Kefir from Grains update

I contacted the person who sold me my kefir grains. She has been very helpful. She suggested that the grains need to start reproducing before my kefir will be satisfactory. In the meantime, I was on vacation for a week, so I needed to put my grains on vacation hold. I'm told that I should add them to a cup of milk and put them in a jar in the fridge.

OK, that's done, and I'm back from vacation. I strained my grains from the vacation jar and they look like this:

I'm told that I can drink what is left if it tastes and smells OK. I'm giving that criterion a no vote. I saved it for cooking, though. I've been using the unsatisfactory results as a substitute for milk in my sourdough bread, and to make waffles.

I made a batch of kefir with those grains and a cup of milk. After 24 hours, I strained the grains and set the kefir back on the shelf for a second ferment, but with no added flavors. The grains now look like this:

They do seem to be growing a bit. The resulting double-fermented kefir was very sour--almost undrinkable, but I added two teaspoons of honey and a little vanilla extract. I drank it, and didn't puke, but it is not something I'm looking forward to consuming, again.

For the next batch, I chose to follow the procedure recommended by my grain vendor. She adds the grains to milk (in larger quantities), sets it on the shelf for 24 hours, stirs it, recaps it and puts it in the refrigerator for another 12 hours. The refrigerator cycle is with a tight lid and the grains are still in it. After these 12 hours, she strains the grains and drinks the result with a 50-50 mix of orange juice.

My grains after this cycle look like this:

So, they do seem to be growing. The kefir/orange juice mix was quite drinkable, but I'm still not crazy about it. My kefir is starting to come out thicker. Maybe I'm getting there, but I'm still considering the $5/quart store-bought kefir as a backup plan.

I'm not giving up, yet. I've got another batch in the cellar, now.