Bubbles!

My starter decided to throw in an extra lesson on patience for me. I followed directions to reconstitute starter flakes by adding the flakes to water to dissolve then stirring in the equal amount of flour. Covered with a piece of organic muslin and a ring top, it sat on the counter for the four required days. But, on that fourth day, nothing had occurred except the normal expected process of separation of liquid and solid. So I did some troubleshooting. I stirred the starter, removed 1/4 cup of it, then added 1/4 cup of barely warm water. After stirring this, I added 1/4 cup of all purpose flour. I stirred a lot, a whole lot, then replaced the muslin and ring.

Possible issues:  Issue #1 could have been that I forgot to let my tap water sit out for 24 hours before putting in the starter flakes. This waiting period is essential for evaporation of any chlorine, which is harmful to the good bacteria too. I consulted my friend who is a civil engineer, however, and he informed me that my location on the pipeline should have little or no chlorine remaining since there is nothing added once it leaves treatment (which is a distance away). I agree with him because we have never had any taste issues, but it is obvious when letting a glass sit overnight that air bubbles form from something in the water, so it is still something to consider. Issue #2 could be the use of pastry flour which is very fine in texture. I am not sure of the exact logic behind this, but I had a suspicion, so I switched to all purpose flour to feed the second time. Issue #3 could be the very low temperature in our house. Although this year we have turned off the program on the thermostat and left it at a steady 70 degrees, the actual temperature of most rooms in the house averages around 66.
Basically, I tried to counter these possible issues as much as possible, and then I waited again.

After two more days, I started to see fizz. It looked like a soda had been poured in it a few minutes earlier. I decided that fizz wasn't quite good enough so I gave it another day. Then, Friday afternoon, exactly one week after the starter was started, there were bubbles. I squealed with joy and ran around the house singing bubbles, bubbles, bubbles! My husband was thoroughly disturbed, so I was even more pleased.

Last steps to establishing the starter:  stir it up, add 1/2 cup of water, stir again, then add a heaping 1/2 cup of flour. The book I am using mentions the consistency of lumpy pancake batter. I then placed it in the fridge with its hat of muslin and realized I should really clean out my fridge! (A day and a half later, I realize my "heaping" 1/2 cup wasn't quite "heaping" enough since it didn't really seem that lumpy and it now has a bit of liquid on the surface.) The bubbles have returned on a small scale and it has been in the fridge ever since. Since it appears a little liquidy, I will go ahead and remove some and do the next feeding today. This will also start me on my twice weekly schedule.

Schedule:
Sunday-Feed 1/2 cup water, very heaping 1/2 cup flour
Wednesday-Remove all but 1 cup of starter, add 1 cup water, add 1 cup flour
Sunday - Remove 1 cup, add 1 cup water, add 1 cup flour
Wednesday - Remove 1 cup, add 1 cup water, add 1 cup flour...
Get the point? So, this will go on for one month. I will be disposing of most of the starter I remove this month so that I can be sure it is well established before I ruin any recipes. Next month, at the recommendation of the author, I can start using the starter to make some quick breads like pancakes. Then, in May, I should be ready for some "real-deal" baking. It sounds like a lot of patience, but it will be worth it to get everything into a routine. Then I will be able to bake each Sunday using the removed start, and use the Wednesday starter to make quick breads (unless I'm feeling like I have extra time in the middle of the week, ha!)

I still haven't deciding on a name for my new pet starter. I will have to think on it some more.