Burned out.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

 

The new bolo. No, it's not up yet; I only got the photos this morning. Soon, though.

Right now, I just need to get today's work done. I'm exhausted beyond all description, mostly mentally. Yes, the physical fatigue is there, but that's just like the pain: It never goes away, and I'm largely used to it. But the recent stresses, coupled with my workload and the lack of enough sales to make it, are adding significantly to that load. This new medication is causing side effects that I'm not sure are worth the trade-off, and it's also not helping with, for example, the extreme pain in my hands and feet, the lupus rash that mysteriously materialized on my arm out of nowhere this morning, or a whole host of other things.

I'm tired, and I'm burned out. 

And none of that matters. That first $400 expense will clear by Monday, leaving us with no breathing room for the rest of the month. We've got another four or five of those over the next 6-8 weeks, one of them all the way up to $700, and we cannot cover them if we don't make sales.

So I have got to get us caught up on this awful year, but there's no getting blood, or money, from a stone. Those two new pairs of earrings I am determined will go up later tonight [::sigh:: no, they're STILL not up, because see above], and there's a ton of newish work on the site. I am buying exactly nothing, not even the wishlist items we need, because I have to save every cent right now. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the chile and traditional wild rice, both of which are at the top, 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 get this year onto a better footing than the last two, and so far, it's 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.

 

 

Friday Feature: New Light For a Renewed Earth

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of works from Wings's signature series of gemstone-bead necklaces and bracelets, not created to match specifically, but beautifully complementary all the same. It's one of each in the shades of an alpine forest world at dawn, manifest as new light for a renewed earth, a perfect description of spring.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We're two weeks into May already, and we have got to get some movement on sales if we're going to make it through this already-grim year.. 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.

Such joy.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. 

 

That's Cricket, our feral, trying to get his beloved big/little brother Sunny [just out of camera range to the right] to play. Big brother, because Sunny's much larger now; little brother, because he's also two or three years younger. But I love this shot; such joy on Cricket's face, with the doggy smile, and in his body language. And that poor guy didn't have much joy in his life until he found his way to us over eight years ago.

He's somewhere between 8 and 9 now, and still feral. He'd been abused so badly in his formative months that to this day, he still can't trust a human enough, even us, to allow us to pet him. But he loves us, loves Sunny and Stormy, loves this place; he's happy here, and he protects us all. And it's always wonderful to see him relaxed enough to feel that kind of joy.

Heaven knows joy's in short supply everywhere else these days. So, it seems, is anything good, by which I mean structurally, systemically, societally, governmentally. So we take it where we find it, and if a formerly abused dog can have it, then that's one more mark in the column headed "Good."

Unfortunately for me, I'm having to deals with a lot of the bad in other contexts right now. And a lot of the not-bad, but just plain exhausting. And then there's the need to make sales, which is fast becoming its own problem.

The number of things I have to find a way for us to cover over the next six weeks is absolutely staggering. We've got a bunch of discrete costly expenses coming up this month and next, about five of them in the $400-$600 range each. Most are one-offs, but they still have to get paid, and right now? There's no way. Not as bad as sales have been. And we've got to maintain it, because we've also got those other big costs [the side exterior door, for one; the flue cleanings for another; and a set of tires for the truck for a third] immediately ahead. So I have got to get us caught up on this awful year in terms of sales, but there's no getting blood, or money, from a stone. Those two new pairs of earrings I am determined will go up later tonight [::sigh:: no, they're STILL not up, because see above], and there's a ton of newish work on the site. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the chile and traditional wild rice, both of which are at the top];
• 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 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: The Cycles of Season, Time, and Life

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #ThrowbackThursday featured work that dates back to last fall, and a very special commission from a dear friend. It's the first-completed in a trio of bolos, all designed to have cultural and familial significance for our friend and his two sons, with layers of meaning that seem to embody the cycles of season, time, and life.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work will never be duplicated, but if the general style or category speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own.  We're two weeks into May already, and we have got to get some movement on sales if we're going to make it through this already-grim year. 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.

Our weather is a mess.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Ninety degrees and pollen haze this morning; that up there this afternoon. That's not smoke; that's dirt. We had nightmarish winds all afternoon and into the evening. It should be too late in the season for this [and far too early for 90 degrees, but it hit 96 back in February, so whatever].

Our weather is a mess. 

These are the kind of winds that slam the invasive tumbleweeds into your skin [they have thorns], and pelt you with sand so hard it stings. You also wind up feeling filthy by the time you get indoors, and I had to take another shower just to get the grime off my skin and the dirt out of my hair. 

And those clouds behind the dirt? Yeah, all afternoon and evening they've been saying it's going to rain. More, they keep saying that it IS raining at any given moment, and of course, it's not. We've got nothin'.

None of the other kind, either, and the number of things I have to find a way for us to cover over the next six weeks is absolutely staggering. We've got a bunch of discrete costly expenses coming up this month and next, about five of them in the $400-$600 range each. Most are one-offs, but they still have to get paid, and right now? There's no way. Not as bad as sales have been. And we've got to maintain it, because we've also got those other big costs [the side exterior door, for one; the flue cleanings for another; and a set of tires for the truck for a third] immediately ahead. So I have got to get us caught up on this awful year in terms of sales, but there's no getting blood, or money, from a stone. Those two new pairs of earrings I am determined will go up later tonight [::sigh:: no, they're STILL not up, because see above], and there's a ton of newish work on the site. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the chile and traditional wild rice, both of which are at the top];
• 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 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.

From Cold Roots to Flowering Warmth

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the wild and unsettled extremes of spring, and for the truth underlying them that love flowers from an iron heart. It's not an endorsement of indifference, but of strength and bravery and resilience of the sort our plant relatives teach us, transforming each year from cold roots to flowering warmth.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We're two weeks into May already, and we have got to get some movement on sales if we're going to make it through this already-grim year.. 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.

No, no rain.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

 

That's the surviving giant blue spruce. See all those pale pink tips? Those are cones. Already forming, this early in the year. On virtually every single branch.

That's not a good sign. It's what they do in terrible drought. Which is, of course, what we have, what we've had for more than thirty years now, although it's been much, much worse the last eight. It hit nearly ninety today. No, no rain.  

None of the other kind, either, and the number of things I have to find a way for us to cover over the next six weeks is absolutely staggering. We've got a bunch of discrete costly expenses coming up this month and next, about five of them in the $400-$600 range each. Most are one-offs, but they still have to get paid, and right now? There's no way. Not as bad as sales have been. And we've got to maintain it, because we've also got those other big costs [the side exterior door, for one; the flue cleanings for another; and a set of tires for the truck for a third] immediately ahead. So I have got to get us caught up on this awful year in terms of sales, but there's no getting blood, or money, from a stone. Those two new pairs of earrings I am determined will go up later tonight [::sigh:: no, they're STILL not up, because see above], and there's a ton of newish work on the site. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the chile and traditional wild rice, both of which are at the top];
• 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 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.