Tea Time.... Relax with us and have a cup of hot tea!

[poodlechicks]

Valerian makes my legs move all night while I am having nightmares.

Wow! I had never heard of that.
The smell of the valerian tincture would give me nightmares

 

[poodlechicks]

I had English Breakfast today.

 

[newfoundland]

English breakfast tea reminds me of the birth of my youngest daughter. I was the midwife's last delivery before she went off duty and she was clearly on a mission. No sooner had she handed me the baby than she was scrubbing round my face with a wet flannel. Next she stuffed a toothbrush full of toothpaste into my mouth and almost before i could react, she seized the baby, put her in the crib and handed me a cup of tea. Just them my husband, who had been to ring relatives with the news, returned. Smiling lovingly at the baby in her crib he absent mindedly took the cup of tea out of my hands and drank it down!

 

[3goodeggs]

ohhh NO!
I ... I am not that forgiving of a person. I.. no really. I am speechless.

He better have gotten you something really really nice for taking your TEA!

 

[newfoundland]

I have always found that the birth celebrations and presents reduce proportionately to the number of children you have. With the first one it is all cards, roses and boxes of handmade chocs from a fabulously expensive and exclusive shop. By the last one it is carry your own suitcase to the car and a bar of choc from the hospital shop if he's got the change. Such is life!

 

[3goodeggs]

But, to take a woman's tea after giving birth, that requires years of begging apologies.

...it would definitely be his last child.

I would bring that up at every disagreement. it would be my winning card. 'Yeah, I crashed the car...but you drank my TEA!'

 

[poodlechicks]

I am surprised your husband survived after the fact!

I have to say he was a brave gentleman to mess with a woman right after she gave birth.
What was your reaction when he just took your tea? I'm curious...

 

[TeaChick]

Burdock can grow up to 4' tall and has very broad leaves. The way you know you're sure you have burdock is if it produces burrs - like a pincushion all the way around that are about 3/4" long and 1/4" wide, oval shaped. Not sure I'm describing that well, but they get stuck in my clothes and can actually be painful to pull out if they're fresh. Maybe put a lot of sugar in the tea? For all the times they've stuck me, I'd love to eat them.

There is a kind that has been cultivated for table use - I think it's a Japanese variety. I know you can still eat ours, but it's the root part - those things have HUGE roots. Hard to pull up, hard to dig. Sigh.

We had a rough winter here, my lemon balm didn't survive the winter, and it's usually hard to kill in our climate.

I searched pictures of it. We have something kind of like that, but I don't think it's really burdock. I'll have to take a pic of what we have; it's kind of like dandelion, but with burred hair all over it. I jokingly named it "angry dandelion"; I kicked one once and my foot got red like I'd kicked a nettle, but it's not what we usually call "nettles".
I'm in the Deep South.

Yeah, we've had a particularly wet winter; it hasn't been severely cold, but it's been rough.

I am by no means an herbalist or an expert. I just like to read about different teas and happen to have some literature about wild plants. I never used ragweed, but I've read that you make the tea using its leaves (about 5 inches long) for 2 cups of boiling water. Crumble the leaves, add it to the boiling water and let it steep for half an hour or so. Discard the leaves and drink a cup. You can sweeten it with a little bit of honey, because the taste is not very pleasant.

For the burdock, this one I have made and tasted. I may be very finicky, but even though it tastes a little sweet, I didn't like the taste either. I not only use burdock as tea, but also in broths.
I think burdock grows everywhere here in the US. I got the root from a friend who ordered it online, so I don't know what kind of burdock it is. I'll ask her and let you know.
You make the tea using the root.
Clean the burdock root with a brush and dry. Then, you peel the root with a potato peeler and let it dry some more. Put the burdock in the cup and add boiling water. Let it steep for some 10 minutes and it's ready to drink.
I don't know if there are side effects to these teas. I never had a problem with burdock in my broth or tea, and the tea is sold in health food stores. You might want to do some research before you drink them.

Thanks for the info!!!
I really appreciate your informational posts. =)

 

[TeaChick]

Searsmom, you have a delightful avatar.

x2

I didn't realize what it is until I looked closely.

Thank you! Although one of those grew up to be an attack hen.

We will do it again this year just because we can!

Ran out of my favorite tea this morning. I like coffee, but for some reason it upsets my stomach now. I have no such issues with tea!

Not to push coffee on the tea thread, but...
Coffee has oils and acids in it. If you're using a regular drip coffee maker with a paper filter, then you're filtering out the oils. Using a French press (or they have reusable filters that don't use paper or that you use in place of paper filters) leaves the oils in the extraction. I found that I have fewer stomach issues when I drink coffee that hasn't been filtered through paper. KWIM?
But tea is better for you. =D

It has been a really long time since I posted on this thread...

I am glad to see that so many folks have found this thread..

I tried another brand Camomile tea. I drank 3 cups last night. It was OK, not my favorite in any shape or form, but at least I didn't have to toss it out this time.
However, I woke up twice last night after having CRAZY nightmares and I NEVER have nightmares.
I did a little googling this evening and discovered that I might be allergic to Camomile... WHO KNEW?

Not me. I didn't know.
I'll have to pay attention for bad dreams after chamomile tea. I have very weird dreams sometimes, but I thought that was just my hormones; could be camomile tea, I guess. I'll have to watch for that. Thanks!

I can't remember if I said this already or not....age.... The chamomile they use in teas is usually German chamomile and I'm not big on the flavor of that stuff. Roman chamomile however, smells like fresh apples and tastes much better than what you find in tea bags. I was disappointed too after growing my own and using it all up in the winter - I went out and bought some and it tasted nothing like what I was used to. It tasted kind of vile, actually. I could understand having nightmares from it. I gave it all away and will start fresh in the spring with more Roman chamomile seed.

Borage tea is a good one - just a few flowers in with some mint - they say it gives you courage and I dunno whats in it but it definitely made me feel more confident. It was a tough time at work....

I've heard of apple chamomile, I wonder if that's Roman chamomile.
Never tried borage tea; DH has taken Borage oil, but IDK what for.

 

[TeaChick]

Wow! I had never heard of that.
The smell of the valerian tincture would give me nightmares

I know what you mean; that stuff smells awful!!!

English breakfast tea reminds me of the birth of my youngest daughter. I was the midwife's last delivery before she went off duty and she was clearly on a mission. No sooner had she handed me the baby than she was scrubbing round my face with a wet flannel. Next she stuffed a toothbrush full of toothpaste into my mouth and almost before i could react, she seized the baby, put her in the crib and handed me a cup of tea. Just them my husband, who had been to ring relatives with the news, returned. Smiling lovingly at the baby in her crib he absent mindedly took the cup of tea out of my hands and drank it down!

That's a parent for you; on autopilot. =D
DH doesn't drink tea, but if it had been coffee, he would have done the same thing (except he takes his coffee much lighter and not nearly as sweet as I do).

I have always found that the birth celebrations and presents reduce proportionately to the number of children you have. With the first one it is all cards, roses and boxes of handmade chocs from a fabulously expensive and exclusive shop. By the last one it is carry your own suitcase to the car and a bar of choc from the hospital shop if he's got the change. Such is life!

Aww. I know what you mean.

But, to take a woman's tea after giving birth, that requires years of begging apologies.

...it would definitely be his last child.

I would bring that up at every disagreement. it would be my winning card. 'Yeah, I crashed the car...but you drank my TEA!'

Crashed the car vs. drank my tea. That would never stand up in my house. lol