The Modern Hippy

     Rick surprised me a few weeks ago with a “real” camera, a Nikon D5000. *insert screaming sound here* It was amazing, crazy even! My bargain shopper found a kit with the camera, a bag and two lenses – one “far away” lens of 55-200mm and one “wide-ish” lens of 18-55mm for a quite reasonable price.

     So, most of my pictures here, unless I pull from old folders, will be “real camera” photos. Like I said, it’s amazing. I haven’t had contact with a real camera, that wasn’t point and shoot, since high school, since my dad’s old, super awesome manual camera. It’s been so long I forgot what aperture meant. Thanks to one of my favorite bloggers, The Pioneer Woman, I’ve been reminded. I even learned a little. After all DSLRs are different from old film manual cameras. So, if you want a DSLR, or have recently acquired one and don’t have a good grasp of aperture or shutter speed, have a look at Ree’s, What the Heck – Basic Photography Archives. Funny and well described, thanks so much for this Pioneer Woman!

Now, to perfect my skills, as they are non-existent at the moment!

     For the last few months we’ve been contemplating a water filter. The original reason was to filter out fluoride. Then I learned that Bellingham does not have fluoride added to the water. Yay! Excellent! So I felt less pressured to get a filter, I still wanted one, but wanted to buy one that I felt was high quality, though not super expensive. I did a little research and found that one brand had several good reviews, New Wave Enviro. Our co-ops and Terra Organica, another local healthy grocery store, both carried one of their filters. But the one I was looking at was listed at about $115, which for us, is kind of a large amount of money. I agonized over it. I could buy it, but could I afford it? Then a friend mentioned that Terra Organica carried a much less expensive one by the same company, priced around $32. Interesting. I wanted to know the difference between the two, so I put off buying it until I figured it out. And true to form, I forgot and didn’t pursue it further. Procrastinating and forgetting is what I do, very well.

     Recently, I volunteered to become a “practice client” for someone I know whom has been going through nutritional therapy training. I answered a few questions, gave a thorough health history and discussed the things I wanted resolved. One of the things that I might be having trouble with is my liver, it may be over taxed. It fits with my increasing sensitivity to artificial scents, cleaners, cigarette smoke, alcohol, and much more. I’m not really surprised, I’ve been wondering if there was something up with it. Anyway, she recommended that I stop drinking tap water. In fact she was very surprised that I did, considering I eat fairly healthy and avoid all sorts of other nasty things. If nothing else I should use a Brita filter, she said. At least that will take out the chlorine, which is a poison and no one should ever ingest. Haha, yup, that’s right. It’s used to clean water and no one should ingest it. Oh the crazy things we’ve done while “progressing”.

     I told Rick about it once I got home and he urged me to get that $32 filter and not “settle” for the Brita(nothing wrong with the Brita, it just doesn’t take as much out). Plus having the little spout that hooks up to the faucet that doesn’t have to be refiled like a Brita was going to make my life of cooking, kombuchaing, etc. much easier.

     Well, I have it now. Rick and I noticed the change in the taste of the water right away. It tastes cleaner. The funny thing is, I thought our water tasted clean before. Now it’s pristine. Yup, I’m very happy with it. I’m making plans as to what needs filtered water, the kombucha, the humidifier, tea pot, drinking water of course, the animals drinking water, soaking grains and legumes, soups when I decide to make some, rinsing any foods – I wish I had one for the shower. Perhaps we’ll get that in the future. For now, I’m very pleased with my nifty cool “Fresh Water Works Filter”.

     If you don’t feel like going to their site and reading the unpronounceable names and where they come from I’ll condense it for you. Organic mercury(sounds like an oxymoron right?), which we know is very bad for us, can cause kidney damage and I think brain damage in those very young kiddos. Some crazy things such as acrylamide that are added to water for sewage treatment. Apparently, we have to use nasties to clean out the other nasties. Things like dioxin, which run off of chemical plants – can cause reproductive problems and make you more likely to get a cancer. There are many more that end in “ide”, “zine”, and “chlor” that come from pesticides, herbicides, chemical plants, refineries and much more. The last one I will mention is organic arsenic. People used to kill each other with in back in the day – very bad, increases your cancer risk. And all these nasty things your liver has to filter out, while filtering through the residues in your food, the shower steam you inhale, the alcohol drank on weekends, the exhaust from cars, anything else artificial or organic that isn’t actually safe to breathe or ingest. Give you liver a break, because it works hard enough before you even drink a glass of water. Getting a water filter is a good first step to take if you are planning a detox in the near future.

     As far as installation it’s very easy. It is a counter top unit with a hose, it’s own little “faucet” coming off the filter. It has an attachment that connects to your faucet. It will work for any faucet (unless it’s really old and doesn’t have threading) whether your faucet has inward or outward threads. It comes with an adapter in case your faucet has an “innie”, so that it will fit onto the connector which requires an “outie”. I know that is overly technical. Kidding of course, just at the moment I can’t remember the official name of the types of threading etc. Anyway, all you do is screw everything together and turn it on! Let it run for about five minutes to help clear out any sediment. Ours ran grey – it was the charcoal – for a few minutes. It is recommends that you don’t use hot water because it will wear out the filter sooner. So in the morning, I fill the kettle with filtered water and wait for it to start steaming, so I can have warm lemon water(it’s good for you, keeps you regular).

     One last thing, there is a slight difference in the $32 filter and the more expensive one. It appears to be that it filters out lead, cysts(?), and something called cryptosporidium. Eventually, we’ll upgrade to take out those things, until then I’m hoping there isn’t a lot of lead in our water. It the little steps that count. My liver will be much happier for now. When I do a detox later in the year it will be more thorough because all the water I’ll be drinking will be less toxic.

     After you make a huge change in your lifestyle, it can be a little challenging when you go to plan a vacation, whether it be camping, travel over seas, road tripping, or just a mini-break spent at your father and step-mother-in-laws on the Long Beach Peninsula. Do you change what you eat, or use or do normally to make it easier? (Is that even an options?) Or do you soldier on, sticking with your convictions?

     Rick and I went away for a few days recently. Over the last few years, as we have been students and changed careers many times, have not had a ton of money to spend on travel. Also, until recently, Rick couldn’t do much traveling anyway, his health complicated simple trips of more than a few minutes. At the moment at least, he’s doing well and we can plan to act like a “normal” couple, taking little trips here and there. We are just learning how to do the green, organic, gluten free “hippy” way of traveling. It’s scary, exciting and very fun so far!

     Before we left, we did searches looking for gluten free options (as this is the most important part of our life) anywhere near Ocean Park, where we were staying on the peninsula. I wanted to find anything. And we found THC Organic Market in Long Beach, the town. I was so excited! I was going to take pictures, shop and generally be a total hippy nerd.

     Not long after we left, I realized that I had forgotten our shampoo. Shoot! What was I going to do? I was agonizing over it while we drove. Because though I don’t wash my hair daily, there was going to be one “hair wash day” in the middle of the mini-break (UK version of mini vacation – I have friends from there and think “mini-break” sounds better). I don’t like using my plain castile soap on my hair, I had tried that once with very little luck. Although, to be fair, my hair was really long then, not short as it is now.

     The first full day that we were on the peninsula, Rick and I went on a mission. Rather, I was on a mission and Rick was along for the ride. We searched and searched, following google maps directions on his phone, to find THC Organic Market. Nothing, it wasn’t where it should have been – according to the map. I’ve discovered since living in Bellingham, that Google Maps don’t always do everything perfectly. Just as we were going to give up, we drove further into town, and stumbled upon the market! There it was, at the end of a long building, just across the street from the Neptune – the local movie theatre. I just about lost my self control I was so excited!

     There was a little “A” frame sign with the days soup special(if I remember correctly) out front. Inside we found a smallish store, packed seven or eight feet high, with all the stuff I could find at the Bellingham Community Co-op! I was in heaven! There were organic products everywhere! (I know the name has “organic” in the name, but you never know.)
After a few minutes of being completely ridiculous, I settled down and looked for stuff I might need. Tea. I had woken up with a sore throat that morning and didn’t have any of my soothing tea with me. I found a whole section of Yogi teas. Review on the tea itself will be coming soon!

     As I was browsing, resisting Rick’s urges to get going, I ran across my shampoo brand. Actually, found my exact shampoo, that doesn’t burn me or make me itch. (Also, should do a review on that as well.) My day was complete. I could wash my hair the following day without worry. Yes, I am a teeny, tiny bit neurotic and prefer my hair washed once it’s passed the three day mark. So far in my hair experiments that is as far as I have gotten. Anyway, getting side-tracked.

     We ended up getting some of our “normal” groceries at THC Organic Market. We were able to enjoy organic butter on our gluten free rolls(from our co-op), cups and cups of Throat Comfort Yogi Tea, and a good shampooing the next morning (okay, almost afternoon). It was so awesome we went back the next day to show Rick’s dad and step-mom, George and Judy – and get gluten free donut holes and buffalo jerkey.

     So if you ever find yourself on the Long Beach Peninsula in need of tea, shampoo, pet food, organic anything. Check out the THC Organic Market. Get their address, get the Neptune Twin Theatre’s address for reference. Or if you don’t mind talking on the phone(like I do), give them a call for good directions. Just don’t rely on Google Maps, (sorry Google,you are cool but the maps needs work). Mapquest?

     To read their story, check out their site closer, or for updates, click on the following links:
Website: THC Organic Market
Facebook page(updates): THC Organic Market Facebook Page

     Last year a friend of mine cut her super gorgeous long hair off and donated it to Locks of Love. I just had to steal her idea! Last summer I roasted alive in the heat. There were days in the 90’s in north western Washington. We aren’t built for that. Or at least I’m not anymore.

     Since last summer I grew my hair out further to make sure I had enough to cut off and enough to play around with(yes I ended a sentence with a preposition). It took forever! I got so sick of it. I reminisced about my high school days of short hair, even the short “do” I sported three years ago.

     Finally, two weeks ago I made an appointment. I had my hair chopped off last Thursday! I had 12 inches for Locks of Love and several more for experimentation, most of which ended up on the floor. If only my compost was ready! Though I’m not sure one should put hair, especially lots of hair in a compost. Have yet to run across that in an article.

     It’s done! I have very little hair left! What’s left is a fabulous bob that I love! Even a small amount of bangs, which I have not had in almost 14 years. Shoot, I need to be careful that my inner vanity doesn’t splatter all over this post. Hehe.

     Now, I have my hair in an envelope, under the bathroom sink, safe from Milo’s destructive path. Since my hair is so fine it’s really slippery and started to get all over the place and come out of the pony tail while I was at the salon. I’ve got to carefully place it back in order, which could prove to be a challenge. I want it to be useful for some little girl or boy whom has gone bald due to chemo. So, if you are planning to chop your locks in the near future, give this a thought. Locks of Love provides kids with cancer wigs of real hair. It’s a charity. And though it may not seem like making a wig is all that important. Could you imagine being a prepubescent or pubescent girl/boy already very insecure with their new feelings and on top of that an illness and subsequent treatments that completely reform their body? Plus, it’s way better than tossing the hair in the garbage. Win, win for me.

     I will say that there are other ways to “recycle” your hair cuttings. There is a company, Matter of Trust, that uses it to make something, a rug or whatever, to soak up oil. And since there is a huge spill in the Gulf Coast, now might be a good time to bring a baggie to the stylist, to bring back your hair that is too short for Locks of Love. I’ll be researching how I might be able to acquire hair from salons around here and send it to the company for all those poor marine creatures. Stay tuned!

Note: A friend of mine also chopped her locks this weekend for Locks of Love. As long as she doesn’t mind I’ll add a before and after picture of her hair.
For detailed information about how to donate your hair click, Locks of Love. For information about Matter of Trust, the company that makes the stuff to clean up spills, click here. I’m going to read more about them. It appears that they take pet hair and wool as well, which is nifty.

Missy the Modern Hippy

Low impact camping or camping the hippy way.

     A couple of weekends ago, Rick and I and long time friends, went camping at Larrabee State Park. We all love the outdoors, fresh air, rain, sun, trees. Not mosquitoes. Since we aren’t rolling in the dough and friend Erin couldn’t get away from work, we decided to do a quickie camping trip.
You’d think it wasn’t relaxing if all we did was pack, sleep to nights, repack and unpack. Actually, it was amazingly recharging. And since it’s still spring, it’s a better idea to do a shorter trip in case the weather is less than perfect. Which was the case.
     Since we went camping and it’s the beginning of camping season, I thought I’d do a post about how to camp low impact or camping the hippy way(my version, as there could be many).
     First, before I begin my list of nifty cool things and ideas, I have to say, I’m not a hardcore camper. I love camping, but I prefer access to showers(though I will try camping without, near a river), and toilets(also, willing to try without). I have never camped at a place I had to hike. Not yet. I’m willing, and if Erin has her wish, we’ll probably go this year. Possible Nooksack trip? Who knows. But I love the outdoors, until they try to steal our food of course. Raccoons! Cute, but nasty. Camping is something I’ve only recently become excited about and interested in. I’ve always loved my time outdoors, but at the end of the day I could go back for a shower. Everything I say about camping, or that I’ve tried, has been used at a site, in a campground, with a bathroom or port-a-potty (not recently emptied, bleh) not at a far away place where you pack in everything in one trip. I think I’ll try that someday, but not right now. Anyway, onto the camping recommendations.

Castile soap – One needs soap to clean hands, dishes etc. Castile soap is biodegradable as long as there isn’t anything else nasty added to it. I love Dr. Bronner’s tea tree liquid soap. I’ve used it for dishes, regular hand washing, showering etc.

Cast iron pan – This is something I use camping and at home! Though they are rather heavy. They can be used over a fire grate or on a propane stove of some sort. As long as you know how to cook with them, and they have been properly seasoned, they are relatively easy to clean and use the next time around.

Java log – This is a recent discovery. I’ve felt a little strange about burning wood. I feel badly, like it’s wasteful. How is one supposed to be sure the wood you are burning was chopped down ethically? Where does firewood at stores even come from? I’ve been lucky enough to have access to wood at my parents house. Each year a tree or part of a tree there falls down in a wind storm. They don’t have a wood stove so it piles up, ready for whomever goes camping. However, the last several times I’ve “borrowed” wood, it’s burned super fast, leaving us without. This time camping, Erin decided to buy a Java log. They are supposed to burn for 2-3 hours. They are made out of coffee grounds and vegetable waxes which burns cleaner than wood, and much hotter. And since I think camping should include a fire(not a very hippy view I know) a java log might just be the answer to your problems. My experience, though it was only one night, was a good one. I’ll be doing more “testing” on my own, in order to come up with a more complete review of this. For now, it’s worth a try!

Enamel or other type of reusable cookware – I hate, and I mean HATE, paper and Styrofoam plates and plastic cutlery. It’s soooo wasteful. It doesn’t get reused, creates waste that might even fly away at your campsite, not to mention the stuff that makes it to the landfill. I’m fully in support of reusable cookware/dinnerware. We bought blue enamel plates, cups, and bowls. Though they aren’t super light, like you might want if you plan to hike a ways to a site, for the type of camping we tend to do, they are just wonderful. And on top of being non-wasteful, they are super easy to wash. Food doesn’t seem to stick at all. Just a little bit of soap and water and it all slides off to leave a clean plate behind. Just remember, if it chips that means that tiny little chips might end up in your food, which is not very a good thing, even if it is “safe”. Be nice to your plates, cups and bowls and they should last for a long, long time!

Tea pot – Yup. Simple huh? It seems the camping coffee peculator shines brighter than the little old tea pot. But really, tea is something that almost everyone can drink. It’s usually better for you. And you can use it to boil water for dishes so your fingers don’t freeze. Or just in case something goes wrong with your water supply, boil the water for drinking.

Linen bag for granola or trail mix – Our friends used a couple of linen bags for the granola and trail mix they brought to the August camping trip last year. I have yet to make my own linen bags to use for camping or everyday stuff. I refuse to pay $5 for a bag I or Rick could make for a $1 or so.

Biodegradable toilet paper – Because you just never know.

Towels – instead of paper towels for obvious wasteful reasons.

     The list could go on and on. The limit is only your imagination. If you have ideas let me know. I’ll add them to the list. For now, I’ll leave you with these basic ideas to ponder, and hopefully use on your next camping trip!

     So you want to brew your own kombucha tea. Excellent! Now to figure out how to do it. You can do it starting with a baby kombucha from someone else, or grow your own. You can buy kombucha cultures, look online or at your local health food store. I got one from a friend so have no experience growing a kombucha from a started culture. I did however, find this site that asks you to pay for shipping and you’ll get a little kombucha culture.

     Either way, once you have a kombucha baby ready to ferment some awesome tea, here is what you will need:

• Kombucha baby or scoby
• 13-14 cups of water, preferably filtered
• 2 cups of the original kombucha( you can substitute raw apple cider vinegar, I’ve read about 2 tablespoons or so)
• 2 cups of sugar(I’ve used unrefined, milled sugar which is beige in color, but white is fine as well)
• 5 tea bags or 5 tablespoons of loose leaf tea(more can be used if you want a stronger flavor)
• Large sauce pan
• Gallon glass jar
• Clean dish towel, not super fluffy
• Rubber band or hair tie to secure the dish towel
• Strainer if using loose leaf tea and you don’t want a few leaves in the finished product
• Plastic spoon
• Vinegar
• Lots of time

     First, make sure that everything is clean! Wash and rinse well, then rinse with vinegar. You don’t want a lot, if any water with chlorine in it, because chlorine kills bacteria and yeasts, even the good stuff. Vinegar is much safer. Wash your hands well. Take off any rings before dealing with the scoby. After the scoby is added to the mixture, do not use any metal tools! This is because it can leach stuff out of the metal. It’s fine if the sauce pan is metal, it won’t come into contact with the kombucha baby.

     Bring the 13-14 cups of water to boil, turn off the heat, add the tea and let it steep for 20 minutes. For a stronger flavor let it brew longer. Take out the tea bags, or strain out the loose leaves. I just leave the loose stuff in the pot while it cools, they sink to the bottom. I don’t want another dirty dish to wash. Let cool. Once it is getting close to skin temperature, pour directly into the glass gallon jug. I leave the tea to cool in the metal sauce pan because it cools off faster. Glass holds heat better and longer, and it will take forever to finish cooling if you put it in the glass jar too soon. Make sure you leave enough room for 2 cups of original kombucha and the scoby it’s self, plus a little more room. It needs room to grow another one.

     Add the 2 cups of sugar, stirring until it’s dissolved. Continue letting the sweetened tea mixture cool until it is room temperature or cooler (especially, if you are in a hot room, or it’s summer). This is where the Lots of time comes in. Go do something else for a while. Remember, if you have pets keep them away from your little brewing kit. You don’t want their germs in it.
     Once it has cooled enough, pour in the 2 cups of the original batch. I’ve read that you can also substitute 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar as well. I haven’t needed to, so I don’t know what to expect with that scenario. Once the other 2 cups are added, stir gently. Then gently slip the kombucha baby into the mixture.
     Reminder! Make sure you have washed your hands before touching the scoby! And do not wear your rings if you have rings. No metal should come into contact with the baby. Also, rings can harbor unseen bacteria easily. You want to keep this mixture uncontaminated!

     Cover with the towel, secure it and put it in a dark cool place, out of the way. The temperature affects how fast the kombucha ferments. I recommend 2 weeks or more for fermenting. Check every few days to see how it’s going along.

     Once you think it’s fermented long enough you can “harvest” the kombucha. Pour out the kombucha you want to drink, into a glass or plastic container, once again, do not store it in a metal container. Save enough kombucha tea for the next batch or two. Enjoy!

     You had to know this was coming. It’s been on my mind almost daily for months. It’s been a consideration of mine for at least a couple of years.

     A couple of years ago I remembered hearing about foods that were being genetically engineered. “Huh” I thought. That doesn’t seem like a good idea. I have a deep seeded worry about screwing too much with nature. In most cases, on a very logical level, nature knows best. And even as a fledgling “modern hippy” I knew that. But I thought, while shopping through Central Market, it’s years off. There isn’t anything to worry about. Besides, they would have to label it.

     In my reading, I have found all my impressions of safety, for that time, were unfounded. It was released. We weren’t told, or even asked. It’s not labeled. They don’t want it labeled. It’s not exactly the same. It hasn’t been properly tested to the fullest extent. It’s worth billions. We’ve been eating it for years. Yup, eating it for years. And making a few companies billions richer.

     I will be writing a blog series about genetically modified/engineered organisms. I want to cover the following topics and questions:

• Generally is it safe?
• Has it been tested?
• What if anything is different about GM food versus “normal” food?
• How much of it do we eat?
• How do they genetically modify something?
• What is being made public, what is being covered up?
• What in the world can we do?
• And much much more

     What I can tell you now is it’s not pretty. It’s not going to make you happy or feel safe. It might make you hate people, the government, corporations, money – sounds dramatic I know, but they would be valid reactions. Or it might make you feel nothing( I sincerely hope this is not the case). I hope, if nothing else, you’ll learn a little bit and try to think for yourselves.

     My favorite subject! Aunt Flow or Moon Time, whatever you want to call it! haha
Gentlemen, this shouldn’t contain anything too gross. Just pictures and exclamations of excitement!!

     Here’s what I got in my custom order from Moon Pads!

     I love opening her packages. They come with a short handwritten note, directions for the pads and a business card. Everything is just so neat and tidy. Oh and the directions are printed on recycled paper! What else can I say? They are so pretty and colorful. I had so much fun “posing” the pads. A little bit more experience with photoshop and these might look even more lovely!

     And it was just so much fun that the sun was coming through the windows just right. Or fairly well anyway. These sat in their mailing envelope for a week or more, while I waited for just the right time, just the right day with enough light so I didn’t need a flash.

I’ll let you know if these turned out to be enough to finish my supply! So far I’m loving it!

For other posts on this subject, feel free to check out the following links:

Moon Time meet Aunt Flow
Moon Time Again – Taking back control of your period and your life
Aunt Flow Part 2 – Feminine Products
Raspberry Leaf Tea – A Woman’s Tonic
Raspberry Leaf Tea Made in My New Tea Pot!
Aunt Flow Part 1

     A couple of months ago I discovered kombucha. I thought it tasty, a pleasant alternative to juice on occasion. In talking to a friend of mine, Christy, I found out that kombucha may actually be good for me. Excellent! This sent me on a researching frenzy.

     Here’s a little about kombucha:

     Where it actually originated is a mystery. No one knows. However, it is known to have been used in China, Japan, and Russia for centuries. It’s been used for medicinal purposes. It’s said to be able to help cleanse the body, benefit the digestive system, aid in curing cancer, regulate the digestive system, and many other things.
     What kombucha is: a fermented tea. It is very basically, alive bacteria and yeasts – thus a probiotic. I know it sounds gross, but it’s true. The kombucha scoby, short for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast, is a colony of bacteria and yeasts. It is brewed in a cooled tea with sugar. The tea provides the base for the growth, and the sugar the food. It’s tastes varies depending on the type of tea used to brew.

     In researching the health benefits of kombucha tea, I’ve found mixed results. I’ve found the Mayo Clinic and Skepticblog mentioning that there are no trials done on humans, showing any positive results.They simply have not been done, or as I sometimes wonder, properly publicized. Both sites, among others, recommend caution, as with brewing anything, if you get contamination, you might grow something that will make you sick. These are very valid concerns.

     On the other hand, I have found sites recommending it, along with other fermented food things such as kefir. Seeds of Health, a UK site, gives a good general description of many other these types of things. This and other sites, mention that it has been used in China and Japan for centuries. That these cultures viewed it as beneficial.
     There are also stories of people drinking kombucha everyday when they were sick with an illness and after a while they were cured. The most famous of these stories is of the founder of GT Kombucha. Basically, his mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, ended up drinking kombucha and the growth slowed. Unless I remember the story incorrectly, she’s still alive and that all too place in 1995.
     I will not take away from those whom believe in this drink, having real life experience with them, perhaps centering around almost, but not loosing their lives. It’s a very, very emotional experience, one that should be respected and not ridiculed.

     My opinion:
     I say why the hell not? It makes sense to me that fermented kombucha tea would be beneficial like kefir and yogurt. It is alive after all. Everything that I’ve been reading is the more alive your food is, the better it is for you and the healthier you will be. There is also something to be said about something that Eastern Cultures have been using for centuries if not millenia. They get it right often enough for me to believe them, and not the Western Culture’s idea. Plus it seems that kombucha is packed full of vitamins and minerals, organic acids (organic meaning real, not USDA organic) and other micro-nutrients such as polyphenols. Some of the nutrients found in kombucha tea are vitamin C, some B vitamins, acetic acid, and glucuronic acid. These vitamins and mineral don’t magically appear once the kombucha is done fermenting. From what I’ve read, it’s the tea you use to make the “base”, that contains most of the nutrients. Why not drink plain tea? Well, let’s not forget about the scoby, mushroom, mother, baby, whatever you want to call it. That is the live part, the part that should benefit your intestinal flora, which due to the way we eat, or have eaten throughout our lives, is probably lacking in vitality. Combining the tea’s nutrients with the scoby’s life seems like a wonderful, symbiotic idea.

     Some things to consider:
     Both sides will caution against contamination. The “anti-kombucha” side or skeptical side, will say it is probably safer to buy prebottleg stuff from the store rather than brew your own. The “pro-kombucha” side will say “wash your hands”, “through out if there is mold growing in it” etc. I’ll reiterate, wash your hands, make sure all appliances are properly washed and rinse with vinegar before using. Use a fresh towel to dry your hands as needed, not a two day old one. Cover with a CLEAN towel, secure with a CLEAN tie of some sort. Don’t sneeze in it. Don’t drop food in it. Don’t use things that aren’t dried properly. Don’t stick your fingers in it if you haven’t washed them. It should smell like fermenting stuff, slightly sweet and vinegar like. It shouldn’t smell like the trash, or like something is rotting horribly. Keep it in a place that is protected from constant daily things, like in a cupboard with a door. Be logical and smart about it. You are dealing with bacteria and yeasts. But, in my opinion, it is perfectly safe, as long as you follow the precautions.

     Another consideration is since this will contain bacteria and yeast, someone whom is severely immuno-compromised should consult their doctor, preferable a naturopathic doctor to make sure its a good idea, or at least safe. Someone whom has a yeast/candida problem should also check with their doc and watch themselves very closely.
     Either way, do your research, then make an educated decision. And stay tuned. I decided to learn to brew my own kombucha! A post with some pictures and directions shall follow in the next couple of weeks!

     Yesterday, after I left Vendor’s Row(was hanging out with Christy, The Coffee Lady) on Western’s campus, I walked by this building. I’m completely enamored with it. Bellingham seems to have a large quantity of awesome stucco buildings, mostly houses. In this case, a small apartment building, which probably was a house. This one is nestled in amongst old craftsman and Victorian type homes overlooking downtown and the bay. What struck me yesterday was the lighting was finally decent and the drapes in a room on the top floor were green, very green. Perhaps the most common color you will find in nature on this side of the mountains, this shade is rarely found hanging in a window in the form of a curtain. Perfect. That’s what I think. Bellingham is awesome.