Innehållsförteckning för 16-Aug-2018 från Chat

Welcome to this week’s Chat... If you were looking for something to make you smile, then just check out little Holly on p56. Her big grin is so contagious, despite all that the brave girl has been through… Reading Leanne’s story on (p36) will want to make you hold your loved ones closer. It shows just how terribly cruel fate can be. And on p52, can Madara persuade you that child pageants are nothing more than harmless fun? Plus we’ve also got tons more real life, some bloomin’ lovely fashion bargains, along with your prize puzzle faves. What are you waiting for?!…

Leonora Baker, 66, Dagenham Walking along the road one afternoon, I admired my neighbours’ neat gardens. I’d have loved to potter around in mine, but my diabetes had put paid to that, my legs and body frail and weak. Then I spotted a gardener at work. I went over and asked, ‘Could you help me, too?’ ‘I’ll call when I have time,’ he said, giving me his card. A couple of hours later, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find a woman with a broad smile and a friendly face. I recognised her as living a few doors down. ‘Hello, I’m Kelly. I hear you’re looking for help with your garden?’ she said, smiling. It turned out that the man I’d spoken to earlier was…

Bobble box Forever frustrated with losing hair ties, we came up with the idea of using one of my daughter's empty bubblegum containers to store them in. No more lost hair bobbles, and lots of time saved, too. James Howell, Longmarton Drown your data If you don't have a shredder to get rid of your confidential paperwork, just soak all the pieces of paper in warm water for a few minutes and scrunch them together. Job done! Joseph Todd, Gateshead No more tears When cutting onions, I use olive oil on the knife to stop my eyes burning - a great tip for BBQ season. Shaun Waters, Swansea Snip ’n’ save When your moisturiser gets to the end, cut it in half and you'll be able to easily squeeze out…

Public orgasm Q I was working out in my gym when I had a real, full-on orgasm! I tried to cover it up, but is it normal? Nikki, Lancaster A You had a coregasm, so-called because they occur during abs or core exercises. They can affect up to 10 per cent of women during exercise as a result of hormones released, increased blood flow to your lower abdomen and repeated movements stimulating your clitoris. I can’t ‘go’… Q I constantly feel I need to poo, but I try and there's nothing there! Tina, Aberystwyth A This is called tenesmus and may be caused by inflammation or infection in your bowel, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or piles. Another possibility is a growth in your rectum, usually a harmless fleshy lump called…

Donna Moore, 38, Catterick, North Yorkshire Lugging shopping bags into the house, I lifted my little girl, then 3, out of her buggy. Next was my baby boy, a few months old. By the time I was done, I was wheezing with exhaustion. Tears rolled down my cheeks. To say I was stuck in a rut was an understatement. It was April 2004 and I was utterly miserable. I was 24, overweight, struggling with two young kids and unhappy in my relationship. As a kid, I’d been a tomboy. ‘You are the strongest girl I know,’ Dad would beam. But, now, I binged on huge bars of chocolate while slumped on the sofa in front of the TV. I’d ballooned to a size-24, weighed a hefty 17st. ‘I’m just a…

Bullies were always ready to pounce, mean comments at the ready Nathalia Freitas, 31, California Wandering the supermarket while holding my mum’s hand, my face flamed red under the dozen stares I was getting. It was summer 1990 – and though I was only 3 years old, I was painfully aware of the other shoppers’ glares as we browsed the aisles. ‘Is your daughter OK?’ a stranger asked Mum. ‘Yes, she’s perfectly fine!’ my mum snapped back. I wasn’t the first time that somebody had just approached us in this way. But I had an inkling why I’d get so much attention. When the shopper had moved off, I asked, ‘Why are they staring at me, Mummy?’ ‘They’re looking at your skin, but don’t worry about them,’ she reassured me.…

Aries 21 March - 20 April Why are you going back to a place you just left? To pick up something you forgot? To see old mates again? Maybe you want to be sure you made the right choice. You did, but it won’t do any harm to check. Call 0905 817 0690* for more Taurus 21 April - 21 May Whatever happened to verbal agreements and mutual trust? You’d like to shake hands and leave it at that, but there are checks to be made, contracts to sign and more. Sadly, the dull stuff must be done… Call 0905 817 0691* for more Gemini 22 May - 21 June You can’t win a game if your opponent cheats - and you certainly can’t win if the rules change and…

Oh K! Peeling Foot Mask, £8.50, feelunique.com  A two-step treatment that sloughs away dead skin for super-soft feet. Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Pink Punch, £3.99, Boots High-pigment paint for a gel-effect finish – with just one coat! Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Foot Magic, £4.99, Superdrug Full of nourishing ingredients – a proper pampering treat for feet! Peppermint Cooling Foot Spray, £6.50, The Body Shop After a long day, spritz over tootsies to soothe and refresh. Soap & Glory The Heel Deal Foot File, £9.99, Boots Three different heads to cover all those tricky-to-reach areas.…

House manners What happened to people leaving their shoes on the doormat, when they go inside somebody’s home? I recently went to visit a friend and took off my shoes as soon as I got in. She said not to bother, as they never did – but the carpets were absolutely filthy! I always ask my visitors to take off their shoes indoors, and it’s never been a problem. You walk in all sorts of mud – even dog poo – so why transfer this to your home? Just try removing the footwear, folks! Marian Haynes, Truro If I ruled the world... There’d be no more hungry children, and glass bottles would replace plastic ones. Also, we’d wear clothes that make us feel good, I’d ban lorries on roads during…

Dear the old me, When I think back to that frightened little girl, sent out of yet another class, my heart breaks. You weren’t naughty, you were just scared of being ridiculed. There wasn’t any help for someone with dyslexia in 1969. You were 8 years old, but you could barely read the most basic of storybooks. Your classmates used to call you thick. Hiding in the loos, or not going to school at all, became much easier. So it wasn’t a surprise when you left school without any qualifications to your name – and unable to read. After school, you got yourself a job at a sewing factory. Mostly, you bluffed your way through. But it wasn’t always easy. ‘Have a read of this joke,’ a colleague said one…

Emily Fazah, 28, Woodbridge The pain I had in my tummy was the first clue – and a trip to the loo confirmed it. It was June 2005 – and, aged 15, I’d been expecting this moment. The day my period started. ‘Mum!’ I hollered, ‘do you have any sanitary towels?’ My mum Jane, then 44, appeared, smiling. ‘That explains why you’ve been Little Miss Moody!’ Mum teased me. It was true. Over that last week I’d been a right madam. Anything ticked me off. And I’d been crying. A lot. But taking the sanitary towel from Mum now, I felt quite cheerful. I was a woman at last! Only with it, came the most ferocious bad tempers, every month without fail. But it wasn’t just moods. My periods were…

Vicky Powell, 64, Sutton Coldfield You never stop worrying about your kids, do you? Even when they’re all grown up. So in 2011 when our youngest son Stuart, then 32, told us that he and his wife Michelle were having IVF, our hearts went out to them. Sadly, though – a few months on – they came over in tears. The cycle had failed. Devastating. We already had three grandchildren from our oldest, Alistair, and just wanted Stuart to have his happy ending too. Two years later, it seemed Lady Luck had finally stepped in. ‘We’re having a baby!’ Stuart beamed. ‘Oh, love,’ I squeaked. ‘That’s fantastic news.’ But at 20 weeks, there was more sadness. The scan had revealed the baby, a little girl, wasn’t developing normally. She was…

I couldn’t believe I’d won two big jackpots in two months!  Hannah Coniff, 35, Westgate-on-Sea My mother-in-law Garnette, 65, and I are so close. Best mates, really! She introduced me to Chat Mag Bingo in March 2016. Our treat on a night in, would be a takeaway and a few games of bingo. Last August, while my hubby Wayne watched telly, Garnette and I spent £1 on 10 10p tickets, then tucked into a Chinese. ‘Hannah, you only need a six!’ Garnette gasped. Then the six rolled out. ‘She’s won!’ Garnette whooped to Wayne. My balance had gone up by £1,558! Even better, we were flying to Spain three days later. Of course, we had a few extra celebrations while we were away. Back home, Garnette and I were having…

Leanne Sydenham, 42, Gateshead As I heard the doorbell ring, I grumbled. With one baby on my hip, and two of my older children clinging to my legs, even answering wasn’t easy. ‘Who is it?’ I shouted. ‘It’s me.’ I knew that voice anywhere. Opening the door, my jaw dropped. It was my ex David. ‘I want you back,’ he blurted. ‘I made a huge mistake.’ What? I hadn’t seen him in six years! We’d first met when I was 17 and David was 16. Just over a year later, I’d found out that I was pregnant. But, by the time Shauna was born in August 1995, David and I had separated. We’d been just kids ourselves. I met someone else and agreed to marry him. Within two years, I’d…

Beverley, 38, Aberdeen Twirling around in front of the mirror, I admired my brand-new school uniform. Aged 4, I was just a day away from starting primary school. Tomorrow, Mummy will tie my hair in pigtails, I thought, thrilled. Going to bed that night, I closed my eyes a content child, excited about what the next day would bring. Only, hours later, I felt someone’s hands around my waist. Struggling for a moment, I realised who it was. Mum’s lodger, John Barbour, then 19. He was a friend of my stepdad and had been staying in our spare room. I didn’t know much about him, but he worked in the arcades in town. ‘Shhh,’ he hushed me, before I had time to speak. Terrified and confused, I kept quiet. He…

While Henri Van Breda’s girlfriend wept in court, the verdict was delivered. Henri was guilty of all counts he stood accused of. During sentencing this 7 June, Judge Siraj Desai told Van Breda, ‘You have axed to death three persons and endeavoured to do so in respect of a fourth. They were your immediate family.’ Handing Van Breda three life sentences for murder and 15 years for the attempted murder of his sister, the judge added, ‘You have not told the court what led to the commission of these crimes… The weapon used was an axe, with the victims unarmed and defenceless. It was a cold-blooded murder. The violence was excessive and gratuitous. It was intended to cause maximum harm.’…

Scared to fly Q We're going abroad on holiday but I'm terrified of flying. Help! Maggie, Leicester A A mild tranquilliser from your doctor might help if you're a very occasional flyer, but don't booze if you take it! If you fly regularly, a fear-of-flying course could be a more permanent solution - many airlines offer them, or try your local NHS Psychology service DIY drama Q I caught my finger doing DIY and now the tip droops... Aneta, Essex A Sounds like a mallet finger. You tore the tendon that runs along your finger away from the bone at the tip. Treatment is usually a finger splint worn for six weeks to allow the tendon to reattach. If you've left it too long without treatment, though, a small op…

Sriracha fried chicken Serves: 4 Prep: 15 min, plus chilling Cook 20 min Cost per serving: £1.22 • 150ml sriracha sauce • 200ml buttermilk • 1kg chicken pieces – wings, thighs, drumsticks, or breast halves • 300g plain flour • Pinch of salt • 400ml vegetable oil • 4 spring onions, finely sliced 1 Combine sriracha sauce and buttermilk in a large bowl, then add chicken pieces, ensuring each one is well-coated. Cover and chill for 6 hours, or preferably overnight in the fridge. 2 Heat oil in a large pan to 175C, season flour with a good pinch of salt and mix together. 3 Remove chicken from marinade and dredge each piece through the flour, covering all sides. Shake off any excess flour and transfer to a plate. Carefully…

Q I’d love to try red lipstick –how can I work out which sort of shade would suit me best? Christine Williams, 60, Wivenhoe A There’s a red lippy for everyone! If you have fair skin, choose blue-based and coral-toned reds. The cooler tones will brighten your skin without making you look washed out. Olive and medium skin tones suit coral or orange shades best. And, finally, darker skin tones look amazing in bold, bright and deeper reds. Q Recently, I was given a skin highlighter, but I’m not sure on which areas of my face I should apply it – help! Vanessa, 48, Reigate A The key to using a highlighter is to apply it on the ‘high points’ of your face – think cheekbones, brow bones and at the tip…

Who Do You Think You Are? BBC1 It's an upsetting journey for Robert Rinder when he delves into his family's heartbreaking history. Coming from a Jewish family, the star of daytime TV show Judge Rinder discovers that many of his Polish relatives lost their lives in the Holocaust - including four great-aunts and a great-uncle at the Treblinka death camp in 1942. Amazingly, his late grandfather Morris survived and went on to build a life in Britain after his liberation from a camp in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. Celebrity Masterchef BBC1 There are 20 celebrities hoping to impress John Torode and Gregg Wallace with their culinary skills over the series. The first week’s heat sees T’Pau singer Carol Decker, Keith Allen (both below), Lisa Maxwell, presenter Michelle Ackerley…

Deborah Brown was finally free. After suffering 17 years of domestic abuse at the hands of her former US Marine husband Steven Brown, 35, she’d left him in early 1999, taking their two children with her. Filing for divorce, Deborah spoke out against Steven’s cruelty, and was granted full custody of the kids at a New York court hearing on 22 March 1999. Steven was placed under strict orders to give up all contact with his family. Free of their abuser, Deborah and her children set off to begin their new lives. They went to stay with Deborah’s father, her brother Donald Wood Jr, 43, and his girlfriend in a double-wide mobile home in Lebanon, Maine. Deborah’s new boyfriend, Christopher Brouillard, 30, joined them shortly after. On 29 March, the…

Alison Allan, 47, Derby As our newest family member Holly stretched her arms and yawned, I placed her in my son Ben’s arms. ‘This is your little sister,’ I told him. Ben, then 2, beamed as he held her gently. At just a day old, she was so tiny in his arms. But they could have been twins. Both from the same batch of IVF embryos, only transferred two years apart. Now, on 23 November 2008, my husband David, then 51, and I had two little miracles. Blessed. But, just hours after Holly arrived, the nurses were concerned she was floppy and unable to latch on to my breast. They tested our little girl for Down’s syndrome. Positive. After all we’d been through to bring Holly into the world, we…