Japan with these delicious new Bento boxes. Vale of Mowbray Cheese and Pickle Pie, £1.19, Iceland The classic combination of cheese and pickle paired perfectly with the humble pork pie – what’s not to love?! Home Baking Range, from £1, M&S. Grab a mixing bowl and wooden spoon… the home baking range at M&S has just relaunched in stores with a beautiful packaging makeover, upgraded ingredients and over 35 brand new baking essential ingredients and baker must-haves! Mini loaf cakes, £3, M&S. These perfectly portioned mini loaf cakes are available in three mouth-watering flavours – zesty lemon, indulgent chocolate or sticky toffee. Kalamata & Halkidiki Olive Batard, £2.50, M&S. The M&S…

Sitting there in silence, the room began to spin out of control. I looked around me. Where there had once been one consultant, now three more filed in. Then someone handed me a gown. I’d come in to get results which I thought would be negative–but it was bad news. ‘We are very sorry. You have breast cancer,’ one consultant told me instead. It was 2013. I’d only just had my third child, Henry. My others, George and Will, were at sports day. I’d found a lump a few months earlier, but because I’d been breastfeeding Henry and had had mastitis, I’d been misdiagnosed and told the lump was down to that. Now, after the results of a biopsy had come in, the opposite was true. I had cancer. My…

Blinking awake, my eyes slowly adjusted to the sunlight creeping through the curtains as I sat up and stretched my arms out. But as I did, I quickly realised something wasn’t right with my hands. Looking down at my fingers, I gasped in horror. All 10 of them were red and swollen, like big fat sausages, and they were painful, stiff and hot to touch, too. What on Earth… Still half asleep, I thought maybe I was dreaming. Terrified, I shook my boyfriend Adam awake. ‘Look at this,’ I said, holding up my hands in front of his face. ‘They’re really sore.’ ‘Maybe you slept funny,’ he said, rolling back over. I couldn’t think of anything else I’d done. I hadn’t knocked them or done anything to cause a reaction…

DON’T MISS Take Off With Bradley And Holly, BBC One Fasten your seatbelts. Bradley Walsh and Holly Willoughby host this brand-new gameshow, that sees members of the public compete to win seats on a plane that will ‘Take Off’ to a dream holiday destination. Packed full of hilarious games, celebrity surprises, inspirational stories and plenty of in-flight entertainment. The first week’s lucky winners will be jetting off to the turquoise waters of St Lucia. King Gary, BBC One Series two returns with six hilarious episodes. The sitcom is set amongst a competitive working-class crescent in the outer London suburbs and follows Gary King (Tom Davis), a family man who has taken over his dad’s building firm, and the love of his life Terri (Laura Checkley). It’s a momentous day in…

Relationships are complicated and sometimes, couples stay together longer than they should, despite knowing they are far from a perfect match. Marylou Sarkissian, 50, had been dating Jason Becher, 43, on and off for around five years. Single mum of three Marylou, who lived in Huntington Beach, California, knew that Jason wasn’t the reliable, loving boyfriend she deserved, but something kept bringing them back together. And each time, it only got worse. Marylou was overprotective of everyone, but not enough of herself. While Marylou was a pharmaceutical representative, Jason illegally cultivated marijuana and sold it – making him a large amount of cash. He would keep some of the money at Marylou’s house, where she had a safety deposit box. It’s unclear exactly what the arrangement was, but the money…

With holidays abroad looking rather unlikely this summer, the National Trust is encouraging everyone to get back to basics and enjoy a summer filled with simple, sensory pleasures. Over 100 sites will be encouraging everyone to experience the simple life with their summer activity programme, ‘Get Set Go.’ www.nationaltrust.org.uk QUARRY BANK MILL, CHESHIRE At Quarry Bank you can discover a complete industrial community and experience the very different worlds of owner and worker, who lived and worked here side by side. Families can explore the picturesque riverside gardens which twist and turn down to the valley bottom in a new way thanks to a trail inspired by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris’s book, The Lost Words. There is also den-building, fire lighting, outdoor weaving, leaf printing, bark rubbing, and pre-bookable…

ARIES 21 March–20 April Too much time worrying about others’ problems, and not enough time focusing on what you need to do for you, has left you feeling a little lost. It’s easy, Aries, all you have to do is stop and regroup. Do it before Tuesday and you can get more done in this week than you have in a month. News of someone who lives far away results in plans which put a spring in your step. Call: 09058 170 710* TAURUS 21 April–21 May News you did not expect may take the wind out of your sails. What it really is though, is a chance for you to think about what you could do that was not an option before. Rule changes, or changes to other’s situations,…