Thank you for a beautiful post, namring, and for the meaningful painting. A warm welcome and a hug to you, from hot and humid Northc Carolina. :)
Turnsit said
Jul 8, 2014
Yes got it, added a reply, now do not see where to read it again, wanted to check again on some of its highlights and details...
namringcharles said
Jul 6, 2014
glad you like it
the arts to keep me going, but I seem to lack the social skills to do anything with it in this day.
where is W. C. Fields when you need him?
(sent you a private message, if it worked)
Turnsit said
Jul 6, 2014
I have been reading your blog, you are truly one of the gifted on the planet, its simply a fact not any ego stroke...prose, poetry, painting, rather unique to been so talented in all arenas...
namringcharles said
Jul 6, 2014
yeah, I'm fairly certain I'm going wait for the new stuff, made it this far and all.
you know Matt, Alaska is so huge, there is a wide range of feels to it. Up north the darkness and deep freeze are off-set by a crystalline beauty found nowhere else. Here in South East, especially where I am, it's rarely below freezing, and we are getting the best of global warming. Lot's of sunshine mixed with my favorite maritime weather, and a rain-forest to boot. The towns are best thought of as staging areas. if you have a boat or plane you can get to deep wilderness in minutes. now that I'm waking up I sort of wish there was a road to somewhere.
I'm pretty sure I'm 1a, but haven't reviewed my huge box of medical archives in a while. The box is in bed with me though, and it's starting to kick so I'll probably do something with it soon.
have a good one.
namringcharles said
Jul 5, 2014
ginger-bug is amazing, and so very easy!
~2tbs grated ginger root, ~2tbs white sugar, ~2c water / large mason jar / counter-top.
start with whole ginger root, and white (I call it 'hot-sugar') {on white sugar: my understanding is that white sugar performs better in this sort of farming, as it is easier for the culture to convert into energy. since most all the sugar is used up by the time you pull your brew, I don't sweat more expensive alternatives.}
the issue of water is also interesting. Distilled or close filtered water is essentially dead, minerally speaking. like any living thing Kefir needs minerals, which can be supplied or boosted with a dollop of good black molasses. I have good water from the tap here in Sitka, and mineral spring down the road I never go to. I fill several one gallon wide mouth jugs and let the chlorine leach out over-night, using them in rotation for cooking waters, and this I prefer over Brita type filters. I'm lucky to live in a fairly clean water environment, Fukishima bleed out aside. I would venture to say that by now most community water is aglow with industrial and agricultural run-off of 100 years, so purchased mineral water might be advisable in your area.
I use my cupped hands to measure things. get yer teaspoon and dump 1 tsp sugar or salt into your cupped hand. usually it nicely fills the deepest part of your cupped palm. after a few times you will never need a teaspoon again for measuring. but if you prefer to measure with more accuracy just do a google search and you will find 100 different pages of the same ginger-bug article...
but for fun let me say 1 tablespoon or 2 of grated fresh ginger root, about an equal amount of sugar, and a cup or so of water. (two hands beggared together is about that.) I'd encourage new gingernauts to stay loose on measuring cause pretty soon you will naturally learn to measure to the moment instead of to the theory.
I usually dissolve the sugar in water and then add to the ginger; a large mason jar works, and cheese-cloth is your friend if you have curious insects about, (which curiously, I do not). after a few days you got your ginger bug. you know it's living when you put your ear to the jar opening and listen to the ginger-tune ~bubbling and fizzing like a good champagne.
Once the proof is made, just feed it like a fish every day or so in the same measures.
To use ginger-bug, simply strain (or not) into your chosen juice or kombucha-kefir blends at about 1gb/3~. pretty much any juice will work. The taste is divine for pennies a day. and you can add it to sauces, use it as perfume, and probably as an antiseptic. ginger root is fairly awesome.
to refine your new-found pleasure, bottle and cap it tight, keeping a bit of air space in the bottle to assist the carbonation.
Soon, a day or so, your bottled ginger-bug may become a ginger bomb so be careful how you bottle it. wine bottles are not the thing for this. Some scrounge up champagne bottles and recork, but I much prefer recycling the standard 1-2 litre soda bottles which are designed for pressure, and have the added benefit of being squeezable, which is a good way to monitor carbonation progress. you can burp it by loosening the cap and tightening it again, if necessary.
The result is better than any ginger-ale you can buy in a store, and like kombucha, it's not $4 a dead pasteurized bottle, but a live and healthy 4 cents.
be wary of champagne type fountains while you get the hang of it. open the cap slow and let the pressure bleed, and be prepared for big time fizz.
Some like their ginger hot, some mild. your hand already knows the way, so add/subtract ginger to satisfy your taste of good things.
Part of my wake up routine is several minutes feeding my cultures and ferments. I stir some flour into the sourgh-dough crock and water if necessary, and yawningly grate some ginger into the jar with a toss of hot-sugar, and I'm done by the time my morning tea-kettle boils.
I do research when I'm starting up something new, and the articles and recipes in the <www.homebrewtalk.com> forums are the best I've seen, though I only found the forums this week. a lot of it is wine and beer, alcohol an obvious no-no for compromised livers, but there is a separate NA board for kombucha, kefir, teas and the like.
foundation-ally though, if we remember that these natural processes involve life striving to continue, all we need to do is encourage a natural environment for them, within a fairly loose range of tolerance, and then let the world turn a bit, as it always does.
(these my folkish opinions and practices, so if you've the desire, or medical necessity, do it the other way)
cheers!
~namring
(turnsit: thanks, I will write you soon.
Turnsit said
Jul 5, 2014
I am into penpaling as you call it, am an artist and eat and live similar lifestyle on the hawaiian islands. Your story is interesting, you've the voice of a true writer. I bet I could learn a lot from you. I have had this hep c since 1971-72, am geno type 1b, am currently on solvali olysio, have stage 4 cirrhosis, its been stage 4 for years now, without the right food and the proper amount of exercise I am worhless! So I push forward engaged in life, swimming, cycling, hiking, gardening. Had a major bleed out in April followed by two blood transfusions and a few days in the hospital in Honolulu. I live out in the country, the surf mecca with the fierce and fearless, I need to be near their energy and spirit. I live an isolated life. Can hardly wait for the next four weeks to pass, worn thin from treatment and its a puece of cake compared to my year in 2004 of ribivarin and interferon shots. I hope to kill the virus this time but that remains to be seen, I do not believe in miracles or divine intervention if I did, I would want them passed out to the starving hungry and those in need of water in the world, I sure would not be thinking of getting my hands on the first ones handed out, I take as it plays in life. I was damn strong before this new TX and now I am just tired, I can't be in the sun because of Olysio and am paying the price but I do still cycle some in the dark on the shore out here in the country. Nice to meet ya. Aloha
Matt Chris said
Jul 5, 2014
Hello namring
Welcome to the forum you have found a good place with people that give caring insight into all things HCV.
I've found diet to be the most effective tool for me, and do a lot of scratch cooking and fermentation of yogurt, Kombucha, water-Kefir, ginger-bug, sourdough (grinding and sprouting my own grains). it's something to do and healthier than anything coming out of a box.
I'm with you on Kefir and Sprouting, I use sprouted buckwheat in my homemade breakfast cereal for years but have not heard of Ginger-bug. What is it?
Been to several Alaska towns I assume living there is nothing like what we imagine, but the natural beauty has to be good for the soul. Music and art has been a great release for a lot of us with HCV so I know what your saying. Hopefully you have heard about the Gilead combo (1 pill daily) treatment due to be available sometime after Oct 10, 2014 it will be expense but with very little negative physical effects.
Stay in touch, BTY what HCV Geno type are you?
matt
-- Edited by Matt Chris on Saturday 5th of July 2014 09:14:56 PM
namringcharles said
Jul 4, 2014
I'm an old-timer with this dragon, picking it up in a blood transfusion from the olden days....been hibernating for a decade waiting for effective treatments, and now waiting to become rich enough to take the water. ~sigh~
anyway, I've kept up a dedicated practice in art and music (when I'm not napping), and SE Alaska is not the worst place for sleeping : )
my latest new doct0r$ are quite excited in the 15 minutes that I see them, what with long term cirrhosis and all. I smile when they list the horrors but I'm considering another round soon, whenever my mind isn't occupied with jumping off burned bridges.
I've found diet to be the most effective tool for me, and do a lot of scratch cooking and fermentation of yogurt, Kombucha, water-Kefir, ginger-bug, sourdough (grinding and sprouting my own grains). it's something to do and healthier than anything coming out of a box.
one of the best books I've found on this is 'nourishing traditions', and here is a link to a fine Australian .pdf that deals directly with HCV diet.
(the guide for eating for people with hepatitis c) {the end of the url says 'bad', but it's actually good -that's just the way the aussies talk.}
I must say what I'm reading at the first page sites is the same old "yes, no, maybe" fear mongering stuff from ages ago, and the aussie document seems a bit more balanced. My take is stick with foundational healthy foods, and moderation in all things; linking this philosophy with an awareness of your body and your condition, and adjusting as necessary. but I'm not here to argue about it or serve as flame fuel, so I won't.
Probably the best quick-fix diet I've found is to get serious about sprouting all kinds of grains and seeds, remembering that the sprouting stage is the most powerful of the plant cycle, releasing many important enzymes, vitamins and such that your body responds to immediately. I mean you can actually feel the glow. Sprouting can be easily done in a coat pocket while one is shuffling down the street collecting cans to trade for interferon. If I get healthy, I'd like to cook for hospice, or maybe a cool hippie art commune where the ladies wear those flowy dresses and smell like patchoolie. but I pleasantly digress, and perhaps even dream.
I confess to dropping out and secluding myself. In 1999, I was given two years to live by a well meaning doctor, who encouraged me to eat his vallium when I cried, and dance more often on my broken leg, so I tucked my loves away safe, ran aground here, and got all situated like Rumpelstiltskin. now it's 14 years later and I'm waking up slow but fast. my small town is um, small, but I can't imagine moving into a city-scape where I might find like minded people, and I'm housing multiple conditions that I'm tired of trying to explain. pardon my low ebb of run-on-sentances, I know I'm preachin to the choir so I'll stop there.
Wouldn't mind pen-paling with others, artists and musicians- don't be shy -expecially if your are in SE Alaska, pacific NW, or need a sleepy cook at your ranch-house in Belize.
my user name also leads to a wordpress site if you wanna do the search.
Thank you for a beautiful post, namring, and for the meaningful painting. A warm welcome and a hug to you, from hot and humid Northc Carolina. :)
Yes got it, added a reply, now do not see where to read it again, wanted to check again on some of its highlights and details...
glad you like it
the arts to keep me going, but I seem to lack the social skills to do anything with it in this day.
where is W. C. Fields when you need him?
(sent you a private message, if it worked)
I have been reading your blog, you are truly one of the gifted on the planet, its simply a fact not any ego stroke...prose, poetry, painting, rather unique to been so talented in all arenas...
yeah, I'm fairly certain I'm going wait for the new stuff, made it this far and all.
you know Matt, Alaska is so huge, there is a wide range of feels to it. Up north the darkness and deep freeze are off-set by a crystalline beauty found nowhere else. Here in South East, especially where I am, it's rarely below freezing, and we are getting the best of global warming. Lot's of sunshine mixed with my favorite maritime weather, and a rain-forest to boot. The towns are best thought of as staging areas. if you have a boat or plane you can get to deep wilderness in minutes. now that I'm waking up I sort of wish there was a road to somewhere.
I'm pretty sure I'm 1a, but haven't reviewed my huge box of medical archives in a while. The box is in bed with me though, and it's starting to kick so I'll probably do something with it soon.
have a good one.
ginger-bug is amazing, and so very easy!
~2tbs grated ginger root, ~2tbs white sugar, ~2c water / large mason jar / counter-top.
start with whole ginger root, and white (I call it 'hot-sugar') {on white sugar: my understanding is that white sugar performs better in this sort of farming, as it is easier for the culture to convert into energy. since most all the sugar is used up by the time you pull your brew, I don't sweat more expensive alternatives.}
the issue of water is also interesting. Distilled or close filtered water is essentially dead, minerally speaking. like any living thing Kefir needs minerals, which can be supplied or boosted with a dollop of good black molasses. I have good water from the tap here in Sitka, and mineral spring down the road I never go to. I fill several one gallon wide mouth jugs and let the chlorine leach out over-night, using them in rotation for cooking waters, and this I prefer over Brita type filters. I'm lucky to live in a fairly clean water environment, Fukishima bleed out aside. I would venture to say that by now most community water is aglow with industrial and agricultural run-off of 100 years, so purchased mineral water might be advisable in your area.
I use my cupped hands to measure things. get yer teaspoon and dump 1 tsp sugar or salt into your cupped hand. usually it nicely fills the deepest part of your cupped palm. after a few times you will never need a teaspoon again for measuring. but if you prefer to measure with more accuracy just do a google search and you will find 100 different pages of the same ginger-bug article...
but for fun let me say 1 tablespoon or 2 of grated fresh ginger root, about an equal amount of sugar, and a cup or so of water. (two hands beggared together is about that.) I'd encourage new gingernauts to stay loose on measuring cause pretty soon you will naturally learn to measure to the moment instead of to the theory.
I usually dissolve the sugar in water and then add to the ginger; a large mason jar works, and cheese-cloth is your friend if you have curious insects about, (which curiously, I do not). after a few days you got your ginger bug. you know it's living when you put your ear to the jar opening and listen to the ginger-tune ~bubbling and fizzing like a good champagne.
Once the proof is made, just feed it like a fish every day or so in the same measures.
To use ginger-bug, simply strain (or not) into your chosen juice or kombucha-kefir blends at about 1gb/3~. pretty much any juice will work. The taste is divine for pennies a day. and you can add it to sauces, use it as perfume, and probably as an antiseptic. ginger root is fairly awesome.
to refine your new-found pleasure, bottle and cap it tight, keeping a bit of air space in the bottle to assist the carbonation.
Soon, a day or so, your bottled ginger-bug may become a ginger bomb so be careful how you bottle it. wine bottles are not the thing for this. Some scrounge up champagne bottles and recork, but I much prefer recycling the standard 1-2 litre soda bottles which are designed for pressure, and have the added benefit of being squeezable, which is a good way to monitor carbonation progress. you can burp it by loosening the cap and tightening it again, if necessary.
The result is better than any ginger-ale you can buy in a store, and like kombucha, it's not $4 a dead pasteurized bottle, but a live and healthy 4 cents.
be wary of champagne type fountains while you get the hang of it. open the cap slow and let the pressure bleed, and be prepared for big time fizz.
Some like their ginger hot, some mild. your hand already knows the way, so add/subtract ginger to satisfy your taste of good things.
Part of my wake up routine is several minutes feeding my cultures and ferments. I stir some flour into the sourgh-dough crock and water if necessary, and yawningly grate some ginger into the jar with a toss of hot-sugar, and I'm done by the time my morning tea-kettle boils.
I do research when I'm starting up something new, and the articles and recipes in the <www.homebrewtalk.com> forums are the best I've seen, though I only found the forums this week. a lot of it is wine and beer, alcohol an obvious no-no for compromised livers, but there is a separate NA board for kombucha, kefir, teas and the like.
foundation-ally though, if we remember that these natural processes involve life striving to continue, all we need to do is encourage a natural environment for them, within a fairly loose range of tolerance, and then let the world turn a bit, as it always does.
(these my folkish opinions and practices, so if you've the desire, or medical necessity, do it the other way)
cheers!
~namring
(turnsit: thanks, I will write you soon.
I am into penpaling as you call it, am an artist and eat and live similar lifestyle on the hawaiian islands. Your story is interesting, you've the voice of a true writer. I bet I could learn a lot from you. I have had this hep c since 1971-72, am geno type 1b, am currently on solvali olysio, have stage 4 cirrhosis, its been stage 4 for years now, without the right food and the proper amount of exercise I am worhless! So I push forward engaged in life, swimming, cycling, hiking, gardening. Had a major bleed out in April followed by two blood transfusions and a few days in the hospital in Honolulu. I live out in the country, the surf mecca with the fierce and fearless, I need to be near their energy and spirit. I live an isolated life. Can hardly wait for the next four weeks to pass, worn thin from treatment and its a puece of cake compared to my year in 2004 of ribivarin and interferon shots. I hope to kill the virus this time but that remains to be seen, I do not believe in miracles or divine intervention if I did, I would want them passed out to the starving hungry and those in need of water in the world, I sure would not be thinking of getting my hands on the first ones handed out, I take as it plays in life. I was damn strong before this new TX and now I am just tired, I can't be in the sun because of Olysio and am paying the price but I do still cycle some in the dark on the shore out here in the country. Nice to meet ya. Aloha
Hello namring
Welcome to the forum you have found a good place with people that give caring insight into all things HCV.
Enjoyed reading your post, about food
namring wrote
________________________________________________________________
I've found diet to be the most effective tool for me, and do a lot of scratch cooking and fermentation of yogurt, Kombucha, water-Kefir, ginger-bug, sourdough (grinding and sprouting my own grains). it's something to do and healthier than anything coming out of a box.
________________________________________________________________
I'm with you on Kefir and Sprouting, I use sprouted buckwheat in my homemade breakfast cereal for years but have not heard of Ginger-bug. What is it?
Been to several Alaska towns I assume living there is nothing like what we imagine, but the natural beauty has to be good for the soul. Music and art has been a great release for a lot of us with HCV so I know what your saying. Hopefully you have heard about the Gilead combo (1 pill daily) treatment due to be available sometime after Oct 10, 2014 it will be expense but with very little negative physical effects.
Stay in touch, BTY what HCV Geno type are you?
matt
-- Edited by Matt Chris on Saturday 5th of July 2014 09:14:56 PM
I'm an old-timer with this dragon, picking it up in a blood transfusion from the olden days....been hibernating for a decade waiting for effective treatments, and now waiting to become rich enough to take the water. ~sigh~
anyway, I've kept up a dedicated practice in art and music (when I'm not napping), and SE Alaska is not the worst place for sleeping : )
my latest new doct0r$ are quite excited in the 15 minutes that I see them, what with long term cirrhosis and all. I smile when they list the horrors but I'm considering another round soon, whenever my mind isn't occupied with jumping off burned bridges.
I've found diet to be the most effective tool for me, and do a lot of scratch cooking and fermentation of yogurt, Kombucha, water-Kefir, ginger-bug, sourdough (grinding and sprouting my own grains). it's something to do and healthier than anything coming out of a box.
one of the best books I've found on this is 'nourishing traditions', and here is a link to a fine Australian .pdf that deals directly with HCV diet.
<http://www.can.org.au/File.axd?id=03a5ccd2-3d99-4454-b42d-5bcc6d789bad>
(the guide for eating for people with hepatitis c) {the end of the url says 'bad', but it's actually good -that's just the way the aussies talk.}
I must say what I'm reading at the first page sites is the same old "yes, no, maybe" fear mongering stuff from ages ago, and the aussie document seems a bit more balanced. My take is stick with foundational healthy foods, and moderation in all things; linking this philosophy with an awareness of your body and your condition, and adjusting as necessary. but I'm not here to argue about it or serve as flame fuel, so I won't.
Probably the best quick-fix diet I've found is to get serious about sprouting all kinds of grains and seeds, remembering that the sprouting stage is the most powerful of the plant cycle, releasing many important enzymes, vitamins and such that your body responds to immediately. I mean you can actually feel the glow. Sprouting can be easily done in a coat pocket while one is shuffling down the street collecting cans to trade for interferon. If I get healthy, I'd like to cook for hospice, or maybe a cool hippie art commune where the ladies wear those flowy dresses and smell like patchoolie. but I pleasantly digress, and perhaps even dream.
I confess to dropping out and secluding myself. In 1999, I was given two years to live by a well meaning doctor, who encouraged me to eat his vallium when I cried, and dance more often on my broken leg, so I tucked my loves away safe, ran aground here, and got all situated like Rumpelstiltskin. now it's 14 years later and I'm waking up slow but fast. my small town is um, small, but I can't imagine moving into a city-scape where I might find like minded people, and I'm housing multiple conditions that I'm tired of trying to explain. pardon my low ebb of run-on-sentances, I know I'm preachin to the choir so I'll stop there.
Wouldn't mind pen-paling with others, artists and musicians- don't be shy -expecially if your are in SE Alaska, pacific NW, or need a sleepy cook at your ranch-house in Belize.
my user name also leads to a wordpress site if you wanna do the search.
take care, be well, stay strong
~namring