this little herbie catches a bug

We're a week from the Nov/Dec publication deadline for The Essential Herbal, and of course the soap biz is crazy at this time of year, so coming down with a virus isn't good.
Last night I started feeling something going on in my throat, and took a good dose of elderberry with holy basil. This morning it was still there, so I repeated that.
And I got serious about kicking this thing.
My friend Betty Pillsbury suggested some sage tea. My pal Rosanne Tartaro said soup. Here's what I did....
First, I made a blend of tinctures:
elderberry
holy basil
ephedra
goldenrod
St John's wort
All of these are either anti-viral or will help with the head-clog, and very beginning of respiratory issues.
Then I started a big pot of ham and cabbage. This is something we ate all the time when I was a kid, and it is probably a standard PA Dutch dish. My grandmother and mother both loved cabbage, and passed that along to me. So far, the next generation does not share that love.First filling a big pot about 1/3 full of water, and then adding a large ham hock, I left that to simmer for about an hour until the meat came off the bone. To that, I added a nice chopped cabbage, a couple of onions, some turnips, and a few potatoes. That cooked for a couple more hours.
I went into the garden and plucked a nice sprig of sage, and put that into a pint mason jar, along with a slice of crystallized ginger and a licorice root stick, boiled water, and filled the jar, pouring the water over the herbs.Here's my lunch:It was really good, and it will be good again for supper :-).
I will continue the sage tea and the tincture blend every hour or so. This thing just cannot get a grip on me right now!
And now, to bed.