Perfect day in early May. On April 4th.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Clear blue skies [not a cloud anywhere]; snow on the peaks; lots of green; chilly but no wind. Perfect day in early May.

On April 4th.

We were fortunate last night, The mercury did drop well into the 20s, but our blossoms are still here, and so are our leaf buds and new leaves. ::Shrugs:: maybe we'll get lucky. Or maybe not. It's one of those things that's completely out of our hands.

The things that are not are what's bedeviling me now. Getting this stupid tax stuff wrapped up is the first thing. Every year, I get madder and madder that we're having to do this for the evils that are being done with it. That, too, is out of our my hands, and no amount of "vote harder!" has done anything except force us to witness it get worse, so, again . . . ::shrug::. Don't expect me, at this pass, to buy into the garbage anymore. Especially when we can't seem to get a minimally decent candidate to save even their own lives, or at least their political careers.

But I have to get through next week yet, and preferably do so without landing myself in the hospital or worse. Which means that I cannot and will not take on anything else until all this is off my desk. Period. I'm sorry, but that includes anyone wanting mutual-aid help who's not willing to post it publicly. Do not send someone to me this week who needs a whole new . . . whatever. I can't do it. They have to join the group and post it there, or wait until next week at the earliest, possibly the week after. Because I'm out of time to get all of this done, my health is in jeopardy, and we still have to bring in sales weekly to break even, which we are not remotely doing now. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [and to whomever sent a bunch of stuff off it that have arrived recently, THANK YOU; there were no purchaser inserts with the items, zip, zero, nada];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to get this year onto a better footing than the last two, and so far, it's been pretty grim.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.  

The New World of the Night

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. 

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a personal favorite that captures the power of the dark hours when our world travels along the way of the night spiral. It's a pair of earrings set with hauntingly beautiful, positively Gothic focal stones, accented with metallic shimmer and green fire, showing us the new world of the night.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. ;It's already April, taxes are due, and we need to get caught up. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

A little more like April.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Looks a little more like April. Too much green for this early in the month, but sun and cold winds are more what we'd expect.

That's not the same as liking it.

This is the worst time of year, the hardest in every way. If we could just skip March and April, and everything involved with them [including taxes], and jump from February straight to May, we'd all be much happier.

But no. We're stuck with it, and coming to the end of the worst part, but that means that my days are increasingly horrendous. I need a magic wand. Of course, I need a magic and for a lot more than this crap. Starting with a functional, decent, humane society. Obviously, we can't have that, either.

But this week is going to kill me by the time it's done, and I have to get through it and next week yet, and preferably do so without landing myself in the hospital or worse. Which means that I cannot and will not take on anything else until all this is off my desk. Period. I'm sorry, but that includes anyone wanting mutual-aid help who's not willing to post it publicly. Do not send someone to me this week who needs a whole new . . . whatever. I can't do it. They have to join the group and post it there, or wait until next week at the earliest, possibly the week after. Because I'm out of time to get al of this done, my health is in jeopardy, and we still have to bring in sales weekly to break even, which we are not remotely doing now. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [and to whomever sent a bunch of stuff off it that have arrived recently, THANK YOU; there were no purchaser inserts with the items, zip, zero, nada];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to get this year onto a better footing than the last two, and so far, it's been pretty grim.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.  

Friday Feature: A Hard and Haunting Path to Spring

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a trio of works from Wings's three gemstone-bead signature series, created independently of each other but seemingly meant to belong together. It's a necklace built around an extraordinary focal, a pair of old-style loop earrings, and a coil bracelet, to honor the truth that ours is a hard and haunting path to spring, but one with its own beautiful, powerful medicine.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. It's already April, taxes are due, and we need to get caught up. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Safe after all?

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Our pear blossoms are saved! Last night, the sky began to clear, and the mercury dropped to 35 — relatively early, maybe 7:30, 8:00. Based on that, it would normally have been in the 20s well before midnight. Except . . . the clouds moved back in, and held the residual warmth in so thoroughly that the temperature went back up.  It was 38 when I went to bed around 1, 1:30 AM; I gave up trying to sleep at 5 AM [I mean NO sleep, at all], got up, and discovered that it was still 38 degrees.

So maybe the petals and leaves will be safe after all?

But this week is going to kill me by the time it's done, and I have to get through it and next week yet, and preferably do so without landing myself in the hospital or worse. Which means that I cannot and will not take on anything else until all this is off my desk. Period. I'm sorry, but that includes anyone wanting mutual-aid help who's not willing to post it publicly. Do not send someone to me this week who needs a whole new . . . whatever. I can't do it. They have to join the group and post it there, or wait until next week at the earliest, possibly the week after. Because I'm out of time to get al of this done, my health is in jeopardy, and we still have to bring in sales weekly to break even, which we are not remotely doing now. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [and to whomever sent a bunch of stuff off it that have arrived recently, THANK YOU; there were no purchaser inserts with the items, zip, zero, nada];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to get this year onto a better footing than the last two, and so far, it's been pretty grim.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

#ThrowbackThursday: From Bare Earth to Snow and Back Again

Photo copyright Wings, 2026; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #ThrowbackThursday featured work that dates back some seventeen or eighteen years, in the form of a classic cuff set with a beautifully apt stone. It's a dual-strand cuff bracelet built around a simple oval cabochon of White Buffalo magnesite, perfect for this season that carries us from bare earth to snow and back again.

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. It's April already, taxes due, and we need to get caught up. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.  

Something else entirely.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

We've had it all today: rain, both soft and cloudburst-style; sun; clouds of every type; fog; gale-force winds from every direction; sleet; a little snow; even half a rainbow. Snow would be normal for April, but this is something else entirely.

And there's a lot of green, and a full tree of white blossoms, that probably won't look like that tomorrow, because the mercury's already down to 35, and it's supposed to hit 28 or so tonight.

Every day this week has been consumed by things that are not what I'm supposed to be doing. It's been so bad, the hours I've been putting in and the lack of sleep so extreme and therefor my sense of time so off, that I have spent the entire day thinking it's Saturday and wondering how the hell I got so much further behind than I already was. But it's only Wednesday. Even so, I'm falling further behind by the day, and it has to stop.

Which means that I cannot and will not take on anything else until all this is off my desk. Period. I'm sorry, but that includes anyone wanting mutual-aid help who's not willing to post it publicly. I'm no good to anyone if I'm hospitalized or worse, and that's where this is heading if I don't halt it now. Do not send someone to me this week who needs a whole new . . . whatever. I can't do it. They have to join the group and post it there, or wait until next week at the earliest, possibly the week after. Because I'm out of time to get al of this done, my health is in jeopardy, and we still have to bring in sales weekly to break even, which we are not remotely doing now. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [and to whomever sent a bunch of stuff off it that have arrived recently, THANK YOU; there were no purchaser inserts with the items, zip, zero, nada];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to get this year onto a better footing than the last two, and so far, it's been pretty grim.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.