Winter Blues For Summer Spirits

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork to take us from the cold season to warmer winds, and the messenger spirit of the waters, on the winds, that is a sign of delicate power. It's Dragonfly as you'e never seen him before, in three separate iterations on a single work of wearable art, the embodiment of winter blues for summer spirits 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 year than the last two have been. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail. It's February already and we're still more than two weeks behind on what, it's become clear, is going to be a hard and costly year.

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.        

One more tree dead in this drought.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Our of order today.  The dragonfly cuff is done [as are the three pairs of earrings], but I need tog et the photos chosen, resized, and uploaded, and write the description, before I can do today's NDN Silver post with it.

So everything will be late.

The photo up there? That happened night before last, when we got the rain and a tiny dusting of snow that was gone by dawn. That tree has been separating at the trunk from the other one for maybe 4-6 weeks now, and I guess we had enough to fell it completely. One more tree dead in this drought.

In theory, we're getting more rain and/or snow Tuesday through Thursday. Not that whole time, you understand; just intermittent showers. Whatever; it's welcome. But it's never enough. not for this level of damage.

Today is also the ninth [9th!] anniversary of the day we lost the matriarch of our horses, Cree, right about this time [5:30-ish], when she went down a final time and there would be no getting up.  On top of last week's marker [Wings's mom; it doesn't matter how many years it's been]; Major on the 3rd, and Hunter two days from now? The only month that's worse for grief is April.

And grief affects everything, for both of us. I also can't seem do anything to fix this latest flare. I was really hoping for a decent day today in terms of pain and fatigue, but no; more of the same that the last however many weeks [months?] have been, and it's impairing my ability to work. Medical stuff coming this week, again, and we'll see, but given the way things have been going, I'm not at all hopeful. It'll probably be more big expenses with no result. But I have to try, because I need to get something to work. I'm already under unspeakable pressure this year, never mind the need to make up for the last two terrible ones. Our floor for sales and breaking even is making a minimum of one sale per week for the year, and we're still two weeks in the hole now. I don't have enough hours in the day as it is, and I can't afford what's been happening to me. Regardless of side effects or disease progression, I've got to do something to bring in sales. We need to bring in a lot more, because 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, and so far, it's been impossibly 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.

One more day.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026;
all rights reserved.

One more day, and he should have it done. With luck, I'll be able to get photos then and have it up by tomorrow night. For now, you should click on the image above to enlarge it to regular size, so you can truly see the textures and the ultra-fine freehand saw-, score-, stamp- texture-, hammer-, and overlay work. This one is a phenomenon unto itself.  [And yes, it'll be priced accordingly.]

He's also got some simple dangle earrings set with single small stones in the works; three pairs, I think. Those might also be done tomorrow. For once, he was able to get some decent studio time today, despite everything else that has to get done every day around here. Me? Not so much, but whatever. This is more important, provided, of course, that I can get enough time thereafter to get the photos taken, downloaded, edited, uploaded, descriptions written posts sent live, etc., etc. It's a huge amount of work.

Which all just reinforces that there are no holidays. Every day is work. I'd be a lot more enthusiastic about that if I could feel at least minimally decent, but that's not happening right now. I'm basically limited to one type of pain medication, the only that one that both 1) works for me, at least a little, and 2) doesn't actively make me sick, and even that's not working these days. Nope, no MMJ for me. Or even non-M MJ. I can't even get high. My body just reacts horribly to it, and it makes all my autoimmune issues worse.

But I need to get something to work. I'm already under unspeakable pressure this year, never mind the need to make up for the last two terrible ones. Our floor for sales and breaking even is making a minimum of one sale per week for the year, and we're still two weeks in the hole now. I don't have enough hours in the day as it is, and I can't afford what's been happening to me. Regardless of side effects or disease progression, I've got to do something to bring in sales. We need to bring in a lot more, because 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, and so far, it's been impossibly 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 Love of Desert Spirits

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for this day dedicated to love, for its post-storm winter's twilight, and for the medicine of desert spirits. It's a cuff built around a truly unique focal, a mix of natural and human-made materials that catch and refract and channel the light, a wearable reminder of the love of desert spirits that blesses us here in all seasons.

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. It's February already and we're still more than two weeks behind on what, it's become clear, is going to be a hard and costly year.

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.        

Just done.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

That right there?  Is a full-sized horse trough, and that's less than an hour's worth of rain in it. Two hours and a big lull in the storm later, and it was over half full. We have another lull now, and we're supposed to get snow overnight, but who knows?

I'm exhausted, in pain, and fed up. We have half a dozen big cash expenses coming up, and no sales. Money lent that I was assured would be repaid today? Of course not. And I am doing all of this impossibly late tonight because it has been one goddamned derailment after another all day today, and what everyone else wants matters more than my own work, as always. I'll be back to it all tomorrow, but right now? I'm just done.

Nothing makes me feel even the slightest bit better [yes, I sais steroids, but there's the steroid headache to contend with, every damn night], and yet I have to maintain this pace. I'm already under unspeakable pressure this year, never mind the need to make up for the last two terrible ones. Our floor for sales and breaking even is making a minimum of one sale per week for the year, and we're still two weeks in the hole now. I don't have enough hours in the day as it is, and I can't afford what's been happening to me. Regardless of side effects or disease progression, I've got to do something to bring in sales. We need to bring in a lot more, because 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, and so far, it's been impossibly 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: Love In the Low Winter Half-Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a trio of related works that all embody the haunting beauty of dusk at this season, strung with colors perfect for this week to honor love in all its forms. It's three from Wings's signature series of gemstone-bead works, a necklace, pair of earrings, and coil bracelet all created to coordinate ins substance, shade, and spirit, all embodying the beauty of love in the low winter half-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 year than the last two have been. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail. It's February already and we're still more than two weeks behind on what, it's become clear, is going to be a hard and costly year.

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.        

Newest iteration.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

The dragonfly cuff, newest iteration. What you can't see in the photo are the two wholly separate dragonfly overlays on either side. This one is big, and it's going to be costly [and phenomenal]:  all freehand stampwork, hammerwork, cutwork, overlays, bezel, etc. Might be done on Saturday; might be Sunday.

I woke up this morning a little before six, to find that it had rained. Not in the forecast, although you could smell it on the air at midnight when I was out putting the heated frisbees in the feral dog's house. Trouble was, you could also see stars everywhere, so I didn't think we'd actually get anything. But on the southeast slopes, there was a faint new dusting of snow this morning.

Labs are in, and everything falls within normal ranges [story of my life; sero-negative for lupus and RA for literal decades, while all the joint and tissue damage proceeded apace, but no one would treat it because . . . sero-negative, so now I have a half-century of unnecessary damage and constant pain], except . . . wait for it: BG. Which was 100.  Which is absolutely fine.  Yes, it's high for me, because my norm is 70s-80s, but I am not remotely prediabetic. What I AM is on week #3 of a steroid burst for my autoimmune progression, and steroids raise BG in everybody. So yeah, I'm more than a little annoyed at the label when it has nothing to do with reality. Next week, I think, will be the last week of upping the steroid dose like this, at least for now, so it'll drop precipitously and very, very rapidly.

I'm annoyed by everything right now, because other than the steroids, nothing makes me feel even the slightest bit better, and yet I have to maintain this pace. I'm already under unspeakable pressure this year, never mind the need to make up for the last two terrible ones. Our floor for sales and breaking even is making a minimum of one sale per week for the year, and we're still two weeks in the hole now. I don't have enough hours in the day as it is, and I can't afford what's been happening to me. Regardless of side effects or disease progression, I've got to do something to bring in sales. We need to bring in a lot more, because 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, and so far, it's been impossibly 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.