Innehållsförteckning för 28-Apr-2016 från Pick Me Up!

What A Shot! I really enjoyed the Annie Leibovitz exhibition at the Wapping Power Station. The photographer finds the unusual side of all her subjects – even the ultra-bizarre Osbourne family! 18 That’s how many years my hubby Pete and I will have been married this year. It'll be our porcelain anniversary. Take our quiz to see if you can match up other happily matched pairs! Visit lifedeathprizes.com and search ‘couples’. What A Hat! My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were travelling, so we celebrated Christmas very late – complete with festive woolly headgear! What A Design I went to an Eritrean wedding recently and noticed this beautiful henna pattern on one of the guest’s ankles. Apparently, it’s a design that only married women are allowed to wear. Maybe because it looks…

‘He was lying face down, his sheet around his head...’ ‘I tried to keep my tears hidden from Blake’ BLAKE AND JACK ADORED EACH OTHER A tiny little hand crept up and touched my baby bump. ‘Can you feel your brother kicking?’ I asked my little boy Blake, smiling. He wasn’t yet 2, but he was so excited about our new arrival. I was, too! Our little one already had a name - Jack James. And we couldn’t wait to meet him. On 11 September 2014, Jack was born at Doncaster Royal Hospital, weighing 6lb 3oz. He was perfect. Back at home, I quickly realised he was mischievous, too. Constantly wriggling, and with the biggest appetite I’d ever seen! And he adored his big brother. It was Blake who got…

1 Smart heating controls… Manage your heating via a mobile app. Try myHome for Remote Heating Control by British Gas. 2 No more standby… Turning off appliances at the plug could save you around £30 a year. Even phone chargers continue to use electricity if they’re plugged in. 3 Light Bulb Finder… The Light Bulb Finder app (free for Android and iPhone) gathers information about bulbs you’re using and recommends the best bulb alternative based on cost and environmental impact. 4 A smarter meter… They measure the total energy used and how much it costs. Contact your energy provider about getting one installed for free. 5 Control your heating… with a room thermostat and programmer. Turning it down by just one degree…

Vagina pain Q I gave birth to my son a month ago and my vagina now seems very different. It hurts when I have sex and it still feels swollen. Will it get better? Becca, Telford A The vagina will feel different after pregnancy and delivery, but you can improve discomfort and tone with pelvic-floor exercises. It may take a few more weeks to get back to normal. Frizzy hair Q My hair has become unbelievably frizzy and stiff lately. The only thing that seems to help and does actually stick my hair down is hair butter, but this is expensive. Plus I’ve noticed that it makes my locks greasy, too. Can you suggest anything? Alpa, Birmingham A This type of change to your hair can be the sign of…

Blueberry & Apple Crumble Cake Serves: 10 Prep Time: 30 min Cook Time: 75 min Crumble: • 50g butter, cubed • 100g plain flour • 50g light-brown muscovado sugar • ½tsp ground cinnamon Cake: • 250g blueberries • 250g self-raising flour • 150g butter, softened • 150g caster sugar • 3 eggs, beaten • 4 tbsp natural yogurt • Zest of ½ lemon • 1tsp vanilla essence • 1 Pink Lady apple, cored and cubed • 1tsp baking powder 1 Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4, and grease and line a 20cm, loose-bottomed cake tin. 2 For crumble, rub butter into flour, stir in sugar and cinnamon, and put to one side. 3 Wash and dry blueberries; sprinkle with flour. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add eggs a…

‘We spent more time together. I really fell for him’ ‘He called me a slag, told me how fat I was…’ Sometimes love strikes when you least expect it. I was single, living with Mum and Dad, and employed as a dementia care worker when, in April 2010, I got a Facebook message. I’ve seen you around and like the look of you, it said. Would you be interested in meeting up? It was from Christian Webb, then 24. I’d been to school with his sisters, so I vaguely knew who he was. He was confident and flirty - and, when I looked at his pictures, I found that he wasn’t bad looking, either! Aged 19, I’d never had a proper relationship, so I was flattered. A couple of days…

Peamutt Butter for Dogs, £3.99, www. petscorner. co.uk Many dogs love nothing more than a dollop of peanut butter in their toys to keep them happy – and now you can get them their own! Verdict: BONKERS! A bit bonkers but pooches can’t get enough! Espressgo Portable Coffee Machine, £119, www.lavazza.co.uk For those who can’t get through the day without their caffeine kick, this lets you enjoy an Italian espresso wherever you are. Verdict: GENIUS! Expensive but would be lovely for picnics! Period Box, from £1.99 per period, www.sanitaryowl.com If you’re too busy or embarrassed to buy sanitary products in the shops, this service is ready to come to the rescue! Visit the website and choose which product, brand, absorbency…

A qualified animal behaviourist, I was working with rescue dogs in October 2009, when a 6-month-old pup was found. Covered in cigarette burns, his ears had been cut off, and his front right toe needed amputating. Heart melting, I volunteered to home him. Archie was a pit bull terrier, who was legally registered to comply with the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. He was neutered, microchipped and insured. Not aggressive, he’s a total sweetheart, but was nervous. Archie’s plight hit home with me. Three years earlier, I’d had a car crash that fractured my spine. I found yoga helped my recuperation. As Archie whined indoors, and destroyed cushions, I’d an idea. I’d tried long walks, but I couldn’t let him off his lead. So I bought Archie a mat, as a…

TAURUS 21 April–21 May You have the answers you need yourself and yet you seem intent on asking everyone else.Try to give yourself the respect and courtesy to decide your own fate. Love is going to require you to make a lifestyle change for yourself. Call: 09058 170 711* GEMINI 22 May–21 June You see with ease and clarity which friends have been using you and which ones you can trust. You take steps to separate yourself from those you no longer respect, but one’s not willing to go away without a big showdown. Call: 09058 170 712* CANCER 22 June–23 July You’ve not been trusting your instincts in love, but you should. Remember, Cancer, that you’re the one who has to live your life, so you are the one…

‘I became convinced there were dead birds around our house’ ‘Staff helped me heal, become a mum again’ I felt nervous looking at the sea of faces. It was September 2009 and I’d been rushed to the hospital in Northallerton for an emergency Caesarean as my baby was facing the wrong way. Suddenly, my hubby Stephen, now 36, appeared in scrubs. ‘I’m right here,’ he said. Minutes later, our son Sebastian was born at 8lb 7oz. It was a huge relief. When he was placed on my chest, I felt a rush of love. Over the next two days, I struggled to breastfeed. ‘It may be your milk hasn’t come in yet due to surgery,’ the midwife explained. I was exhausted , too. After being sent home, feeding didn’t get…

1 The condition is the same as dizziness. 2 It can be brought on by trauma. 3 Dizzy spells can be mild or intense and last for a few minutes. 4 Only the elderly suffer with it. 1 FALSE Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is a balance disorder caused by protein crystals getting lodged in the inner-ear canal, causing a spinning sensation. It’s more severe than dizziness or normal vertigo, and affects one in 1,000 people a year. 2 TRUE It often occurs for no reason, however, it’s stated that after treatment, 50 per cent of people will experience symptoms again within five years if it was the result of trauma. It’s also linked to head injury and migraines. 3 TRUE Episodes are triggered when the head’s tipped up or down,…

1 Sainsbury’s Rogan Josh Cooking Sauce, 500g We loved the strong cardamom flavour of this sauce – like eating a Rogan Josh from the local curry house! 2 Co-op Loved By Us Rogan Josh Curry Sauce, 500g A fairly mild sauce with a peppery, aromatic flavour, just fry off some chicken, add the sauce and simmer for 15 min while you cook some rice. Easy! 3 Aldi Specially Selected Rogan Josh Curry Sauce, 360g If you like a hot and spicy curry, this is the one for you! This wonderfully aromatic sauce has a proper kick to it. Serve with a dollop of yogurt on the side to temper the heat. Make it yourself... Serves: 4 Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: 22 min • 2tbsp oil • 2 green…

TRIED & TESTED This week: Bronzer bricks 1 Revlon Highlighting Palette in Bronze Glow, £9.99, Superdrug This amazing dupe of a pricier product gave my skin a gorgeous glow when used to highlight my cheek and brow bones. 2 Sleek MakeUP Bronze Block in Light, £7.49, sleekmakeup.com I could use the individual shades more easily than with the other palettes, but could still swirl them together for a natural glow. 3 Me Me Me Shimmer Stack in Bronze, £11.95, mememecosmetics.com I used these shades all together for shimmering skin and separately as eyeshadows. I love a multipurpose product! ASK JESS Q I’m looking for a good foundation with natural coverage that won’t dry out my skin Ð help! Anna Hills, 34, Dudley A Maybelline Dream Velvet…

‘Our baby would need heart surgery within days of birth’ ‘The top chamber of his tiny walnut-like heart was opened’ Try not to worry. But worry was all my hubby Dave, 31, and I had. We’d been so excited when I fell pregnant, June 2014. Then, at our 20-week scan... ‘I need to get the doctor,’ the nurse at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary said. It was bad news. ‘Your baby has transposition of the great arteries,’ the doctor said. ‘The arteries are back to front.’ I felt a large tear rolling down my cheek. ‘The baby will be OK, though?’ I asked, fighting the urge to cry. ‘Treatment will start as soon as the baby’s born,’ he carried on. Our baby would need major heart surgery within days of…

I love nothing more than a bulging bin bag! See, volunteering in Oxfam, Thirsk, I get first dibs on donations. I’d never visited charity shops until my neighbours Mike and Mary Bell recommended volunteering. It keeps me busy while my hubby Mike, 50, works as an accountant and our kids Izzi, 9, and Theo, 8, are at school. I often buy stock from the shelves. I’ve bagged lovely jackets from Margaret Howell and Ted Baker. Big brands like Asos and FCUK sometimes donate new items, complete with price tags. But you’ve got to be quick! With my eye for fashion, I’m in charge of our Boutique section. Izzi’s into fashion, too, although her tastes differ from mine. Far too many crop tops! In February this year, I heard about Oxfam’s…

‘Joseph was shy but had a friendly smile – we hit it off’ ‘He’d rammed a hammer into my head then called 999’ I WON’T LET WILLIAMS DESTROY ME... Good friends are hard to find. I know that better than anyone. See, in 2013, aged 18, I let my friends into a secret. ‘I was born in the wrong body,’ I bravely told them. They knew me as Connor, one of the lads. But from a young age, I knew I was living a lie. ‘I’m supposed to be a woman,’ I added. Most people supported me. ‘We just want you to be happy,’ my best mate said. It meant the world to me. That May, a friend introduced me to Joseph Williams, then 21. I’d been thinking about getting…

Ace It Pick up a 1 litre bottle of ACE for Colours for £1.50 (normally £2) at Waitrose until 10 May. It’s gentle on your clothes, but still removes all sorts of stains. Glass Of Wine? Treat yourself to a bottle of I heart Malbec for just £5 (normally £6) at Bargain Booze until 10 May. Perfect for enjoying with dinner. Speedy Dinner Great for when you want to whip up a tasty tea in a hurry, Jamie Oliver Ready to Eat pouches only need heating for 1 minute before you can tuck in. You can now pick up 2 for £3 (normally £2.29 each) at Waitrose until 10 May. Beauty Bargain If you caught them last year, you’ll be pleased to know that Aldi’s range of purse-friendly make-up products…

‘I left the hospital with painkillers but no answers’ I’d never felt pain like it...It was September 2009, and I was suffering from extreme pain in the lower right side of my stomach. ‘I’m referring you to hospital for tests,’ my GP said when I complained of discomfort. I was admitted to Dewsbury Hospital, but doctors couldn’t determine a diagnosis. Days later, I was discharged with painkillers - but no answers. The medication didn’t help, and the cramps continued. They came back so often and so severely that I’d spent the next three years in and out of hospital. ‘I just want to know what’s wrong with me,’ I said to my boyfriend Scott, 24. By August 2013, my hospital stays and absences from work were so frequent that I…

‘I wasn’t able to drive and I had to leave my job’ As the last guest left my friend’s Halloween party in 2014, I said I’d stay to help clean up. I bent down to pick up a balloon, and felt a sharp, searing pain in my lower back. The pain was so bad, I struggled to get to my feet. I assumed I’d just pulled something and that it’d pass. But I was in agony for weeks. In December, I spent two weeks in Salisbury General Hospital, where an MRI scan found an annular disc tear and a posterior bulging disc. The doctor explained that they’d heal by themselves and gave me painkillers. I said I’d felt spasms in my lower back, but he thought it was part of…

‘I was eating around 800 calories a day’ Many think of shopping as retail therapy. Me? I needed counselling after it. There was nothing I hated more than buying new clothes. Because, for me, it always meant one thing. I’d got too fat for what I had. I’d always been a big girl with an appetite to match. But things got out of control when I fell pregnant at 19. I couldn’t stop snacking. Cheese sarnies, crisps... ‘I am eating for two,’ I’d say to my mum Georgina, 62. But even when I had our son Edward, in August 2005, my endless snacking didn’t slow down. I’d even find myself scoffing biscuits in the middle of the night when Edward woke up crying. No wonder my size-22 clothes were starting…

Tiny Things That MAKE US ANGRY 1 When it rains just after you’ve washed the car. 2 You run for the lift and the doors start to close. Not one of the passengers inside pushes the 'Open Door’ button. 3 You happily join the shortest queue in the supermarket, to find it’s the slowest-moving. 4 Handbag-sized tissues, big bags of sweets and pasta all claim to be resealable. They’re not! 5 However you clean your windows, you’ll always be left with at least one smear. REASONS WE LOVE PUGS! 1 A group of pugs is called a grumble. 2 Pugs can be traced back to 400BC. 3 In Germany, pugs are called mops! 4 The perfect pug tail has two to four curves. 5 They sleep around 14 hours a…

Try this…. Metcalfe’s Skinny Popcorn Cinema Sweet, £1.49, Tesco With naturally sweet stevia extract, this tasty snack has 67 per cent less sugar than other sweet popcorn. Protein World Weightloss Collection starter pack, £22.99, Superdrug One pack of Slender Blend meal-replacement drinks and capsules contain a week’s supply of vitamins, to help boost metabolism. Take 3… Chocolate Bars Get Moving! Raise money for animal welfare at one of four 2016 Big Walkies. Organised by the RSPCA and Vitality, they’re taking place in London, Bournemouth and Cardiff in May 2016. Sign up even if you don’t own a dog! Visit www.rspca.org.uk/  dogwalk to register. Flattering Fashion A striped tee should be a mainstay in everybody’s wardrobe! This one is a real gem because its a nice, roomy cut, in a…

‘There are so many different games to choose from…’ ‘I wasn’t expecting to win – I was just enjoying myself’ My Quick Win Took Me By Surprise! Deborah was amazed when she won on the same night she joined Deborah O’Reilly, 55, Long Buckby, Northamptonshire It was a Thursday evening last year and I was really looking forward to relaxing in front of the TV with a nice cup of tea. Bliss,I sighed to myself. Then later on that same evening, I was having a little play around on my laptop when I spotted an ad for Pick Me Up! Bingo. I really enjoyed playing the odd game of bingo with my friends when I went on holiday with friends, but I’d never played online before. I may as well…

‘Marry me?’ asked cheeky Robert Green, 16. ‘You’re too young!’ I dismissed. I was 19, and we both worked at Thornton Lodge pub, in 2004. Just mates, but he fancied me. We lost touch when I began working in marketing, and electrician Robert started working away in London. Until October 2012, when I bumped into Robert in Poulton-le-Fylde’s Cube bar. He’d matured well! Buying me a drink, he asked me out again, and I agreed. Soon an item, in January 2013, I got a marketing job at Blackpool Tower. Excitedly, I told Robert’s nan Pat. Turned out Robert’s great-grandfather John Harry Clegg worked at the Tower, rising from a lift boy to director! Ever since, it’s felt extra-special. Last November, Robert was teasing me about proposing. ‘You had your chance.…

‘One day an older teenage lad messaged me’ Isolated and alone - that’s how bullying at school left me feeling. Starting secondary school at 11, I’d quickly found that being a tomboy with braces and glasses made me a target. By 13, I’d learned to suffer the daily name-calling in silence. My only friends in the world were ones I’d made on a social-networking site for teenagers. The first thing I did when I got home was log on to the computer to chat to them. Mum wasn’t keen on me chatting to strangers. ‘They could be anyone,’ she fretted. So I’d pretend I was doing homework and keep the chat window minimised. I regularly talked to two teenage girls, one in Scotland and one in the US. Then one…

‘Belly-dancing helped me focus on the good things’ As the music started, I got lost in the hypnotic beat... Shimmying my boobs and shaking my hips, I taught my class the latest belly-dance routine I’d choreographed. ‘You’re doing brilliantly!’ I called to the 25 students. I loved belly-dancing and I’d been teaching for years. Had even set up my own troupe back in 2006. It was expressive, sexy, feminine and great exercise. We’d performed at galas, festivals and even in local Turkish and Egyptian restaurants. I taught five classes a week and managed to fit it around my hairdressing day job. A few weeks later, in July 2014, I plonked into bed to watch telly. Folding my arms across my chest, I balked. On my right breast, near my cleavage,…

Match The Song To The Film! 1. DON’T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME – SIMPLE MINDS 2. LOVE SONG FOR A VAMPIRE – ANNIE LENNOX 3. BE MY BABY – THE RONETTES 4. IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOVE – ROXETTE Top Of The Cops! Our fave fictional female officers 1 DS Sandra Pullman, New Tricks 2 Detective Ellie Mille, Broadchurch 3 Sergeant Catherine Cawood, Happy Valley 4 DCI Jane Tennison, Prime Suspect CRINGEY Hairdresser Moments 1 You’re surrounded by women who look like they’re here on a weekly basis. 2 ‘Going anywhere nice on holiday this year?’ The small talk is always so awkward! 3 The gown. Could these be any less flattering? 4 When they show you the back of your head in the mirror and you have to say…