In so many ways, it has been *a day*.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

In so many ways, it has been a day. That up there was this morning, when the road crews came out to cut down some of the trees and branches that were listing badly after the last few heavy rains. It would've been no big deal to us [although traffic seemed pretty frustrated by it], but the dogs were beside themselves. How dare these monstrous machines park along their highway? How dare they take chainsaws to their trees, and a bulldozer to their dirt?

Because you see, from the moment Sunny and Stormy arrived, they made it very plain that they own EVERYTHING here, for as far as they can see, hear, or smell. They let us live here, but anyone else? HOW DARE.

It got a lot worse this evening, though, and I'm not being at all facetious now. I was just taking fresh water into the chicken coop for the evening when I heard a loud telltale screech followed by a gigantic bang, much louder yet. Vehicle accident, unquestionably. I walked out into the field, but couldn't see anything; in that part of the yard, sound circles and echoes, so I assumed that it was further down the highway back toward town.

And then all the emergency vehicles showed up. It was just outside our north boundary; a truck left the road, hit a post and the cattle-guard uprights, went airborne, flipped in midair and landed. Driver only; did not make it. Horrible situation, and the fourth or fifth such accident in that spot in the last dozen years or so. The emergency folks were here for literally hours, and I think it was traumatic for them. I locked up the dogs then, because they needed to be able to come inside the gate and do some of their work inside the fence.

So everything's late. It's also late because this day has just been so damn difficult on every front. The pain has been relentless today, and I barely slept last night because of it; nothing touches it, not even the pain meds, and I don't know what to do anymore, because ther eis literally no respite.

And it's all that much harder when I'm this tired, when this kind of pain and disease progression just make me slower, and keep putting me further and further behind every day. Clearly the rest of the year is going to be very hard. And I've still got to bring in a lot more sales through the end of the year. It's been hellishly expensive already, and we've also got some other big-ticket things to take care of between now and then, and that only happens if we make some sales now. And we can still use help with shares, testimonials, wishlist stuff, etc. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are Miika's LaminaSaver and the liquid soaps];
• 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 end this year on a better footing than the last two, a year that, so far, has been very 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: For the Love of Fall's Blue Skies and Silvery Light

 

Photo copyright Wings, 2026; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #ThrowbackThursday featured masterwork that dates back at least 20 years, perhaps longer, a big, bold, traditional cuff that embodies this season's sky blessings and gifts of the light. It's a truly phenomenal piece, wrought of heavy-gauge silver, some four inches wide, and with a focal stone easily three inches high, for these days' clarity and chill, for the love of fall's blue skies and silvery light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. 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 still have to ensure that we break even on this awful year, and now, that means bringing in several sales 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.

 

So much new work, so little time.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

There's the man himself. He's buffing some of the new work, five new pairs of earrings. I've gotten photos of four of them; one had a stone that needed some filing, and it's done now, but it'll be tomorrow before I can get photos of it.

So much new work, so little time. That's trye of everything I need to do to get it posted; it's also true of all the new tasks and obligations that keep piling themselves on me.

And it's all that much harder when I'm this tired, when this kind of pain and disease progression just make me slower, and keep putting me further and further behind every day. Clearly the rest of the year is going to be very hard. And I've still got to bring in a lot more sales through the end of the year. It's been hellishly expensive already, and we've also got some other big-ticket things to take care of between now and then, and that only happens if we make some sales now. And we can still use help with shares, testimonials, wishlist stuff, etc. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are Miika's LaminaSaver and the liquid soaps];
• 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 end this year on a better footing than the last two, a year that, so far, has been very 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.

A Blue Autumn Sky Webbed With Silvery Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the lessons of fall, when letting the light in becomes crucial to surviving the winter to come. It's a necklace set with a beautiful old Hubei Skystone, setting and beads perfectly matched, the whole evoking the beauty of a blue autumn sky webbed with silvery light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We still have to ensure that we break even on the year, and 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.

Grateful.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Nine years ago this evening, I couldn't even see the sunset. I'd been transferred from the ER to a room on the opposite side of the building, after having nearly died. That was only the first time. It happened again two weeks later, with many smaller episodes repeatedly over the ensuing years. But once you've been hospitalized three times in two cities and they can't find what's killing you, you learn to manage it yourself, and pray a lot.

Fortunately, I'm still alive, and was able to see the sunset in real time tonight. These are my Virginia Woolf years: "I am glad to be alive, and sorry for the dead." Those experiences changed my relationship with the idea of death drastically [because what else could it do when you don't know whether you'll be alive from one moment to the next?] . . . but it also changed my relationship with life itself just as drastically. However terrible things get, however awful the outside world, how intractable my own levels of physical pain, the one overriding thread that weaves through all my days now is one of gratitude. No, you wouldn't know it by how I bitch and moan on here, but that's just a space to vent, a safety valve.

But whatever else, I am grateful, we are grateful, for the life we have here together. 

Not, of course, that it lessens the immediate obstacles in the slightest. I still have to keep pushing, all the time. And it's all that much harder when this kind of pain and disease progression just make me slower, and keep putting me further and further behind every day. Clearly the rest of the year is going to be very hard. And I've still got to bring in a lot more sales through the end of the year. It's been hellishly expensive already, and we've also got some other big-ticket things to take care of between now and then, and that only happens if we make some sales now. And we can still use help with shares, testimonials, wishlist stuff, etc. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [Too many obligations, too many folks in need; I can't justify spending money on them right now, but I'd really love to be able to get the rest of the towels and liquid soaps];
• 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 end this year on a better footing than the last two, a year that, so far, has been very 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.

Red Willow Spirit: The Light at the Edge of the Blue Autumn Sky

Photo copyright Wings, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for this very point in season and year, and for the beauty and medicine that are always present each day now. It's two images from this very week nine years ago, linked by a much newer and impossibly apt masterwork of wearable art, all manifest in the power of the light at the edge of the blue autumn sky.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We still have to ensure that we break even on this awful year, and now, that means bringing in several sales 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.

It's been a frickin' Monday, too.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

So much for the hard freeze. Eighty here yesterday; seventy today. In recent days, we've had a new dandelion or two, in mid-November, for heaven's sake, and now one going to seed amid the fallen maple and aspen leaves. A bright yellow butterfly flew past us this afternoon, for crying out loud.

It's been a frickin' Monday, too. There are days when I just want to chuck it all in [okay, weeks], and this has been one of them. I spend more than enough hours on mutual-aid work without having to referee stupid childish shit, and I don't respond well when people try to get cute about the rules. There aren't enough hours in the day, and I'm in too much constant pain and working too damn many hours to put up with that crap. I expect adults to behave like adults.

The pain isn't improving. Nothing is. The pain is worse, the fatigue is worse, my balance is worse, everything's worse. Nothing helps. And it all just makes me slower, and keeps putting me further and further behind every day. Clearly the rest of the year is going to be very hard. And I've still got to bring in a lot more sales through the end of the year. It's been hellishly expensive already, and we've also got some other big-ticket things to take care of between now and then, and that only happens if we make some sales now. And we can still use help with shares, testimonials, wishlist stuff, etc. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [Too many obligations, too many folks in need; I can't justify spending money on them right now, but I'd really love to be able to get the rest of the towels and liquid soaps];
• 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, a year that, so far, has been very 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.