Table of contents for 05-May-2016 in Chat

He joined online dating sites, made rude comments That broke my heart. A few days later, I asked John to be there when we announced our separation to the kids. ‘Dad and I have some sad news,’ I began. But halfway through our chat, John just got up and walked out. Was he upset, too? But, when I went to find him, there he was, sitting at his computer, ordering a onesie online. I was totally flabbergasted. Too sad to be angry. ‘I can’t take any more,’ I sighed. While he waited for his next trip to come through, John went to stay with relatives in Scotland. He joined online dating sites, too, and was making rude comments online. Soon after, John went to look at a flat to rent.…

Instead of gawping, people stopped to ask about it Everything about her was just perfect. Her button nose, big, blue eyes and soft, blonde hair… ‘Gorgeous,’ me and my partner Stuart, 30, agreed. Of course we were biased, but our baby girl Angel was a beauty. Then, in December 2014 when she was a few days old, I noticed a red pinprick mark on her head. I’d had Angel by Caesarean. I reasoned it was just a little bruise from birth. Weeks on, the mark had grown. I consulted our health visitor about it, but she wasn’t concerned. ‘Probably just a birthmark,’ she explained. I tried not to worry about it but, as Angel grew, so did the mark. By 4 months, it was the size of a two-pence piece.…

Lidl Deluxe Sweet Chilli & Sour Cream Crisps, 150g, 79p We weren't sure if chilli and sour cream would work - but it does! You get the soft sour cream first, followed by a tiny hit of heat. Delicious. Asda Chosen by You Thai Sweet Chilli Flavour Crisps, 150g, 85p Our fave for the strong, sweet Thai flavour - they have that essential peppery hit but they're also sweet and tangy. Can't fault these! Co-op Truly Irresistible Sweet Chilli Flavour Crisps, 150g, £1.69 These hand-cooked crisps have just enough sweet flavour to balance out the heat. Perfect with wine or a cold beer, or two! NEW Nestle Pure Life, 6 x 1.5 litre pack, £2.50 To help us all drink the six-to-eight glasses of fluid a day recommended for good…

She said her first delivery was warm and slimy! Tugging on her wellies, my daughter Lilly, 3, ran after me, keen to help! Taking the bucket of feed, she took off to the pigs’ pen and filled up their trough. ‘A farmer in the making,’ I said to my hubby Mark, 37, that night. We own Crown Farm in Raglan. Lilly and her sister Catherine, 10, love feeding the animals. Lilly was in awe when we were delivering lambs earlier this year. ‘Can I have a go, please?’ she asked one morning. Although she was only a tot, I knew Lilly could handle it. I took her hands and put them inside the ewe’s uterus. ‘It’s warm and slimy,’ Lilly giggled. Weeks later, another ewe was about to deliver and…

He arrived on my birthday. The best present I'd ever had From the age of 11, I was told I was unlikely to have children. I’d had an ovarian tumour and, in getting rid of it, they’d had to remove most of my ovaries, too. So, years later, in March 2013, when my partner Paul had rushed me to hospital with tummy pains, I’d been certain it was another tumour. Instead… ‘You’re pregnant!’ I was told. And, despite the pains, everything looked as if it was OK. Leaving the hospital, we felt like the luckiest couple ever. Our miracle William arrived on my 27th birthday, weighing 7lb 11oz. The best present I’d ever had. We nicknamed him Grumpus because of his grumpy sleeping face. But William was actually very contented.…

The most important thing is that my confidence is now soaring There were two things everyone knew about me. First, there was the fact that I was a big girl. Weighing 24st, a size-24. I hated my size. Not that anyone really knew that. I was the typical, bubbly fat friend. The second thing everyone knew about me was that I loved to sing, and had talent, too. Performing on stage, nothing else mattered… Through my teens, I’d diet, but soon fail. As I got bigger, I tried to ignore it. I was tall – 6ft 1in – maybe I was destined to be big? Instead I focussed on my dreams. I wanted to be a pop star, and was working hard to make it happen. Leaving school, I studied…

His disability didn't slow him down.Alan learnt to do things his own way After a few tumbles, he's getting the hang of riding his bike now… I held my son Alan’s hand as he was wheeled away for surgery. At just 2 years old, he’d already had about 40 ops. See, he’d been born with multiple holes in his heart and various heart defects. Alan was used to all the hospital visits by now. ‘Such a brave boy,’ I told him, when he came round after surgery. But days on, in June 2008, he developed an infection. Doctors gave him antibiotics. But weeks later while he was still in recovery, I noticed that Alan’s fingertips were beginning to turn black. ‘What’s happening to my baby?’ I screamed to doctors. Turned…

MUA Eye Define, Nourish & Care Volume Mascara, £4, Superdrug Packed with vitamins, amino acids and folic acids to nourish lashes. Top tip: Wipe excess mascara on a tissue before using to prevent clumps. Rimmel Volume Colourist Mascara, £7.99, Boots Uses a semipermanent lash tint to slowly darken your lashes with every use. Top tip: Replace your mascara every three months. Barry M That's How I Roll Mascara, £5, Asos Lifts lashes upwards for a curled effect that lasts! Top tip: Coat waterproof mascara over your usual one for lasting effect. Seventeen Long Lash Mascara, £6.99, Boots The mini-brush helps to make sure every single lash is lengthened. Top tip: If your mascara's gone gloopy, soak the bottle in a cup of warm water.…

Morgan's family refused to give up hope of justice The victim had been born in Reading, Berkshire THE CRIME On 17 October 2009, Morgan Harrington, 20, vanished, shortly after leaving a heavy-metal concert. Her remains were found on remote farmland three months later, but her murder remained a mystery. Years on, in September 2014, Hannah Graham, 18, disappeared after a party. Her body was found at an abandoned property. But who'd killed her? And were they behind Morgan's murder, too? THE STORY Morgan Harrington, 20, loved heavy metal music. So, when she got tickets to see her favourite band Metallica in 2009, she was thrilled. She even stuck the tickets on her fridge six months before the event, unable to contain her excitement. On 17 October 2009, the night of…

BEER FEAR Thirsty? A company is trying to launch a new beer brewed using bacteria from vaginas. Makers, The Order of Yoni, promise the brew contains the ‘quintessence of femininity', promising it captures ‘her charm, her sensuality, her passion…'. We'll stick to the cola! LANDING A LOG There’s a new attraction kicking up a stink at the Isle of Wight Zoo - the National Poo Museum! Visitors will be able to sniff dung from 20 different species and learn facts about the brown stuff. Top of the plops! BARKING MAD San Francisco P olice tweeted pictures of a high-speed chase across the city , where the wanted crim in question was a Chihuahua! Officers spotted the wag running against traffic and gave chase on motorcycles before taking him into custody.…

What I loved Hearing that houseplants are making a comeback. Yay! I used to obsess about the babies on my spider plants and lavish hours of attention on a five-foot rubber plant…I'll have to hide all the fake ones now! What hacked me off Still being too pathetic to ditch the winter quilt. Is it me?? What made me laugh A man says to his doctor, ‘I keep finding custard in one ear and jelly in the other.' The doctor says, ‘I'm afraid you're a trifle deaf.' Thanks for that, Tony H… Hope you get a sweet treat this week!…

I started screaming– but there was no-one around... A detective called him a ‘walking crime wave' Listening to the heartbeat on the monitor, my fiance Chris and I welled up. It was May last year and we were at my 20-week scan. ‘Do you want to know the sex of the baby?’ the sonographer asked. Chris, now 28, and I nodded. ‘It’s a girl,’ she said. We were over the moon. ‘She’s never having a boyfriend!’ Chris said. I knew he’d be protective – just as he was with me. As the weeks progressed, we decorated the nursery and I was in and out of Walsall Manor Hospital where I worked as a children’s nurse. Only, this time, I was a patient. I was severely anaemic and suffered terrible morning…

Dizzy spells Q My husband keeps having dizzy spells where everything seems to spin, and sometimes he's sick. Could it be an inner ear problem? Frances, 56 A One likely possibility is BPV, benign positional vertigo. It affects the inner ear, which controls balance, and causes bouts of dizziness. But other possibilities include a small stroke or even a brain tumour, so he should check with his doctor. Hair loss Q My hair's been coming out in handfuls for months. Natural hair oils haven't helped, is there anything to stop it? Marcia, 34 A Your doctor can rule out causes such as iron or vitamin deficiency or an underactive thyroid gland, but chances are this is a temporary blip that'll reverse itself. Avoid treatments or tight hairstyles that pull on…

Serves: 12 Prep: 10 min + 3hr soaking Cook: 1hr 500g dried apricots200g light-brown sugar 300ml Earl Grey tea (cold)1 egg, beaten2-3 drops lemon extract300g plain flour2tsp baking powder 1 Place apricots, sugar and tea in a bowl. Mix well, cover and leave to stand in a cool place for 3 hours to allow apricots to plump up. 2 Preheat oven to 170C/ Gas 3, and grease and line a 900g loaf tin. 3 Mix egg and lemon extract into soaked fruit and tea, then gradually sift flour and baking powder over, and carefully fold in until well mixed. 4 Spoon into prepared tin, level top and bake for 1 hour until risen and lightly golden, and a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. Stand for 10 min before…

I needed one more! Suddenly my name flashed up! My hubby Tom, 59, watched over my shoulder as my online bingo numbers were called. ‘You just need three!’ Tom cried. ‘Two!’ I squealed, as another of my numbers flashed up. ‘Now one!’ Tom cried. And, suddenly, there it was! ‘Yes!’ we both shouted – I’d got a full house on Chat Mag Bingo and won a massive £1,000! I’d only joined Chat Mag Bingo a few months earlier – and now I was a big winner! To celebrate, we booked a holiday in a lovely cottage in Northumberland, so our dog Scooby could come. We all had a lovely time, relaxing. I’d always loved bingo – and online games suited me, as I could play from the comfort of my…

Give.com There have been some letters on We Hear You about how charity reps asking for money on the street can be off-putting. I hope this hasn't discouraged Chat readers from giving to charities. It's now so easy (and safe) to donate money through the Internet. Since so many of us shop online, why not take the time to put that money you're spending towards a good cause? If everyone made this effort, it would make a big difference to many worthwhile charities. Beatrice Webb, Bodfari Dear baby I felt guilty after reading Sam Niblock’s story (Worth Every Penny!, 17 March issue). I’d taken it for granted that every woman, like me, found it easy to get pregnant. It’s incredible that Sam spent £100,000 on IVF…

1 Lay two soft tortillas on a board and spread with 4tbsp of Tex Mex dressing. Sprinkle over 150g cooked chicken strips, 4 chopped spring onions, 100g sweetcorn, 100g each of chopped red and green peppers and 150g grated mozzarella. 2 Spread another two tortillas with Tex Mex dressing, place on top and press down. 3 Oil a large frying pan and heat. When hot, add one quesadilla and cook over a moderate heat for 2-3 min. Press down with a spatula until cheese starts to melt. 4 Place a large plate over pan and invert quesadilla onto plate, then return to pan and cook other side for 2-3 min. Remove from the pan and keep warm while you cook second quesadilla, before cutting into wedges to serve. Serves: 4…

The planets orbiting Helvetios could sustain life The Veterinarian School at the University of Copenhagen had done its tests. Its results couldn’t have been more clear. Although resembling a mammal, read the report, certain features of the skull made it impossible to fit the animal into Linnaean taxonomy. In other words, the skull didn’t belong to any known animal. And it certainly wasn’t human. It’d been discovered in 2007 in the town of Olstykke, on the Danish island of Sealand. It was dug up during a project to replace some of the town’s old sewer pipes. The area was excavated but no other bones from a skeleton were found. At first, the skull was thought to have belonged to a horse, because of its large eye sockets. But tests showed…

MAXINE PEAKE Maxine Peake made her name in Dinnerladies and Shameless before taking the role of Myra Hindley in Bafta-winning drama See No Evil: The Moors Murders (2006). Child-killer Hindley and her partner Ian Brady committed a spate of heinous murders in the 1960s. She died in 2002, after spending 36 years in jail, and was dubbed by the press as ‘the most evil woman in Britain’. DOMINIC WEST The Wire’s Dominic West bore a scary similarity to his namesake Fred West when he played the sick serial killer in ITV drama Appropriate Adult (2011). Fred West was responsible for the murders of 12 women, including his first wife and his daughter - but he evaded justice, hanging himself while on remand. DEAN CAIN New Adventures Of Superman…

It was impossible to ignore how selfish he was The Facebook message made my blood run cold... My husband John took my coat and pulled out my chair as I sat down in the restaurant. ‘Always the gent,’ I smiled. I loved that about John. He had such flawless manners – along with a great sense of humour. We’d met as teenagers in the Navy. John was so funny and handsome, I fell for him straightaway. We bought our first home in October 1993, and, afterwards, we were posted all over the world. Three years later, in September 1997,we got married. Exactly a year on, we had a baby, Lewis. Two years later came our daughter Alex. And, in March 2002, our family was completed by the arrival of Amy.…

Cuddling my new puppy, the ball of fur nuzzled into me. He told me he'd carve his initials into my face ‘Aww, thanks, babe,’ I beamed at my boyfriend Kye Green, then 25. It was July 2014 and Kye’d bought me the Staffie pup named Chuckie as a 20th birthday present. ‘It’s just us and our little Chuckie,’ Kye smiled. It’d been a real whirlwind romance. We’d met through friends that February and moved into our own two-bed house the next month. Mates warned me Kye was a bad boy who’d done time. But I was in love, so didn’t listen. Still, I soon saw another side to him. He’d go out drinking, have violent outbursts. Then, in August 2014, during a row, he slapped me. ‘I’m sorry,’ Kye said…

The womb blood transfusion sent me into early labour When me and my partner Luke, 37, found out we were expecting a baby, I was thrilled. I already had a son, Sebastian, then 7, from a previous relationship. During my pregnancy with him, a blood test revealed my blood type was rhesus negative. It could cause severe haemolytic disease of the newborn – meaning if some of my baby’s blood got into my bloodstream, my immune system would react. My body would treat the baby as a foreign invader and produce antibodies to attack it. Doctors said it didn’t usually cause problems with a first pregnancy. But any subsequent pregnancies could be risky… So doctors began monitoring me closely. I had blood tests and scans every week. ‘Your baby looks…

It was a huge and exciting move, but my partner Barry, 42, and I had decided to buy a house together.. I lived in a rented, three-bed house with my son, 12, and two daughters, 11 and 7. I wanted us all to have more space. So buying a place was the perfect solution. We’re both hard workers, and with three kids to look after, we’re kept on our toes! But, after the children had been put to bed, I enjoyed a game on Chat Mag Bingo. I’d seen an ad in Chat and it looked fun, so I signed up. After exploring the rooms and games, I found the chat rooms, they were full of players chatting away, such a laugh. My favourite game was Sapphire Bingo, and I…

Kurt was a challenge, but I never doubted him, knew could learn Anatolian Shepherd dogs have always had a big place in my heart, but none bigger than my perfect pooch Kurt! Measuring 40in to the shoulder on all fours, and an amazing 7ft tall on his back legs, 5-year-old Kurt must be one of Britain’s biggest dogs. I fell for him when he arrived at a local rescue centre I was involved with in June 2013. Weighing a whopping 11st, Kurt was the hugest hound I’d ever seen. After nobody claimed him, I set about finding him a new home. But Kurt wasn’t very well behaved, and was hard to manage because of his incredible size, so the poor pup always ended up back at the shelter. So… ‘You…

Taurus 21 April - 21 May You might find yourself called in to settle a dispute. This is because you’re supposedly unbiased, but you have personal connections with both parties, and will find it hard to decide in favour of one if it hurts the other. Go gently. Call 0905 817 0691* for more Gemini 22 May - 21 June A last-minute mishap feels worse than it is. It’s not the accident, which can usually be fixed - it’s the fact it comes at the wrong moment, and makes you late for a big occasion. But nobody minds and it might be better this way. Call 0905 817 0692* for more Cancer 22 June - 23 July You get the feeling something’s entering its final stages. Yes, it is -…