Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2024 i Take a Break Monthly

Girls’ day out My gal pals and I had a lovely day out on Lake Windermere, despite the weather! L-r: Me, Aimee, 24, Cheryl, 30, Dani, 27, and Gina, 38. Amanda Haslam, 53, of Bolton, Gtr Manchester Big fun! I got to meet this beauty while visiting an elephant sanctuary in Kenya. What an experience! Amie Yetton, 35, of Burwell, Cambs Sisterly duties My daughter Aimee, five, has taken to being a big sister and is so protective of her baby brother William, six weeks. Charlotte Ball, 33, of Stockport, Gtr Manchester Star of the show My pup Rhia won third best in the golden oldie category — look how proud she is! Darren Pritchard, 53, of Chester, Cheshire Dog training This is me on a walk with my dogs…

In our shared room with posters of S Club 7, Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys on our wardrobe doors, my sister Banaz and I danced around and sang along to the pop songs we loved. When the CD finished, I turned to Banaz. ‘Tea?’ I asked. Downstairs, we grabbed our mugs of tea and a packet of biscuits and sat cross-legged on the kitchen floor, chatting and laughing until our cheeks hurt. ‘You two are giving me a headache,’ our mum joked when she passed. We’d moved to London from Kurdistan, in Iraq, when I was 11. ‘I’m not going back to him’ It was a completely different world from what I knew. Our parents were strict, not allowing me and my four sisters to socialise outside school or talk…

Write your answers following the arrows. Some of the boxes have clue numbers which refer to the clues below the puzzle. CLUES 1 Employment agreement (8)2 Stockholm’s country (6)3 Lower limbs (4)4 Cut surface of a jewel (5)5 Lock opener (3)6 Air, atmosphere (4)7 Baked - - -, meringue-topped dessert (6)8 Remiss, careless (10)9 Press (clothes) (4)10 Water boa (8)11 Word that links drop, witness and sore (3)12 Bundle of banknotes (3)13 E-number? (8)14 Brass instrument (4)15 Day before (3)16 Liquid by-product of making cheese (4)17 Sponge gently in order to clean (3)18 Australian city, anagram of DEAL IDEA (8)19 Narrow side streets (6)20 Make amends for wrongdoing (5)21 Italian city, or a rich fruitcake topped with almonds (5)22 Glove puppet bear who appears with Sweep (5)23 David - - -, Heroes and…

Health Parkinson’s blood test A blood test could predict Parkinson’s disease seven years before symptoms appear. Researchers in Germany say the test, which uses AI to predict the condition based on the levels of eight proteins, is 100 per cent accurate and marks a ‘major step forward’. Depression distinctions A new study has found six distinct types of depression, and hopes this could lead to better treatments. Scientists scanned the brains of over 800 sufferers and, for the first time, were able to show how depression disrupts the brain. Currently, one in six people experience episodes of depression or anxiety. Hybrid is healthier Hybrid working makes employees happier, healthier and more productive, according to research among UK staff who divide their working week between home and the office. Three-quarters of…

Orange sponge Serves: 12 Takes: 38-40min (plus cooling) ■ Butter for greasing■ 110g plain flour■ 1tbsp cornflour■ ½tsp bicarbonate of soda■ 1tsp cream of tartar■ 4 eggs, separated■ 110g caster sugar■ 1tsp vanilla extract■ 1tbsp finely grated orange zest, plus 2tsp extra■ 1tbsp orange juice, heated, plus 2tbsp extra■ 180ml double cream■ 180g ready-made vanilla custard■ 220g icing sugar, sifted 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C, gas 4). Grease and line the base of two deep, 20cm-round cake tins. Sift the flour, cornflour, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar into a bowl. 2 Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, beating until the sugar has dissolved. Add the egg yolks, one by one, beating well…

• Two-night stay with breakfast• Spa treatment• £100 spending money It’s time to unwind with a real treat of a prize… We’re giving away not one but TWO spa breaks at Redworth Hall Hotel, a stunning 17th-century Jacobean manor house in County Durham. Solve our puzzle and, if you’re one of our two lucky winners, you and a partner will be enjoying a two-night stay with breakfast and a dinner allowance. Plus, you’ll have use of the spa facilities and receive a spa treatment each — take your pick from an ESPA 60-minute facial or an ESPA 60-minute Inner Calm full-body massage. We’ll also wave winners off with £100 in spending money, so you can make the most of the Retreat fitness and beauty rooms. Situated in 26 acres of landscaped grounds,…

• Return flights• Five nights’ half-board accommodation• £200 spending money Glittering in the sun like a precious jewel, the beautiful seaside city of Dubrovnik, in Croatia, has long been one of our top summer holiday destinations. It’s a stunning spot with terracotta-tiled buildings, elegant squares and a pretty harbour. Crack our competition and you and a partner could be winging your way there for a fabulous five-night getaway. If you’re our winner, you’ll be staying at the Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel, a modern gem nestled in the serene Srebreno Bay, just a short drive from the city. This beachfront oasis offers a tranquil escape with contemporary architecture and incredible views. Enjoy a romantic walk along Srebreno Bay, relax by the outdoor and indoor pools, or take a swim in the secluded crystal-clear…

Win! £100 CLONE AMENAMIDATOMBAITBEATDIALDIVAFAMEFISHFLATHALFIDLELAZELEAFLIFTLIMOMATEMOLENAPENAVYOMITPALMPELTSEMITAMPZANY HOW TO ENTER Fit all the words in the list into the grid in either a clockwise or an anticlockwise direction. Where the squares touch, the letters in the adjoining boxes are the same, as shown with the ‘L’ in the starter word we’ve given you. Careful though, as one word won’t fit. This leftover word is the winning answer. Enter by post, phone, text or online — see page 73.…

Skeleton PUZZLE Given the starter clue numbers and black squares, can you solve this crossword? When done, the pattern of the black squares will be fully symmetrical (the pattern will look the same if you turn the grid sideways or upside down). So you can work out positions of several more squares right away. Across 2 Hospital worker6 Not wild!7 Ridicule 9 Fifth month10 Football club, Aston - - -11 Gratuity12 Drain14 Furious17 - - - Dennis, entertainer19 Sheen20 Toxic substance21 Make an attempt23 Vote into power26 Mr duck?28 Donkey30 Strange, odd31 Grease32 Japanese rice wine33 Capricorn animal34 Long narrow hilltop Down 1 Period of 24 hours2 Not at any time3 Connect, or tell4 Computer message5 Division of a play6 Cassette8 New Zealand bird12 Work out — this puzzle!13 Squander15…

From Stephanie Seales-Gabbitas, 49, of Goudhurst, Kent The best health advice for you and your family Hearing my daughter Ariana crying, I rolled out of bed. ‘What’s wrong, sweetie?’ I asked, hurrying into her bedroom. Ariana was sitting up and her pyjamas were drenched. ‘Oh dear, did you spill your water?’ I asked. ‘Let’s get you changed.’ But over the next days, Ariana wasn’t her normal, smiley self. She was quiet and pale with dark circles under her eyes. ‘Maybe she’s coming down with something,’ my husband Chris said. After playing with the laser thermometer, her older sister Lyra said: ‘Mummy, Ariana’s temperature is orange.’ When Ariana woke up drenched again that night, I realised it wasn’t water, it was sweat. We called NHS 111 who advised us to go…

Win! £100 FITBACK 3 LETTERS AFTAUKAWEBEDBETBITDUEETALITOAKOILORB 4 LETTERS AFARALOEBEAMBEARCASEDADODOTSEXITHEEDIFFYLAMELAUDLEEKOBOEPOKEPONDPORKROARSIFTTAKETONETOREWHIPYOKE 6 LETTERS CRINGEENDEARESTEEMLEWDLYSACREDSHEATHSKEWERYORKER 7 LETTERS AIRLINE UTILISE HOW TO ENTER Fit all the listed words into the crossword grid. We’ve placed one word (POKE) and two letters to get you started. When you’ve finished, list the letters in the yellow squares for the winning word. Enter by post, phone, text or online — see page 73.…

Octograms Each clue leads to a five-letter answer beginning with ‘D’ which we’ve already placed. Write the rest of each answer so that the remaining four letters read clockwise in the octagons around their central ‘D’. 1 Bridget Jones’s - - -, bestselling novel by Helen Fielding that spawned a hit film franchise starring Renée Zellweger (pictured) 2 Hold-up3 Closely packed, or thick4 Put on clothes5 Be carried on the tide or a current of air6 Boring DIY tool!7 Sympathy for the - - -, Rolling Stones track8 Travelled by car9 Snow White’s pal?10 Assets brought by a bride to her husband at marriage11 ‘Nobody puts Baby in the corner’ film starring Patrick Swayze, - - - Dancing 12 Benefactor13 Set of principles that are proclaimed as true14 Hang limply15 Distance downwards16 Raw mixture that’s…

Too cool for school Brighten up your lunchtimes with these colourful bags from Kind Bag. The durable, water-resistant, washable bags are made from recycled plastic bottles, come in three cool patterns, and are big enough to fit a lunchbox, water bottle, fruit and snacks. RRP £28 from kindbag.co Do your bit Fairtrade Fortnight is celebrating its 30th year (9-22 September), so why not show your support by buying something Fairtrade? Clipper is the UK’s largest Fairtrade tea brand, supporting fairer wages for producers, and working with farming communities to improve living standards and investing in their businesses. RRP £3.75 from Sainsbury’s. Grow your own If you’ve ever wanted to grow your own fruit and vegetables, SheGrowsVeg is an exciting seed brand whose range of over 150 varieties promises beautifully tasting…

Take your pick from ● Beefeater ● Pizza Express ● Brewers Fayre ● Café Rouge ● Table Table ● TGI Fridays ● Pizza Hut NETWORK ACROSS 1 Roof tile • Flat • Lettuce2 Gambling house • Silent acting? • Fitting3 Exclude, anagram of RIOT CASES • Not false!4 Peel, cut • To the - - - Born, classic sitcom • Fastener secured with a padlock5 Self-esteem • Discourage • Auctioneer’s hammer6 Declare void • Birthday card wrapper?7 Harvest — what you sow! • Place • Unspoken8 Go off — like a volcano, eg • Just • Irrefutable statement9 Memo • Three feet • Soup-serving spoon10 Conscious (of) • Post • Lion’s noise11 Weep, cry • Swear • Foam12 Region • Strainer • Notion13 Animal friend • University award • Chimney sweep in Mary Poppins DOWN 1 Range • Stadium • Tree juice2 Layered Italian dish • Argue • Crude mineral3 Space traveller • Assist4 Weary • Topmost • Bounder, scoundrel5 Hard…

1 Go for green For a tranquil escape in the city, take a stroll through Glasgow Botanic Gardens. Dating back to 1841, the gardens’ main feature is Kibble Palace, a glass conservatory full of tropical plants and flowers. There are free guided one-hour tours of the gardens that run at 11am on Thursdays and 2pm on Saturdays. Afterwards, stop by the Tree Trail where you can scan the QR codes on the plant labels to find out more about the history and biology of each tree. 2 Step back in time Surrounded by the beautiful scenery of Pollok Country Park, The Burrell Collection houses a staggering 9000 objects and artworks, including medieval treasures, over 200 tapestries and stained glass panels. There are also paintings by artists including Manet, Cézanne and Degas. After…

Emilie felt her arm being wrenched from its socket by the huge puppy, as she struggled to open the poo bag one-handed. ‘Please stay still, Buddy,’ she sighed. She managed to rein him in enough to get both hands on to the flimsy plastic bag, only for him to pull away again. The bag ripped in two. ‘Buddy!’ she said, yanking the dog back and pulling another bag from her pocket. Now I know why Claire gave me so many bags, she thought. As she bent down to pick up after Buddy, he suddenly took off again, pulling her off balance. Before she knew it, she was hurtling to the ground, the dog flying off in one direction, and the poo bag in the other. ‘Thanks, Claire,’ she muttered, remembering…

• Overnight stay for four with breakfast• Park entry and extras• £200 spending money Here’s a scarily good prize! How do you fancy taking the kids to Scarefest, the Halloween spooktacular at Alton Towers Resort? Get puzzling and you could be enjoying tricks and treats galore, as the award-winning Scarefest returns for 2024, running from 11 October to 3 November. Immerse yourself in spine-tingling attractions, live entertainment and Halloween fun for the whole family. There’s so much to see and do — from creepy scare mazes to hair-raising rides and attractions in the dark, including the all-new Nemesis Reborn, plus Wicker Man and The Smiler — and the thrills go on until 9pm! If you’re our winner, you and the family will stay overnight in either Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings…

We all know the benefits of walking more and strive to hit that magic 10,000 steps a day, but the convenience of the car, coupled with unpredictable weather, can mean we frequently fall short. Here, Nina Barough CBE, a power-walking expert and founder and chief executive of breast cancer charity Walk the Walk (organisers of the iconic overnight fundraising event The MoonWalk London), shares how invigorating walking can be — and how to power up our stride to unlock a host of health benefits. Walk with purpose Often we need that little push to take the first step, and Nina says that getting outside is easier than we might think. ‘Walking is really accessible. Age or time constraints aren’t a barrier. Researchers say it’s almost the perfect exercise because it…

Switching off the engine, I moved into the back of our motorhome and turned on the kettle. It was time for a brew. Our golden retriever Fleetwood was sitting lazily at his normal spot by the long window. We’d had it installed in the vehicle especially for him. ‘I want him to be able to see everything,’ I’d said to my hubby Myles. As a child, I’d loved family holidays in our caravan, and now the same excitement ran through me when we set off in our motorhome. ‘I can’t wait to hit the road’ The lure of freedom was important to me and Myles, to help us switch off from our busy jobs. But recently we’d taken on a big renovation project in the Isle of Man to convert…

Big Bonanza is Take a Break’s big prize, big choice comp. Our winner can pick any prizes on this page that tot up to £1200! If you love entertaining at home, how about freshening up your hosting space with a new dining table and chairs? Finish the look with a stylish digital radio to provide the soundtrack to your parties. Or, if you fancy getting out and about, enhance your options by plumping for a bike and some driving lessons. Although shanks’s pony is the best choice for blowing an M&S gift card! Or take £1200 in cash. CODE BREAKER Each number in the grid represents a different letter. We’ve placed one word which shows that 14=A, 22=P, 2=E and 1=D. We’ve filled in the As for you. You can…

Win! £100 This puzzle is like a regular sudoku, but with an added twist! Start off by filling in the squares in the grid, so that every row, every column, and each of the 3x3 squares contains all the digits from 1 to 9. NEED A HAND? To get you started, look at the middle-right 3x3 block. One of the missing numbers is 1. It must go in the bottom row as there are already 1s in the top and middle rows of the other 3x3 blocks along the middle. HOW TO ENTER When you’ve completed the puzzle, use the boxes above to add up the three numbers in the pink squares in the grid — the total in the yellow box is the prize answer. Enter by post, phone,…

As I kept an eye on the window, waiting for a delivery van to arrive, my phone rang. I answered and a voice said: ‘Hi, is that Kirsty?’ It was the woman who ran the local pub. She explained that the psychic they’d booked to perform a show had phoned in sick. ‘Can you fill in?’ she asked. ‘Tickets have already sold out!’ I worked as a spiritual medium and the gig was right up my street. ‘That should be OK,’ I replied. ‘When is it?’ ‘Tonight,’ she said. I’d had a chaotic week moving house and was waiting for a new bed to arrive. ‘Tonight?’ I said. ‘But I look a mess. I’ve just moved house and haven’t unpacked any of my clothes yet.’ I looked down at my…

Why go? Home to golden beaches, a thriving food and arts scene, and easily explorable on foot, Santa Monica in southern California has it all. Between Malibu and Los Angeles, it boasts a relaxed pace of life. With nearly four miles of sandy beaches, plus over 300 days of sunshine a year, it’s the place to swim and stroll along the world-famous pier, or to watch the incredible sunset. Away from the beaches there are impressive galleries, colourful art murals, museums and entertainment galore. Explore the pier Iconic Santa Monica Pier should be your first point of call, thanks to the unmissable Ferris wheel, nostalgic rides and amusement arcades. There’s a carnival-like vibe to this lively area and you can spend hours soaking up the sights and sounds of street…

As she placed her hands over my bump, my daughter Sophie’s face lit up. ‘The baby’s kicking!’ she said. I was 22 weeks pregnant with my sixth baby and Sophie, 15, couldn’t have been more delighted. She had been at every scan with me and was desperate to be in the delivery room too. So far it had been smooth sailing. But my 28-week scan revealed a condition called placenta accreta, where the placenta grows in the wrong place and attaches to organs like the bladder. ‘Whatever you do, don’t Google it,’ my obstetrician warned. But I couldn’t stop myself. I had to know what I was facing. Phrases like ‘womb rupture’ and ‘limb loss’ popped up on my phone screen. There was also a high risk of meningitis and…