Cold and flu remedies


It was brought to my attention yesterday that I omitted a few viral components of the Irish approach to cold & flu management in my blog. Which is fair.

I really wanted that hot whiskey. And I got it, even if I ended up spilling half of it over myself (I sneezed. It was painful. I'm ok though).

Anyway, back to the other remedies for cold & flu.

This, along with some Lemsip (not pictured cos it's all the way in the kitchen & Al is refusing to get it just for a picture...) is the essential kit for curing cold & flu, imo.

Now look, there are loads of natural remedies and other medecines... but these are the ones, with the hot whiskeys, that I turn to, when in mid-cold.

Without the Vick's, I'd be struggling with breathing. Seriously, bowl of hot, almost-bur-not-quite boiling watwater, lump of Vicks in it, towel covering your head & the bowl... this will cure any blocked nose. And sure, the night time ritual of getting Vick's rubbed into your chest & back helps loosen up the chest.

Orange juice & water are for fluids. Tissue should be obvious. As should Benylin.

I'm also teaching a class in 2 hrs.. I'm almost certain no one will catch this thing over zoom, but sure, we'll find out, won't we?

Normal service will resume soon...

Bríd libh

Órlagh

Hi, I'm Orlagh, of Brigid's Forge

I'm dedicated to helping women in particular develop their spiritual path in life. I'm focused heavily on Brigid in Ireland, although not all my followers are! I teach, speak, coach and mentor people to help them along their own individual path, based on what lore we have, but also allowing for each individual path to develop as it needs to.

Read more from Hi, I'm Orlagh, of Brigid's Forge
My favourite t-shirt - a skeleton holding a pink drink with pink letters around them saying "I Hate People"

For a long time, I had a problem I couldn't solve. My relationship with Brigid was growing. My Catholic upbringing wasn't going anywhere - not because I was still practising in any conventional sense, but because it's in me, in the way that anything you're raised inside is in you. And I couldn't work out how to hold both things at once. I've written about this conflict recently - the specific discomfort of being a pagan Catholic, of loving figures who belong to a tradition you've also had...

Image of me standing int he sea

I want to be honest with you about something, because I think it might be useful. The last few months have been hard. I've been struggling with anxiety - properly struggling, not just the background hum that most of us carry, but the kind that makes the ordinary things feel effortful and the future feel unreliable. I'm getting professional help, and that matters. But alongside that, I've been going to the sea more than usual. On the rougher days - the ones where everything felt loud and sharp...

An image of a busy and very hot summer's day in Tramore!

Last week, Ireland decided to have actual summer. Thirty degrees. Proper heat, the kind we're categorically not built for. We don't have air conditioning in the house. We do have a €30 mini air conditioner from Amazon that makes a heroic amount of noise for very little cooling effect. What we also have is a car with functioning air con - so I did what any sensible person would do. I invented a reason to drive to Waterford. I had exam scripts to collect. This was true. It was also, I'll be...