On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 08:05:25 GMT, jeff higgins
wrote:

At 3 hours, a small amount of
additional moisture began appearing on the surface. Some very, very
small imbedded bubbles (no surface bubbles) appeared after 6 hours,
but no swelling. After 9 hours, there seemed to be a little
"softening" of the starter mixture and maybe a tiny bit of swelling,
with a little bit more softening and movement after another hour.

I did manage to get vigorous action initially but it took 18 hours.

At this point, I took 4oz of the starter, threw the rest away, and fed
with 4oz each whole rye (Arrowhead) and spring water.

This is the same stage I was at yesterday at 3:00 pm.

After about 2
hours at 75f, there was a slight softening and more moisture appearing
on the surface. Around 7 hours later, there were some small bubbles.
The temp had fallen to 70f. There were no further changes over the
next 3 hours, at which point I went to bed.

This is the stage I am at now.

There was no further visable activity at all during the next 30
hours....yes, I mean 30 hours!

I had to wait 18 hours the first time, so it looks like I will have to
wait a similar period for the second round.

A half hour later, however, things had
changed! There was lots of bubbling and the starter had nearly
doubled in volume.

That's what happened at 18 hours from the beginning.

It appears that our experiences match somewhat. The main difference is
that I am starting from scratch using a mix of 75% freshly-milled
organic whole wheat flour and 25% of the same rye flour you are using
(Arrowhead). Other than that we are getting about the same results.

Now I am waiting for the second round of activity to happen again -
the one which took 30 hours for you.