I have two small potted plants next to my desk at work. One is a jade plant that would probably survive an entire summer break without me. The other is some kind of glossy-leaved fern that definitely wouldn’t. I normally water both on Mondays; this week I was at home both Monday and Tuesday and the poor fern was looking pretty sad this morning. But a few hours after watering it was back to its normal perky shape.

I was at home because Ingrid had the flu (or something like it) – 39°C fever, barely enough energy to walk from one room to another, sleeping almost all day. Two days later she is well again. The rest of us escaped unscathed. I can’t remember when I last had the flu – must have been many years ago at least.