Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i Choice

The Lone Ranger never had this much trouble. Everyone on the range accepted his mask without protest. The question: “Who’s that man in the mask, pa?” often ended an episode and there was always admiration for the masked man. It wasn’t like that in the shop of my local M&S petrol station the other day. I was wearing my mask in the queue to pay while it was still mandatory. Admittedly, I hadn’t rescued anyone or defeated an outlaw, just filled up my car. I wasn’t astride a big white horse. I wasn’t seeking admiration but I didn’t expect to be subjected to snarling abuse because of my mask. I was in the till line behind a woman in her 60s who was not wearing a mask. As she half…

Thoughts of Spring Sunshine, showers,Brightly coloured flowersThe glories of Spring aboundThe days brightenOur mood lightensNew life is all around. Warm rays, sunny daysNature comes aliveBuds become flowers of varying huesPinks, yellows, reds and bluesShowers of blossom cascade like snowRevealing the fruit buds ready to grow. Morning dew, birds twitteringNests building, cobwebs glisteningLambs skip, calves runFluffy chicks enjoy the sun.Sun and showers play their partTo produce Spring’s creative artNew life has now begun. Margaret Milne, Scottish Borders The King of Springsong When lustrous opal dawn seeps across the sky,The vibrant blackbird’s song on wings comes floating by.Who taught you dear blackbird, so beautifully to singFrom polished gilded beak, the sweetest song of Spring?Above the daffodils swaying with purest sheen of gold,You take up the gentle rhythm untaught and yet so bold;With…

Start with glowy skin One thing that ages us most is dry, dull-looking skin, so the first step is to make sure you exfoliate regularly to remove dead cells that stop foundation ‘sitting’ evenly on skin. I love Aldi’s new Papaya Enzyme Face Scrub (£4.99) that dissolves dry flaky skin, leaving it dewy and fresh. Then, think about enhancing your complexion rather than layering on colour by using a light, breathable foundation such as Oxygenetix Oxygenating Foundation, that’s super-light but gives brilliant coverage and should last a good three months (£45, dermacaredirect.co.uk). Use a blender to apply it rather than your fingers; try Rawr Beauty Blender (£3, rawrbeauty.co.uk), which is easy to use. Looking peachy Use a big brush to apply a skinwarming bronzing powder, sweeping over nose, cheeks and…

THE GOVERNMENT has finally decided to help us with our energy bills, announcing a ‘rebate’ of £200 per household. Simultaneously, it was announced that the energy price ‘cap’ would rise by 54 per cent, meaning bills of an estimated extra £700 a year for a typical household on a standard variable tariff. The £200 is just a ‘loan’ - we’ll pay back £40 a year for five years, added to our bills from next April. Households in Council Tax bands A to D will get an additional £150, which will not have to be repaid. Every little bit helps, but unless wholesale energy prices come back down (which is thought unlikely) it is just a ‘sticking plaster’. The price cap is due to be reviewed in October and experts are…

Can you explain the impact of Universal Credit on benefits for my disabled son? Q My son is 50 and lives at home with my wife and me. He has a learning disability, but currently works 16 hours a week as a cleaner. He receives £47.40 a week lower level of Disability Living Allowance (DLA). This is being replaced by Personal Independence Payment (PIP). In due course my son will be reassessed. I understand that both DLA and its successor PIP will remain outside the scope of Universal Credit so that the amount my son gets will not be affected by the level of his income or capital/savings, though the weekly amount he receives may be adversely affected following reassessment. He also gets Working Tax Credit (WTC), including a disability…

Scot, Sir Alexander Fleming was born in Ayrshire in 1881 and moved to London to study at a polytechnic before working for four years in a shipping office. He then entered London University’s St Mary’s Medical School, qualifying as a doctor in 1906 with distinction. He began research at St Mary’s into vaccine therapy and after gaining a higher degree became a lecturer there until war intervened in 1914. Serving as a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps throughout the war he was mentioned in despatches, returning to St Mary’s at the end of hostilities and resumed his research and lecturing role. As well as his discovery of penicillin, in 1928 he was also appointed Professor of Bacteriology. He was elected to the Royal Society in 1943 and knighted…

Supplies: ■ Half-metre of outer fabric ■ Half-metre of lining fabric ■ Half-metre of medium weight fusible interfacing ■ Basic sewing kit To create: 1 Cut: ■ 2 squares of outer fabric 13in x 13in ■ 2 squares of lining fabric 13in x 13in ■ 2 squares of interfacing 13in x 13in Adhere the interfacing to the wrong side of the outer fabric panels 2 Cut a 3in square from each of the bottom corners on both of the outer fabric panels 3 Place the two outer panels right sides together and, using a ½in seam allowance, stitch down both sides and across the bottom. Leave the corners unstitched 4 Bring the side and bottom seams together at the corner and stitch across to close 5 Repeat on the other…

THE WONDERFUL world of wine has kept me fascinated for almost 50 years now. There is very little that disappoints me about it but there is one aspect that often brings me close to tears. It is when a friend or acquaintance rummages around in the depths of a cupboard under the stairs and brings out a dusty forgotten bottle of wine and asks the immortal question: Is this worth anything? My heart sinks, even before I have seen the wine, which they stand lovingly cradling in their hands like a foundling. Often, these bottles have been gifts which have been squirreled away to await the arrival of a ‘special occasion’ – now long-forgotten – only to come to light, long past the wine’s perfect drink-by date. And this makeshift…

Elvis Presley Essentials Apple Music, 52 songs, 2 hrs 17 mins Visiting the tiny wooden shack in Tupelo, Mississippi where Elvis grew up makes it easy to understand why, despite all the talent and success, he was a rather complicated and insecure character. Like many people who began in poverty and hunger, Elvis wasn’t ever going back. So, he was easily led into putting the music behind commercial considerations and eating above his health. Despite that, his voice and the brilliant production of his records and live shows soared well above all the deals his manager did with Hollywood and Las Vegas hotels. Sadly, it couldn’t overcome the deep-fried banana and strawberry jam sandwiches. This collection showcases the voice and emotion Elvis put into his work, whether it was rock,…

HARDBACK BOOK OF THE MONTH A Loyal Traitor by Tim Glister Published by Point Blank Price £14.99 Pages 304 ISBN 9780861541669 This intelligent, involving and gripping espionage thriller takes the reader into the Sixties, when the Cold War was at its height and spy-masters were getting ever more paranoid. Plots and counterplots abound, allies are behaving like enemies, and MI5 agent Robert Knox is on the verge of bowing out. At which point he comes face to face with an old friend whom he’d believed long dead. He is faced with a decision: who to believe and who to betray. The settings, in London, Moscow and a secret United States outpost, feel real and the jigsaw pieces of the complex plot are pictureperfect. Hardbacks HISTORICAL FICTION The Silver Wolf by…

AFTER ANOTHER successful year with a welcome return to live auctions – and setting a raft of auction world records – the Bonhams global motor car department is gearing up for a busy 2022. Two new major European sales, in Switzerland and Italy, are being added to this year’s sales calendar. The Gstaad Sale of collectors’ cars will take place in the Swiss Alpine resort on July 3, in partnership with the Gstaad Palace Hotel. The luxury hotel joins an array of prestigious locations and world-class events staging highly curated Bonhams auctions this year, including Monaco, Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival, the Zoute Grand Prix and Monterey Car Week. Several celebrity-owned vehicles featured in Bonhams sales in 2021: ■ The four-vehicle Tom Hanks Collection (Choice, October) – led by…

FROM TOWER makeovers to brand-new climbing walls, newly refurbished hotels to ecofriendly outdoor experiences – the Cotswolds has lots of exciting developments for 2022. Spring will see the unveiling of newly transformed Kelmscott Manor – the summer home of the father of the Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris. The makeover includes improved facilities, vital conservation work and a reinterpretation of the house and wider estate. Broadway Tower has undergone a restoration both inside – taking the building back to the days of its Georgian design and furnishings – and outside to preserve and protect its distinctive features for the future. With the introduction of anew audio tour and multi-media guide, visitors can fully immerse themselves in the fascinating story of the tower. If you’re looking for a place to…

IT WAS in 1963, on her first day at The Royal College of Music, that Fran Mungovin fell down a flight of stairs, the start of decades of spinal problems. These problems were later exacerbated throughout Fran’s nursing career due to the constant lifting of patients that her work involved. Eventually, Fran’s back pain was diagnosed as spinal arthrosis, a condition where the cartilage between the spinal facets is worn down, causing them to rub against each other and damage the surrounding bone and tissue. This can be a very painful, debilitating condition, and in Fran’s case, she was experiencing the onset of arthrosis in six vertebrae. At her worst, Fran, who turns 76 this month, was undergoing frequent emergency hospital admissions due to spinal spasms. She was also on…

LIKE MANY people suffering from indigestion, when 61-year-old Wendy Hayes started to experience regular discomfort after eating she treated it with time-honoured methods – first mints, and, when that failed to work, over-the-counter antacid drugs. Wendy, a retired retail manager from Fareham in Hampshire, also avoided spicy food, ate smaller portions, slowly, and cut back on caffeine. But several weeks later what started as something that occurred after meals began to disrupt her sleep regularly at night. “It got to the stage that it was there constantly and it meant I didn’t feel like eating anything, and I would wake several times in the night,” recalls Wendy. “I never really thought that I had anything serious wrong with me but did feel very uncomfortable.” It was November 2019 when she…

THERE ARE only a few weeks left in which to take full advantage of the tax reliefs and allowances for this tax year, so now’s the time to review your finances to ensure you don’t miss the opportunities. Isas Individual Savings Accounts (Isas) were introduced by the then Chancellor Gordon Brown back in 1999, when you could invest up to £7000 a year tax-free, £3000 of which could be in cash. That annual allowance now stands at £20,000 for UK residents over 16, all of which can be held in cash if you so choose. In recent years the popularity of cash Isas in particular has been affected by circumstances. Historically low interest rates have meant that many cash Isas pay less than the rate of inflation, and savings rates…

RAYMOND ALLEN was a jobbing writer and sometime cleaner at his local cinema on the Isle of Wight when he submitted a script to the BBC about an accident-prone mummy’s boy. Although his bread and butter job was writing gags for the likes of Dave Allen, Raymond was also a writer of serious drama, and he brought real depth of character and emotion to what would become Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em. This ability to mix farce with pathos certainly impressed the BBC’s head of comedy, Michael Mills, who gave the show the go-ahead. The central character of Some Mothers was the man-child Frank Spencer, who blunders his way through life from one job and mishap to another, always supported by his long-suffering wife Betty. The BBC’s first choice for…

Fakeaway Chicken Quesadilla Save yourself some money by making these at home. They are delicious and taste just like the real thing. ■ 8 tortillas ■ Spray cooking oil ■ 200g grated cheese ■ 200g cooked chicken, shredded FOR THE SAUCE ■ 2 tbsp mayonnaise ■ ¾ tsp sugar ■ ½ tsp ground cumin ■ ½ tsp paprika ■ ½ tsp cayenne pepper ■ ⅛ tsp garlic powder ■ ⅛ tsp jalapeños from a jar, minced 1 Place a large frying pan that has a lid over a very low heat. In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Divide the sauce into four and spread over four tortillas 2 Working with one tortilla at a time, spray the pan with a very small amount…

MAKING SUSTAINABLE choices when it comes to developing and designing gardens is ensuring that environmentally-friendly garden design is growing in popularity. Many consumers are opting for composite decking as a more durable, low-maintenance and sustainable alternative to traditional timber. Composite Prime’s products are made by combining FSC 100 per cent hardwood flour, a waste product of hardwood production, and recycled plastic. Each square metre of Composite Prime’s decking contains the equivalent of more than 3000 plastic bottle caps or 280 plastic bottles. In the seven years of operation the company has saved the equivalent of 176 million plastic milk bottles from landfill and more than 1.8 billion bottle top caps. Outdoor living is all about creating a flow from the inside to the outside. Homeowners are looking at their outdoor…

LUCY DIAMOND’S funny, heart-warming Anything Could Happen (Quercus, £14.99) follows a mother and daughter as they embark on a revelatory road trip into the past, and The Book of Sand (Century, £12.99) is an absorbing speculative thriller, the first of what had been intended as anew series by the late acclaimed crime writer Mo Hayder, writing under the pen name of Theo Clare. City of the Dead (Century, £14.99) is the 37th in Jonathan Kellerman’s series of Alex Delaware novels, and finds the LAPD forensic psychologist investigating two strange deaths, one of them a fellow psychologist, while the dark side of adult friendship is explored in Gilly Macmillan’s absorbing thriller The Long Weekend (Century, £12.99). Recently adapted into an acclaimed film, The Mad Women’s Ball, by Victoria Mas (Penguin, £8.99)…

Bridge BY HEATHER DHONDY Before reading on, cover the East and West hands on the deal below. LOVE ALL; DEALER SOUTH Your opening bid of one heart is raised to three by your partner. What would your approach be? It is unlikely that you will be able to discover sufficient about your partner’s hand to bid a grand slam with confidence, and equally a small slam is likely to be a decent contract wherever partner’s values are. Sometimes it can be better to give away as little as possible and hope for a favourable lead, which was this declarer’s approach when he jumped directly to six hearts. The lead is the queen of clubs. How do you plan the play? If trumps are two-two, you can guarantee the contract with…

My sticky solution to beat the bike thieves SPRING IS sprung, and for me it heralds a 25-year anniversary… and a reunion. Once again, love is in the air. Hard to believe that a quarter of a century on, I can still look at that sexy chassis and feel the frisson of excitement I experienced when I first spotted her, across a crowded room. I realise, as we find each other again, that in fact the old passion is stronger than ever, richer for all those fond memories… Now I’m wondering how I ever banished the old girl to a life, unloved, up there in darkness. There she was, hidden away, upside down, without the warmth that comes from the bottom of my heart – or perhaps more appropriately, the…

Soothing, relaxing and stress reducing, these CDs from GAP MuSic and it’s sister label Tantajo Records are a great addition to any music collection. Checkout the GAP website: (www.gapmusic.co.uk) for more wonderful music for relaxation and wellbeing. The CDs are: Moments of the Heart music for the soul -Various Artists. From the soothing melodies of Peaceful Lament and Confidence of Hope to the haunting ambiance of Natural Elements and Awakenings, Moments of the Heart music for the soul is the perfect ‘friend’ to have by your side, to help ease away the hustle, bustle, and stresses of the day. Spiritual Incantations – Stephen Rhodes. Stephen Rhodes is a genius of his craft returning with an outstanding new album, the best part of an hour of serene and relaxing music. With…

Gail Willis is an exponent and teacher of Hatha Yoga. She brings Choice readers a new exercise every month. Gail, who is a full-time yoga instructor in Kettering, Northamptonshire, has recruited her mother Janet Rogers to help demonstrate the exercises. In each picture Janet now in her 80s illustrates the basic position for each exercise – the easiest one for the beginner. Gail illustrates the maximum position for each exercise. You should start following Janet’s position and try to increase gradually towards Gail’s advanced level. “Only build up to a level that you are comfortable with,” says Gail. “Some exercises you will be able to do the maximum level of stretch. Others you will achieve only the basic move or just a little more. It doesn’t matter because even the…

CHOOSING THE right care provider has a huge impact on the lives of your loved ones and is not a choice that should be made lightly or without thorough consideration. Home care is more affordable and often the preferred form of care for a person in need of assistance, as it allows them to remain in their home, feel comfortable and benefit from individually focused care. However, not all home care providers can provide the same level of care and not all providers will be able to cater to your unique needs. Here are my four steps to finding the home care provider that will offer the best service for your loved one. 1 Find the best type of home care for you First, you need to decide on what…

Supplies: ■ Nature’s Garden Farmhouse 12in x 12in Paper Pad ■ Nature’s Garden Farmhouse Vellum and Topper Pad ■ Nature’s Garden Textured Card ■ White 300gsm card ■ Ribbon ■ Gems ■ Crafter’s Companion Scoremaster Scoreboard ■ Foam pads ■ Crafter’s Companion Double Sided Finger Lift Tape ■ Harmony Quick Dry Dye Inkpad – Oasis ■ Photograph ■ Sentiment stamp To create: 1 Cut a piece of white card to 6½in x9½in. Score on the long side at ½in and 5in. Cut a second piece of white card to 6½in x 4⅞in 2 Adhere both pieces of white card together with finger lift tape using the ½in tab created. This will make your Accordion Card base – ensure it folds together neatly and trim if needed to get a flat…

DVDs The Lovers! (Network) This 1973 film version of Jack Rosenthal’s classic sit-com finds Paula Wilcox and the late Richard Beckinsale reprising the roles of Beryl and Geoffrey – an inexperienced young couple attempting to negotiate the sexual minefield of the permissive society – that first made them household names. In the early Seventies, such TV to cinema transfers pretty much held the ailing British film industry together, and this is one of the best, as old-fashioned Beryl continues to slap down the advances of frustrated Geoffrey. It’s available on Blu-ray in a newly remastered version, and extras include the original cinema trailers. Great Railway Journeys, Series 11-13 (Network) Armed with a 1936 edition of Bradshaw’s Handbook and the usual arresting array of brightly coloured jackets, the ever-genial Michael Portillo…