Winter on its way back.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Winter on its way back. We're supposed to get rain turning to a dusting of snow overnight, but the snow's already falling over Pueblo Peak. Of course, the sudden plunge in temperature and conditions comes on the day a hummingbird arrives, two full months early. Yes, we've hauled out one of the feeders and I made nectar, filled it, and hung it up. At least he'll have fuel. 

I need fuel to keep going right now. My chemo dose is upped again, to six tablets, and I'm not sure how my body's handling it yet. Five might be my limit for now; we'll see. I'm just so tired; these last weeks [months] have been so stress-filled and required so much of us both physically that I feel like I'll never catch up. I'm hoping that I don't have to leave here at all next week, except maybe to the post office if we're blessed enough to make some desperately-needed sales.

Because when we have had so many other demands on us for money and for help as we have so far this year, enough to wipe us out completely, if things don't pick up consistently very, very soon, we won't make it through this year. And the other demands on me are just as relentless [the ones that don't, directly, anyway, have to do explicitly with money]; there is no help for any of it, and I am at my wits' end over the latter ones especially.

As though that weren't enough, my Patreon is still down by more than $700 a month over last year, and as our most consistent source of income, that is what pays our monthly bills like utilities and groceries and gas and so forth. It's not going to be enough even for that, never mind the taxes and everything else. Somehow, I have to bring in sales. If you're in the market, now would be a really, REALLY good time. I posted four new pairs of earrings a few nights ago, here, all at lower price points than his usual, and three new all-silver cuffs, here. And the other night, I got the new naja [it's extraordinary] posted and sent viral, and it matches an existing cuff! and you can find them here and here. And as always, all the regular links are listed below, with sales, as always, being the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (we'll always need the dog treats for the monsters, and Amazon and Lowe's cards [the Lowe's cards are probably going to have to go on a new fridge, so I'm hoarding them]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim 2023, and with this year starting off MUCH worse, we really need to get 2024 moving onto a better footing, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                       

Friday Feature: A Blossoming Land

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of works newly created and beautifully matched, both from the same category and wrought in a similar traditional style. It's a pair of classic slender cuffs, eminently stackable, both stamped with imagery to honor a blossoming land, one with extraordinary filework detail and the other with secret etching for texture.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We're now a third of the way through this no-longer-new calendar year and facing complications and costs, some carried over from the end of last year, some all new, that have completely wiped us out. We need to make consistent sales urgently, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

Hope is all we've got.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Bullsnake, enjoying the last of the warmth before the storm arrives. And it seems as though it might arrive sooner rather than later, mostly cloudy now, increasingly windy and increasingly cold.

In Wings's way, snakes mean prosperity. I sincerely hope that's true, given what this year has done to us thus far; just yesterday was another $400 cash out the door for dentist, pharmacy, and the grocery run I've been putting off for a month, all combined. But at this point, hope is all we've got. On every front.

When we have had so many other demands on us for money and for help, enough to wipe us out completely, if things don't pick up consistently very, very soon, we won't make it through this year. And the other demands on me are just as relentless [the ones that don't, directly, anyway, have to do explicitly with money]; there is no help for any of it, and I am at my wits' end over the latter ones especially.

As though that weren't enough, my Patreon is still down by more than $700 a month over last year, and as our most consistent source of income, that is what pays our monthly bills like utilities and groceries and gas and so forth. It's not going to be enough even for that, never mind the taxes and everything else. Somehow, I have to bring in sales. If you're in the market, now would be a really, REALLY good time. I posted four new pairs of earrings a few nights ago, here, all at lower price points than his usual, and three new all-silver cuffs, here. And last night, I got the new naja [it's extraordinary] posted and sent viral, and it matches an existing cuff! and you can find them here and here. And as always, all the regular links are listed below, with sales, as always, being the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (we'll always need the dog treats for the monsters, and Amazon and Lowe's cards [the Lowe's cards are probably going to have to go on a new fridge, so I'm hoarding them]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim 2023, and with this year starting off MUCH worse, we really need to get 2024 moving onto a better footing, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                       

#TBT: A Flowering Season

Photo copyright Wings, 2024;
all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT work that dates back almost two decades, and one of Wings's unique iterations of an old traditional style. It's a link bracelet created the old way, one whose stampwork pattern reminds us that this is a flowering season, for the earth, for us, and for the work we do.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, 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're now a third of the way through this no-longer-new calendar year and facing complications and costs, some carried over from the end of last year, some all new, that have completely wiped us out. We need to make consistent sales urgently, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.      

A lot of haze.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

That was this morning; we have green cropping up on all sides, but a lot of haze, too. There wasn't any wind yet then, which means this is smoke drifting in from somewhere.

Tomorrow's a no-burn day [which should've been the case today, too], but we're also supposed to get rain, which would be welcome. Also a faint possibility or more on Friday, and then a decent, measurable chance of snow and rain over the weekend. Of course, it won't be as warm, but we need the moisture; these winds have already dried the earth out pretty badly. 

Of course, that's not all the damage they do. I will take any kind of weather conditions but wind; it makes my joints and connective tissues flare worse than any other phenomenon. And today was one of those days filled with appointments and errands [and another $400 cash out the door, so thank all that's holy we had made a sale — dentist, pharmacy, and the grocery run I've been putting off for a month, all combined].

But we still need to keep making sales consistently in this already-terrible year. Normally, the lack of them in April wouldn't bother me so much, since everyone else is dealing with tax nonsense too, and I could reasonably depend on making it up in the weeks to come, but this year? When we have had so many other demands on us for money and for help, enough to wipe us out completely? If things don't pick up consistently very, very soon, we won't make it through this year. And the other demands on me are just as relentless [the ones that don't, directly, anyway, have to do explicitly with money]; there is no help for any of it, and I am at my wits' end over the latter ones especially.

As thought that weren't enough, my Patreon is still down by more than $700 a month over last year, and as our most consistent source of income, that is what pays our monthly bills like utilities and groceries and gas and so forth. It's not going to be enough even for that, never mind the taxes and everything else. Somehow, I have to bring in sales. If you're in the market, now would be a really, REALLY good time. I posted four new pairs of earrings a few nights ago, here, all at lower price points than his usual, and three new all-silver cuffs, here. And last night, I got the new naja [it's extraordinary] posted and sent viral, and it matches an existing cuff! and you can find them here and here. And as always, all the regular links are listed below, with sales, as always, being the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (we'll always need the dog treats for the monsters, and Amazon and Lowe's cards [the Lowe's cards are probably going to have to go on a new fridge, so I'm hoarding them]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim 2023, and with this year starting off MUCH worse, we really need to get 2024 moving onto a better footing, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                       

A Budding Glow

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's one of Wings's newest works, a cuff that shares its name with that which lends its own to people and place, manifest as light through red willows at day's end. It's a reflection, too, on the quality of that light, a budding glow that brings our whole warming world alive once more.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We're now a third of the way through this no-longer-new calendar year and facing complications and costs, some carried over from the end of last year, some all new, that have completely wiped us out. We need to make consistent sales urgently, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.     

And again, it's only Tuesday.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Pear tree about to blossom. Technically, the blossoms are there, and the leaves, too; they're just still mostly furled together. They'll probably really begin to open up tomorrow. This happened at sunrise today; the other thing that happened is that the lilac bushes began to bud, deep purple. They likely won't flower for another week or two yet, but it's on the way.

Late again, because ::gestures around at the mess everything in the world is right now::. This week has been so fraught already, and there's so much ahead of us that I'm not looking forward to. And again, it's only Tuesday. It seems like it should be one or the other:  Either the last three days should've been less overflowing with stress and nonsense, or the rest of the week should be. But no; apparently it's got to be an all-week thing.

Again.

Meanwhile, we're just trying to survive. We're not quite four full months into this year, and it's already killing us. That's not an exaggeration; it's already become a health issue.  Speaking of things that are gigantic, I knew the leachfield would be destructively expensive, and it was; same for the taxes, and they are, and there are a majority of payments still ahead of us, and no means to pay them, since as of yesterday, we hadn't had a single sale in over a month [yesterday, we made two sales plus one commission, so that particular drought, while nowhere near broken, has been alleviated momentarily]. Normally, that wouldn't bother me so much, since everyone else is dealing with tax nonsense in April, but this year? When we have had so many other demands on us for money and for help, enough to wipe us out completely? If things don't pick up very, very soon, we won't make it through this year. And the other demands on me are just as relentless [the ones that don't, directly, anyway, have to do explicitly with money]; there is no help for any of it, and I am at my wits' end.

My Patreon is still down by more than $700 a month over last year, and as our most consistent source of income, that is what pays our monthly bills like utilities and groceries and gas and so forth. It's not going to be enough even for that, never mind the taxes and everything else. Somehow, I have to bring in sales. If you're in the market, now would be a really, REALLY good time. I posted four new pairs of earrings a few nights ago, here, all at lower price points than his usual, and three new all-silver cuffs, here. Tonight, I hope, I'll have the new naja [it's extraordinary] posted and sent viral, and it matches an existing cuff! so look for that. And as always, all the regular links are listed below, with sales, as always, being the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here ( we'll always need the dog treats for the monsters, and Amazon and Lowe's cards [the Lowe's cards are probably going to have to go on a new fridge, so I'm hoarding them]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim 2023, and with this year starting off MUCH worse, we really need to get 2024 moving onto a better footing, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.