u/jc-5h20

Total newbie here. I have had a bottle of white wine fermenting for six weeks. It is in a jar with cheese cloth over it and I used a starter to get it going.

I just checked it and it smells like bread yeast. According to the web, that is good progress. It also seems to have developed a mother thing floating in the bottom of the jar. Two questions —

(1) How do I tell when it is done? Will the yeast smell be replaced with a vinegary smell? What should I be looking for before using it or bottling it?

(2) And once it is done, how to I reserve the mother for use another time? Do I have to use it right away? Do I need to put the mother somewhere special with more wine?

Thanks for your help!

I was in a training a couple weeks ago with a physical therapist who was teaching yoga teacher trainees about how to set up and cue poses in a responsible way. A question came up about headstand, shoulder stand and plow. The PT made the argument I have heard a lot — that the human neck is not intended to carry this kind of weight.

There was a book out about ten years ago (The Science of Yoga by William Broad) and my recollection is that the book argued these poses should not be taught in typical classes.

I teach a therapeutic form of yoga and so never have reason to bring these into class (except for restorative shoulder stand with the pelvis on a block, which everyone loves). At home, because of neck issues, I use a headstand bench, which I recommend to anyone who wants to do headstand because it simply takes all the neck worry out of it … and the hand position on the bench actually strengthens my base considerably. But I also enjoy shoulderstand and have considered welcoming plow back into my home practice. I set up with blankets under my shoulders, etc., so the weight is on my shoulders and not my neck.

Where is everyone on these three poses? Just wondering what current thinking is. It has been years since I attended a class where these poses were taught.

We are grappling with the decision to begin to transfer some of our wealth to our two adult children (age 30 and 33). They are both great with money and have jobs they like that pay pretty well.

Last year, we sold the family home and gave them each a check for 10k as part of the proceeds. Our explanation was just that we made more in the sale than we expected. This was really just to test the waters about giving to them more regularly.

Now my husband and I agree it is time to start a regular giving schedule. We would/could not go over the max allowed by the IRS (38k each).

What we are thinking of is engaging them in the decision process. I imagine we would say something like ‘We have a family nest egg. And we want you to have some of now while it will help you a lot. How would you like us to do this?’

Option 1: We give you a flat amount each year that is market-proof. No matter what our investments do, it will be the same each year. It will be predictable. You can depend on it.

Option 2: We give you a slice of what we take from our investments each year, while we try to preserve the ‘principle’ of our assets, and dependent on any health emergencies we have. Might be higher, might be lower. You will always get something, but it might not be so much.

They are both already building their nest eggs, so this is really about offering a ‘teachable moment’. And it also gives them a hazy little window into how we managed the family nest egg.

What are your thoughts? Would love to hear all the ups and downs people have experienced in making these decisions for their family. Thanks!