Paul Fenwick
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pjf.bsky.social
Paul Fenwick
@pjf.bsky.social
320 followers 180 following 32 posts
Mostly on Mastodon: @pjf@cloudisland.nz

Public Speaker · Games Modding · Basket Weaving · Neolithic Technologies · KSP-CKAN  · Perl · Bipolar II · ADHD · Ex-Valve · he/him · vi/vim
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pjf.bsky.social
I made friends with a highland bull named Finley over the weekend, so that was pretty nice.
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.
January 22, 2025 at 11:43 AM
pjf.bsky.social
Loomed my first piece of cloth, and turned it into my first tiny bag.
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.
January 19, 2025 at 1:22 AM
pjf.bsky.social
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 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.
January 12, 2025 at 10:23 AM
pjf.bsky.social
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 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.
December 29, 2024 at 2:52 AM
pjf.bsky.social
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
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.
December 11, 2024 at 7:32 AM
pjf.bsky.social
I'm at a sustainability conference, and the view from outside my tent is pretty nice.
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.
November 4, 2024 at 9:18 PM
pjf.bsky.social
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.
January 10, 2024 at 1:20 AM
pjf.bsky.social
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
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
May 18, 2023 at 7:10 AM
pjf.bsky.social
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.
A brown spiral basket base as described in the toot, sitting on a Melbourne Metro train seat. The spiral is about sandwich sized.
May 18, 2023 at 6:25 AM
pjf.bsky.social
Caught the most perfect autumn day for camping ❤️
An absolutely gorgeous forest scene, with god rays shining down. A couple of tents are in the distance
May 14, 2023 at 3:33 AM
pjf.bsky.social
Anyway, for the infosec folks, here's your reminder to use your in-flight map to look up Nadi the next time you're on an airplane.

Nadi's airport code is "NAN", and because my profession is terrible at our jobs, some map software thinks this is "not a number" and you can create fun glitches.
A picture of an in-seat entertainment unit showing Nadi airport. Nadi is in Fiji, but the infobox shows the details of "Nadi, North Korea", along with the picture of details of Pyongyang.
May 11, 2023 at 3:46 AM
pjf.bsky.social
Hi everyone. It's me, but things are a little hectic and I'm still setting up my profile.

Recently I've been working with neolithic technologies, because it's challenging to use them for corporate surveillance and disinformation at scale.

Anyway, here are pics of my life recently.
A heckton of acorns. Some are in a basket. Some are shelled and in a bowl. There's a kitchen rock and board used for opening them. I've been eating a lot of acorns recently. A spiral basket made from yucca, filled with acorns. It's got a strap that I wove, also from yucca string, and a lid I made recently, also from yucca. I use a lot of yucca in my crafting. Everything is brown and autumn coloured and soothing to my soul. A white and ginger cat named Queen Felicia rolls about in the sun. She's the best cat and I love her. A handful of bright pink lilly pillies, an Australian native fruit. They're crisp and tart and sweet and taste like a childhood memory.
May 11, 2023 at 3:40 AM