Sometimes, you get a breakthrough.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Well, it's raining again. Hard. The way the forecast holds and yet doesn't has been  strange this week; originally, it was for a brief light shower after four, and instead, it's been rainign heavily almost nonstop for the last hour.

Unexpected things sometimes turn out to be good.

Speaking of unexpected, sometimes, you get a breakthrough. That up there? That's Cricket, our feral . . . locked up inside the dog run for the first time ever. And the kicker? He went into on his own. This is a massive development for him. 

It came about because we needed to lock up the pups for a few minutes; not long; maybe 20-30 tops. Happens when we're going somewhere, or when someone's coming over, or when we need to have the gate open temporarily for whatever reason. [It's also bigger than what you see here.] Anyway, when that happens, all I do is say "Dog run!" and Sunny and Stormy run right over into it. They love it; it's one of their safe spaces, they have plenty of shade [and warmth in the winter] and everything they need, and they also know it generally means a Milk Bone or jerky treat will be materializing momentarily. This time? Cricket went in, too, right after Sunny but before Stormy.

And he let me lock him in.

He looks grumpy in the photo, but he's actually just giving me that stare that says, "Okay, I'm trusting you, so everything better be fine." And it was! He also let me walk much closer to him than he usually does twice today, without flinching or running away. It's only taken 7.5 years. [Which is not to say that he's going to start letting me pet him suddenly, or come in the house and be a lap dog. But for this poor traumatized boy, this is a big breakthrough.] 

Now, if we could just get a breakthrough in a few other things, like the well tank. no, no word yet; I'm seriously hoping that changes on Monday, because today is a month since it failed and Monday will be a month since he was out here to replace the pressure pump temporarily.

At least I'm a bit more mobile today.

But of course, all that expense to come, whenever it actually comes, means that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Which means I have to get caught up on the work somehow. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priorities are the Soapbox soaps, which I can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                     

Regenerating the Waters

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an all new work completed only today, a pair of earrings to honor summer's cycles of regeneration.  It's a pair wrought in an old traditional loop style, long and bold and strung with beads in the colors of the cycles of summer, of regenerating the waters and healing the earth.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank as soon as humanly possible [we had hoped last week, then this week, and now this week's over with no word on the tank, so . . . ::shrugs::]. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.       

Not great.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Beautiful clouds this morning, remnants of last night's rain. In theory, there's a chance of rain late today or tonight, but if it does materialize, I expect that it won't be before this evening. There aren't enough clouds, and they're neither big enough nor near enough, to produce anything in the next while.

Still no word on the well tank. We stopped by yesterday and left a message with his son, but they're in the field all over the northern part of the state, every single day. If you want a new well drilled here? It's at least a two- or three-year wait. That's what colonial overdevelopment does. I mean, it's great for them, but not for this place, and certainly not for the land or the water.

And not great for us right now, either, considering that our pump failed a month ago tomorrow, and Monday will be a month since he was out to replace it and advise us that the tank was shot. And this new pressure pump is burning out fast.

What else is not great? I knew last night I was in trouble; I could feel it.  My pain levels were very bad yesterday, but we had to run all the errands anyway, and that was on top of everything else this week and last week and the two before that. I went to be around 12:30 this morning, to no avail, because my left had dislocated sufficiently to make the pain excruciating. I fell asleep from sheer exhaustion for maybe 2 or 3 twenty-minute increments sometime around 6:30, 7, and was up again by 8.

And if I thought the pain was agonizing at 4 AM, well, it's nothing compared to what it's been since then. I can barely walk. Sitting down is almost impossible; standing up again is even worse. Yes, today is chemo day, and I've adde the steroid on top of that, but it's not taking the swelling down, not doing a thin for the ensuing muscle spasms, and of course, the dislocation is the worst of it, because gravity pulls everything in all the wrong directions. Like my tendons and ligaments aren't already torn enough. And there is absolutely nothin I can do about it except wait for it to resolve itself. It could be hours, days, weeks . . . about three years ago, it was months, and I still don't know how I made it through that stupid year.

I am so tired. 

And of course, all that expense to come, whenever it actually comes, means that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Which means I have to get caught up on the work somehow. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, are 3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                     

Friday Feature: Letting the Waters Respire

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a single old-style masterwork shown from four perspectives, a tribute to the light of the world and the role it plays as one of our two First Medicines. It's a big, bold, old-school cuff wrought freehand in Indigenous Art Deco style, its design a tribute to those medicines and a reminder that letting the waters respire is urgently needed for breath and life itself.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank as soon as humanly possible [we had hoped last week, then this week, and now this week's essentially over with no word on the tank, so . . . ::shrugs::]. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.       

Anything like a normal schedule.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

More rain today [and tonight], and the corn is coming along nicely.

Back when we used to be able to have multiple big gardens every year, it would've been somewhat taller at this point in the season. But climate collapse means that it's too hot and too dry, but also too many freezing overnights too far into late May and into June to plant on anything like a normal schedule anymore.

And this is the most we've had for several years, so we're grateful for it.

Today was supposed to be a day where I could stay here and do my work on a normal schedule, too, but I don't get that anymore, either. Five fucking errands, with varying degrees of success, and still no answer on the well tank. I am in excruciating full-body pain, though, so there's that. Pushing it too much for too long, too many days of having to go places and stand and walk around and too much stress for too long. And tomorrow's chemo, and I'll likely feel like shit through the weekend again, which means I'll be useless, just like last weekend. And so ONCE AGAIN I'm doing my work at 9:30 at night, and I'll be here past midnight, and I still won't get anywhere near done what I need to get done.

I am so tired.

And of course, all that expense to come means that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Which means I have to get caught up on the work somehow. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, are 3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                     

#TBT: The Waters In Full Flowering Rebirth

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT work that dates back eleven years, I believe to September of 2014, and a commission based on a prior work. It's a ring set with a rich green turquoise cabochon finely webbed in shades of red, its bezel reminiscent of petals, the whole like the waters in full flowering rebirth.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work will never be duplicated, but if the general style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own.  We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank [should've been last week, so anytime now]. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.    

This is why we stay home.

Photo copyright Ai, 2025; all rights reserved.

Better the gray of clouds that don't rain than the smoke we've had here all day.

And it has been a fucking day. Starting with no sleep until after 6 AM [which translates to something less than two constantly-interrupted hours], and the need to be up and out the door because we had paperwork to take care of left over from last week, and had to go out of town to do it. That takes care of one aspect of the well tank; now, we just need to get the damn tank in and them out here to dig to replace it. [Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, but this was the biggest thing other than, you know, REPLACING THE FUCKING TANK.]

And the whole day has been one long heavy pall of smoke and ash and particulate matter. Good thing we still mask. Even so, it's nightmarish. But apparently, being gone today was a good thing, because all hell seems to have broken loose in this town. I swear to god, repeated COVID infections have friend everybody's brains and completely destroyed any semblance of impulse control. While we were gone [but unbeknownst to us, heading our way, so it's a good thing we came home the back way], two police chases, one apparently involving some dipshit driving a giant RV, ploughing through town and eventually, it seems, winding up in a field? And then a shooting on the south end, involving road closures and inconsistent reports of orders to shelter in place and a hospital lockdown anyway and, as I understand it, the helicopters are still circling over the foothills looking for the guy.

This is why we stay home.

That, and the fact that there's always so much to do, and there's still so much I have get caught up on now.

I am so tired.

And of course, all that expense to come means that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Which means I have to get caught up on the work somehow. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, are 3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.