It's beautiful, and it's bitterly cold.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's the Little Spirit Moon, tonight not with a corona, but more swinging on an inverted rainbow of clouds and light. It's beautiful, and it's bitterly cold.

I think all told we got about four inches of snow, but it only looked like two because last night's high winds blew most of it out; the rest fell this morning. The deep freeze used to show up around Christmas and thereafter, and usually after a snowfall of three feet, but nope, we've got it today and tonight already. It's supposed to get down to three degrees actual temp overnight, which as a practical matter means that here, it will plunge below zero, and the wind chill will be well below that.

And because this kind of weather requires a ton of outdoor work for land, animals, water, etc., it's been yet another one of those days, where I can't get any of my own work done, nor could he. We spent the whole day sweeping an shoveling and hauling and carrying and filling and hooking up electric water bowls and elements and and and and. And on top of that, I did two big loads of laundry, one load of dishes plus all the pots and pans by hand, and a bunch of mutual-aid stuff. My neck, shoulders, back, hips, hands, and feet are all screaming at me. And this is on top of basically zero sleep last night [thanks, lupus], so I am wiped.

But we need this work to get done, so I'll be up late again, because we need the sales. Three since the end of the weekend, and I'm overjoyed; it was looking like we wouldn't make a single one, so this is frankly amazing now. But we're still down by dozens of sales on the year, and numbers too large to contemplate. And after it being such a god-awful year, we literally need to make a sale a day now, on average, and we're nowhere near that. The last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priority is the vacuum! mine died two days ago, and we're being suffocated by dog hair];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

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: After the Snow, Cold Hard Blues and Silver Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT featured work that dates back apparently, almost exactly 13 years, to November of 2012. It's a ring wrought in big, bold, classic style, an elegant encapsulation of the local winter sky — after the snow, cold hard blues and silver light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work will never be duplicated exactly, 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.  This is it: one month left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

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.        

Finally, snow!

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Yes, that's right:  Finally, snow! That was from late afternoon; we had flurries in the morning, and it didn't really pick up until around 2 PM or so. Now, we've got white-out conditions on the highway; not a lot of accumulation, but the wind has just picked up, and I suspect it will get heavier fairly fast.  They're predicting 6" by morning, but I'm betting it'll be 3-4".

Whatever; we're grateful to have it at all at this point.

It's been another one of those days, where I can't get any of my own work done because I know we're going to have to leave to go into town and there's too much going on with al of it for me to focus. So here I am, again, at night, just barely getting started. This shit's got to stop.

But we need this work to get done, because we need the sales. Three since the end of the weekend, and I'm overjoyed; it was looking like we wouldn't make a single one, so this is frankly amazing now. But we're still down by dozens of sales on the year, and numbers too large to contemplate. And after it being such a god-awful year, we literally need to make a sale a day now, on average, and we're nowhere near that. The last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priority is the vacuum! mine died two days ago, and we're being suffocated by dog hair];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

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.           

Light Born of Winter Storm, Storm Born of Winter Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's one of Wings's newest masterworks, his most recent necklace — a big, bold, classic work that embodies the blue skies emergent from the web of night. It's also apt for a day like this, when the snow finally arrives in force, with light born of winter storm, storm born of winter light, and life and breath for us all.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: one month left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

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.        

If and when.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

One of the unusual aspects of winter here is that you can have a perfectly clear day, flawless blue sky, and you can see the wind whipping up a storm off the peaks.

At least it's finally cold enough to qualify as winter. Barely, but still. And supposedly, there's snow on the way tomorrow afternoon into the early hours of Thursday morning. Initially it was a dusting; now there's an advisory out and a forecast of 4 inches, but as always, we'll believe it if and when.

It's been a hell of a day otherwise, though. I've really overdone it the last two days, and I'm paying it for it now: extreme pain and stiffness, muscles spasming constantly, just general overall misery. And, of course, I'll be up for hours yet trying to get caught up, because obviously I'm so far behind on my own work that it's just getting posted at 10 o'clock at night.

And we need that work to get done, because we need the sales. Three since the end of the weekend, and I'm overjoyed; it was looking like we wouldn't make a single one, so this is frankly amazing now. But we're still down by dozens of sales on the year, and numbers too large to contemplate. And after it being such a god-awful year, we literally need to make a sale a day now, on average, and we're nowhere near that. The last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priority is the vacuum! mine died two days ago, and we're being suffocated by dog hair];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

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: The Gift of the Winter Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for these first days of wintry cold and the looming possibility of a storm to come. It's two related images linked by a single vintage Wings work of wearable art, all of them emblematic of what remains constant, the gift of the winter light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: one month left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

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.           

Absolutely breathtaking.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

December first.

This was our morning sky. Nothing more than a dusting of snow, from sometime before 3 AM onward, but the light was absolutely breathtaking.

So was the cold.

Which is good; we need actual December temps, and these are barely over that threshold. We've just gotten so spoiled by months of wandering out of doors with no jacket that it's a little bit of a shock to the system.

Two sales from the weekend, and I'm overjoyed; it was looking like we wouldn't make a single one, so two is blessing twice over. But we're still down by dozens of sales, and numbers too large to contemplate. And after this god-awful year, we literally need to make a sale a day now, on average, and we're nowhere near that. The last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priority is the vacuum! mine died two days ago, and we're being suffocated by dog hair];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

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: The Light of Year's End

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for the first day of the last month of the year. It's the first in a small informal series of images that Wings shot three years ago today, two of which will appear tomorrow, and all of which embody the mystery and magic of the light of year's end.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: one month left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

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.