sylvia schu

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since Sep 29, 2015

Biography

I am a very simple person; I'm used to complaints about being "too quiet". I've always loved the woods, and animals, and peaceful solitude. I love people too, just preferably in smaller doses.
I'm a very hard worker when I care about what I'm working on. Otherwise, I find laziness to be a bit of a lost virtue, in sense of this quote: "To work in the world is hard; but to refrain from all unnecessary work is even harder" (Nisargadatta Maharaj). Unnecessary work for unnecessary profit seems like the basis of all our earthly troubles, and it is indeed a worthwhile challenge to just stop 🧘🙏.
I've been vegan for about 22 years now, though I fantasize about keeping sheep and bees someday (for wool and honey) if it's possible to do so kindly and sustainably. I'm a big fan of Jesus, the "good shepherd", and yes I do believe he will supernaturally return to set this world straight. Probably soonish.
After learning about permaculture, I spent about 4 years living in a very remote eco-village, followed by a couple years in a community house in the city. I tried to do some permaculture stuff there, but the other people weren't really into it. Now I'm in my own apartment with a 17 year old son (shared-custody-order) and 2 little stray dogs I've been looking after, volunteering at a community garden and running a little e-business.
I don't like the city - it's gross and chaotic. I've been making the best of it for my son's sake; but soon I hope to be back in the woods somewhere, learning bushcraft skills and practicing permaculture.

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Recent posts by sylvia schu

Meet the yip-yips!!

I thought they were "yup-yups" lol. They were my favorite characters on the show, honestly. Adorable.

10 months ago

textile techniques

Cloth Shopping Bags?

Sprouts Farmers Market (grocery store) updated their regular plastic bags into thicker reusable ones and charge 10 cents a piece. I think they should charge more than that, so people will feel more encouraged to actually reuse them. I am still using the first of those bags I got over 2 years ago for most of my shopping. They're surprisingly durable. I have crocheted some bags; they're pretty cool but I prefer using the sprouts bags tbh. Partly because I don't want to damage my pretty crocheted ones - those Sprouts bags can really take a beating. I recently pulled out my sewing machine so maybe I will try to earn the BB for this!

10 months ago

buy it for life

Menopause. What's it like?

I've been Peri-Menopausal since springtime. Yeah it sucks.... yet I greatly look forward to not bleeding anymore, eventually (!!!).

I know raw-foodists report much lighter periods, so I bet a raw-vegan or fruitarian diet would help alot with P-M symptoms as well. After going vegan in my 20's my periods got a lot lighter and less crampy. I'm going back to intermittent fasting for the time being, to see if that makes a difference. If it does, I'll probably experiment with eating simpler / less cooked food also. Maybe I'll try some of the supplements mentioned here too - I have been feeling more inclined towards omega-rich-stuff like flax/chia/hemp-seeds, and iron-rich foods like spinach, so that's probably related. I'm also exercising and meditating more routinely. Overall this has felt like like a big signal to get healthier, all around; to greatly simplify my whole life.

I never understood the pagan/hippy types trying to make menstruation into something "sacred" - I think all this bloody-trouble is unnatural and a symptom of sin and toxicity. I never wanted to celebrate it; I have always wanted to be free from it, like it's a curse! I fully welcome menopause. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was very-much-not-pleased to find out this wonky-transitional-phase lasts years for most women. 😞 Who knows, maybe I'll be lucky, or atleast cleaning up my diet and lifestyle will make it easier 🍀🤞🙏

10 months ago

personal care

Clean an Oily Dish Without Soap - PEP BB nest.sand.oilydish

I cleaned an oily jar after mixing up some italian dressing in it. I used all of the dressing on a pasta salad, so there was nothing left for the compost.

I'd never cleaned a dish in this way before; it was quite effective. 👍

I haven't tried to light the paper yet, but according to a google search, olive oil should be as (or more) effective than Vaseline for making firestarters. Good to know!

10 months ago

pep nest

Make 2 Different Kinds of Condiments or Salad Dressings - PEP BB food.straw.condiments

Condiment 1: Simple Salad Dressing
Ingredients:
-Lemon Juice (1 tsp, approx.)
-Soy Sauce (1 tsp, approx.)

Instructions:
-Juice 1 lemon, and add about the same amount of soy sauce; mix together.

1 tsp of each is enough for 1 large salad.
I added this to 1/2 head of chopped romaine, with cucumber, bell pepper, and hemp / chia / flax seeds.
You can add sweetener if it's too sour/bitter, but I like it like this.

Condiment 2: Sweet Italian Dressing
Ingredients:
-Olive Oil (1/4 Cup)
-Lemon (1)
-Garlic (2 cloves)
-Stone Ground Mustard (1 Tbs)
-Maple Syrup (1 Tbs)
-Italian Seasoning Blend (1 Tsp)
-Crushed Red Pepper (.25 tsp)
-Salt (.5 Tsp)
-Pepper (.25 tsp, or more to taste)

Instructions:
-Juice the lemon, and mince the garlic. Add all the ingredients to a small jar. Mix thoroughly.

I used this on a pasta salad, which consisted of 16oz rotini pasta, artichoke hearts, green olives, red onion, red bell pepper, cucumber, and broccoli. It was delish 😋👍

10 months ago

pep food prep and preservation

do laundry by hand - PEP BB nest.sand.handlaundry

I washed these in a couple small buckets in my bathtub, by agitating them with my hands and using a small scrubby board when needed, then rinsing and squeezing the water out. I hung them on my shower curtain rod, and a hook on the bathroom door. Normally I just wash my clothes in the shower (which is why I keep those buckets in there); that way things stay clean and don't pile up.

10 months ago

pep nest

Use Water From a Dishpan to Flush a Toilet or Water Something - PEP BB greywillow.sand.dishpan

I saved up my dishwater in a tub in the sink, and was able to fill up a gallon jug twice with that.
The third gallon was from 2quarts of dishwater I saved from the Wash Dishes by Hand BB, and an additional 1/2 gallon of dishwater from washing some spare dishes today.
I gave it all to some landscaping plants outside my apartment.
I used Castile Soap.

10 months ago

pep greywater and willow feeders

Reuse Water From a Shower - PEP BB greywillow.sand.showerwater

Been Pooless 3 years now! I rinse with water and dry off with a linen towel, taking extra time rubbing my hair and scalp to get excess oil off. Works great. 👍👍

-The bucket I'm using holds .75 gallons.
-I plugged the tub to capture all the water while taking a shower. The first bucket I filled with water from the spigot as it was warming up, and dumped it in the toilet. (I actually dumped 2 buckets of water into the toilet, since it didn't fully flush).
-I filled the bucket a few times with the captured shower water to give to some plants outside. (This was hard to take photos of without making a mess)
-Then I used the remaining water in the bathtub to hand wash my clothes, for whatever that's worth.
-All together I re-used much more than 3 gallons, but I photo-documented 4 buckets full which equals 3 gallons.

10 months ago

pep greywater and willow feeders

Salt brine ferment/pickle something - PEP BB food.sand.salt

Today I made sauerkraut according to a recipe from Clean Food Living.
The ingredients I used were green cabbage, carrots, ginger, carraway seeds, salt, and about a Tbs of leftover brine from some kimchi.

I've made this many times before; it is delicious, as is her recipe using red cabbage and fennel. She is the best fermentation teacher on the internet as far as I know 👍👍

10 months ago

pep food prep and preservation

PEP BB nest.sand.dishes - Wash Dishes by Hand

Here's round 2:

Method:
-I let my dirty dishes stack up for a few days until they were overflowing the sink (hopefully I had enough this time 🤞).
-I used a large pot on the left side of my sink for the washing (filled with 1-2 centimeters of water, and 1tsp of environmentally friendly Castile Soap).
-I used a tub on the right side of my sink for the rinsing (I used just a trickle of water at first, and after the tub had filled up a centimeter or so, most of the remaining dishes I could just dip and rotate around in the pool of water to rinse. I tried to keep most of the yuckies on the soapy side, to keep the rinsing water clear as possible.).
-It took 3 rounds of washing, rinsing, and stacking dishes on a rack and towels on the counter to get them all done.

Result:
All together the water I used filled up a 2 quart jar. (Even though I washed more dishes this time, I used far less water thanks to my improved method, so that's cool!)

It helps to have dogs for this: they're great for pre-washing dishes 👅😸

10 months ago

pep nest