Rough.

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

This went up too late last night to get much traction, so I'm posting a photo of it from a different angle here.  This is Wings's newest, called The Waters of Life, and it's an extraordinary example of traditional silversmithing set with a really spectacular (and really old) stone. You do want to click through and see the photos of it form all angles, believe me.

Beyond that, it's been a rough week, and today is a very rough day. First, I slept no many than 20 minutes at any given stretch last night. Going off the meds has made my joint and other pain perceptibly worse, and it's making it impossible to sleep. Some I'm exhausted and my brain is completely fogged by fatigue o top of everything else. This morning was also the fifth anniversary of the loss of my beloved mustang, Ice, and I feel that hole in my heart just as acutely now.

And I have to worry constantly about how to meet all the tax installments and medical bills still to come.

Meanwhile, Wings is still cranking out new inventory when he can, but he's suddenly having to be much more mindful of what he creates, given the crisis-level spike in silver prices. As I said earlier, we just learned that both silver suppliers in this state have more than tripled their silver prices (for some types of silver, much more), which has left me pretty badly shaken. And it's across the board; even small things, like findings and earring wires and backs, have gone way, way up. He's got enough for now to do what he needs to do, but nothing's going to change anytime soon, given that the justifications for it will be "supply-chain issues," "fuel prices," "war in Ukraine," and "inflation"; these prices are here for the foreseeable future. It's going to put a lot of Native smiths and jewelers completely out of business, and to make sure that Wings does not become one of them, I have GOT to make some sales. That's especially true with the holidays coming; these silver spikes are going to make this fall a crisis point for a lot of jewelers. Unfortunately, I'm being hobbled by everything else, not least of which is this flare that is making the progression in my illness much worse: numbness, contractures, crippling pain, another side effect that has forced me to discontinue my lupus meds entirely (dangerously low BG, and now I'm getting the muscle-contracture effects of doing without it). I'm going to need help to do this. All the links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priority is first and foremost, the other ladder; also sheets);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

We're still hoping to put aside enough for a new well when the ground thaws enough to drill in the spring, too, Nah, we've given up on the well. No one's available to drill before late next year at the earliest, and this year's tax burden means we would never be able to afford it anyway. But it's even more of a good time to make a purchase, because Uncle Sam is a vindictive colonizer, and my current stress levels about paying it all are off the charts. And there's lots of fabulous work, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.