Oops - I hope we've not poisoned ourselves
By Boingboing
@boiboing (13153)
Northampton, England
April 16, 2016 1:40pm CST
My husband just asked me "What was that bottle of water on the table in the kitchen?"
I told him it was the feeding water for my orchid plants.
He looked at me a bit oddly and then jumped to his feet and headed into the kitchen. The penny dropped - he had used my orchid water to dilute the elderflower cordial. We had just drunk elderflower and orchid food water. Worse than that, the water was from the rainwater butt. Oops.
I had wondered why it wasn't fizzy. Perhaps we'll be up all night or maybe I'll burst into bloom in the morning.
22 people like this
22 responses
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
16 Apr 16
Thanks for the laugh. Nothing is allowed on the kitchen counters unless we can drink it...or eat it.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
17 Apr 16
Putting non-potable water (or anything else) in unmarked containers is never wise. It's dangerous.
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
17 Apr 16
@boiboing Every so often there is a tragic story on the news about something caustic being placed in a bottle and a child drinking it with disastrous results.
@GardenGerty (157426)
• United States
17 Apr 16
If you burst into bloom I wanna see pictures. There probably was a lot of natural nutrition in that beverage.
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
16 Apr 16
did you call poison control? you should have tried vomiting it back up at least. yuck
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
16 Apr 16
It was 20 drops in 4 pints. I've tracked down the hazard data and if I drank a whole bottle of undiluted feed the advice is only 'drink lot of water'. So I think the tiny concentration we had will be fine. The bigger risk might be the rainwater.
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16520)
• China
17 Apr 16
Hope nothing's the matter! He should have asked you before diluting the elderflower cordial.It is said that the elderflower cordial is a refreshing drink for the summer.
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
17 Apr 16
No, honestly, I wouldn't expect him to do that. The error was entirely mine. He should perhaps have spotted that it wasn't fizzy but it's still 99% my fault for not labeling the bottle more clearly. He's quite short sighted and it needed more than my little scribble on the label.
1 person likes this
@just4him (305223)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
16 Apr 16
I hope it's nothing more serious than being up all night. 
@sgbrown (1638)
• United States
17 Apr 16
Oh no! This is funny, but I hope no one gets sick from it! With all our grandchildren coming and going, I know not to leave anything like that where they can get it. :)
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
17 Apr 16
We were absolutely fine. Checked the product website for the toxicology data on the plant food (nothing to worry about) and our water butt clearly wasn't too grubby as we made it through the night without any incidents.
@allknowing (130070)
• India
17 Apr 16
I would any day prefer a bloom. I like flowers better than human beings
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
16 Apr 16
HAHAHHA, well maybe you will burst into bloom, or sprout a few inches
@Macarrosel (7498)
• Philippines
17 Apr 16
I hope everything will fine by tomorrow, especially your stomach. Good luck.
