Innehållsförteckning för TAK2425 från Take 5

Standing at the bar, I ordered a beer and tapped out a message to my sister Lucy: Make sure you leave the front door unlocked so I don’t wake you up. Aged 22, I was on a night out with friends and knew it’d be a late one. But after some serious partying, we ended up crashing at a hotel. Next morning, I went home about 8am. My parents were away for the weekend, but I knew Lucy* would still be in bed, so I crept inside. Immediately, I spotted something. Or rather, someone. Lying on the sofa was a man under one of our blankets with his shoes off! Taking a closer look to see if I knew him, I peered at his face. He was out for the…

Indigestion, also called heartburn, acid reflux or dyspepsia, usually means pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen or behind the sternum. It’s often not a sign of anything significant, and is treatable with pharmacy products and lifestyle changes. However, persistent pain needs investigating as, rarely, it may be a sign of something more serious. Central stomach and back pain, difficulty swallowing and any unexplained weight loss are not usually symptoms of indigestion, and may need looking into by a doctor. Symptoms often occur after eating or drinking. These include a burning feeling in the chest, feeling bloated, nausea, belching and flatulence. You may also have regurgitation of food, or a bitter-tasting fluid in your mouth, which is stomach acid. It often occurs after eating WHY DO YOU GET IT? Causes…

Dear Take 5ers, I was recently looking after my 15-year-old granddaughter and, while she was out with her friends, I found a book on her bed. Curious about what she was reading, I opened it and was horrified to discover it was her diary. Before I could put it down, I read a paragraph about a 20-year-old boy she’d been hanging out with and said she was ‘obsessed’ with. I don’t know if anything has happened between them, but I’m worried about the age gap, and I can’t bring it up without telling her how I know. What should I do? Kaya*, 62 A 20-year-old should not be hanging out with a 15-year-old. I wouldn’t care how I found out the information, questions would be asked. Chris Denning Sit down…

It had begun with a simple letter and now, five decades later, a wonderful surprise was waiting for me Christine Giera, 63. As my English teacher spoke, my hand was the first to shoot into the air. She’d just asked if any of us wanted a pen pal. “I do, Miss!” I said. It was 1971 and I was 11. I got writing to a girl called Barbara who lived in Germany. She was a similar age to me, and our conversations revolved around hobbies, the latest fashions and school. Barbara wrote in English really well, but was keen to improve. Can you send my letters back with corrections? she asked. So I began marking her letters in red pen like a teacher and sending them back with my replies.…

My husband did a front flip on the trampoline and our older girls cheered with delight. “Mummy, did you see that?” Ashton, five, asked. “Sure did,” I replied, grinning. It was May 2022. Ashton and her sisters, Hallie, three, and Josie, eight months, were besotted with their dad, Russell, 34. I was, too, ever since I’d met him through friends at just 16 years old. He was 19 and had swept me off my feet. Nine years later, we married, bought a house and started our family. Russell, a cabinetmaker, spent years renovating our home but didn’t stop at the interior. “I want to build your dream backyard,” he told the girls one day. “What do you want in it?” Their little eyes lit up as they pondered the possibilities.…

You don’t have to look a certain way to be beautiful Monique Jeremiah, 37, Gold Coast, Qld. Staring at my phone, I willed it to ring. “Please, just give me a chance,” I whispered. Aged 30, I was newly divorced and ready for a fresh start. I’d always dreamed of working in fashion and beauty. So, I’d quit my teaching job weeks earlier and sent my portfolio to every modelling agency I could find. But I hadn’t had one call back. “Am I not pretty enough?” I asked my mum. “You’re beautiful,” she gushed. I saw the type of women the agencies chose over me: tall, thin, white, and very young – everything I was not. Eventually, an agency signed me up and I couldn’t have been happier. Despite giving…

Walking into the lounge room, I gasped at the sight before me. “Kurtis, come and look at Xanthie!” I called out to my partner. He rushed in to see what I was on about. “Whoa!” he gasped. “She’s so flexible.” Xanthie was only eight months old but when she sat up, she spread her legs so wide she was doing the splits! Lying down on her back, she pulled her foot right up to touch her nose. “She’s going to be a dancer when she’s bigger,” I remarked. “Or a gymnast,” Kurtis suggested. Over the coming months, she continued to sit like this but showed no signs of wanting to crawl. “Babies develop at their own pace,” our midwife assured me when I told her. By the time our girl…

My girl spent her holidays walking for good Stephanie Paris, 47, Busselton, WA. Lacing up my girl’s hiking boots, I beamed. I was chuffed because I’d convinced Chloe, nine, to spend a week of her school holidays trekking the southern half of the Cape to Cape track with me and her dad, Andrew. I’d wanted to do it for ages, but Chloe wasn’t much of a walker. The most we’d ever managed were day trips, but a few hours into the trails, Chloe would say she was bored and wanted to go home. Andrew and I knew that selling Chloe on the idea of a five-day hike covering 70km would be a stretch! “She might buy it if we get a little creative,” he grinned. Soon after, I was scrolling…

WE PAY $100 FOR EACH LETTER PRINTED Truth be told I was having a cuppa with my daughter, Genevieve, 46, when she told me my 17-year-old grandson had asked to go to an 18th birthday party where there would be alcohol. She’d set some boundaries but agreed to let him go.“I’d never have let you go when you were that age!” I said.“What you let me do, and what I actually did, are two very different things, Mother!” Genevieve snorted. Meredith Brown, Sunbury, Vic. Birth year bestie I was born in the Chinese year of the snake, and I love them! It took three men to lift this 55kg beauty onto me in Thailand. It was magic. The warm skin felt like nothing else and I gave it a kiss!…

For some people, winter is a time to enjoy crisp outdoor walks and cosy nights in front of the heater. However, for others it can kickstart a noticeable mood shift widely known as the winter blues, or in more serious cases, seasonal affective disorder (SAD). If that sounds like you, you’re not alone. “It’s quite common for people to feel a bit lower in mood in winter,” says Mary Spillane, a clinical psychologist. WHY DOES IT HAPPEN? The exact reason for the winter blues isn’t known, but some scientists believe that the shorter and darker days can bring on a shift in mood for some people. “There’s a theory that the seasonal change and the changes in light actually interrupt our body clock,” stresses Mary. “Our body clock is what…

When you’ve boiled veggies, use the leftover water to fertilise plants. Pam Dickson, Port Stephens, NSW. I swear by this: eat your burgers upside down. It stops the sauce spilling and the thicker bread will absorb all the yummy flavours dripping down. Penny Babic, Rockingham, WA. I’ve put a lazy Susan in the corner cupboard of my kitchen to help me reach things better. Nancy Gibbs, Maitland, NSW. When I’m frying mince I use a potato masher to break it up so it cooks evenly. Faye Middleton, North Lakes, Qld. Turn jars of tomato paste and pesto upside down before you put them in the fridge to stop them growing mould. Margot Fisher, Toowoomba, Qld. If your drain isn’t draining well, tip some dishwashing detergent down then pour in hot…

I hurriedly shoved some belongings into my backpack. Moments before, a man I trusted, who I called Uncle, had come to me with a proposition. “A family in Kathmandu wants someone to work in their house,” he told me. He said they were kind people who’d treat me as their own. “But I want to go to school,” I replied. I was 10 and lived with my parents and three siblings in a small village called Batase in Nepal. The school there only went to fifth grade and the closest high schools were hours away. My parents couldn’t afford to send me. “This family is wealthy,” Uncle explained. “They’ll send you to a good school.” I didn’t want to end up a farmer, like Dad. Lack of proper education made…

India’s narrow-gauge steam railways are the stuff of legend, and the bottle-blue Darjeeling Toy Train is the nation’s lead engine. The ride from the Bengal plains to Darjeeling travels past emerald-green tea plantations and precariously balanced, tin-roofed townships, while clouds tumble down Mt Khangchendzonga. Sure, steam engines are now only used for a small section of the route, and most people rumble into Darjeeling by diesel power, but this iconic mountain journey still serves up a slice of history. RIDING THE RAILS The idea of forging a railway line from the plains into the eastern Himalaya would have sent many construction engineers running for the hills. The Darjeeling line climbs from just 100m above sea level at New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to over 2200m at Darjeeling, and rises even higher…