Beautiful skies.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

June's going out on a note of beautiful skies. 

Of course, we keep close watch on them, because those clouds up there? In their roiling middles, they look like wildfire smoke plumes. It's often hard to tell the difference in summer. Fortunately, we saw these in the process of forming, and they're just clouds.

The kind that carry rain, actually. Normally, I'd say they're on the wrong side of us to do us any good, but we've had plenty of odd wind shifts lately, so it's unlikely, but not impossible.

And I will be remarkably glad for tomorrow. Partly because it's Wings's birthday, and another year to celebrate together (no, we're not going anywhere or doing anything; I'm just making him what he wants for dinner); and partly because this has just been such a damnably difficult month, for us and for so many other folks in our communities. 

It's also been a damnably expensive month, particularly these last two weeks. And we have to shell out $1,200 in cash on Sunday to cover Miika's hay, but at least then, hopefully, it will be done for the year. But there's so much else to come, and I'm so short on time all the time these days.

But I have to bring in some more sales, and soon. Thinking that we were okay for now was entirely predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can possibly go. There's a lot of new work on the site already, including Wings's absolutely phenomenal new cuff, which you can see from all angles here (and you want to see it form all angles, believe me). Meanwhile, Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too. And I really do need to bring in consistent sales; the year's only half over, and there's a lot of expense to get through yet. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.               

Friday Feature: In Earth and Sky, Storm and Fire, Hope

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a work for the elemental forces of summer, and for the medicine they bring. It's a cuff infused with their animating spirits, reminding us that we find in earth and sky, storm and fire, hope.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

Wings's newest, a masterwork of freehand silversmithing.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

I've been promising this for two days, and it's finally up: Wings's newest, a masterwork of freehand silversmithing. it's an extraordinary new cuff called Warbonnet Sky:

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

The name comes from the setting, the radiant feathers that form a headdress of sorts around that intense blue Skystone. The band is formed of three heavy-gauge strands of sterling silver triangle wire, all stamped in the same repeating pattern, all fused at the ends and spread gently at the top. The focal is absolutely phenomenal, all saw-cut, scalloped, scored, stamped, and texturized freehand, hundreds of strikes of the jeweler's hammer to create it. The Four Sacred Directions setting beneath the stone is also saw-cut to excise it from the embrasure, and the bezel that holds that natural Fox cabochon is created and cut entirely by hand. You can read its full description here.

As always, Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And we will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.      

No breathing room.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Today's skies. You can see how much the green is paling, turning yellow and then brown; the leaves are starting to dry and curl and shrivel, too. Thus far, all we've had out of those clouds is maybe a couple of dozen scattered drops, no more.

And if we don't get real seasonal rains soon, the land is going to die off all over again.

It's been a bad week on multiple fronts. Completely apart from all the terrible out in the rest of the world today, as I said yesterday, we learned that family friends have had a tragedy. We've done what we could to help, and there may come a time when a GFM is needed, and if so, I’ll be working on pushing that, as well. Today I also paid the truck and trailer insurance (due mid-July), which is a huge expense, and we have a big, BIG expense coming out of our pockets on Sunday, because the guy we get our hay from (now that the drought has killed ours) has some good-quality stuff, suitable for Miika’s health conditions, the he’ll let us have for $17 a bale . . . as long as we buy 70 bales. And we don’t have a choice, because the drought has killed everyone else’s, too (he’s hauled this in from elsewhere), and if we don’t get it now, by winter there won’t be anything at all, never mind anything edible, and people will still be charging at least $25 or $30 bucks a bale for what little weed-riddled crap will be left. For the last 6 years, most of them have been gouging folks left and right for a piddling amount of absolute trash hay.

So the immediate stuff will be caught up, and we'll have Miika mostly covered from now through winter on the feed front. But it leaves us with no breathing room. Oh, and Wings's birthday is Saturday, and as usual, he found his gift early (just a set of three thermal-insulated mugs/bottles for him to be able to have cold and warm water/coffee/tea/soup/etc. out in the studio, no matter how extreme the temperatures get), so my surprise, modest as it was, is already shot.

Thinking that we were okay for now was entirely predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can possibly go. There's a lot of new work on the site already, and I had planned to post Wings’s newest last night, that incredible cuff I showed here yesterday. Last night's outage (yet again) prevented me from getting it posted last night, but I'm hoping to have it up by this evening. Meanwhile, Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too. And I really do need to bring in consistent sales; the year's only half over, and there's a lot of expense to get through yet. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.               

#ThrowbackThursday: The Purple Fire of the Summer Storm

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #ThrowbackThursday work that dates back only about ten months, to August of last year, and a commission for a dear friend. It's a pair of simple post earrings set with amethyst, hand-selected to channel and refract the purple fire of the summer storm.

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 will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.      

Then there's everything else.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

[Emendation:  Clearly it's back on now. But this is way past old by now.]

JUST getting this ready to post, and the damned power goes out.

AGAIN.

No, there’s no weather-related reason for it. They’ve just completely overloaded the system with colonial invasion.  So now I have no idea when everything will post. It’ll all have been written today, but it may not be able to go up until tomorrow.

Or Friday. Or next week. Who knows?

And I wouldn’t even BE this late with it if I hadn’t had to deal with other nonsense all day today, the biggest of which is a direct result of this country’s fucked-up notions of “health care.” It has nothing to do with health, and it’s certainly not care. But here we are.

Meanwhile, we’ve learned the family friends have had a tragedy, and there may come a time when a GFM is needed, and if so, I’ll be working on pushing that. And we have a big, BIG expense coming out of our pockets on Sunday, because the guy we get our hay from (now that the drought has killed ours) has some good-quality stuff, suitable for Miika’s health conditions, the he’ll let us have for $17 a bale . . . as long as we buy 70 bales. And we don’t have a choice, because the drought has killed everyone else’s, too (he’s hauled this in from elsewhere), and if we don’t get it now, by winter there won’t be anything at all, never mind anything edible, and people will still be charging at least $25 bucks a bale for what little weed-riddled crap will be left. For the last 6 years, most of them have been gouging folks left and right for a piddling amount of absolute trash hay.

Then there’s everything else.

Thinking that we were okay for now was entirely predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can possibly go. There's a lot of new work on the site already, and I had planned to post Wings’s newest tonight, that incredible cuff I showed here in progress yesterday (but who knows when that’ll go up now). Actually, that's it up there, but I just grabbed the first shot, not the best one. It's unlikely I'll have it up on the site yet tonight, but we'll see; more likely tomorrow. Meanwhile. Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.               

It Takes Smoke and Cloud to Show the Lines of the Sun

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork of counterintuitive color and exceptional beauty, created to honor all the shades of the sun. It's a necklace that shows us the true gift that is the light with a little darkness to share its space, for it takes smoke and cloud to show the lines of the sun, and to show us its great reach, as well.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.    

Wings's latest, coming tomorrow.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Even with all the hassle, the work still has to get done. Wing's latest, coming tomorrow; by working around the latest outages, he got this far. He'll buff it and set the stone tomorrow, and it'll be available then.

All this upheaval is destroying my own ability to get anything done, and I'm also not getting any sleep, and the two combined are making me incredibly irritated. I'm so far behind, and I can't catch a break.

And I've got to get back to the main work of chasing sales. Thinking that we were okay for now was entirely predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can possibly go.  There's a lot of new work on the site already, and Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.               

Red Willow Spirit: The Fire That Drives the Storm

Photo copyright Wings, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for a season under siege and weather patterns in collapse, and for the still-stunning beauty of the sunset storm even now. It's five images today (only one of which can be purchased), linked by four images of Wings's newest trio of works of wearable art, all of them manifest in the extraordinary power of the fire that drives the storm.

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 will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so shares are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.       

Always something in the works.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Wings's newest accomplishment, just this morning: a perch for the chickens in the middle of the coop. At least one of them will find her way onto the very top of it.

Always something in the works. Never enough time to do everything that needs to be done.

This past weekend set me back very badly on all the things I needed to do, and now I'm feeling doubly under the gun on it all. That, combined with the pain, is making me cranky, and that's going to filter into this week's posts, because what town and county are doing is the exact opposite of what's needed, seemingly on every front, and the land is back to dying while clueless talking heads row about "post-drought" in the same way they do "post-pandemic," when both are the most murderous lies.

And I've got to get back to the main work of chasing sales. Thinking that we were okay for now was entirely predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can possibly go.  There's a lot of new work on the site already, and Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.               

Monday Photo Meditation: Molten Skies

Photo copyright Wings, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for seasonal unrest, for the melancholy of what we know summer should be, and not a little anger at its wanton colonial destruction. It's a contemplation on this time of year as a season of molten skies, a the breathtakingly beautiful result not of deadly destructive wildfire but of cleaning, healing rain.

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 will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss,  and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so shares are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.     

Not anymore.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

[Today's post, but written early today when we didn't know whether we'd have Internet access today, or even for the week.]

See how the blue turns a dirty, smoggy white nearer the horizon? That’s smoke.

That was early this morning; it’s much worse now. The winds are much wilder, too, and I just saw a couple of small dust devils try to whip up something in our east field; after it hit the neighbor’s field, it turned into less a giant dust devil than a giant spiraling dust bowl. And you can see up in the photo how much the west fields are browning now. Ten days ago, they were as green as the aspen leaves in the foreground.

Not anymore.

This is all very bad, and it’s part of what I meant when I kept insisting that the pronouncements of our stupid media and also our so-called experts that the land is no longer in drought were dangerously, deadly wrong. This land has not been this dry, nor this aridified, in more than twelve hundred years. A few weeks of intermittent rain aren’t even a drop in the  proverbial fucking bucket.

And of course, the Internet’s still out.  They finally posted a notice on the local rag this morning, a whole day late, and then”updated” it to look as though it had already been up, but sorry, folks; I know to monitor these things, and once again, the Taos News lies through its colonizer teeth. So does IKT’s leadership. So do the federal and state forestry and land management entities. I learned through the grapevine yesterday that it was not one but two successive episodes of IKE negligence that caused first other folks’ electrical outage on Friday and our Internet outage now; I also learned that said “forest management” entities lied about the fire that is the source of most of our smoke, negligent launching a prescribed burn int he middle of dry and windy conditions off what they say (but Wings and I no longer believe) was a lightning-strike ignition (on a day and night with neither storms nor dry/heat lightning in the area in question). They also apparently decided to launch a prescribed burn north of Abiquiu, and that just as predictably got away from them, so now we have two wildfires raging not far west of us, and absolutely zero confidence in anyone in authority to tell us the truth about any of it.

And my weekend, and all my plans for using it to catch up, are shot. I needed to be able to spend a lot more time on chasing than sales than I've been able to do for months now, and that was part of what this weekend was going to be. Except not, because this place that is so goddamned determined to colonize everything into nothing but rich white outsiders pushing everyone else out cannot even maintain the bare minimum of public utility consistency even without all the added load of the current invasion. Thinking that we were okay for now was entirely predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can possibly go.  There's a lot of new work on the site already, and Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.               

Finding Light In the Smoke

Photo copyright Aji, 2023;  all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the medicine of smoke and light, and for the work that will return to us a world in proper balance. It’s also a musing on the simple, essential truth that the work is obligatory: that finding light in the smoke is required of us all, and so is the rehabilitating of the air and land and waters.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.    

Calling it a win.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

[Note:  This and the previous post here are yesterday's, written then but unable to post because of the Internet outage. Nothing's been changed in the wording; folks will get it.]

That’s Wings’s latest project:  a planter box to build up with soil and mulch to allow us to plant at least a few things this year. It’s been a week and a half since I ordered the carburetor for the tiller, and I’ve gotten not so much as a single word out of them about shipping, never mind that the order was confirmed and listed as in stock, so tilling might be a thing that’s not happening this year [and a fight to claw back our money might be a thing that is].

I understand small private sellers encountering obstacles (we certainly do), but it seems as though with every single item I’ve had to order from a corporation recently, delivery has been a huge problem, and they don’t acknowledge it, never mind apologize for it or make it right. And it’s not even that it’s getting delayed in transit.  It’s that they 1) send me a notice that it’s shipped, only to find out it’s a label, and a week later, it still hasn’t been taken to USPS, or 2) they don’t even bother with that, and give me no means to track the order.  I’m dealing with both right now, along with a full Internet outage today, so I’m a little less than happy.

I also can’t seem to get anywhere with the International med order, which is frustrating me beyond belief. On the plus side, the off-label metformin does seem to be making a difference in my pain, so, given as bad as the last several weeks have been? I’m calling it a win. [Yes, in addition to the fact that metformin is now being used in Europe in COVID patients to prevent them getting Long COVID, apparently it’s been known for years that it is both a direct anti-inflammatory and a pain reliever in two different ways. But it’s an old (and safe) medication, with no patent protection, so nobody’s interested in prescribing it. Except my doctor, thank all that’s holy.]

Unfortunately, the Internet outage is a bigger problem today. I need to be able to spend a lot more time on chasing than sales than I've been able to do for months now. We're okay for the moment, but that's predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can.  There's a lot of new work on the site already, and Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.               

A Circle More Powerful Than Any Storm

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's  a work to remind us that the way of the hoop is given to us for a reason, and that keeping to the path that has been granted us is a gift in itself. It’s also a reminder to reflect, occasionally, on the balance between our hardships and blessings, and to recognize that the road we walk is a circle more powerful than any storm, one that is always a part of the infinite and the eternal.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.    

Additional tasks.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Wings this morning, tacking the roof of the dog run back down after last night's rotational winds tried to rip it off. We were lucky; beyond that, a downed ladder, and a bunch of dead tree limbs ripped from the weeping willows, we didn't lose much to it, and we got an all-night light show again of lightning from behind the peaks after it moved out (albeit only a few drops of rain here).  But today's winds are ferocious, too, and this is just one more example of all the many, many additional tasks, large and small, that our collapsing climate is visiting upon us. 

A few minutes ago, I had to step outside to make sure that the sound I heard wasn't anything to worry about (it wasn't; just noise). But that was all it took for the allergic reaction to start: sneezing, sniffling, itchy eyes, the works. These winds are too late in the season, but so is the pollen, and they're working together to turn summer into spring, which is far and away the worst season here for everything.

Like we're not already far enough behind on everything. Add to that the pressures of the health and medical nonsense, and the outrageous cost of this week on multiple fronts, and I need to be able to spend a lot more time on chasing than sales than I've been able to do for months now. We're okay for the moment, but that's predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can. There's a lot of new work on the site already, and Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.               

Friday Feature: The Path of Prophecy Leads Through the Storm

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of all-new works that signify the rewards of hard and community in times of catastrophe and collapse. It's a pair of pins (the second already sold) wrought in the form and shape of the traditional arrow, reminding us that the path of prophecy leads through the storm, bringing us to a better world on the other side.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

More work in progress.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's not a good shot, because it doesn't do justice the depth of it (yes, it's currently flat, but the stampwork and texturization are incredible).  More work in progress, probably done in a few days. He's vacillated between buckle, bolo, and bracelet, and I think he might have settled on that last one, but I'm not 100% positive.

All the rest of the work in progress is long-term stuff. I had to go to the doctor today, and I think we have a new treatment plan for some of the ramped-up symptoms that are making my life a misery, keeping me housebound and rarely walking. The problem is that it's all really LONG-term stuff. So I came home with a bunch of supplements  (and a total bill a little shy of $500, paid in full in cash) that work in concert with one of the two new scrips. One I can get locally, fairly cheaply; the other I can get locally at ~$3,400 a pop . . . or $185 from Canada. The drawback with Canada is all the ridiculous hoops the U.S. makes me jump through to get it, all bullshit, which means that it'll be a cool month down the road before I actually have the meds and can begin this particular protocol. It's enraging and demoralizing, but there it is, and there's no way I'm putting us in the poorhouse for four figures when I can get it for $185 somewhere else. Oh, and I'll be shelling out at least a couple hundred more next week for an infusion to try to support my connective tissue/joints. It's looking like an EDS DX might become a thing, after all these decades of being told it was nothing.

And, obviously, all the walking around today has made walking almost impossible by tonight. It's also what's made everything late today, and probably more of the same tomorrow, since I have to deal with international shipping (to Canada, FFS) then. I just want a few days not to have to go anywhere, because my pain levels are off the charts, but no.

Also, I'm going to have to keep bringing in regular sales to support all this nonsense. We're okay at the moment, but that's predicated on the assumption of consistent sales fr the second half of this year. There's a lot of new work on the site already, and Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.               

#TBT: To Find the Storm Within

Photo copyright Wings, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT work that dates back to around 2011, if memory serves, one in Wings's informal sometime series of miniature collector's spoons. It's a personal favorite, an homage to the traditional imagery of arrows and paths, of the sacred directions, and of lessons to us to find the storm within, the one that births and builds new worlds.

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 will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.      

Haze.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

See how dull that photo looks? Like an old one from 1960, low-quality film in the first place, and faded by time and sun besides?  I took that just a little while ago, in digital format.  That's the haze we have here right now, smoke from the El Rito fire, plus two more down by the Gila. It's dangerous to breathe air like this, so I'm masked every time I step outside right now. Doesn't make a difference to the eye burn or the headache, though.

Everything's late because today required errands again. On the plus side, items are shipped; on the minus side, my knees and feet will be in agony all day tomorrow. Can't be helped, apparently. Tomorrow's going to be another problem, but after that, hopefully I'll be here at home consistently for a while and can get caught up a little bit. Friday will be miserable with gale-force winds (and no rain; the land is already dry as ash and the grass is brittle and browning fast), but I'm planning on being indoors as much as humanly possible. Hopefully, Wings will be, too.

Speaking of which, I did get his four newest works posted the other day: the two arrow lapel pins (one of which is already spoken for),the cuff, and the ring (yes, it turns out I was right about that; the barrette pair will be a while yet). The stone in the is something really special; go read about it. Also, I clearly was not really lucky, so no gemstone bead sets yet, but maybe tomorrow or Friday, and he has two more silverwork items in rotation, too. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.               

Igniting Summer's Storm and Fire

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an eminently traditional masterwork to honor elemental forces, a signifier of the mountain lightning that is usually a part of our world here now. It's old-school silversmithing cut heavy, wide, and astonishingly bold, a work of and for Thunderbird's arrows, hard at the work of igniting summer's storm and fire.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.    

Dust devil.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now you see part of the reason for all our current haze. That's a dust devil, and we've had plenty of those lately, but we also just get plain old walls of dirt driven on the winds. Even worse is the smoke; the west horizon hasn't been clear in a week or more. And still no rain in sight.

The other kind of rain has fallen, though, and so I'm busy getting this thing off my desk and getting several other things caught up today. We are blessed, and profoundly grateful for it. Now, if we could just manage to convince the literal rain to fall in the proper season, the land could heal, too.

I did get four new works posted yesterday: the two arrow lapel pins (one of which is already spoken for), the cuff, and the ring (yes, it turns out I was right about that; the barrette pair will be a while yet). The ring is part of today's feature at NDN Silver; the remaining arrow pin is fabulous; and the cuff? The stone is something really special; go read about it. Also, if I'm really lucky, I'll also have another gemstone bead set (or maybe two!) before today is out, but I'm betting that tomorrow is more likely (at the earliest). All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.              

Red Willow Spirit: A Circle to Honor the Sun, to Pray For the Rain

Photo copyright Wings, 2023;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for unseasonal summer conditions and an era of accelerating change. It's two images linked by a single all-new work of wearable art, a circle to honor the sun, to pray for the rain, and to heal and renew our world.

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 will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so shares are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.       

Trouble.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's the monsters' birthday: three years old today. They're as wild as they were at three months, all fuzzy bundles of energy. And the one on the left, in particular, is really, really good at trying to look like she's still only three months old . . . especially when she thinks she might be in trouble for something.

They are trouble.

And we love them beyond description, as well as their feral older brother whose birthdate remains unknown. 

Speaking of trouble, it's a beautiful day here today, hot and utterly cloudless and with a dangerously arid wind. And I have GOT to make it rain. TODAY. Somehow. I need to mail that payment tomorrow. It's a long holiday weekend, and such times are notoriously bad for sales, but I need to make some one way or another. Unfortunately, it's also almost over, with not a sale to show for it.

I will have at least three, possibly four new works posted later today: the two arrow lapel pins, the cuff, and possibly one more item. If I'm really lucky, I'll also have another gemstone bead set (or maybe two!) before the day's out. He's working on finishing touches on a bunch of them now. I also posted Wings's two new pairs of earrings here the other day; they're moderately priced, and both gorgeous. And I can't emphasize it enough, but I really, really need to bring in some sales NOW. All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.