BERRY COLD

A trailing raspberry in a hanging basket in the back yard, under a six-inch cone of snow.

My Mum (89) tripped and fell in her bedroom yesterday and has broken her left arm - top of the humerus. She had to wait hours for an ambulance, but she had two daughters and a son-in-law (i.e. one nurse and one retired GP) with her, who made her comfortable and diagnosed the suspected fracture. The ambulance people knew she had qualified medics with her, and phoned up regularly to apologise for delays and check on her condition, and eventually she was taken in, X-rayed and sent home with a cuff and a collar. Amazingly she's pain-free, and has coped with the stairs, with showering, dressing and eating today. I'm on standby for next week, just in case, but my sisters have organised daily help for her (and the cat), so we'll see how it goes.