Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2022 i Choice

The really big world issues that face us at the moment can easily dominate our thoughts, especially if you watch the TV news. I know it is probably worse for younger people. It isn’t quite so depressing if, like most of us Choicepeople, you have lived through, and survived, a few recessions, cost of living crises, times of rocketing inflation, strikes, dangerous war situations – and too many elections. So, I thought I would look at things from the other direction and follow the advice my mother used to give me to count my blessings. I admit they are trivial compared to the wider picture but they certainly make me feel a lot better. About to enter my Seventies the fact that I can still enjoy editing Choice is one…

Bald Headed Blackbird You are welcome in my garden, I see you there a lot,I know it’s you because you have a little bald spotOn the top of your head, it’s so easy to confirmAs you fly towards my bird table to eat the fat mealworms. Every day you visit me, in sunshine and in rain,There I see you hopping round my garden once again,I’m glad you find this shaded space, a perfect sanctuaryTo visit, when you fly down from the large oak tree. Keep coming little blackbird, I feel honoured that you stayInside the confines of my garden each and every day,You must feel safe and happy there which gives me so much pleasure,Enjoy the space and freedom, it’s yours for you to treasure. I’m Beginning To Forget To…

WITH A daily diet of bad news filling our TV screens it’s sometimes difficult to think of the simple pleasures in life. This young girl having a one-to-one playtime with a fish in Vancouver Aquarium is just delightful. She was clearly enthralled (the fish had a more take-it-or-leave-it attitude), but she had a wonderful day to remember and the fish got his supper shortly after. The aquarium is very good. If you are ever in Vancouver, take time out for a visit.…

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…

IN A world faced with big challenges investors are growing keener to influence positive change. There has previously been a perception that investors must choose between good returns and investing sustainably, but it’s increasingly possible to have the best of both worlds. This means people don’t have to compromise their growth by acting with integrity. In fact, ESG funds can often help mitigate the risks within a portfolio. When investing in a company, investors want to knowhow it serves its customers, employees, shareholders and the environment, but how do you go about choosing the right businesses, portfolios or funds to invest in? What is ESG investing? Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing considers the non-financial yet still material factors relevant in analysing the sustainability of an organisation’s internal operations. Evidence-based…

Supplies: ■ 0.5m of outer fabric ■ Fat quarter of contrasting fabric ■ Fat quarter of fusible wadding ■ Fat quarter of medium interfacing ■ Two small lobster clasps ■ Four ½in D-rings ■ Magnetic bag clasp ■ Basic sewing kit Cut from outer fabric: ■ Two 7.5in x 5.5in rectangles for the outer bag ■ One 5.5in x 5.5in square for the card pocket ■ One 2in x 45in strap Cut from contrasting fabric: ■ One 5.5in x 6in pocket lining ■ Two 7.5in x 5.5in rectangles for the bag lining ■ Two 4.5in x 4.5in squares for the flap ■ Two 1.5in x 2in rectangles for the tabs Cut: ■ Two 7.5in x 5.5in rectangles of fusible wadding ■ One 4.5in x 4.5in square of fusible wadding for…

JUNE IS the month when nature feels like it’s in full swing - bees are buzzing, birds are busy with chicks, the sun is shining (we hope) and flowers and trees fill our gardens with scent and colour. Swiftly done… Our summer migratory birds are back on our shores and, ‘hopefully, you’ve managed to spot some of them in your garden. Swifts are some of our most iconic signallers of summer and definitely a bird to look out for this month. If you have an older property, you may be lucky enough to have them nesting on your doorstep – they love the nooks and crannies of old buildings. If you’ve had them in the past, they will tend to return year after year. Buzz off, bug sprays… Many of…

AppleMusic, 97songs, 4hrs11mins For Christmas in 1962 I was given a second-hand record player. My older brother was in digs in the town where he was stationed as a newly qualified police constable and the son of the house was getting a newer model. He was also getting a more modern taste in music, so as well as the player I was sent a box of 45s. This playlist sent me right back to that Christmas when I had no other discs to spin than the collection of mainly American harmony groups that were so popular in the Fifties. Dion and the Belmonts, The Platters, The Drifters, The Orioles, The Ink Spots, The Ravens, along with any number of other a capella combos, often with a name ending in ‘ettes’,…

Alice’s Book by Karina Urbach Published by MacLehose Press Price £20 Pages 368 ISBN 9781529416305 In the 1930s, Alice Urbach ran her own cookery school in Vienna and her cookbook was a bestseller in German-speaking countries. Forced to flee to England in 1938, she later discovered that her book had been stolen by the Nazis, reissued and published in 1939 under a male Aryan pseudonym. Using family letters, old cassettes and detailed archival research, her historian granddaughter has written an engrossing and moving portrait of this extraordinary woman’s long and eventful life - she was still cooking on American television shows into her 90s -and of her sons, Otto and Karl, whose stories are also quite remarkable. HARDBACK BOOK OF THE MONTH Hardbacks CRIME FICTION The Dark by Sharon Bolton…

Gavin Morrison is one of the great photographers of the British Rail steam era, earning that recognition for the quality and depth of his work over more than 70 years. In that incredible career he has travelled the length and breadth of Britain and has photographed locomotives both legendary and unsung along all of the main lines and beyond and on most of the network’s sheds. Now he has picked his favourites, many of which have never been published before, from those shots captured on traditional film, distilling more than 400 for this brilliant new book. ONLY £35 Including post and packing The book’s quality matches the excellence of the photography and stories. Its 200 pages are printed on heavy gloss art paper with high quality, gold blocked, hard covers.…

Most reasonable citizens are prepared to bite the bullet when there’s some cost-effective change in the service they receive. Times are hard for councils. So when, on the daymy bin is emptied, I received a sticker informing me that in future it would be collected on what turned out to be the usual day, I wondered whether it was my tablets – or was thisamessage I could have done without. Reassurance came in the form of a council statement later which said that although bin days would change for some, it was felt that scores of thousands should be told that their bin day was changing… to the day it had always been. Result? Mass confusion and residents questioning whether they had lost their grip on time. The sticker scheme,…

Have you had the long-awaited joy of booking a holiday in the sun? I found it bliss after the nightmarish restrictions of the last couple of years. We went for something modest – family time beside the sea in Greece.Aweeklong budget break. But having at long last emerged from beneath the black Covid clouds, I was tempted to really push the boat out when, as I researched holidays, I came across an offer that took me into the realms of dreamland… When I say boat, I mean cruise liner. And when I say holiday, I mean an ‘ultra luxury’ voyage that is undoubtedly the most lavish I have ever heard of (and obviously one I’ll never aspire to). The slogan “Champagne and caviar dispensed liberally” set the tone for the…

Those of you who are getting on a bit will know that feeling of being transported back in time by some incident. It’s just happened to me – and brought on the pang of guilt I first felt more than 60 years ago. The scene was a backyard in Yorkshire, where two schoolboys (one was me), at a loose end, watched my small sister doing circuits on her little Tri-ang tricycle. My mate and I were loafing about, playing around with clay that made up the edge of the garden. I made a soft clay ball and was overcome with the urge to see how near I could get with a speculative throw towards the challenging moving target of my sibling. To my amazement, and my shame, my lob turned…

Come clean “With foaming cleansers, it’s important they deliver efficacy in removing impurities while at the same time being gentle enough not to dry out your skin, and that the ingredients in the formulation are non-irritating, ” explains Kristijana Durakic, clinical director at Dr Jackson’s skin care. She suggests looking for soothing, calming and moisturising ingredients, including aloe vera and chamomile, combined with natural bubbling additives like coco glucoside that help products to lather without removing moisture, like Dr Jackson’s 07 Face Wash, £33, (drjacksonskincare.com). Or try Superdrug’s Natural Radiance Complete Cleanser, priced at £6.99. Suffering from menopausal breakouts? Try the brilliant Skin Genius organic Cleansing FaceWash that helps fight bacteria and calms inflammation, 16.50 at (skingenious.co.uk). Scrub up Buff away dead, flaky skin as the warm weather comes with…

Your guide to the best financial advice ACCORDING TO a survey by retirement property developer McCarthy Stone, the design preferences and ‘wish lists’ of over-65s have changed. The old stereotypes of older people’s tastes are no longer apt; flowery carpets and wallpaper, garden gnomes, fluffy loo seat covers and tea cosies are out. Nowadays older people want fast broadband, hive heating, home gyms and charging points for electric cars. The findings have generated columns of newsprint, most of it downright patronising, while the results are no surprise to me. Older people (as evidenced by Choice readers, and indeed McCarthy Stone’s homebuyers) tend to embrace modern changes, and often with more time on their hands, love to learn new things, including keeping up with the latest technology and enjoying an active…

Can I buy a pension for my adults on? Q In a previous feature, Choice has suggested you can buy a pension for your child. Can you do this for an offspring in their late forties who has never been able to work through ongoing health problems? How much would you have to pay and what would be the benefit? Name and address supplied Scott Gallacher, director at IF As Rowley Turton, replies: A Yes, you can pay up to £3600 gross per annum (£300 per month) into a pension for your son. Even though your son is unlikely to be a taxpayer, you would still benefit from 20 per cent tax relief on the contributions. Consequently, the maximum net contributions would be £2880 a year or £240 per month,…

Vietnamese-style rice bowl with chicken skewers & nuoc cham This Vietnamese-inspired rice bowl encompasses the five flavours and elements of Vietnamese cuisine: sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty. Chicken skewers ■ ½ onion, finely chopped ■ 3 garlic cloves, crushed ■ 30g palm sugar ■ 2 tbsps soysauce ■ 1 tbsp fish sauce ■ 2 tbsps sesame oil ■ 500g chicken breast, cut into chunks Nuoc cham ■ 2tbsps palm sugar ■ freshly squeezed juice of llime ■ 2 tbsps fish sauce ■ 1 garlic clove, crushed ■ 1-2bird’seye chillies, chopped Rice ■ 1 tbsp rapeseed oil ■ ½ onion, finely chopped ■ 250g jasmine rice ■ ½ tsp ground turmeric ■ a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, grated ■ 1 lemongrass stalk, bruised ■ 1 tbsp palm sugar ■…

MARKING THE Royal Jubilee, The Platinum Queen (Allen and Unwin, £20) features more than 75 speeches made by Her Majesty, with a foreword by the BBC’s former royal correspondent Jennie Bond, and The Queen: 70 Chapters in the Life of Elizabeth II, by Ian Lloyd (History Press, £15.99), picks out 70 key moments in the Queen’s life, from birth in Mayfair, to the more recent ‘annus horribilis’ and the death of her beloved Philip. He may clearly be increasingly frail but, even in lockdown, Alan Bennett retains his customary waspish wit in the latest tranche of his diaries, gathered together in House Arrest (Profile, £6.99), and Lily’s Promise (Pan, £8.99) is the remarkable story of Auschwitz survivor Lily Ebert, written with her grandson, Dov Forman. Bohemian, pioneer of fashion studies…

EAULIEU IS inviting owners of Seventies classic cars to join a party to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Motor Museum. Owners of cars registered in 1972 – when the National Motor Museum opened – can celebrate the 50th birthday of their car by attending the 1970s Classic Car Drive-In Day, which is being held on July 3, for free. You could even dress for the occasion, by digging out your platforms, jumpsuits and flares. A golden paddock of classic cars will also show some of the vehicles which were at the opening in 1972 – when they joined a celebratory cavalcade after the museum was opened by Edward, Lord Montagu, and the Duke of Kent. If your car was part of the original opening, Beaulieu would like to…

IT DOESN’T feel like summer is really here until the annual post-winter pick-me-up dose of Springwatch. For three weeks in June an hour each weekday evening is set aside for basking in the wonders of nature, and never was this more welcome than during the first lockdown of 2020. Bewildered, scared, and often alone, viewers found Springwatch to be the perfect tonic, even though Michaela Strachan, one of the lynchpins of the show over the past decade, could only watch from afar, with travel bans keeping her at home in South Africa. Another lockdown kept her away from last year’s edition of Winterwatch but she has been back ever since, and will be teaming up with her old friend and colleague Chris Packham – one of television’s more unlikely, and…

Dennis Ellam’s article about Spaghetti Junction (Choice, May) evoked a special memory for me. He mentioned that an ‘enterprising bus operator ran trips from the centre of Birmingham around the junction’. I think I can add a little to the story, but with a correction. The trips were not from Birmingham but Burton on Trent. I was a manager with Viking Coaches, based in the town at the time. Back in the Seventies, if an operator wanted to advertise trips to the public, an application had to be made to the appropriate Traffic Commissioner. This allowed anyone to object, if they had a valid reason. It was my task to submit such applications. With the expanding motorway network, more places of interest were coming within range. I included the Spaghetti…

UK SCIENTISTS have undertaken a huge ‘archaeological dig’ of cancer in the UK, analysing the complete genetic make-up of tumours from 12,000 patients. The team says the unprecedented amount of data has allowed them to uncover new patterns in the DNA of cancer, hinting at causes that are not yet understood. They add that the genetic clues will ultimately help improve diagnosis and treatment. Traditionally many cancers have been categorised by doctors based on where they are in the body and the type of cells involved, but whole genome sequencing can provide another layer of key information. Whole genome sequencing is already available on the NHS for a small number of specific cancers, including some blood cancers, and the aim is to make it more widely available. Leadresearcher ProfSerena Nik-Zainal,…

A FEW years ago, out of nowhere, I suddenly found myself experiencing a pain in my right side. It quickly got worse. Much worse. So I took a taxi to my local hospital (the driver didn’t need to ask whether I wanted A&E), and was given very strong painkillers. I can’t remember what else was done, only that I had never felt agony like that in my life. After a few hours the pan subsided, and, after a scan and various tests, I was informed it was a result of passing a kidney stone. “The only pain which is worse is childbirth, ” a nurse told me. So, given my gender, I guess you can fairly say that kidney stones can produce the worst pain known to man. It’s happened…

“MONEY MAY not buy you love, but fighting about it will bankrupt your relationship” are words of wisdom from Michelle Singeltary, award-winning financial journalist at the Washington Post. Careful joint financial planning, however, should help to keep things harmonious for couples, be they married, civil partners or living together. One of the key decisions couples make is whether or not to have a joint current bank account. For some it’s the ultimate gesture of trust in their financial behaviour. Having one bank account has some advantages, allowing each partner access to money when they need it. Both partners have their own debit card, cheque book and online banking access, making it easy for either to pay household bills. In the event that one partner dies, the other will generally have…

A Provider operate sunder Islamic finance principles, rate shown is expected profit rate B Introductory rate for a limited period F Fixed rate. Methods of opening and operating accounts will vary. All rates are shown as AER variable unless otherwise stated. All ratesand terms subject to change without notice and should be checked before finalising any arrangement. Noliability can be accepted for any direct or consequential lossarising from the use of, or reliance upon, this information. Readers who are not financial professionals should seek expert advice. Visit (Moneyfacts.co.uk) for full details. National Savings & Investments Enquiry tel:0808 500 7007. Personal Loan Selection: Unsecured Loans…

Hello and welcome to my Craft Corner! Every month I share two new projects with Choice readers – one for those who enjoy hobbies such as papercrafting, upcycling and decoupage, and one for those who are fond of sewing and needlecraft, where I focus on simple, everyday stitched fabric accessories. I’ve lived and breathed crafting for as long as I can remember. I have very fond memories of cake decorating, cross-stitching and candle-making with my mum, and in my late teens I discovered the joy of cardmaking. I was fortunate enough to turn my favourite pastimes into my career by setting up Crafter’s Companion out of my university bedroom, and it’s been an amazing journey seeing my business develop into what it is today. I love experimenting and using our…

Stingray: The Complete Series (Network) First screened in 1964, this is still one of Gerry Anderson’s best-loved shows, and featured square- jawed hero Troy Tempest, sidekick Phones and the lovely, mute Marina who, aboard their futuristic submarine Stingray, did battle with the dastardly underwater villain Titan and his evil Terror Fish. For boys of a certain age it was all about the gadgets, of course, and what gadgets. As with so many of Anderson’s shows Stingray itself was a design classic, as were the Terror Fish, especially when we were finally able to enjoy then in in colour rather than dreary old mid-Sixties monochrome. The show looks even better thanks to this new high-definition Blu-ray edition, which features the whole series as well as numerous tempting extras, including contemporary TV…

Office life could be dreary but dramatic THERE’S BEEN a revolution going on in the world of work over the past couple of years… and in future, for many, ‘going to the office will involve just popping upstairs. Home working is here to stay. It proved popular with millions of employees during Covid and the signs are that in future more young new recruits will be trained up at headquarters and then sent off home to work remotely. You can see the advantages. Costsaving for employers who can economise on office space. No commuting. Parents with youngsters being able to work between nappy changes. Also, there’s the flexibility in working hours for the employee. How nice, and different from fixed working hours, to have the chance to work in the…

We tend not to think of it, but most of what is around us – and the everyday items we use in our homes – have a chemical name. See how many of the following items you can identify (answers over the page): 1 Which traditional British meal is usually flavoured with acetic acid? 2 And what’s the common name for the condiment called sodium chloride? 3 What’s the chemical name for vitamin C? 4 Which pest is sent packing by naphthalene? 5 Where might a teacher use calcium carbonate? 6 On what sort of surface would you be likely to find iron oxide? 7 What would be given a flying start with the use of ethylene glycol? 8 What’s the funny name for nitrous oxide? 9 What’s the proper…

Just a reminder… …that in June 1981, the Queen was riding at the Trooping of the Colour ceremony in London when a teenager fired six blank shots in her direction. She steadied her horse and rode on …in this month in 1972, Glam Rock was launched with the release of David Bowie’s album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars …and in June 1977, Elvis Presley gave his last concert, in Indianapolis. Two months later he died in the morning while resting before his planned afternoon performance Ballroom’s towering glory restored If you’ve had the pleasure of tripping the light fantastic in the Blackpool Tower ballroom, you’ll know how splendid it is. My visit, years ago, was to bring together hundreds of older people in…

I’ve just discovered that I shared an ambition with one of the most publicised criminals in recent British history. You’ll have seen that there’s now a film about Kempton Bunton, the unemployed taxi driver who in 1961 was charged with pulling off the outrageous theft of Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington, from the National Gallery. Back then, the painting was worth £140,000 – money that the eccentric Bunton believed should be spent on something more generally beneficial, like giving those of pensionable age free TV licences. He told the court that he thought he could use the painting (worth £1m at today’s prices) as a political bargaining chip. He had been jailed three times for refusing on principle to pay the £4 annual fee. Leap forward 30 years…