A little distraction.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Working on a commission. That's how you size and shape a ring simultaneously; the mandrel has the size markers on it. He had just set the mandrel in the vise and slid the ring onto it; it took shaping with the mallet and some resetting and pounding on the mandrel's end with both the mallet and the 5-lb. solid-steel hammer to get it shaped and sized correctly.

If you're wondering why, what happens with a ring as that after he has the design set, he shapes it into a hoop and solders the ends together. But that very action distorts the hoop a bit, plus, no matter how round it looks to the naked eye? Slide it onto the mandrel, and you can see all the little microscopic gaps that need to be brought into a perfect circle. This is how you do that.

Anyway, it was a little distraction for me today, a chance to focus on something other than the way my body is waging war on itself. Some days are just brutal; there's no other word for it. This was one. Pain meds didn't even take the edge off. I've got internal swelling on the left side, base of neck through whole of shoulder and down side and back to where my ribs subluxed last week. All the other subluxes remain, and they of course hurt like hell, because that's what dislocated joints do. I also have some new oddities, discovered last night, with some lymph nodes, but since I have no desire for the travel and expense involved, never mind being stuck repeatedly with core needles, I'm not doing anything until I've had a chance to see if they calm down on their own. I've already had too many apparently false catastrophic diagnoses for one lifetime, and my chronic shit is more than enough to deal with on the daily as it is. But the constant all-consuming pain sets me back, no question , so if you're wondering why it takes me so long to get to everything? That's why.

And all the usual issues continue apace. So does the work, our own and the vocational stuff that we have no choice but to do. And, of course, the world is still on fire, they're still coming for us all, and we still have to worry about our communities, about our relatives [both of whom are disproportionately affected by this illegal "funding suspension"], . . . and about us. Last year was indescribably bad on pretty much every single front, especially sales. This year, already a month into it, and it's not appreciably better. I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only two so far in this new year, and we're already in the second month. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. Now we have a potential security issue, and I think we're going to have to hire someone to install a camera system here [the distance is too great for the little cheap cameras; this will require something a lot more sophisticated (and a lot more costly, natch)]. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I can't live with this level of unrelenting stress on top of everything else.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, 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.                                                   

#ThrowbackThursday: The Waters of Winter and Spring

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #ThrowbackThursday work that dates back more than seven and a half years, to October of 2018. It was a special commission for a friend, a pair of traditional hoop earrings studded with Skystones, falling like the waters of winter and spring.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, this work will never be duplicated exactly, but if the style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we're already at the end of the third week of February. We urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.         

Unnatural phenomena.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Striped skies.

And the upper third of every spruce filled with cones. both are unnatural phenomena, but not of the paranormal variety; these are all too human in their causes. The striped skies are the result of far too much air traffic, too many contrails sucking every last bit of moisture out of the air in this 1,200-year drought. The cones are the result of that drought, a conifer's last-ditch effort to save its kind by propagating an exorbitant number of cones, hoping something will fall in just the right place and be able to take root.

Of course, there has to be water for the soil, and it can't be aridified beyond its ability to nurture growth, and I'm not sure we have enough of either of those anymore.

::Sigh:: it's been a day, which is why I'm at this so damn late YET AGAIN. At least Stormy is fine today; apparently, she got into a fight with a neighbor dog who comes over here routinely, and worked herself up into such a state of panic and fear that she gave herself a case of adrenaline toxicity and literally made herself sick over it. At any rate, now we know the trigger, but it's going to be a challenge to keep it from recurring [the trigger, not the adrenaline toxicity]. So that's solved. Everything else? Is terrible.

Because all the usual issues continue apace. So does the work, our own and the vocational stuff that we have no choice but to do. And, of course, the world is still on fire, they're still coming for us all, and we still have to worry about our communities, about our relatives [both of whom are disproportionately affected by this illegal "funding suspension"], . . . and about us. Last year was indescribably bad on pretty much every single front, especially sales. This year, already a month into it, and it's not appreciably better. I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only two so far in this new year, and we're already in the second month. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. Now we have a potential security issue, and I think we're going to have to hire someone to install a camera system here [the distance is too great for the little cheap cameras; this will require something a lot more sophisticated (and a lot more costly, natch)]. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I can't live with this level of unrelenting stress on top of everything else.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, 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.                                                   

From the Heart of the Sky Fall the Waters of Life

Photo copyright Aji, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a classic work to remind us of worlds we once knew, and to inspire us to reclaim and restore them for future generations. It's an old-style belt buckle wrought in traditional imagery and set with an extraordinary Skystone, embodying the truth that from the heart of the sky fall the waters of life, and inviting us to the work of protecting and defending their medicine now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we're already into the third week of February now. We urgently need to get 2025 onto a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.   

Red Willow Spirit: When the Waters Call the Sky

Photo copyright Wings, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for what remains of winter, and for the beauty and medicine of survival in dark days and hard times. It's three images linked by two matching works of wearable art, all manifest in the magic that occurs when the waters call the sky, and the sky answers in kind.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, his photos are available in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we're already into the third week of February. We urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.    

Out of order today. Again.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Yes, out of order today. Again.

It's been mostly a not very good day. I spent most of it sick, by which I don't mean any kind of infectious condition [it virtually never is with me], but simply my autoimmune disease raging entirely out of control on multiple fronts. We had to run a couple of errands, which didn't go especially smoothly, and now my feet are killing me in addition to everything else, but that's the way it is.

And it's progressive, so it's probably not getting appreciably better. Worse, though? Oh, yeah, it can always get worse.

And, of course, everything will be late tonight.

The much worse problem is that Stormy seems not to be feeling at all well, and I can't find any reason for it, but it's scaring the hell out of me all the same. If she not better tomorrow morning, I'll have to see if I can get her in at the vet, but in the meantime, if you could spare some prayers for my little stormy girl, she could use them right now.

The one good thing today is that the wood got delivered out in the county where it was supposed to go. The guy who did it came by near the end of the day and picked up the check, so that's done, at long last. And we now have a contact for this sort of thing if it ever arises again.

And I'm sure it will, because everything's terrible. Firings, unfirings, more firings, funding all still suspended or ended . . . . It's a coup, and a looting, and if folks like us die in the process, they'll count that in the win column.

Because all the usual issues continue apace. So does the work, our own and the vocational stuff that we have no choice but to do. And, of course, the world is still on fire, they're still coming for us all, and we still have to worry about our communities, about our relatives [both of whom are disproportionately affected by this illegal "funding suspension"], . . . and about us. Last year was indescribably bad on pretty much every single front, especially sales. This year, already a month into it, and it's not appreciably better. I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only two so far in this new year, and we're already in the second month. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. Now we have a potential security issue, and I think we're going to have to hire someone to install a camera system here [the distance is too great for the little cheap cameras; this will require something a lot more sophisticated (and a lot more costly, natch)]. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I can't live with this level of unrelenting stress on top of everything else.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, 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.                                                   

Now, if I could just bring in a few sales this week . . . .

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Yesterday it was the bluebirds who arrived; today, it's the crows.

Of course, the corvids are here year-round, but they've been in the fields and skies all day today, apparently finding things that, similarly confused by the weather, have emerged thinking it's spring.

Supposed to be snow overnight again, though. The clouds are already moving in. I know most people would think that's an unwelcome development, but for me, it's always a good thing. Stormy skies are good for today, anyway; sixteen years ago this afternoon since we lost Hunter, the our fluffy girl who adopted me on sight and refused to let me go, and where has the time gone?

I've at least managed to get a few things under way that needed doing, too. The firewood order for the gentleman out in the county is arranged at long last. Wings is making progress in the studio. And my to-do list for this evening is a mile long, but I'm whittling away at it, one item at a time. 

Now, if I could just bring in a few sales this week . . . .

Because all the usual issues continue apace. So does the work, our own and the vocational stuff that we have no choice but to do. And, of course, the world is still on fire, they're still coming for us all, and we still have to worry about our communities, about our relatives [both of whom are disproportionately affected by this illegal "funding suspension"], . . . and about us. Last year was indescribably bad on pretty much every single front, especially sales. This year, already a month into it, and it's not appreciably better. I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only two so far in this new year, and we're already in the second month. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. Now we have a potential security issue, and I think we're going to have to hire someone to install a camera system here [the distance is too great for the little cheap cameras; this will require something a lot more sophisticated (and a lot more costly, natch)]. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I can't live with this level of unrelenting stress on top of everything else.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, 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.