My very own buffalo.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Wings brought me flowers earlier this week, all spring shades, and they're still thriving days later. Yesterday, he had to run a couple of errands, including picking up supplies for the animals, and he brought me home my very own buffalo. He's an adorable little thing, silky soft, cloven hooves, little dark-tipped horns. He's hanging out with the stuffed horse he brought home for me when we lost Miskwaki, and the little old stuffed buffalo that somehow materialized in our east field out of nowhere several years ago.

It doesn't take much for Wings to make me smile, and. Spirit knows I need that right now. This is drop-dead territory, this weekend; I've got to get everything done, and I've got to be able to write a very big check next week, and I have only today and tomorrow [and the early pre-dawn hours of Monday] to make it all happen. It's grim, and I'm at my wits' end. Last year was awful in every way; this year has begun with more of the same, with the added problem of a bunch of external demands on us that have drained all of our resources. I'm out of options [but I'm still working 16 hours and day and more to try to get everything done, and I'm so far beyond tired now that I can't even think straight].

I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, thanks to this Nazi "administration" stealing our money and what they're doing with it. But there's no choice in the matter, and I'm am truly at the end of my tether right now, between the taxes and the well pump and the lack of sales and income and my accelerating health issues. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.              

As the Earth Dances Into Spring

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork for Earth's round dance of seasonal transitions, and a reminder of our place in the light. It's an old-style bolo wrought entirely freehand and set with a spectacularly apt stone, a manifestation of the beauty and motion at work as the Earth dances into spring.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We need sales urgently now:  Taxes are due, sales are way down, there have been far too many demands on us already this year, and we have to be able to cover this. We can't do that without making a large number of sales by the end of this weekend. On top of that, the well pump still needs to be replaced thereafter, as soon as we can actually get someone out here, 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.     

It's not really spring until the meadowlark sings.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Say hello to the Bluebird Family's home. Mountain bluebirds, to be specific; I was trying to catch a shot of the male diving in and out of it this morning, but I'm too slow.

If memory serves, they used this same house last year, but I think it was a bit later in the season. Plenty of spring birds out now, but also plenty of winter birds left, and besides, it's not really spring until the meadowlark sings.

Haven't heard a peep out of one yet.

Snow squalls around the peaks today; down here at their feet, it's all murderous high winds and bitter cold. In theory, we're supposed to get snow starting in forty minutes or so and continuing throughout the evening and night, but it's also supposed to amount to no more than two inches by tomorrow night, so I'm guessing it won't be much to write home about, either way.

But I have GOT to make it rain, so to speak, this weekend, or we are thoroughly screwed. I have to the end of this weekend to bring in enough to cover our taxes [and finish getting them organized for the preparer], to say nothing of covering the well pump replacement, but it's grim, and I'm at my wits' end. Last year was awful in every way; this year has begun with more of the same, with the added problem of a bunch of external demands on us that have drained all of our resources. I'm out of options [but I'm still working 16 hours and day and more to try to get everything done, and I'm so far beyond tired now that I can't even think straight].

I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, thanks to this Nazi "administration" stealing our money and what they're doing with it. But there's no choice in the matter, and I'm am truly at the end of my tether right now, between the taxes and the well pump and the lack of sales and income and my accelerating health issues. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.              

Friday Feature: The Sacred Green Waters of Renewal and Rebirth

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of works that were created independently of each other, but clearly belong together, each centered around stones from the same parcel. It's a cuff and a pair of earrings, all set with Cripple Creek turquoise, each embodying the sacred green waters of renewal and rebirth that give life and breath to this land in spring.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We need sales urgently now:  Taxes are due, sales are way down, there have been far too many demands on us already this year, and we have to be able to cover this. We can't do that without making a large number of sales this week. On top of that, the well pump still needs to be replaced thereafter, as soon as we can actually get someone out here, 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.     

It's been busy. And costly.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Yesterday's haul, showing them next to the pendant. With luck, by tonight it will be done, but it might be tomorrow; depends on how far he gets with everything else today.

And it's been busy. And costly.  Septic today, another expense I wasn't anticipating having to pay this week, with trash pick-up due tomorrow. I have to take care of insurance, and . . . ::sigh:: for every sale we've made lately, there's always something waiting to swallow it before I can put it on the tax bill. And there are other expenses looming beyond that, including cultural stuff [a great-niece has a life marker coming up at the end of May, and we have to cover some things for that].

And the taxes are still driving me up the wall. The prospect of paying them is even worse, because as I said yesterday, talking about being done with them "once and for all" implies being able to pay everything all at once, and that's extremely unlikely. I have to the end of this week to bring in enough to cover them all, but it's grim, and I'm at my wits' end. Last year was awful in every way; this year has begun with more of the same, with the added problem of a bunch of external demands on us that have drained all of our resources. I'm out of options [but I'm still working 16 hours and day and more to try to get everything done].

I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, thanks to this Nazi "administration" stealing our money and what they're doing with it. But there's no choice in the matter, and I'm am truly at the end of my tether right now, between the taxes and the well pump and the lack of sales and income and my accelerating health issues. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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: A Slumbering Earth Reawakened and Growing Again

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #ThrowbackThursday work that dates back a dozen years or so, to somewhere around 2013, and one of a pair of simple single-stone rings wrought in a classic style. This particular ring was set with a subtly beautiful green turquoise cabochon finely webbed with red siltstone, resembling a slumbering earth reawakened and growing again in spring. 

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, this work will never be duplicated, but if the style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own. It's already April, and we need sales urgently now:  Taxes are due, sales are way down, there have been far too many demands on us already this year, and we have to be able to cover this. We can't do that without making a large number of sales this week. On top of that, the well pump still needs to be replaced thereafter, as soon as we can actually get someone out here, 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.         

A whirlwind, but in a good way.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

That's that little dusting of snow I mentioned yesterday. None down here, just a little sleet and graupel. but today? Today was COLD. Winter's not done with us yet, at least not out here where we are, which is more than ten degrees colder than in town.

Today's been a whirlwind, but in a good way. Multiple errands today, all at top speed, but the highlight of the day was meeting Al and. Sherry at their hotel. Yes, I do have photos, and yes, I did actually manage to get them off my phone, but it occurred to me tonight that she might not want her image everywhere, so I went with a regular one. Suffice to say that they are absolutely beautiful, wonderful folks, and we both felt that vibe with them the moment we walked through the door. Al has his necklace, which has special meaning for him, and Sherry has a pair of Wings's earrings, and believe me, this is the home they were waiting for; both pieces are perfect on both of them. 

They're on the road, traveling around, but they have an open invitation here always. 

Also spent some time with the bead ladies later on, and we've now got the beads for that new piece he's working on that I posted the other night: sterling silver; dendritic Montana agate; tiger's eye. The beads are perfect, and they're going to make the whole thing absolutely pop.

But now I'm beat, and I spent too much time walking and standing in lines today [those other errands], and my feet are a mess, even if I was wearing my most comfortable pair of boots. [They're old, and they're thoroughly broken in and shaped more or less to my feet by now. Doesn't help nearly as much as it used to, though.]

And now, it's back to the grind. The taxes are still driving me up the wall. The prospect of paying them is even worse, because as I said yesterday, talking about being done with them "once and for all" implies being able to pay everything all at once, and that's extremely unlikely. I have to the end of this week to bring n. enough to cover them all, but it's grim, and I'm at my wits' end. Last year was awful in every way; this year has begun with more of the same, with the added problem of a bunch of external demands on us that have drained all of our resources. I'm out of options [but I'm still working 16 hours and day and more to try to get everything done].

I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, thanks to this Nazi "administration" stealing our money and what they're doing with it. But there's no choice in the matter, and I'm am truly at the end of my tether right now, between the taxes and the well pump and the lack of sales and income and my accelerating health issues. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.             

What Holds Steady In Shifting Times and Seasons

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork for this unsettled and unsettling season, an embodiment of the gifts of sacred directions, sacred earth, and what keeps us grounded in a changing world. It's an old-style traditional pendant created to honor the earth and sacred directions, a reminder of what holds steady in shifting times and seasons.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We need sales urgently now:  Taxes are due, sales are way down, there have been far too many demands on us already this year, and we have to be able to cover this. We can't do that without making a large number of sales this week. On top of that, the well pump still needs to be replaced thereafter, as soon as we can actually get someone out here, 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.     

It's been a doozy.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's not a great shot compositionally, but I included it here for a very specific reason. See that little rounded brown smudge at the horizon in the very center? I thought it was a spot on my camera lens when I first looked at the photo, so I enlarged it. NOPE.  It's a dust devil, roundish instead of a tall skinny spiral, probably shrieking April Fool's! at the top of its dirty lungs as it moves.

There a reason — many reasons, actually — that I hate this day.

As weather goes, it's been a doozy: Sun, clouds, extreme winds, freezing rain, sleet, graupel, snow on the peaks, albeit not down here. But more of all, the wind. And the dirt, and the dust, and the pollen.

I'm so far behind, too. Things keep cropping up and derailing me from the thousand and one things already on today's to-do list. Tomorrow will be busy, too, but then I hope I'm home for the rest of the week and able to get this nonsense off my desk once and for all.

Of course, "once and for all" implies being able to pay everything all at once, and that's unlikely, too. Two days is about all I have left [okay, maybe four] to get everything done on our taxes, too. Being able to pay them is another matter entirely; it's grim, and I'm at my wits' end. Last year was awful in every way; this year has begun with more of the same, with the added problem of a bunch of external demands on us that have drained all of our resources. I have to get our taxes done, to the preparer, and paid this week. I cannot do that if we don't bring in some really big sales this week — either a bunch of sales daily or one or two really big ones; I don't have any preference, as long as I can get it done. It's that last that's the stumbling block, because it's not depending on how hard I work at work. I can't force people to buy. And I'm out of options [but I'm still working 16 hours and day and more to try to get everything done].

I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, thanks to this Nazi "administration" stealing our money and what they're doing with it. But there's no choice in the matter, and I'm am truly at the end of my tether right now, between the taxes and the well pump and the lack of sales and income and my accelerating health issues. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.            

Red Willow Spirit: Another Turn of the Earth, and Its Spirits, Toward the Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for a trickster day and month and conditions, reminding us that beneath the chaos lie the cycles that keep our world alive. It's two images linked by one of Wings's newer cuffs set with an old, old stone to match the photos, perfect for a time of another turn of the earth, and its spirits, toward the light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. It's April already [how? how?]. We need sales urgently now:  Taxes are due, sales are way down, there have been far too many demands on us already this year, and we have to be able to cover this. We can't do that without making a large number of sales this week. On top of that, the well pump still needs to be replaced thereafter, as soon as we can actually get someone out here, 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.       

Two days.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

That up there? That's the cause of much of what's awful right now. Normally, it it's four to six weeks, sometimes more, between the point that the catkins open and look like little fuzzy puffs and the point at which they turn into those pollen-ridden strands of pure misery. This year? It took two days.

Two days.

That's not the only cause, though. Yesterday was cloudy, squalls circling around the mountains all day, and we thought the gray haze was just mist and fog. That's why we put down our scratchy throats and itchy eyes and breathing difficulties to the aspen pollen. And then at sunset I stepped out on the deck . . . and I realized that the gray haze was smoke. No idea which fire; there are allegedly three in widely-disparate ares a good way south of here, but this seemed to be coming from the west. You could see the smoke pall across the entire western horizon — the sunset turns it a very particular dirty coral shade that's unmistakable — and the air stank of forest-fire smoke. There's still some haze in the air here today even though the wind has shifted; it's supposed to get much stronger late today and all through tomorrow, though, and so I fully expect smog here then. 

It's still March, which makes this a not-promising start to the season. 

Two days is about all I have left [okay, maybe four] to get everything done on our taxes, too. Being able to pay them is another matter entirely; it's grim, and I'm at my wits' end. Last year was awful in every way; this year has begun with more of the same, with the added problem of a bunch of external demands on us that have drained all of our resources. I have to get our taxes done, to the preparer, and paid this week. I cannot do that if we don't bring in some really big sales this week — either a bunch of sales daily or one or two really big ones; I don't have any preference, as long as I can get it done. It's that last that's the stumbling block, because it's not depending on how hard I work at work. I can't force people to buy. And I'm out of options [but I'm still working 16 hours and day and more to try to get everything done].

I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, thanks to this Nazi "administration" stealing our money and what they're doing with it. But there's no choice in the matter, and I'm am truly at the end of my tether right now, between the taxes and the well pump and the lack of sales and income and my accelerating health issues. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

Monday Photo Meditation: Where Death Is Also Life Reborn

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for the emergence of the first green leaves of spring. It's also a reminder to acknowledge the cycles of spring and to honor the gifts of that which may itself no longer be strictly alive, when and where death is also life reborn.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. Tomorrow is April already [how? how?]. We need sales urgently now:  Taxes are due, sales are way down, there have been far too many demands on us already this year, and we have to be able to cover this. We can't do that without making a large number of sales this week. On top of that, the well pump still needs to be replaced thereafter, as soon as we can actually get someone out here, 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.          

Spring weather of a sort.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Everybody out enjoying the spring weather. All the chickens are there, just some blocked from view; Miika, of course, is the only horse now. The dogs were off tagging along with Wings, whatever he was doing at the moment.

Spring weather of a sort, yes, but a lot colder today. The winds are due to arrive again tomorrow, and I've been feeling it in my bones and joints since the middle of the night. Which explains why I'm operating on two hours' sleep again, and this is not the time for that, given everything I have to get done.

The biggest is sales. It's grim, and I'm at my wits' end. Last year was awful in every way; this year has begun with more of the same, with the added problem of a bunch of external demands on us that have drained all of our resources. I have to get our taxes done, to the preparer, and paid this week. I cannot do that if we don't bring in some really big sales this week — either a bunch of sales daily or one or two really big ones; I don't have any preference, as long as I can get it done. It's that last that's the stumbling block, because it's not depending on how hard I work at work. I can't force people to buy. And I'm out of options [but I'm still working 16 hours and day and more to try to get everything done].

I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, thanks to this Nazi "administration" stealing our money and what they're doing with it. But there's no choice in the matter, and I'm am truly at the end of my tether right now, between the taxes and the well pump and the lack of sales and income and my accelerating health issues. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

New Green Rising In a Longer Light

Photo  copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork for this threshold season, with the light of the world and the life and breath it sustains distilled to wearable form. It's an extraordinary old-style cuff, big, bold, and set with a stone of soft and subtle beauty, the whole evoking the gift of new green rising in a longer light. 

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We need sales urgently now:  Taxes are due, sales are way down, there have been far too many demands on us already this year, and we have to be able to cover this. We can't do that without making a large number of sales this week. On top of that, the well pump still needs to be replaced thereafter, as soon as we can actually get someone out here, 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.     

Your own personal hole in the dirt.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

When you have any number of cushy dog beds, doghouses, dog forts, and a dog run, but nothing beats digging out your own personal hole in the dirt and sleeping in it.

Pigpen from Peanuts has got nothing on these monsters. They all carry their own personal little dustclouds with them now at all times. Which, of course, means they track it into the house multiple times a day, and there's no keeping up with it at this time of year. The winds make sure of that.

Speaking of which, we have extreme wind and fire-watch warnings for today, but so far, the winds haven't gone beyond normal spring nonsense. Which probably means that tonight will be monstrous, but there's nothing we can do about that, either.

The one thing I DO need to do something about is SALES. We're almost out of time to make enough of the metaphorical kind to cover everything that will need covering by the end of next week. I'm trying, but I can't conjure sales out of thin air; can't conjure money out of thin air, either, even though I've got to find some way to do more or less exactly that. I really need everyone to share out site, and if you're in the market [Easter, Mother's Day, graduations, weddings all coming up fast], now would be absolutely the best time of the whole year to buy.

The weekend will be divided between chasing sales and getting our taxes organized and to the preparer, since the last 2-3 days have been forcibly derailed by other people onto other things that were not urgent, but here we are [which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items now]. And truthfully, I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

Animating Spirits of Earth and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for these lands and what gives them their name, for light through red willows and the magic and medicine of both. It's a cuff to honor the animating spirits of earth and light that are n elemental part of this place, a reminder of their rich abundance and our obligation to restore it. 

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair and other emergency costs ahead and it's already the very end of March. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing, fast, 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.     

Not anticipating any rain of either sort.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Some amazing cloud formations again this morning. Today's have been less monsoonal than simply the kind that tend to herald a change in the weather. it's about ten degrees cooler today [70s, not 80s] and the wind is rising, so I suspect that we'll have more spring-like weather this weekend.

Which is to say, no mud, but gale-force trickster winds to spread the new pollen everywhere. 

And the pollen's bad. I woke up with itchy eyes, sneezing, congestion, and coughing, and it's ALL allergy. Miserably for me, that means more inflammation, which means I feel worse across the board, and I already felt quite bad enough, thanks. Chemo today, which might suppress a little of it, but it might require a steroid tonight, which will mean no sleep.

Again.

Not anticipating any rain of either sort, unfortunately, and I'm almost out of time to make enough of the metaphorical kind to cover everything that will need covering by the end of next week. I'm trying, but I can't conjure sales out of thin air; can't conjure money out of thin air, either, even though I've got to find some way to do more or less exactly that.

The weekend will be divided between chasing sales and getting our taxes organized and to the preparer, since the last 2-3 days have been forcibly derailed by other people onto other things that were not urgent, but here we are [which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items now]. And truthfully, I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

Friday Feature: Atmospheric Gifts to Enrich the Ground of Life

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a quartet of works that celebrate the profound daily magic of gifts for the earth, those of air and water and light. It's four pairs of earrings wrought in the Indigenous art Deco style of a century past, all manifest as different aspects of atmospheric gifts to enrich the ground of life.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair and other emergency costs ahead and March is already nearly over. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing, fast, 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.     

There is no normal now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Monsoonal patterns in morning skies is definitely not the norm for March. Of course, it's not the norm for summer, either, if we're talking about morning; those cloud formations begin to build around midday.  But we don't usually get them until June.

Of course, there is no normal now.

Not climatically or seasonally or meteorologically, not on any front. And there's not much I can do about any of it except to keep doing what I do, try to make the sales we ned so urgently, try to set aside as much as we can out of those to help other people who are worse off than we are, try to keep as many of us alive and well and safe as possible, even if what's possible isn't very much.

It doesn't help that my pain levels are increasing in an inverse proportion to my functionality, which seems to be deteriorating rather badly. It doesn't seem tied to the weather or overdoing it or anything else [although all those things apply, but I know what that feels like and this isn't that]. Which leads me to believe that this might just be the way it is from now on. That's hard to accept, but it's looking increasingly as though I have no choice.

The rest of this week will be divided between chasing sales and getting our taxes organized and to the preparer [which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items now]. And truthfully, I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

#TBT: From Clay and Light, the Breath of Life

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT work that dates back some fourteen to sixteen years ago, and an entry in one small collection from one of Wings's long-running but informal signature series. It's a pair of old-style tab earrings, solid sterling silver saw-cut and stamped freehand, this one in a design that reminds us that our world is one of collective shelter, and that from clay and light, the breath of life animates and sustains it, and us.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, this work will never be duplicated, 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 and other emergency costs looming now and we're already at the end of March. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto 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.         

We might get lucky.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's very warm again today; shorts weather, no sleeves, and no fire in the woodstove since first thing this morning. It looks and feels like the end of May, and that's not limited to the temperature. Those fluffy white clouds scattered widely this morning?

Have all turned into that up there: great blue-back walls of thunderheads, monsoonal patterns that we don't normally see until halfway into June.

You can see the rain falling behind the southern ridgeline earlier. I doubt that we'll see anything here, but you never know. We might get lucky.

Right now, I just need to make it rain in the other sense, because we need to get lucky on that front right now, and badly. I'm slow today, because yesterday did me some damage and my pain levels are agonizing now. Chemo is Friday, and maybe that'll take a little of the edge off, but frankly, I'm not hopeful; nothing's working lately, and it may not. This might just be the way it is from now on. That's hard to accept, but it's looking increasingly as though I have no choice.

The rest of this week will be divided between chasing sales and getting our taxes organized and to the preparer [which means I will have no time left for anything but those two items now]. And truthfully, I need to sell a lot more over the next few days to cover everything we're going to have to cover these next couple of weeks. I've resented taxes a lot in my life, but never so much as I do right this moment, but there's no choice in the matter. So now would be a really, really good time to buy, because I really, really need to bring in more income this week. We're out of time.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priorities are Amazon gift cards, which we can ALWAY use, and those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives; it would good to have several boxes, so I can keep handing them out, too); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last 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.           

A Place Between Earth and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for a land of otherworldly power that lives in the space of the spirits. It's a work of spectacular silversmithing, and a tribute to this land and sky in powerful form, reminding us that we inhabit a place of power and medicine, a place between earth and light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair and other emergency costs ahead and March is already nearly over. We urgently need to shift 2025 onto a much better footing, fast, 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.