Paul Fenwick

Paul Fenwick (@pjf@cloudisland.nz) 2.42K Posts, 1.65K Following, 1.9K Followers · Public Speaker · Games Modding · KSP-CKAN · Perl · Bipolar II · ADHD · Ex-Valve · Rick Astley Hotline · he/him · vi/vim

Hi y'all,

Just a sporadic reminder that I'm not very active here, but I am on the fediverse/mastodon:

cloudisland.nz/@pjf/

If you're wondering what the fediverse is, it's social media run by people, not for-profit corporations. Here's a 4min explainer:

news.elenarossini.com/fediverse-vi...

I for one look forward to my sorcerer adding glue to their pizza.

I can't express how exciting this is. The Rare Trades Centre is an incredible space. Getting a scholarship to forge your own blacksmithing tools¹ or cast silver jewellery using cuttlefish² would be rad AF.

¹ www.raretradescentre.com.au/events/forge...

² www.raretradescentre.com.au/events/cuttl...

Events & Workshops Our biggest workshop line-up is here for 2025, with 150 workshops led by more than 60 talented artisans from across Australia. Experience a whole year of…

Courses include blacksmithing, silversmithing, longbow making, bobbin lacing, leadlight restoration, stoneworking, leatherworking, weaving, coopering, armour making, and LOTS more².

² www.raretradescentre.com.au/events/

If you're aged 16–25, not employed full-time, and are interested in learning rare trades, then there are scholarships available¹ at the Australian Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades in Ballarat (Vic, Aust)

#Melbourne #Narrm #Ballarat #RareTrades

¹ www.raretradescentre.com.au/youth-schola...

Linda!! Hello!! You are fabulous and I hope your year is off to a magnificent start! 💖

Discovered that if I apply linseed oil to my tool handles then I can't leave them outside, because the possum will eat them.

I spent two hours yesterday hafting a handle onto a splitting axe head I picked up at a trash'n'treasure, and now that handle has a bite chewed out of it. 😢

A beautiful adolescent dun coloured highland bull. He has a shaggy mop of hair on his head, two very beautiful horns, and a sweet face. You can't see it, but his tongue is very licky and feels like sandpaper. Cows engage in mutual grooming behaviour and will lick humans they consider to be part of their fold, although it doesn't hurt that humans also taste good with their delicious salty skin. Finley insisted on licking my hands and arms a lot after I gave him face and neck rubs. In front of Finley the beautiful bull is me, a while middle-aged man who is not as beautiful as Finley, and has shoulder length broken hair, a salt and pepper goatee, a big smile, and a Software Freedom Conservancy t-shirt.

I made friends with a highland bull named Finley over the weekend, so that was pretty nice.

A simple loom with beige thread being used to weave a strip of fabric about a palm wide. There are some rocks being used to weight the warp that might actually be pieces of fossilised coral.

The loomed length of cloth. It's my first time doing this, so it has a few imperfections, just like my favourite people.

The same cloth, tidied up, folded over, and stitched down each side.

The final tiny bag, complete with tiny handle. It fits into the palm of my hand, and the world's best cat is approaching to give it a final inspection. Her name is Queen Felicia, and I love her.

Loomed my first piece of cloth, and turned it into my first tiny bag.

That's a great question!! Instead of spinning the fibre I went and made a second, bigger batch of yucca fibre.

I'm thinking of making a small net, but I'm waiting for my ADHD inspiration to strike.

I'm just hiding away here on the other side of the world!

Also you are magnificent and I hope you are having all the best in life! 💖

It was! Especially since it was done outside in the dark with a flashlight.

Skinning was easy, it was paper thin and just peeled off. Getting the cavity open without nicking the intestines was more tricky; thank goodness for sharp knives!

CW: Subsistence hunting, food

—

Anyway, Queen Felicia is very dainty and special and didn't want her portion, so I got to eat an entire mouse.

A small morsel of fried meat on a plate next to chopsticks. It is browned and crispy and if you look closely you can tell it's a small animal of some kind. It's missing a leg because that was Queen Felicia's portion.

CW: Subsistence hunting, food

—

Queen Felicia and I caught our first mouse yesterday. In honour of our pact I butchered and cooked it, and we ate it together.

Let me tell you, cooked mouse is *delicious*. Way better than it had any right to be. I would eagerly eat again.

A ringtail possum runs across a gutter during daytime. Clinging to her back is a "baby" possum that's weighs probably half as much as mum! Shortly after this photo was taken they were attacked by a territorial bird who thought they were after eggs. They were okay, and also weren't looking for eggs.

A somewhat anxious looking koala on a dead tree. Because koalas have evolved to have tiny smooth brains to limit glucose consumption, they're not very smart. This poor fluff had to climb half a dozen trees before it could find the one it liked, because apparently they can't easily identify the one type of tree their lives literally depend upon for all their dietary needs.

A very basic frame loom. A small amount of brown woollen cloth has been weaved on it.

Queen Felicia, the world's best cat, is lying in a suitcase, preventing it from being unpacked. She's lowered her body weight and gone floppy so she can't easily be moved. I love her. This was after returning from a trip, so the suitcase stakeout ultimately didn't change anything, but it worked to register her complaint that we should never, ever go anywhere.

Recent photos from my life:

- Possum with baby almost as big as she is.

- Traditional Australian wildlife encountered on walk.

- Baby's first loom.

- Queen Felicia says "please never travel ever again".

A number of long green yucca leaves. These then get pounded with a blunt object to bruise them for retting.

The green yucca leaves are in a plastic tub with water. There are some suds, not because there's any detergent, but because the leaves naturally contain saponins. Yes, you can use yucca juice as a cleaning agent.

Queen Felicia, a beautiful white and orange tabby cat, is playing tug of war with a bundle of fibre. This is an important step that helps separate and brush the fibres.

The final fibres. They're a lovely cream colour, and very strong and a delight to work with.

In particular, I've been extracting fibres from yucca leaves recently.

Steps include:

1. Leaves are trimmed and pounded

2. Retting in water

3. Assisted scutching

4. Resulting fibres

Full thread with detailed steps and pictures: cloudisland.nz/@pjf/1135353...

#NeolithicTech

Paul Fenwick (@pjf@cloudisland.nz) 1.85K Posts, 1.51K Following, 1.73K Followers · Public Speaker · Games Modding · KSP-CKAN · Perl · Bipolar II · ADHD · Ex-Valve · Rick Astley Hotline · he/him · vi/vim

Hello friends!

I'm here sometimes, but I'm on the fediverse more. There's especially a lot there if you want to see whatever neolithic technologies I'm working with at the time.

cloudisland.nz/@pjf

An Australian landscape at dusk. A field of shadowed oats is in the foreground. The sky is a mix of beautiful colours, with some small fluffy clouds. There's a glow on the horizon from the sun, and a tree and a hill silhouetted in the distance.

I'm at a sustainability conference, and the view from outside my tent is pretty nice.

Here's the amendment, for those who are interested. Feels pretty late in the game given that the 3G closure is in just a few days.

www.legislation.gov.au/F2024L01353/...

Apparently the 3G network shutdown in Australia will no longer just impact 3G phones.

If I understand correctly, the minister is requiring telcos to block phones they can't guarantee will work with E000 out-of-the-box, including those that work fine, but just needed extra configuration (like mine).

As if I didn't already know I had landed in Aotearoa New Zealand, nor the relationship between our countries, there's a sign at the international baggage claim reminding me that it wasn't *Australia* that invented the pavlova.

As if I didn't already know I had landed in Aotearoa New Zealand, nor the relationship between our countries, there's a sign at the international baggage claim reminding me that it wasn't *Australia* that invented the pavlova.

Hot and hungry toilet snakes on the rise across Australian states Social media is flush with images showing snakes inside toilets, drains and swimming pools. Find out why

CW: Australia

Just a reminder that even if you don't close the lid in your own country, you should *always* close the lid in Australia.

Thank you for visiting our beautiful country.

au.news.yahoo.com/hot-and-hung...

Gardens Gardens is a game studio creating ambitious games in a sustainable and healthy way — games that foster meaningful and memorable moments between players worldwide.

Hello friends. If you're looking for a remote position in the games industry, Gardens is hiring.

(I'm not affiliated with Gardens in any way, but they've got a pretty impressive team, their careers page has good transparency, and their art is Nausicaä AF)

https://gardens.dev/careers

Guardian headline: NSW police twice Taser 95-year-old woman with dementia, leaving her with fractured skull The woman was taken to Cooma district hospital and family say they do not expect her to survive as police launch internal investigation

Australian police: "We can't get any recruits! Nobody wants to join because of our public image."

Also Australian police:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/18/nsw-police-twice-taser-95-year-old-woman-with-dementia-leaving-her-with-fractured-skull

A brown spiral basket base as described in the toot, sitting on a Melbourne Metro train seat. The spiral is about sandwich sized.

Progress on the basket I'm making on public transport. This is the base, and once it's large enough, I'll start adding sides at right angles to it.

This piece is a little special because I'm doing it entirely without tools. My dried yucca leaves are tough enough to act as their own needles.

An absolutely gorgeous forest scene, with god rays shining down. A couple of tents are in the distance

Caught the most perfect autumn day for camping ❤️

Biblo!! 💖💖💖

lookign for 1200,00 of my , friends

So far my first day on bsky has been a timeline that is 98% @katef.bsky.social posts and replies. Except for the one moment of some very surprising Sonic fanart, this is definitely the service I signed up for. ❤️

There are always bumps, but overall things have been pretty good! I've been doing a deep dive into neolithic technologies, so I've been making a lot of string, rope, baskets, the occasional tool, and eating a *lot* of acorns.

I am so excited for your new farm!!