Kefir!

The Water (& milk) kefir 'grains' arrived in the post today! (Thank you, Marilyn 'kefierlady')

I went off to a square dance, & (horrors!) popped them in the fridge -- then got home & opened the packet, which warned against refrigerating them - yikes!! Poor babies! (the outside of the package didn't mention that!)

So I held them, warmed them up & did some Reiki, then 'as suggested' - stirred 1/3 Cup raw sugar into almost a quart of purified water, added a scant ~ 1/8 tsp Cal/mag powder, & the 'water kefir grains' - & set them on top of my stove hood, where the light provides a bit of warmth - & they're bubbling!! Looks a wee bit like a lava lamp, bubbles float up, . . . .

The instructions say "don't worry about all the other ingredients for now. This will feed them for a few day while you gather (them) In other words, do not make them wait to be fed just because you are missing an item or two. Keep them out of the refrigerator!"

I'll move them to a cupboard, as they don't really need to be warm (40 - 80*) but thought they needed a 'head start' after I so rudely made them cold!! I've been enjoying the coconut milk yogurt (there's a suggestion of using coconut milk with the water kefir grains, too) & have eaten/drunk about half of them. I found powdered agar agar, so will try that in the next batch.

Our Health Food store has a water purification system (filtered & alkaline), & you can ask them to fill bottles you bring in so I got a gallon or so yesterday, plus some grapefruit probiotic to wash produce.
A favorite herbalist author, Lalitha Thomas, suggests using GSE in her '10 Essential Foods' - & when I asked the owner 'OK, it's a grapefruit probiotic for washing veggies?' she took me right to the shelf, & commented 'oh, yes! We use GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) on the produce here!' It's very concentrated, so you use ~ 10-20 drops in a gallon of water, & soak the fruits of veg ~ 20 minutes.
Check out the website - there are so many uses for the GSE!! My daughter has been fighting skin problems that have flared since going Gluten Free - maybe this will help! & a bit internally can help fend off an upset tummy if you ingest allergins!

For the milk kefir grains, I asked the friend from whom we get Cherve if I could get some goat milk, that will come Monday! I don't tend to buy milk, but my daughter does, & could prob. spare a quart of 'store milk' till I get the goat milk . . . (I shouldn't 'make them wait to be fed' either!) Her girls love yogurt - hope they enjoy the kefir as well!!

The dance tonight was fun - I rode with severl folks from our club to the town just north of us, for their dance with a different caller - interesting adapting to his quirks & sense of humor! I thought to bring along a GF cookie, so had my own 'cake' (um, cookie) with their ice cream (it was their 'birthday dance')

I'd picked up a dress awhile ago at a thrift store with an intriguing Egyptian print fabric. I'd meant to do 'something' with it, as I didn't really like the style - a 'tent' with full elbow length sleeves. Ah ha! Cut off the skirt, hem the top to make a square dance shirt!
I began the project yesterday, & when I found the red & black ribbon in my sewing box, decided to make it into a 'ribbon shirt'. Our club is 'Braves & Braids,' & while my native heritage isn't obvious to most folks (a little bit of Cherokee on my daddy's side), this seemed like a fun dance costume! I found a black tiered skirt at a thrift store Thur, which I wore tonight.

I'll use the skirt fabric from the 'old' dress with yardage I found today to make a new, fuller skirt. (& pulled the 25% discount slip, so got that discount on my whole purchase!)
There's also a 'club fabric' which I can get from one of the other dancers; they ordered a bolt of print, & a harmonizing brown solid. It's fun to see the different way each gals have put the fabric together, & the matching shirts for the guys.

It was a rainy afternoon, so after my weekly grocery shopping (on 10% when you bring your bag day) I asked if I could 'tuck in' to a cushy chair in the local yarn shop, so I could finish putting the ribbon on the shirt. The bookshop, a couple of coffee shops & the library have comfy corners, too; but the yarn shop seemed a better choice for a crafty project.

Yep - the water is still bubbling away - yea!!