Pick Me Up! 27-May-2021

Growing up, my dad was the kind of person who would speak to anyone. And when I say anyone, I mean anyone. ‘Here we go,’ we’d all laugh as he sparked up a chat with a total stranger. My dad James, or Jim as everyone knows him, has always been an amazing man. Married to my mum Pam, 69, they were amazing parents. I’m the youngest of four sisters – Gemma, 44, Lucie, 42 and Sian, 38 – and for a long time, life was good. Only after retiring as an engineer, we noticed Dad was suffering from memory loss. He’d always been a switched on man, so at first, we thought it was just his brain slowing down now he was retired. Only, over the course of a few…

We’re loving this! Fancy yourself as the next star baker? These new baking mixes from The Bottled Baking Co. have made creating perfect sweet treats at home easier than ever. Simply shake and empty the bottle of cake, cookie or brownie mix into a large bowl, follow the instructions and get ready to bake! Taking all the hassle away from baking and leaving you with all the fun, each bottled cake mix is made with the highest quality ingredients. Flavours include Extravagant Gingerbread Brownies, Scrumptious Jellybean Cookies or even a Fabulous Unicorn Cake. Perfect for getting your little ones involved in the kitchen. • To find out more information, visit www.bottledbaking.co.uk GET IN TOUCH Send us your stories and photos, including all names and ages, a daytime phone number and…

My six-year-old granddaughter Billi showed me her cross-eyes and said: ‘Look nanny, I can see inside my head!’ Patricia Cordon, Gloucestershire Definitely his father’s son – perfect chilling position. Adam Bradshaw, Halesowen Look at this pair of cuties playing in the pool together in Greece. Sian Salsbury, Cradley Heath STAR LETTER My feet have not touched the ground since I got this pic taken with the fabulous Pasha Kovalev from Strictly! Wendy Pownall, Swansea I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this WW1 land army girl at a country show recently. Carole Gasan, N Ireland If your letter makes Star Letter of the week, you will receive some beautiful blooms from Flying Flowers. With over 30 years’ experience of helping celebrate life’s special moments and FREE delivery by post, a gorgeous bouquet by Flying Flowers…

STABILO, best known for its range of pens, pencils and writing equipment, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its iconic STABILO BOSS ORIGINAL highlighter. To celebrate, all 23 colours are now available to buy in a single epic deskset (RRP £51.72). It contains all existing nine neon colours and 10 pastel colours alongside four brand-new pastel shades: pale orange, frozen fuchsia, breezy blue and dusty grey. Maintaining its iconic shape, STABILO BOSS ORIGINAL has an Anti-Dry-Out technology, which means the cap can be left off for up to four hours without drying out. While its ‘refill-ability’ means it can be re-used time and time again. • Find out more at: www.stabilo.com/uk…

THE BIG READ Playing in my bedroom with my siblings, Mum bellowed up. ‘Come on you lot, time for tea,’ our mum Linda, now 72, called. As a mum-of-nine, she had a lot on her plate. It’s safe to say, we had a full house! Living at home was Darren, William, Belinda, Sharlene, myself and Nicola – with two years between each of us. Not to mention our three eldest siblings, David, Susan and Janet. We might have been a big family, but that didn’t mean we weren’t close. In fact, I didn’t know anyone who was as close with their families as I was with mine. Belinda, Sharlene, Nicola, William and I spent all of our time together – we were each other’s best friends. With David and Darren…

Will had been in the facility for about six years by now, and we’d seen vast improvements in him. However, in 2014, Mum returned from a visit with a concerned frown. ‘There’s this strange chap who hangs around Will every time I’m there,’ she told me. ‘Will’s not really speaking. He seems scared.’ According to Mum, Will had told her Matt was just a friend. However, on my next visit, I understood what she meant. As a patient with schizophrenia himself, Matt just hovered over us. ‘This is my friend,’ Will told me when I arrived, but something didn’t feel right. Will barely uttered a word the entire visit, and I felt Matt’s luring eyes on us. Something was just off about him and the entire family said the same…