Like the third week of April.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

More shadow than snow now. Early on today, though, it was cold, thanks to these trickster winds that we shouldn't even have until April. Our actual temperature got up to 59, but you wouldn't have known it until late afternoon.

Too much wind, still far, far too warm. February hare is solidly winter, or at least it's supposed to be; instead, this feels  and looks and seems in every conceivable way like the third week of April.

That's bad.

Meanwhile, we're both completely overloaded work-wise, and expense-wise, too. I'm probably going to late with everything, behind on everything, dropping the ball on everything. So you've all had fair warning. The big thing that needs to happen this week is sales, and if you're looking for a gift for that special someone for Valentine's Fay, this is the week to do it, because we can still ship Priority and have it there in time. Also, I've got a bunch of medical and other stuff to cover for us, so . . . yeah, I need to sell some of his work, and fast. Like tonight. In addition to the labs, we both have follow-ups, we have a $400 bill due in a week or so, and we have ~$600 in business-related renewals, this month. to top off my mood, I found another small mass this morning, so I'm guessing that scans, at the very least, are in my near future; probably more biopsies, too.

Our floor for sales and breaking even is making a minimum of one sale per week for the year, and we're still more than a week in the hole now. I don't have enough hours in the day as it is, but I will say that Sunday was the first day in at least two months that my body did not feel as though it was literally dying around me every second so maybe the increased dosages in both immunosuppressants are working? Monday was chemo day, though, the first higher dose [a lower one two days from now, too], and I definitely haven't felt very well. Today, second of this week's 3-day steroid burst. We'll see. Because regardless of side effects, I've got to do something to bring in sales, although damned if I know what at this point. It's grim. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the LaminaSaver, because apparently Miika's out of it again; and the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse and ensuing septic disaster];
• 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 begin this year on a better footing than the last two.

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 Messenger as Fragile, and as Strong, as the Love It Represents

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork to honor the messengers of love, setting hearts aflutter and reminding us that winter will not last forever. It's also a spirit now capable of surviving our drastically altered alpine February weather, a messenger as fragile, and as strong, as the love it represents.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. It's a new calendar year, and we very much need to make this a better than the last two have been. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail, and it's February already and we're still three weeks behind on the year thus far.

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.    

Ridiculously busy.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Six pairs of hoops in 2 or 3 sizes, hand-made, then put through the tumbler. They glow. I won't be able to get photos of the pairs before tomorrow; the smaller ones will be $225 + s/h/i; the larger ones, $275 + s/h/i. Each pair is unique.

It's been a ridiculously busy day [week, month, year] for both of us. Also kind of a tough day; on this day 12 years ago, just after 1 PM, is when we lost Major, our big dog. Half chocolate Lab, half German shorthaired pointer, my parents adopted him from their local shelter about a dozen years before that. He had had a hard, traumatic life, when their health worsened, we took him on with our own dogs. Here, he got constant exercise, lost a lot of weight, got his hip function back, and had a terrific life until the cancer that is a cluster here, that took virtually all of our dogs [and horses] in one way or another, finally won out.

He was a hound, a hunter, and a hero, too; he rescued the rez ups from a prairie rattler once, and got bit on the muzzle for his trouble. I could not reach Wings [dead spots all over here back then], and it left me no choice but to do the old suck-and-spit routine and then pack it with traditional medicine. When Wings finally made it home, we got him to the emergency vet [still a thing in 2009], and they were so impressed with the tradish stuff that they decided he only needed a half-course of antivenin [and they were right].

A dozen years gone already. At least he's free of the pain from the cancer, and with the others. We have two more such markers this month still ahead of us. April is the worst, though; five of them.

Meanwhile, we're both completely overloaded work-wise, and expense-wise, too. I'm probably going to late with everything, behind on everything, dropping the ball on everything. So you've all had fair warning. The big thing that needs to happen this week is sales, and if you're looking for a gift for that special someone for Valentine's Fay, this is the week to do it, because we can still ship Priority and have it there in plenty of time. Also, I've got a bunch of medical and other stuff to cover for us, so . . . yeah, I need to sell some of his work, and fast.

Our floor for sales and breaking even is making a minimum of one sale per week for the year, and we're still more than a week in the hole now. I don't have enough hours in the day as it is, but I will say that Sunday was the first day in at least two months that my body did not feel as though it was literally dying around me every second so maybe the increased dosages in both immunosuppressants are working? Yesterday was chemo day, though, the first higher dose [a lower one two days from now, too], and I definitely haven't felt very well. Today, first of this week's 3-day steroid burst. We'll see. Because regardless of side effects, I've got to do something to bring in sales, although damned if I know what at this point. It's grim. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the LaminaSaver, because apparently Miika's out of it again; and the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse and ensuing septic disaster];
• 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 begin this year on a better footing than the last two.

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: For Love of the First Medicines

Photo copyright Wings, 2026;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for a world wounded and wounding and insufficiently wintry now. It's a reflection on this land in times of abundance and times of drought, and a reminder that we live and thrive and survive by and for love of the First Medicines of the water and the light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. It's a new calendar year, and we very much need to make this a better than the last two have been. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail, and it's now February and we're still three weeks behind.

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.                

Fair warning.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Storm light. Not that we got a storm out of it, but it was trying hard.

Busy day today. A lot going on for both of us, including a meeting of sorts with a couple of folks here today [more about that later; it'll be several weeks yet before what comes out of it materializes].  But it was fun to meet them in person, a couple of wonderful, talented local women.

A lot more going on this week, too, and so I'm probably going to late with everything, behind on everything, dropping the ball on everything. So you've all had fair warning. The big thing that needs to happen this week is sales, and if you're looking for a gift for that special someone for Valentine's Fay, this is the week to do it, because we can still ship Priority and have it there in plenty of time. Also, I've got a bunch of medical and other stuff to cover for us, so . . . yeah, I need to sell some of his work, and fast.

Our floor for sales and breaking even is making a minimum of one sale per week for the year, and we're still more than a week in the hole now. I don't have enough hours in the day as it is, but I will say that yesterday was the first day in at least two months that my body did not feel as though it was literally dying around me every second so maybe the increased dosages in both immunosuppressants are working? Today was chemo day, though, the first higher dose [a lower one two days from now, too], and I definitely haven't felt very well. Maybe tomorrow, though. Because regardless of side effects, I've got to do something to bring in sales, although damned if I know what at this point. It's grim. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the LaminaSaver, because apparently Miika's out of it again; and the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse and ensuing septic disaster];
• 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 begin this year on a better footing than the last two.

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.

Monday Photo Meditation: All the Shades of Love

Photo copyright Wings, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for a month, and an upcoming day, the outside world devotes to love and lovers. It's a reflection on the ephemeral nature of light and what it shows, and the constant, eternal nature of all the shades of love.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. It's a new calendar year, and we very much need to make this a better year than the last two have been. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail, and into the second month of the year, we're still three weeks behind on that score.

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.        

I seriously hope that blue birds are truly good luck.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Curious bird. It's a young adult scrub jay, and he zoomed up onto the branch while I was up on the deck this morning. They used to be mostly winter birds here [whenever I say "here," I'm generally not talking broadly, but right here, in this very spot where we live]. This year, the whole clan has been here for months, from well before winter to now, and they've had several broods. We've seen baby and fledgling scrub jays hopping around here, for the first time ever.

February 1st, and I seriously hope that blue birds are truly good luck. Because January was a nightmare, coming on the heels of two spectacularly awful years in a row. This one has started inauspiciously, to say the least. And yes, I know it doesn't help that everything is terrible out there in the rest of the world, but knowing that doesn't help, either. We need to catch a break; several, actually. I've been saying that none of my years-overdue medical stuff gets done at all if I don't start bringing in some real income, and "no sales" is not gonna cut it. Welp, we're at that point where nothing gets done, at all, if I don't bring in something this weekend and all of next week. And so far? Nada.

Our floor for sales and breaking even is making a minimum of one sale per week for the year, and we're still more than a week in the hole now. I don't have enough hours in the day as it is, and heaven knows I don't have the bandwidth for anything more. Flare, progression, whatever, it doesn't matter. I've got to do something, but damned if I know what at this point. It's grim. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the LaminaSaver, because apparently Miika's out of it again; and the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse and ensuing septic disaster];
• 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 begin this year on a better footing than the last two.

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.