DEAR Jasminda, My wife has become obsessed with competing with her friends in increasingly time-consuming and expensive Elf on the Shelf ideas. She spends so much time working out what the Elf will do next, that she is running late for work, forgetting appointments and costing us a fortune at an

DEAR Jasminda, I've recently had the flu and so my husband has been sleeping in the office. The thing is, I've been sleeping better than I have in years. There is no one pulling the covers off me. I don't get cold. I can't hear his snoring. How should I approach

DEAR Jasminda, I have a magnificent kangaroo paw plant at the front of my property. Recently, I noticed that someone has been helping themselves. I'm quite miffed. How do you suggest I deal with this? Vicki A. Dear Vicki, I'm trying to envisage someone furtively pinching kangaroo paws and I'd imagine that would be

DEAR Jasminda, The gym I go to takes candid photos of people exercising to encourage others. Last week there was a particularly unattractive photo of me wearing no makeup, doing sumo squats. While others may find this encouraging, I just feel embarrassed. Can I ask them to take the photo down? Hilda

    DEAR Jasminda, My pushy sisters want us to all put in money for an experience for Christmas and they want to go hot air ballooning. They know I'm scared of heights but they say it will be character building. I'm happy to put money in for them to go, but I don't want

  DEAR Jasminda, I went to the bottle shop last night and bought a cheap pinot grigio to add to my risotto. When I took it to the counter, the sales assistant asked if I'd like a chilled one. I said no, it's just for cooking. He raised his eyebrows and said, 'Of course

DEAR Jasminda, It has come to my attention that the government is planning to take away yet another one of my constitutional rights – the plastic straw. They have already banned the plastic bag, taken away the right to have a smoke at the pub but this….it's the last straw. How am I

  DEAR Jasminda, Yesterday, while participating in a fun run to raise money for a good local cause, I somehow managed to injure myself. I'm now hobbling around taking anti-inflammatory tablets, nursing frozen peas and making physio appointments that will cost far more than the amount I donated. Is there a lesson in all

  DEAR Jasminda, MY partner has great taste in decor. In fact, he considers himself a bit of an interior designer. And I agree with him. To a point. In the master bedroom (the one we sleep in) he has a very large painting of what can only be described as two animals making love. When I

DEAR Jasminda, One of my siblings is inviting his new girlfriend to our wedding and insisting she be in the family photos because 'she's the one'. The problem is he's been with 'the one' about 15 times before and now we have a heap of lovely family portraits with ex-girlfriends and