Thank you all for your replies. It will help me a lot.

what prompted the question is a proposal my boss had made about developing land. The cost to develop the land is about $26M and I can't see people investing with a return of about 5%.

I'm small time compared with you. 😋 I only do 4 litres at a time.

With my second batch I used a balloon with a hole in it as an airlock and it worked great. If I were going to be doing more, I would look at getting a proper airlock, but for how small my batches are, the balloon works.

The recipe that I was following called for a second ferment... all the comments however agreed that a single ferment for a little longer would suffice. I now know that isn't the case. 😄

Live and learn.

I've been told that the Campden can cause the sulfer smell. Try making sure that the dosage is correct for your volume.

My first batch was of mixed results...
The recipe that I was following did not have it ferment in a sealed environment, and it had a lot of wild yeast in it. I thought that it still tasted not bad, and a lot of people agreed with me... But there were a lot of people that thought it tasted like dirt as well.

This batch that I just bottled (obviously needs to age) I think that it stalled out in fermentation. It is really really sweet. It tastes good, but very sweet. I'm hoping that in aging, the spices will even the flavour our some.

What sort of sterilizer do you use?

I know if you use the sulfates it can cause the smell. It could be that you are using too much.

I just finished my second batch of mead this week.

Anon, if I contributed to you feeling attacked, that was not my intention, and I apologize for it.

I have been on lorazepan myself, and know the powers of it. If one were to take too much, you would be out before long. One pill helps to relax the body, and... muffle... the mind a bit, two or more will make you go to sleep. That said, unless you are specifically taking Multiple doses specifically for the purpose you won't overdose in a harmful way. This could be why the doctors are not as concerned as they might be with someone taking an opioid.

I would still recommend to her to try the blister packs, or pill containers. Lorazepan can be prescribed as a PRN (as needed) med, but care needs to be taken in this case. Her husband would likely be the best person to help with this.

All of that said, I think that DocteurRalph is right in one thing. She need help with her mental health. Which is more than just pills.

Pills are the means to the end, but they are not a cure/solution to the problem. My guess is that counseling is what is needed... or if she is already getting counseling then more or different counseling may be needed.

Given your distance, all you can really do, aside from taking a trip for an extended time, would be to support her as best you can. Call her daily, email, chat, whatever it takes. For her to be so in need of the meds, she is going to be going through a lot. All you can do is to try to be that shoulder to cry on, so to speak.

And at the same time, remember that you don't have to go through it alone either. I know how hard helping people can be. Make sure that at the same time that you are helping her, that you don't forget to help yourself.

I think the best way to describe things… well it comes down to free will and love.

All the scriptures say that God loves us, and He wants us to love him. I think that we can agree on that point.

Now to be able to love we have to choose to do so. If God created us, so that we would ‘love’ Him, it wouldn’t be love, it would be compulsion. To continue with this, if the only choice we had, were to love or not, then that isn’t a choice either. So, for us to be able to love God, we have to have free will to make the choice to love God, or not, and to make any and all choices necessary for life. The choice to follow God’s teachings or not.

So, because God loves us, and He wants us to love Him, He had to “…let us go about our ways.”

As for whether God is the drunk/drugged up mother on the couch having nothing to do with her creation, or the loving Father… Well, you know my opinion. :)
I think that you need to look into the world a little more. Listen with your heart, if you will. We all need to listen for God, and if you do listen, then I think you would find that He is not quite as absent as you might think.

An example that I don’t mind sharing is a time my brother and I were in cadets, serving on the Canadian Forces Base Borden.
He was in a different company than myself, and his company had gone to the range that day. Later in the afternoon, word came back that he was missing. I was questioned in case I knew of his whereabouts. I didn’t know anything.
Now to put this into perspective, I was 15, he was 13. We were on an active military base, and he was missing from a range, where a LOT of ammunition goes down range. It was not inconceivable that he was injured, especially had he wandered somewhere he shouldn’t have been. And it had been 4+ hours since anyone had seen him, and it was getting dark.
I was justifiably worried, and taken to the padre’s trailer. The padre and I chatted for a while, prayed, and such. After a while the padre was called out of the trailer to get some news about my brother. I could see the padre’s face pale before he walked out. I did something then that I hadn’t done before except in Sunday school. I played bible roulette. I picked up the bible on the padre’s desk. Set it on its spine, and let it fall open. My eyes landed on:

As soon as I read, that scripture, a warmth fell on me, and warmed my core. This was not a natural/normal warmth. It was something extra. In that moment, I knew my brother was safe, and sound. When the padre came back in and said that by brother was fine, I said “I know.”
As it turned out he had been with the quartermaster the entire time, and someone forgot to tell someone else that my brother was going off base.

When we listen with our hearts, we can know, and feel what God is trying to tell us. We can feel his interaction with the world. That interaction may not be what we might want, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t there.

Thanks for the invite Soco. I've been too sparse around here of late.

To begin with I have only read the first handful of comments... and with what I have read everyone has good and valid points.

First of all IMO everyone, children included, should be made aware of what is happening. Openness and honesty is a good start to any situation.

Now I don't know that reporting to social services is necessary at this time... However, that would be dependant on you, the spouse, and most importantly your friend. The overdosing needs to stop. Period. If she does die, then no one is ahead.

To facilitate the control of the meds so that they are administered correctly, as @smiley has stated weekly pill containers can be used. Alternatively, (at least around here) pharmacies can make up blister packs, where all of the pills are in dosages per the time of day/time to be taken. This is a good way to track when pills have been taken, or not. Different from the store bought pill containers, they come pre filled and sealed so that there are no errors filling the containers. Around here, the pharmacies offer this service for free.

Whether the meds are monitored by the spouse, or someone else, the blister pack, or pill containers should be used. This alone could resolve the issue.
If this is tried, and there is vigilance on everyone's part, and the problem persists, then it is absolutely time to report to social services.

And try talking with the doctor as well... it would be best if the friend, spouse, and yourself went to the appointment, and explain the situation in full, and perhaps see if there is a change in meds available.

Most importantly of all. Don't give up, keep the faith, and love. As corny as it sounds, love with triumph!

@Nix

That being the case, then yes the math works out.

As much as I can edit, you always need someone else to edit your own work. 😄