A reader says they were told a frame would fit up their stairs, but this turned out not to be the case

I am 80 years old and recently lost my wife of 54 years. I wanted to replace our bed and in March I ordered a small 4ft double from HSL in Bristol.

The salesperson was helpful and assured me the bed would fit up the stairwell of my 1932 semi-detached house.

• It turns out I weep easily at the idea of being known and loved by someone close – for so long.
• I have also been married for ages, and I sometimes indulge in the image of me in 2061, clasping the dry, old hand of my husband and telling whoever will listen about the young man I married, and our secret to a long and happy life together.

If you want to start swapping out animal products for something healthier and more ethical – but equally as nutritious – here are the best substitutes

Embracing a diet of plant-based foods and fewer animal products is “healthy, sustainable, and good for both people and planet”, says the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health. But while meat is known as an important source of nutrients, such as protein, iron and B12, is it possible to get the equivalent value from plant-based alternatives?

“Yes, but it depends how you do it,” says Priya Tew, director of Dietitian UK. Relying on ultra-processed ready meals or plant-based “meatballs”, say, is not going to be nutritionally superior to meat. In fact, adds Tew, “that can be worse”. Instead, adopt a variety of plant-based sources – fruit, vegetables, legumes, soya, wholegrains, pulses, nuts, seeds – and cook as much as you can from scratch, which, of course, requires some planning. Here’s a start: easy ways to swap animal protein for plant-based alternatives.

The scientist has spent years studying how gut health relates not just to nutrition, but to all aspects of our everyday wellbeing. He explains why it really is what’s inside that counts

Tim Spector’s kitchen fridge is swarming with life: kefir grains, sourdough mother, homemade kimchi and kombucha. Then there’s the vegetables: as varied and colourful as possible.

While many diets eschew certain food groups, Spector’s focuses on incorporating as much variety as possible: at least 30 different plants a week – including nuts, seeds, pulses, whole grains, fruits and vegetables – on top of starchy staples such as potatoes or rice. The reason? He believes that diversity is crucial to warding off infections, combating age-related diseases and maintaining a healthy weight.

Try to understand them rather than judging them – and do this so that you become unstuck, which is what you want after all

The dilemma My boyfriend proposed to me a couple years ago. I was delighted. Sadly, his family were less than impressed. Although I have a PhD, I’m American and his British family look down on me because I’m not British, and I didn’t attend Oxbridge. It’s ironic: none of them have anything near a PhD.

I told my mother about this and she subsequently refused to communicate with my partner’s mother. The plans trudged on and both mothers became unbearable.

We’re being bombarded with conflicting advice on what we should and shouldn’t put into our bodies. Finally, here are the definitive answers, according to the experts

Modern nutritional science is only a hundred years old, so it’s no surprise that we’re constantly bamboozled by new and competing information about what to put into our bodies – or that we sometimes cling to reassuringly straightforward food myths which may no longer be true. In a world where official dietary advice seems to change all the time, and online opinions are loud and often baseless, we ask eight food and drink experts to cut through the noise and tell it like it is.

Over three decades, Susanna Abse has worked with every kind of couple. She shares what she’s learned on how to stay the distance – and why fighting is good

Susanna Abse is the marriage counsellor’s marriage counsellor – 30 years in practice giving her peerless insights into the challenges couples face without making any dent in her curiosity and originality. This serene, witty 65-year-old is exacting but non-judgmental; I imagine you’d feel able to say absolutely anything in front of her, unless it was bullshit. You would trust her with your marriage, but you’d want to take your A-game.

Abse can’t begin to estimate how many couples she’s seen since her first in 1986, but puts it at tens of thousands of hours. She has worked with every kind of couple, from the ones who “bang their heads together and shout and stand up and walk out” (she calls these “doll’s house” couples in her book – people who break things without any sense of consequence), to the ones who think there’s never been anything wrong, and can’t understand why they’ve suddenly got issues.

Cycling and heritage trails could boost tourism and local jobs, but they face planning and funding roadblocks

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After the final train departed the Crookwell railway station for Goulburn in 1985, a stretch of track in the New South Wales southern tablelands was all but abandoned.

It’s a similar story for long-disused country rail networks across the state. But there’s a push to transform these isolated and often scenic corridors into rail trails and heritage projects.

Factors from Brexit to lower production in China to war in Ukraine fuel limited supplies of pool chemicals

A shortage of chlorine is forcing some public swimming pools to close, with operators blaming factors ranging from a production fall in China to Brexit and the war in Ukraine.

Saxon Pool in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, has been closed to general swimmers since 6 May, with the operator and Central Bedfordshire council cancelling almost all sessions, apart from swimming lessons and a swimathon event.

• However, when I got pregnant with our first, my husband didn’t seem to care.
• My husband and I have been married for seven years, and we have three young children.