Innholdsfortegnelse for 28-Feb-2023 i Woman's Weekly

Leaping into the dark My mum was just of the age to benefit from the new labour-saving devices that transformed the lives of homemakers after World War Two. Suddenly it was easier to run a home and raise a family, while working – at least part-time. She’d always been fascinated by curios, so when my brother and I were older, she bravely took a lease on an empty shop near us and started selling antiques and knick-knacks, having successes and failures along the way but learning as she went. It gave her huge pleasure, plus welcome extra income, and enriched her life. So it’s never too late to try something new – see page 20. 3 of the best... walking boots AN ALL-ROUNDER Stable enough to hike in, agile enough…

REBECCA BORMAN, 37 Tell us about your look My blue coat is M&S, over a top from Piglet in Bed (they do great sleepwear and loungewear), teamed with a pair of Lululemon leggings and boots from Italy. I love clothes that are comfy and make you happy. I also love colour. It helps brighten your day! What’s your favourite thing about yourself? My positive attitude. SUE ROSS, 60 Tell us about your look I’ve gone for layers today, with a chunky silk-mix sweater and cashmere poncho, both from The White Company. Underneath, I’m wearing a thermal vest from Gen2Sports to make sure I stay cosy. My jeggings are M&S, with comfy boots by FitFlop. I bought the leopard-print gloves locally and my green bag is by Volker Lang – it’s…

THE WIDE LEG Embrace the return of looser jeans that flare from the mid or top of the thigh. This relaxed style skims over lumps and bumps, creating a flattering silhouette if you tend to carry weight on the lower half of your body. THE CLASSIC STRAIGHT A laid-back wardrobe staple that’s simple and fuss free – opt for mid- or high-waist designs with a slim fit on the leg. This shape is a great option if you want a slightly roomier style than skinny jeans. THE CROPPED CUT A versatile style that works all year round, cropped jeans should sit above the ankle bone and show off the slimmest part of your leg. Perfect for petites and they go with every kind of shoe, from ankle boots to sandals.…

Cousins are a bad influence Q My daughter and son are very friendly with their cousins, my sister’s children. My daughter told me about some of the things they’ve been doing – some of which are verging on illegal and are just not good for them. I broached this with my sister and she told me she trusted her children and didn’t want to hear any more about it. I want my children to be safe and sensible. Name and address withheld A You have given your sister the information and it’s up to her to manage her children in the way she wants. What she does shouldn’t affect what you do. Rightly, as a parent, you want to keep your children safe and teach them to behave appropriately. They…

ARIES 21 Mar – 20 Apr Your home and family may take priority right now. You might be sorting and decluttering to make space. TAURUS 21 Apr – 21May Give yourself time to relax. Sometimes you are on the go from morning till night. You need breathing time too! GEMINI 22 May – 21Jun You may be learning something new, either in your work or in your leisure time. It might be challenging at first, but it will be worth it. CANCER 22 Jun – 23 Jul This week, be prepared to see your world from a fresh perspective. Do something differently and you’ll feel more alive. LEO 24 Jul – 23 Aug You may be looking for more meaning in all life areas. It’s time for some deep thinking…

It’s crazy to think I’ve been on This Morning for 34 years, since the very first day it started. The producers were looking for a doctor to become a regular part of the show, and I happened to be Richard and Judy’s GP, and of course they presented it back then. They suggested me, I met with a producer and, before I knew it, I was on national TV! I continued working as a full-time GP but I took one morning off every week to do my slot, and my patients loved it. I used to have a lot of university students coming in for appointments, who would do a double take when they saw me. ‘This Morning has helped a lot of people’ I’ve always been very passionate when…

‘I took a chance on myself, and I’m so pleased I did’ Amanda Wheal, 59, lives in Essex. ‘Congratulations!’ I wrote, under the social media post. It was August 2021, and James and Paige, former pupils of mine, had announced their engagement on Instagram. When they got in touch a few weeks later to ask me to marry them, it was the icing on the cake. I’d spent over 30 years as a secondary school teacher and loved my job. But in 2018, when I wondered if there were new things I could try in life, I told my brother Roger, then 65, I was thinking of a change. He was my confidant and an inspiration – and had worked all over the world as an architectural designer. ‘Life is…

How to help with his ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the inability to maintain or sustain an erection, and it’s very common. At some stage, most men will face a degree of erectile difficulties or sexual dysfunction, especially as they age. About 50% experience it at 50 years old, and 70-80% by the 70s and 80s. As men get older their testosterone levels fall, and they may develop furring of the arteries that supply the penis, as with the heart. He’s also more likely to have other diseases like diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension, which can affect the penis. It’s important to see a GP about what’s going on because ED may be a barometer of his general health. It may be an early warning sign of other problems…

1 Style your storage Sometimes a subtle nod to colour is all you need to lift your space. Shelves crave creativity, so add character with a border. A length of ribbon in a delicate ticking stripe highlights the colourful ceramics on display. Splash ceramics, from a selection, silviakceramics.co.uk; handmade stoneware butter dish, £34, rowenand wren.co.uk; Broadfield glass dome, £54, Bowsley platter, £24, both Neptune; linen tea towel in Rose, £14, thelinenworks.co.uk; for similar vintage cutlery and raffia place mats, try Etsy 2 The perfect palette The vibrant schemes on these pages work by using three colours that are evenly spaced on the colour wheel. It’s a muted primary palette, using pinks, yellows and blues to create a cohesive look. Fancy trying it in your own home? Here are our favourite…

Difficulty level YOU WILL NEED (To make five pads and the drawstring bag) ✣ Patterned cotton fabric ✣ Towelling fabric ✣70cm of 10mm-wide ribbon ✣ Safety pin ✣ Matching sewing thread ✣Rotary cutter and cutting mat STOCKISTS Bramble Citrus Grove Mint cotton fabric, £15.50 per m, sewhot.co.uk. Stof France bamboo polyester towelling in Aqua, £17.99 per m, minerva.com 1 From the patterned fabric, cut two 14 x 24cm pieces and five 10cm squares, and from the towelling, cut five 10cm squares using the rotary cutter and cutting mat. 2 Pin a towelling and a patterned square together, with right sides facing. Sew nearly all the way around the sides with a 1cm seam allowance, leaving a 3cm gap for turning on one side. 3 Turn the make-up pad right sides…

Difficulty level MEASUREMENTS To fit ages 3-4 (4-5) (5-6) years. Actual chest measurements 61 (65) (69) cm/24 (25½) (27¼) in. Side seam 20 (21.5) (23) cm/8 (8½) (9) in. Sleeve seam 24 (26) (28.5) cm/9½ (10¼) (11¼) in. MATERIALS 2 (3) (3) 100g (210m) balls of Emu Classic Aran (100% acrylic) in Blue (Peacock 138) and 1 ball in each of Orange (Pumpkin 115) and Grey (Fog 121)*. Size 3.75mm (No. 9) and 4.5mm (No. 7) needles; spare needle; stitch holders; 5 buttons. Yarn is available from theknittingnetwork.co.uk TENSION 19 stitches and 26 rows, to 10 x 10cm, over stocking stitch, using 4.5mm needles. ABBREVIATIONS St(s), stitch(es); k, knit; p, purl; ss, stocking stitch (k on right side and p on wrong side); alt, alternate; beg, beginning; cont, continue; dec,…

Rosemary Mr Dear needed clarification. ‘Tell me again – what does he look like?’ I was telling him about David, the new volunteer at our charity shop, immediately nicknamed Captain Birdseye by his new colleagues. We’re kind like that. If he stopped shaving for a couple of days, he could pass as Uncle Albert from Only Fools And Horses. ‘Neat white hair,’ I said. ‘White beard, tall. Slight Scottish accent. And quite striking blue eyes.’ Mr D drew himself up to his full height, or as close as you can get while sitting at the kitchen table. For extra impact, he stared over the top of his glasses. ‘I am not in the habit,’ he said, ‘of looking into the eyes of other men. Especially if we haven’t been introduced.’…

Letter of the week SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL I was reading the 10 January issue of your magazine on a recent train journey up to London with my husband. The petite police station [in Trafalgar Square] caught my eye and we decided to go and find it. So here I am! I’ve been reading Woman’s Weekly for years, and my earliest memory of it is my mum buying it for the price of 4d. Grace Cole, Polegate Look what I made This is what I’ve made recently for my great-granddaughter Ava, who is eight. I traced some of her many drawings that she’s done over the years, then made patterns from the drawings to make this cover for her. The pictures of the woman with glasses and spiky hair is how…

DRINK UP Loading the décolletage with moisture goes a long way in plumping out wrinkles and smoothing the look of crêpey skin. Planet Spa Heavenly Hydration Uplifting Neck & Chest Serum, £4, avonuk.com, is enriched with olive oil to help. FAST RESULTS The neck and chest can be a problem if you’ve lost weight – yo-yo dieting weakens the skin’s elasticity. Prai Ageless Throat & Decolletage Creme, £26.99, Boots, contains hyaluronic acid and squalane to tighten, plump and smooth crêpiness, with results in a week. AVOID TECH NECK Staring down at your phone may cause premature creases and folds on the neck. StriVectin TL Advanced™ Tightening Neck Cream Plus, from £49, Boots, will tighten skin, smooth lines and even out skin tone. SHAPE UP Vichy Neovadiol Phytosculpt Neck & Face…

MALTESER SHORTBREAD These tasty treats add a lovely malty flavour and a chocolatey sweetness. Try not to eat them before you bake! SERVES 8-10 PREP 15 MINS COOK 20-25 MINS ✣ 100g salted butter ✣ 50g golden caster sugar, plug 1tsp extra for sprinkling ✣ 150g plain flour ✣ 100g Maltesers, chopped For the topping: ✣ 25g dark chocolate, melted You will need: ✣ 20cm square loose-bottomed tin, greased 1 Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the flour and Maltesers, then mix until everything starts to clump together. Press this into the tin and smooth the top, using the back of a spoon. Prick all over with a fork and sprinkle with the extra sugar. 2 Heat the oven to 170C Fan/Gas 5 and…

Advice from our Woman’s Weekly doctor Reducing dietary FODMAPs A diet low in fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs) may be better than treatment with antispasmodics in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), according to a small randomised trial in primary care. After eight weeks, the majority of those allocated to a smartphone FODMAP-lowering diet app reported symptomatic improvement compared with those taking antispasmodics. THYMUS GLAND REMOVAL A retrospective study* of people with myasthenia gravis, sometimes a difficult-to-treat condition, compared 139 patients treated surgically by removal of the thymus gland, with age- and sex-matched controls managed with medication. Remission rates were higher in those treated with thymectomy (58% vs 25%). The best outcomes were in those who had a thymectomy early but, even for those having late thymectomy, remission…

Well spread Filling a garden with scent and colour can be as cheap as chips. Ways to save include growing self-seeders, such as calendula, which generously spread themselves around and pop up each year without any effort on your part. You can also cultivate annuals from seed, and use division and layering to increase your stock of perennials, shrubs and climbers. All you need is a little patience and – ta-da! – floral abundance sorted. Sow capsules of colour Growing annual seeds is a purse-friendly option for ramping up summer colour. It’s quick too, with some plants flowering just eight weeks after sowing. March to May are the key months to sow hardy annuals, such as candytuft, and half-hardy annuals like cosmos. If the soil is warm enough – a…

Fear and Lovely by Anjana Appachana (£19.99, HB, Verve) Growing up in New Delhi, shy and reserved Mallika has learnt to conceal her family’s secrets. After suffering a physical trauma at 19, resulting in a brief attack of amnesia, her family tells their community she has tuberculosis rather than a mental illness. As Mallika gradually recuperates, she begins to realise that everyone she knows is also struggling to hide their own personal heartaches and truths, in an attempt to conform to cultural stereotypes. Tender and poignant. Other Women by Emma Flint (£16.99, HB, Pan Macmillan) Like most women he meets, Bea Cade can’t resist the charms of Tom Ryan. Any time the attractive and enigmatic salesman visits the offices where Bea works she goes weak at the knees – despite…