Kombucha Korner and Ratty-Tatty Jim-Jams

I have tried and failed to maintain Kombucha over the past year.  My ever-patient source of all things Kombucha, Lisa, has come to my rescue on numerous occasions.  I had thrown in the towel and dehydrated my last SCOBY and moved on, when I came across a Freecycle listing for a free SCOBY in a town not too far from me.  It had been a while since my last attempt, so I pulled up my BGPs and said I would love one.  Well, this time it's magic!  First, the SCOBY I inherited was about an inch thick.  A big, lovely, healthy SCOBY.  Second, the woman who had grown this lovely thing was something of an Earth Goddess type.  I drove quite a distance, following both paved and dirt roads, until I came to a dead end on a very remote dirt road and rolled into a little slice of Heaven, tucked way back into the woods.  If I had known, I would have put the dogs in the car and packed a bag...


She gave me some very good information, handed over this monster SCOBY plus some Kombucha to house it safely, and was thrilled to get a dozen eggs in return. 


It's been over three months and look!


L-R:  New batch of Kombucha fermenting;
Kombucha Hotel; bottled Kombucha in
last fermentation before fridge
(Check out the SCOBY in that jar!)

I even have a SCOBY hotel!  I feel absolutely virtuous.


Hold that feeling.


I admit that I hang onto clothing way past its lifetime.  I will patch, mend, sew, darn, glue, and do whatever necessary to keep it together.  This is particularly true with two items in my wardrobe - my dressing gown/bathrobe and my favorite cotton pullover/sweatshirt thing.

OMG

OMGG!!!

I am inordinately attached to my robe.  It is an LLBean chamois robe that originally belonged to my maternal grandmother - although that is not the source of my sentiment.  She has been gone for - it's got to be over 20 years!  I have patched it, I have put new collar and cuffs and a tie on it.  But it is now literally falling apart at the seams.  Seams I have resewn.  I have not been able to find a robe that I liked as much as this one.  I even ordered a new chamois robe that was woefully poorer in quality.  So I clung onto the original for dear life.  I had to revisit the need for a new robe this fall, as I am afraid the sleeves will fall off and I will freeze.  Lo and behold, I think I have found a replacement that may stand up to this high benchmark!  It's another LLBean robe - even though more and more of their trademark items are falling to Chinese low standards.  I received it yesterday and I think it will stand up to the test of time.  Check with me in 20+ years.


The cotton sweatshirt?  The neck, wrist and hem bands have stretched into a ruffled state and it is rather fragile.  I don't dare wear it.  So it lies supine in a bottom drawer.  I am sentimental to a fault.