Table of contents for TAK2547 in Take 5

When our Acting Deputy Editor, Tash and Acting Features Editor, Theo discovered they shared the same birthday, it was a cause for celebration! They ask me to read their Sagittarius stars each week and love that they share the same star sign. They also plan a team outing for their joint birthday. For Features Writer, Matilda and me, sharing a birthday is standard, as we’re both twins. We don’t know anything other than shared cards, presents and birthday wishes. If someone gives us individual greetings, they get brownie points! But still, there’s something special about siblings who share a womb and their childhood. Reading Ashley’s story on page 8, who had quintuplets after already having two kids, I imagine they’re going to learn to share! Still, they’ll have the magic…

Hearing my phone beep beside me, I blinked open my eyes and reached out for it. I just wanted to say goodnight. I can’t stop thinking about you, my partner Andy, 59, had written. A huge grin spread across my face. It was early 2020, and we’d met online a couple of months earlier. I hadn’t been sure I was ready for new love – my partner had died of cancer a year before, and I was still reeling from grief. But Andy changed everything. He was kind, patient and understanding – the first person who truly listened. By the end of that year, we’d moved in together. Then, on Christmas Day, Andy presented me with a sparkling engagement ring. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered, as he slid it onto my…

Biscoff celebration cake SERVES 6-8 PREP 45 MINS 2 x 250g packets Buttercream Icing Mix Vanilla Flavour ¼ cup Smooth Biscoff spread, warmed 16 Biscoff biscuits 2 x 600g caramel mud cakes 20g packet giant chocolate stars 1 Make icing according to packet instructions and stir in spread until well combined. Place one third of the icing into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and set aside. 2 Crush 8 biscuits using a rolling pin or mini processor until fine and sandy. 3 Sandwich mud cakes icing sides together and place on serving plate. Coat the entire cake with icing and smooth using a spatula, making sure to fill the gap where the cakes meet. Press the crushed biscuits along the bottom edge all the way around the cake.…

EDITORIAL Editorial Director Kate Kirsten, Acting Editor Kim Bonett, Acting Deputy Editor Natasha Todd, Art Director Ninian Power, Picture Editor Vanessa Mckenzie ARE MEDIA Chief Executive Officer Jane Huxley, Director of Sales Anna Quinn, Director of Content Sally Eagle, General Manager Entertainment Susan Armstrong, Commercial Brand Manager Jessica Ashworth, Director of Marketing Carly Bowra Subscription enquiries: Customer Service 136 116 (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST) International +61 2 9692 3535 Email magshop@magshop.com.au Website www.magshop.com.au Advertising enquiries: advertising@aremedia.com.au Published by Are Media Pty Limited (ABN 18 053 273 546), 54-58 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. ©2024. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without prior written permission. Take5 is a registered trade mark of Are Media. Use of trademark strictly prohibited. Licensing Inquiries: www.contentshop.com.au /…

The crash of the ocean boomed from our lounge room TV. “Another sailing family?” I laughed, peering in to see my hubby, Bowen, 40, glued to the telly. Bowen had grown up sailing with his family and he loved watching YouTube videos of families who lived on boats. Raised inland, I didn’t share his passion for the water, but after we welcomed our son, Kota, three, and daughter, Harlow, one, beach getaways became a favourite pastime. But day trips weren’t enough for Bowen. “Let’s go and sail the world,” he said in 2019. We didn’t even own a boat. “Are you crazy?” I replied. “Absolutely not!” I couldn’t imagine living in a tiny vessel and I was scared of the open water. But for the next year, Bowen continued to…

Placing a bowl of kibble and another of water on the kitchen floor, I smiled at my six-year-old rescue dog, Winnie. “That should keep you going until we get back,” I said, watching her tail wag furiously as she dived nose-first into her food. It was a sparkling August afternoon in 2024 – the kind where the sunlight dances off every surface, yet the air stays crisp and cool. Perfect weather for a bike ride. I’d always loved cycling, and since meeting my partner Joel, 64, it had become our shared obsession. There was something freeing about gliding along country roads, the wind tugging playfully at our hair. Around lunchtime, we decided to stop for a bite at a busy local restaurant. “I’ll grab us a table,” Joel said, heading…

Going on holiday and trying to avoid the dreaded overpack? The trick is to create a capsule wardrobe, featuring pieces that all work together – so you have fewer items, but more looks. So how do you do this? Choose three tops, three bottoms and three pairs of shoes that complement each other. Keep your colour palette neutral for ease; or if you want colour, make sure all the shades work together. This gives you at least 27 possible outfit options (more if you get really creative!). 3 BOTTOMS Lightweight and versatile Wear as a bandeau dress – just add a belt to cinch the waist! 3 TOPS Sneakers $20 Kmart Wear tucked, loose, or unbuttoned over another top for more outfit options. 3 SHOES For a casual but smart…

On the evening of November 12, 2017, emergency services in Gympie, Qld, received a frantic call. A terrible accident had occurred on a quiet property outside town, the caller said, a man had been pulled into a woodchipper. When paramedics and police arrived, the scene was horrific. Bruce Saunders, 54, a cheerful butcher from Nambour, Qld, was dead. His body had been shredded down to his thighs in the woodchipper he’d been helping to operate. The ends of his legs were still protruding. Two of his mates, Gregory Roser, and Peter Koenig, were there, visibly shaken, claiming the tragedy had unfolded while the trio were clearing a friend’s property of trees. At first, police recorded the death as a freak accident. Next day, at a press conference, acting inspector Paul…

Prosciutto wrapped asparagus and haloumi bundles SERVES 4 (MAKES 8) PREP 25 MINS COOK 15 MINS ½ cup extra virgin olive oil 100g sourdough bread, torn into small pieces 12 slices (200g) prosciutto 8 fresh sage leaves, plus extra fried leaves to serve 225g haloumi, cut into 8 long slices 2 bunches (16) asparagus, trimmed, halved widthways 1 Heat ¼ cup oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add bread pieces. Cook, tossing for 5 mins or until golden. Set aside to cool. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the same pan. Cook 4 prosciutto slices for 2 mins each side or until crisp. Set aside to cool. 2 Place bread pieces and prosciutto in a food processor and process until a fine crumb. Set aside. 3 Place a…

Sitting beside me in the speedboat, my nine-year-old daughter, Han Dong, gripped my hand. “It’s scary, Mum,” she whispered, as the boat did a 360-degree turn. After a few more spins, her fear melted into giggles. “Again, again,” she cheered. It was January 2025, and we had travelled to New Zealand from Shenzhen, China, with my mother, husband, and Han Dong’s older brother. Queenstown was the first stop of the 11-day tour. After the speedboat ride, Han Dong wrote about it in her diary. Today, we rode a shark-shaped boat, she penned. She planned to write down each day’s adventures to submit as holiday homework when she returned to school. Over the next few days, we visited Glenorchy, Walter Peak High Country Farm, and sat beside Lake Tekapo. On day…

My eyes welled up as I read my little sister Gina’s school essay. Asked to write about someone she admired, Gina, 11, had chosen me. She’s always been there for me, she’d written. The youngest of my four siblings, Gina was like my own baby. I was 22 then and had always felt like a second mum to her. When she was 15, I had my son, and two years later, she was a bridesmaid at my wedding. Slim, with long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, Gina was stunning – but her inner beauty shone brighter. She volunteered for a charity supporting children with autism, and later worked with a family whose little boy, Josh, was autistic. “I like helping people,” she told me. I’d worked as a nurse’s…

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23–Dec 22 The last thing you should do now is let your old fears come back and steal your attention. It’s a very good time to seek counselling if you think you need it. Sagittarians are famously happy-go-lucky but even you have stuff that you need to work on. ★ Work through it now! CAPRICORN Dec 23–Jan 20 If you only do one set of New Moon wishes this year, do them this week. It’s your best chance of making a wish that comes true. This goes triple if you’re wishing for something that you wished for before, but it didn’t come true. ★ That was then, this is now. AQUARIUS Jan 21–Feb 19 Your working life looks pretty interesting right now. On the one hand, it’s the…