Pick Me Up! Special October 2021

Step inside for a truly spellbinding and frightfully good read! This October, we’re getting you and your little ones ready for all things autumn and Halloween. With scarily good days out (pg26) and cosy home trends (pg28), we have something for everyone this month. As well as seasonal lifestyle, this month we’re embracing the real you. After years stuck in the wrong body, Joey finally embraced his true identity (pg6). Now, he’s asking for your help to get the gift of a lifetime. Kay was looking forward to her birthday meal out, but a photograph left her mortified (pg42). Determined to make a change, she ditched the takeaways and chocolate covered peanuts and dropped seven whopping dress sizes! Today, she is happier than ever before. After feeling different himself, Luke hoped for a better future for…

Congrats! Dinner in London celebrating my brother’s engagement. Jen, Surrey Bellissimo Whipping up some delicious pizza in the house. Shannon, Norwich What’s Forrest Gump’s password? 1Forrest1. Why can’t you hear a pterodactyl go to the bathroom? Because the ‘P’ is silent. Warm memories Making the most of being able to see friends again. Louise, Bristol What do you call a woman with one leg? Eileen. What a view Taking time to appreciate the beautiful country we live in. Dorothy, Swansea Stepping out Getting out for a walk while the weather is still nice. Jessica, Suffolk Where do you find a cow with no legs? Right where you left it. Dino hunting My son was looking for fossils in Dorset but couldn’t find as many as he wanted so he drew his own dinosaur. Rebecca, Exeter Spirit in the sky Spotted this smiley face out on my walk. Hannah, Sheffield What…

Grabbing my pink My Little Pony pyjamas, I tiptoed to the bathroom, turned on the shower and threw them under the flowing water. I giggled as I hauled the soggy PJs back out onto the floor. ‘Muuum!’ I shouted. ‘My pyjamas are wet.’ There’s no way she’ll make me wear these to bed now. Disgusting girly things! My dad Malcolm, then 33, and my brother Phil, then six, always wore the same PJs. A plain grey top and checked tartan bottoms. And I wanted to be just like them. ‘Not again, Courteney!’ my mum Nicky, then 30, sighed. ‘Can I wear some of Phil’s?’ I asked her. ‘OK,’ Mum said, ruffling my long hair. I was always sabotaging Mum’s attempts to put me in girls’ clothes, even licking the sleeves of my dresses to make them too wet to wear during…

Our little miracle My boyfriend Jack Hay, then 20, was as white as a sheet. ‘What did you say?’ he asked. ‘I’m pregnant,’ I repeated. It was January 2018, and his eyes were like saucers as he tried to take in the news. After all, we’d only been together for a few months. My heart thumped as I waited for his reaction. ‘Wow, that’s amazing!’ he said eventually, hugging me. I was so relieved. Over the next few months, we found a flat together. And as my belly grew, I felt like this baby was meant to be. At our 20-week scan, we found out we were having a girl, and decorated the spare room in grey and pink, stocking it with nappies and sleepsuits. When I finally went into labour, a week overdue, Jack took me to the hospital. In the delivery…

A devoted fan of the Twilight movies, who admitted that she’ll never have the chance to marry the star Robert Pattinson, splashed out $2,000 on a wedding in Las Vegas where she married what instead? The answer to each clue (apart from the first) begins with the last letter of the preceding answer. The shaded squares will spell out the answer. 1 Gateau (4) 2 Business that will sell your house and sell you a new one (6,5) 3 Large hairy spider (9) 4 Female thespian (7) 5 Bird frightener in a field (9) 6 Marine mammal with tusks and a moustache (6) 7 Way to cook an egg leaving the yolk visible (5-4,2) 8 Aeroplane ‘driver’ (5) 9 Hard protective covering at the end of a shoe (6) 10 What ‘%’ sign means (7) 11 Sheet used in the dining…

If you think pineapple on your pizza is an abomination, then what do you make of this? A quirky pizza shop owner reckons banana on pizza could be the next big thing – and says it’s the most popular item on their menu! Amanda Langard, 53, and partner Ken Taylor, 60, run an independent pizza business together and say the most unusual item on their menu – a pizza topped with banana, bacon and BBQ sauce – is a hit with customers. The duo, from St Ives, Cornwall, run their business, Smashed Tomato Pizza, out of a converted horsebox and travel around the area selling various takeaway pizzas. Amanda says despite the shocked faces they often get when people read the menu, their bacon and banana pizza is the most popular item on the…