Innholdsfortegnelse for 24-Jan-2023 i Woman's Weekly

Nature’s soft nurse Breathing in good fresh air, interacting with wildlife, and experiencing beautiful landscapes are, as actor Robson Green says on page 8, apparently good for our physical and mental health. With life being so complicated, few of us actually get the opportunity to move out of a city into the countryside, but both Robson and I are lucky enough to now live in rural areas with which we have historic connections – him to Northumberland and me to Devon. I’ve found it just as therapeutic as him, but importantly, he feels it’s been helpful for his mum too, who has Alzheimer’s. And that’s really great to hear. 3 of the best... new skin products GLOW GIVER Liz Earle Smooth & Glow Exfoliating Tonic, £20, lizearle.com, uses natural (but…

LUBOU HIZNYUK, 55 Tell us about your look I love a luxe, glamorous look and today I’ve gone for winter white – top to toe. Everything I’m wearing is from Zara. It’s the best place to shop. I particularly love the coat. It may not be the most practical, but it has the wow factor! I also love a hat. It always adds the perfect finishing touch. What’s your favourite thing about yourself? My small waist. REBECCA LEACH, 58 Tell us about your look I like a contemporary look and tend to go for simple, easy-to-wear pieces. My camel coat is from Zara. I bought it quite a few years ago, but it’s timeless. My sweater is from ME+EM and my trousers with side stripes are about six years old,…

Fancy at-home facial Cheat a spa-like treatment at home by using these indulgent products, which add an extra level of luxury to your pampering session. Decléor Green Mandarin Glow Scrub, £37,decleor.co.uk, warms up as it’s worked into skin, which feels heavenly – it will also leave skin looking radiant in seconds. Use two to three times a week. Q+A Skincare Vitamin A.C.E Warming Gel Mask, £8.50, Holland & Barrett, is a really hard-working treatment mask that will overhaul dull skin, leaving it soft and glowing. It’s blended with a mix of vitamins and antioxidants to brighten your complexion. Simply massage into your skin, then leave on for 10 minutes to do its work. Cosseting creams It’s important to moisturise your body in the winter, but you’re less likely to want…

Did you know that preparing, storing and cooking food accounts for nearly one third of your household’s energy bills? By making some simple changes to your kitchen habits, you can make a real difference to your carbon emissions – and your bank balance. Cupboard love It’s easy to lose track of what you have in the cupboard. Bulk buying can seem like a good idea, but it can also mean things going past their use-by date, so keep older/open items at the front of your cupboard or fridge and take a quick photo before you go shopping. Ping perfect Microwaves heat food far more efficiently than gas and electric hobs, because they only heat up the food itself rather than the air around it. Microwave foods such as jacket potatoes…

They don’t respect my time Q I have four adult children who all have families and are very busy. When I call them, they often can’t talk and they take a long time to come back to me, even if I’ve said I need to ask something. When they phone me, they expect me to be free or to drop everything. They get quite grumpy if I don’t. I have pointed this out and they think I’m just being difficult. It feels as though they think my life is unimportant. Andrea, Bristol A My hunch is that they’re so involved in what’s going on for them that they’re not thinking about you; not because they don’t care but because they’re consumed with managing their daily lives. Think back to when…

Maria was reading a book when her daughter got back from town, but she put it down on the coffee table as soon as Eva walked in. ‘Hi, love,’ she said, looking up. ‘Oh, my goodness! What on earth have you done to your hair?’ Eva grinned. ‘I haven’t done anything. A hairdresser did it. It looks amazing, doesn’t it?’ ‘Well, it’s different,’ Maria replied. ‘But won’t you get into trouble at work looking like that?’ ‘Of course not,’ Eva scoffed as she threw herself down onto the sofa. ‘It’s only purple.’ ‘But it’s so… bright.’ ‘Yes, it’s brilliant,’ Eva replied happily. ‘I have to go back to the hairdresser’s every six weeks to get the roots done, but that won’t be a problem because I really enjoyed being there.…

We were on the telly last night.’ ‘Were we?’ Molly said. ‘What were we doing?’ Bev laughed. ‘Playing host to a mermaid. Keith Barrow claimed he saw one, when he was fishing off the Baggan rock. She tried to entice him into the sea with her, apparently. They showed some footage he’s supposed to have got on his phone but, if you ask me, it could have been anything from a seal to someone in a wetsuit.’ When Molly looked up the Branburgh Mermaid online, she saw what her friend meant. The pictures were as blurry and inconclusive as any taken of the Loch Ness Monster. There had always been legends about mermaids around this part of the coast, but then there had long been sightings of a prehistoric reptile…

Craft Difficulty level YOU WILL NEED ✣ 47x47cm Zweigart 19-count Ariosa evenweave ✣ Embroidery threads (as listed in key) ✣ Cross-stitch needle ✣ Striped fabric for piping ✣ 150cm piping cord ✣ Two 24x32cm pieces of backing fabric ✣ 30cm cushion pad or stuffing WORKING THE CROSS-STITCH Mark the centre of the evenweave fabric lengthways and across the width with a line of tacking stitches. Each coloured square on the chart represents one cross-stitch worked over one block of fabric threads. The key (right) shows the colour of embroidery thread to be used. When complete, remove tacking threads and press the work face down on a towel. SEWING THE CUSHION To make the piping, cut a fabric strip diagonally across your fabric. You might need to sew a few strips…

Knitting Difficulty level MEASUREMENTS To fit bust 82 (86) (92) (97) (102) (107) (112) (117)cm/32 (34) (36) (38) (40) (42) (44) (46) in. Actual bust measurements 91 (96) (102) (107) (112.5) (118) (123.5) (129) cm/35¾ (37¾) (40) (42) (44¼) (46½) (48½) (50¾) in. Side seam 35 (36) (36) (37) (37) (38) (38) (39) cm/13¾ (14) (14) (14½) (14½) (15) (15) (15½) in. Length to back neck 55 (56.5) (57.5) (59) (60) (61.5) (62.5) (64) cm/21¾ (22¼) (22¾) (23¼) (23¾) (24¼) (24¾) (25¼) in. Sleeve length 46cm/18in. MATERIALS 9 (9) (10) (10) (11) (11) (12) (12) 50g (121m) balls of King Cole Majestic DK (50% wool, 30% acrylic, 20% polyamide) in Teal (Pale Petrol 2657) and 4 (4) (4) (5) (5) (5) (6) (6) balls in Duck Egg (2650)*. Pair each…

ARIES 21 Mar – 20 Apr The tide is turning. Anything that has been stuck can start to move forward again. Don’t lose faith. Everything will turn out well in the end. TAURUS 21 Apr – 21 May Finding balance will be your challenge this week. Don’t go to extremes and you’ll stay in the flow. GEMINI 22 May – 21 Jun Surprise encounters are in your stars right now. Stay open to meeting some exciting new people. CANCER 22 Jun – 23 Jul Financially, you may receive a boost, or something you have been working towards finally comes to fruition. LEO 24 Jul – 23 Aug Creatively this can be a very productive time for you. Be prepared to step out and be seen. It’s going to be more…

I am in the doghouse, or I would be if we actually owned a doghouse. If our dog had to sleep in an actual kennel, he would call social services. He doesn’t even sleep in his basket any more, but on a small sofa in the kitchen. He has his favourite blanket and a soft toy rabbit. We have so far drawn the line at reading a bedtime story and making a milky drink, but it can only be a matter of time. So, perhaps I am on the naughty step. In any event, Mr Dear has just torn me off a strip or two. Possibly three. ‘Why don’t you act your age?’ he said. ‘We can’t go prancing about at our time of life.’ ‘You don’t act your age,’…

I still get childishly excited by the shifting seasons. We complain about the cold, but I wouldn’t want to live in the tropics, where it’s always the same temperature and the garden stays pretty much unchanged all year round. I feel lucky to live in our cool temperate climate – the seasons bring both excitement and a comforting rhythm to the year. One of my favourite things about winter is that nearly everything in the garden slows down to a standstill, which means you can too. You’ve been rushed off your feet, chasing your tail since March and, by January, you finally get a chance to catch your breath. You can put down your rake, your hedge trimmer, your spade, your secateurs, and just be. And what better way to…

Last summer, we put a call out to you, our loyal readers, to knit blankets and crochet teddy bears for charity – and you certainly rose to the challenge! During the past few weeks and months, we’ve been inundated at Woman’s Weekly HQ with hundreds upon hundreds of adorable teddies and blankets for those in need, hand-stitched by you. To date, we’ve received 607 teddies and 2,776 blankets, and the packages continue to arrive. Previously, your efforts have quite literally broken records, including bunting measuring 3.2km in length, and the largest display of knitted and crocheted Christmas decorations – all officially recognised by Guinness World Records! Other acts of kindness by you include knitting 6,000 hats for the homeless and blankets for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. This time, your…

Art helps me cope with my SICKLE CELL DISEASE I was diagnosed with sickle cell disease at just three years old, and spent much of my childhood in hospital. My first memory is being transferred from a cot to a bed. I would spend two weeks in hospital and two weeks at home. I became close to the staff at hospital because I saw them as much as I did my own family. But my education suffered because of it. As an adult, I started to experience complications because of my sickle cell. I’ve had my gallbladder and spleen removed, pneumonia, necrosis of the left hip, and kidney disease. I’ve needed excess iron removed from my body every night, after years of receiving blood transfusions to stabilise my condition. It’s…

Kitty breathed softly on the glass and with her finger made a little circle in the thick ice coating the window pane. She peered out at a London turned to a frozen wasteland. The city was grey-white. It was as if some giant had sugar-frosted the streets and buildings. People shuffled along slowly and carefully as a glassy sheen made the roads and pavements treacherous. The year, 1739, had been the coldest winter in living memory. The whole of Britain was locked in weather so bitter that around the coastline even the sea had become glacial. She walked back into the shabby room. The chamber was without any form of heat, and the temperature was barely above that outside. She shivered as her breath showed smoky on the air. Her…

1 Play with pattern Create a feature wall using a bold wallpaper to incorporate the colour. Look for prints that use tonal shades of green and deep blue, to introduce contrast to your palette. A fern-like, tropical pattern would suit a modern setting, but consider styles with a lighter background if the rest of the room is painted white. Cole & Son Palm Jungle wallpaper, £122 per roll, wallpaper-uk.com 2 Try a tonal palette Start with your primary green colour, then add in darker tones and paler greens to build your palette. The result is a soothing scheme that softens the brighter colours enough to be bedroom-appropriate. Incorporate a little pattern and texture too, to create interest. For similar bedding, try Dunelm. 3 Balance brights Pair light and dark shades…

Wordwise You have 15 minutes to find as many words as possible using the letters in the grid. Each word must contain four or more letters, one of which must be the central square. No proper nouns, plurals or foreign words are allowed. There is one nine-letter word in the grid, for which the clue is: Devise. Average = 25 More than 45 = well done SUDOKU To solve this puzzle, fill in the grid so that each 3 x 3 box, each row and each column contains the numbers 1-9. LINKWORDS Fit 10 words into the grid so that each links with the end of the word on its left and the beginning of the one on the right. Then unscramble the letters in the shaded squares to make…

Letter of the week WASTE NOT, WANT NOT I read your article regarding food waste [6 September 2022 issue]. I bought a soup maker recommended by my daughter-in-law and it’s the best kitchen appliance I have. I save every scrap of food – cooked or raw – to go into the freezer in Tupperware until I have enough leftovers to make a soup. We have had the most delicious varieties, with herbs, spices and stock cubes added for flavour. And I love Jamie Oliver’s tip to add a handful of uncooked rice to give it a restaurant ‘silky’ texture. It’s saved me a fortune and it takes about 20 minutes to make. No more waste in our kitchen! Marilyn Warren, Heywood Look what I made I believe it was in…

Get feeding During the coldest months, when days are short, birds start looking for food at the crack of dawn, as they use their reserves to stay warm at night. Putting food out for them can be a real lifeline: you can attract all sorts of native species, such as tits, nuthatches and woodpeckers, all of which are expert at clinging to bird feeders. Others, such as robins, blackbirds, dunnocks and wrens, are natural ground feeders. The wider the menu and more varied your feeders, the more species of birds you’ll find in your garden. Choose food wisely Nutritious winter fuel can be provided by mealworms, suet balls, niger seeds for siskins and finches, crushed, unsalted peanuts, calorific seeds, and sliced apples and pears. Be very careful to avoid kitchen…

1 TRUE BLUE Style this timeless coat with a colourful scarf. This easy-to-wear shade contrasts well with everything from pastels to jewel tones. Coat, £49, sizes 6-22, F&F Clothing at Tesco 2 STARS ‘N’ STRIPES Updating stripes with colourful stars adds joy to warm knits. Push up the sleeves and throw on over jeans and ankle boots. Jumper, £17.50, sizes 6-22, F&F Clothing at Tesco 3 TANK TIME With so many ways to wear it, you’ll be amazed you didn’t revive yours sooner – over a cotton shirt, a patterned chiffon blouse, a long-sleeved dress or on its own. Tank top, £22, sizes 8-24, Tu Clothing at Sainsbury’s 4 CRISP WHITES Freshen up any look with these trainers. The suede star adds a playful touch without…

STICKY BANOFFEE PUDDING A low-fat banana bread and sticky toffee pudding hybrid, to serve as an afternoon tea cake or comforting winter pud. SERVES 6 PREP 15 MINS COOK 25 MINS ✣ 150g pitted dates ✣ 1tsp bicarbonate of soda ✣ 3 eggs ✣ 1½tbsp black treacle ✣ 50g low-fat spread, melted ✣ 2 large very ripe bananas, mashed, plus 1 whole one, to decorate ✣ 1½tsp vanilla extract ✣ 180g self-raising flour ✣ 1tbsp mixed spice ✣ 1tsp baking powder ✣ Reduced-fat ice cream, to serveFor the toffee sauce: ✣ 40g caster sugar ✣ 170g tin light evaporated milk ✣ 1tsp cornflour ✣ 1tsp vanilla extractYou will need: ✣ 1.5-2ltr ovenproof dish 1 Put the dates and bicarb of soda in a bowl, cover with boiling water and soak…

Advice from our Woman’s Weekly doctor The gallbladder is a small, pouch-like organ below the liver that collects digestive bile to release into the gut to aid food digestion. Gallstones, usually made of cholesterol, are very common, affecting one in 10 UK adults. Acute calculous cholecystitis is gallbladder inflammation, which occurs when a gallstone or biliary sludge (a mixture of bile, cholesterol and salt crystals) obstructs the gallbladder neck, and can have serious complications. The blockage in the cystic duct causes bile to build up in the gallbladder, increasing pressure inside it, causing inflammation, which can then become infected. Even more serious is acalculous cholecystitis, which is inflammation without gallstones, which occurs in about 5-14% of cases. The exact cause is unknown but may be related to bile thickening due…

As Carol stared at the sign Interview in Progress, the door swung open and a smartly dressed man walked out. ‘Thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch,’ a faceless voice called after him. Carol pressed her palms against her trousers, blotting clamminess. This was about to be her first interview in 10 years. And the process seemed to have changed a lot in that time. It had taken Carol the best part of a day just to fill in the online application form and write a covering letter. And that was before she’d had to type in answers to 12 questions, detailing how her experience met the role’s criteria. Trying to get a job, she thought, was a full-time job in itself. So when Carol had finally received…

FILL ME IN Ring-shaped stiff bracelets – or 80s’ Manic Monday girl band. Solve the puzzle by following the arrows and writing in your answers. Then read down the letters in the yellow squares to find the answer. Circle Time All animals that have got whiskers have an even number of them – except one. Which animal is it? Fit the words below into the grid on the left, then read down the letters in the shaded circles for the answer. 3 LETTERS WAS 4 LETTERS FLOPMOLERAGESPAMSTEPTUBE 5 LETTERS CHEAPLEAPTMACAWMERCYMOTIFPREENTOOTH 6 LETTERS PLACIDTUTORS 7 LETTERS HAMPERS 8 LETTERS ANTEATERBROWN RATMONGOOSEREINDEER SPIRAL XWORD Chocolate comes from the Theobroma cacao tree. What does Theobroma mean? The answer to each clue (apart from the first) begins with the last letter of the preceding…

SATAY CHICKEN SKEWERS Rich and peanutty in flavour, this satay marinade is a perfect match for succulent chicken-breast pieces. SERVES 4PREP 15 MINS,PLUS MARINATINGCOOK 10 MINS ✣ 3 chicken breasts, chopped into 3cm cubes For the marinade: ✣ 200ml tinned coconut milk ✣ 1 plump garlic clove, finely chopped ✣ 2tsp freshly grated ginger ✣ 2tbsp soy sauce ✣ 1 heaped tbsp peanut butter ✣ 1tbsp maple syrup ✣ 1tbsp mild curry powder ✣ 1tbsp fish sauce You will need: ✣ 8 metal skewers ✣ Meat thermometer 1 Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Toss in the chopped chicken and stir to coat well. Leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hrs. 2 Heat the air-fryer to 190C or the oven to 180C Fan/Gas…

SNOWDROP POTS These pale beauties will be opening their pearly petals around now. Often used to create gentle drifts under trees and shrubs or in lawns, snowdrops (Galanthus) are just as fetching in a container, which means you can admire their markings up close. For a stylish pairing, grow honey-scented ‘S. Arnott’ alongside plum-coloured Bergenia ‘Bressingham Ruby’, or a burgundy hellebore, such as ‘Harvington Red’. CITRUS CARE Here’s how to make sure lemons, limes and other citrus plants look zesty over winter. ✣ Keep them in a cool, well-lit place, with an even temperature (not below 10°C). ✣ Give them a good soak every three to four weeks, and a winter citrus feed. Raise humidity by misting, or place the pot on a saucer of wet gravel. ✣ Tackle pests…

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer (£18.99, HB, Headline) It’s 1834 and in Barbados, slavery has been abolished, but what does that really mean when former slaves are still required to work for another six years for free? In an act of resistance, Rachel goes on a heartbreaking and hopeful journey through the Caribbean and South America in search of the five children – now adults – who were taken from her during slavery. Powerful, moving and lyrical, it’s a compelling novel from a debut author who’s one to watch. Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood (£14.99, HB, Michael Joseph) If you’ve ever felt like it’s all too much and wondered how much more you can take, you might empathise with Grace, who on a bad day decides she’s…