Chat 12 May 2022

It’s no joke that my friend’s beautiful cocker spaniel Jester loves posing for a pic! Emma Smith, Barton-upon-Humber There’s nothing like a walk in the countryside, especially in the beautiful fields of Hitchin Lavender farm. The smell was incredible! Daniella Barry, Rushden Every week, my friend Cath and I attend a pub quiz and raffle. While we might not always win the quiz, we were more than happy to win some bottles of wine in the raffle! Janet Dandy, Burnley It’s hard to tell the difference between my lionhead rabbit Simba and his cuddly toy lion, with his magnificent mane! Angela Codling, Halifax It’s the mad hatter! My daughter Aliyah, 5, didn’t know which hat to wear, so she decided to wear them all! Gemma Clayton, Nottingham My daughter Erin, 3, is certainly the toddler Bake Off champion with her…

CHARLOTTE MORRIS, 32, FROM SHREWSBURY, SAYS: My daughter Pippa is only 4 but she’s a real community champ. She loves litter-picking in our village and making it tidy. In lockdown, Pippa started noticing all the rubbish on the streets, and said she wanted to do something to stop all the ‘naughty litterbugs’! I asked the council for some litter-picking tools, then took her out around the local area. Now, we try to do it at least once a month and usually collect at least one bin bag full of rubbish. Litter-picking helps Pippa understand how litter affects our wildlife, and gives her a sense of pride. She’s such a kind, caring and funny little girl. People in the community always comment on what a nice and helpful person she is. She does such an important job at such a…

Bev Irving, 48, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Hearing a clatter from the living room, I rolled my eyes. My son Lee, 9, was always karate chopping his way around the house! He was big brother to Joe, then aged 2. His younger brother Owen came in 2006, followed by Charlie in 2008. But Lee felt like the youngest, because he’d been diagnosed with severe speech and learning difficulties. He was sweet and sociable but his school reports called him ‘naive’ and ‘easily influenced’, and he didn’t speak until he was 6. Local kids teased him, not that he realised. It broke my heart. At 16, Lee got a bus pass and started going on his own into Newcastle. ‘I don’t like you going out without me, ’ I said. ‘Don’t worry, Mum, ’ Lee smiled to me. He desperately wanted to be independent…

NUMBER JIG A Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime watch sold at auction in 2019 for how many US dollars, making it the most expensive watch ever? Fit these numbers into the grid. One number doesn’t fit. This is the prize answer. 3 digits 146 270 311 315 362 418 460 644 865 900 4 digits 1235 1704 1730 1870 2496 2651 6100 6172 6986 8294 9008 9070 9307 5 digits 10997 20503 65581 75088 76120 84834 88090 90500 95190 96030 99001 6 digits 334027 389793 606965 7 digits 1325938 5019814 6939264 8 digits 31194370 33758807 49366342 77963605 80923490 WIN £250 Puzzle 1 Your answer: SPIRAL XWORD The majority of instances of what medical condition are classified as ‘inguinal’? The answer to each clue (apart from the first) begins with the last letter of the preceding answer. The shaded squares spell out the prize answer. 1 Scottish instrument (8) 2 Active fox hunt opponent (8) 3 TV show with Zippy (7) 4 Weekday (9) 5 _ Run Free, 1976 Candi Staton hit (5,6) 6 Worzel Gummidge, for example (9) 7 Alert, notify (4) 8 Ball sport played by two teams of seven (7) 9 _ and Hardy,…

Sinking feeling I got frustrated with my towels always falling off the bathroom radiator. Instead, I use a trouser hanger, and hang it over the side of the sink for them to dry. Jen Elvin, Rotherham, South Yorkshire A clean sweep I struggle to lift my heavy bed to dust underneath. Instead, I use a hairdryer to blow the dust out, making it much easier to clean up. Debbie Bradley, Coventry, West Midlands On a roll Having arthritis in my fingers makes it tricky to squeeze tubes. Instead, I use a rolling pin – it’s so much easier than struggling with my hands. Audrey Tough, Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire Wallpaper wonder No matter what colour I painted my bathroom door, I just didn’t like it. So, I decided to wallpaper it instead, and now it’s chic and easy to update if I…

Ainise Carabula, 37, Dunfermline As a warm breeze blew, I felt the sand between my toes and looked out at the glistening sea. There’s a reason they call this paradise, I thought. But as lovely as the view was, there was one that was even more gorgeous. My new hubby Aisea. It was December 2009 and we’d just said our vows on a Fijian beach. I’d moved there to study a year earlier. Met Aisea, then 34, and we’d fallen in love. A soldier in the British Army, he was tall, handsome, and he made me laugh. He wooed me with dates sipping cocktails at beach bars. There was no better place to be swept off my feet. But Fiji wouldn’t be home for long. Aisea was being stationed back to a base in Scotland, so that was where we’d…