So, just as I was about to embark on today’s folklore, I suffered from a severe bout of Feline Interruptus. Otherwise known as Exploding Cat Arse. It was not pretty. At all. In any way. And after everything was dispatched, I was left with a very queasy feeling. So I had a cup of chamomile tea.
I don’t usually drink chamomile tea, I usually inhale it. Used like Vicks in a bowl of bowling water, it can shift phlegm like nobody’s business. And if my stomach is feeling dodgy, mint is my go to tea. But the books said try chamomile, plus the chamomile harvest starts in July, so I put the kettle on.
The tea smelled a bit like my St John’s wort, only less sweet, and the taste wasn’t as hay-y as I remembered it. In fact it was relatively inoffensive and slipped down easily, so much so, I finished my mug without even noticing. But unfortunately it hasn’t done much to settle my stomach. Although, I’m not entirely sure that’s the fault of the flower. After all, I did make bad food choices for tea, and judging by the eye stinging smell that’s just wafted up, there seems to have been another bout of Feline Interruptus. I fear the odds were never in chamomile’s favour, but it was worth giving it a shot. The cat’s fine by the way, this is just what happens when she’s on medication.
Barometer Watch: green water – no change, but lots of condensation, balloon jar – raised in the sun, now lower in evening.
Resources
Culpeper (1995) Culpeper’s Complete Herbal, Ware, Wordsworth Editions Ltd
Nozedar, A. (2012) The Hedgerow Handbook, Recipes, Remedies and Rituals, London, Square Peg
Vickery, R. (2019) Vickery’s Folk Flora, An A-Z of the Folklore and Uses of British and Irish Plants, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson