Kefir

I've had milk kefir going for a year or so.  I'm not very consistent with it though I did charge it up after I got out of the hospital.  My gut is a mess after all those antibiotics :)
Recently I decided I wanted to try water kefir.  The idea of the fermented sugar is hard to work around.  Don't they call that wine? Ha.  Well, the purported health benefits are many and varied and I like that you can flavor it with bits of fruit.  I found many bits when I moved the freezer contents upstairs.  I also found that many think maple syrup (in part because of the minerals) is an ideal sugar for the first ferment (I've got gallons), and egg shells from pastured chickens are a great addition for calcium (again, got them), and well water is preferable (lack of chlorine, etc.).  Putting the new town water lines from the road to the cellar and then not using them was an expensive choice but for water kefir it's all worth it I suppose?
So, first batch is in the second ferment tonight.  It has regular cane sugar (had to remember where I stashed that) and a bit of blackstrap molasses in the first ferment, then some blackcaps and coconut bits in the second.  The second batch is in it's first ferment, using the egg shells and the maple syrup.  Neither is terribly bubbly but it is working slowly.  I think that I read that the first batches are slower as the grains adjust.
Getting this "done" followed my typical pattern of doing mountains of research for a pretty simple job.  I tend to work this way when I don't have alone time in the morning at home.  When I am at home without interruptions I can usually do many jobs and feel successful about the day.  Today we had to get out early, all of us together, and by the time I came home most of my vigor is used up.  There was progress in areas (garden cardboard, groceries, dishes, venison packaging) but not much in the "done" category.