Making Hay

Photo copyright Aji, 2013, 2014; all rights reserved.

Yup, it's that season again. Cutting, turning, baling, hauling, loading, unloading, stacking. From a few dozen acres spread across multiple fields on two parcels. As I said elsewhere this morning: 

And if you've never done it, believe me — it's LABOR. Hot, dirty, dusty, sneezy, heavy work, with 50-lb.+ bales hauled, stacked on a flatbed, then unloaded and stacked in the hay barn. I do it right along next to the guys, like I've done every season for nearly a decade. Some years, it's been just Wings and me — no help. But this year, I'm a little more decrepit thanks to last week's injuries, and he injured his back a few weeks ago, so there's no question: We HAVE to hire help. And they have to be paid, along with the guy who takes care of the cut/tedder/bale processes.

Unfortunately, we don't have the resources we had available this time last year. Part of that is a change in arrangements with our boarder horse. Part of that is the fact that we took two huge hits in terms of the amount of hay available to us over the winter: First, we had not one, but two starving, abused, and abandoned horses that showed up here last year, first Miskwaki, and then Ice. And while normally, we would've been able to feed them out of our own supply just fine, climate change kicked our butts last year. The monsoon season arrived two months early and drowned it, stunting its growth. So our first two cuts were not as large as usual, and we didn't get a third cut at all. We held out hope for a small one, but like the rains, sub-freezing temperatures arrived similarly early, and that took care of that. And when you have now three horses that can't have much in the way of alfalfa, that depletes the now-very expensive grass hay supply very rapidly. We've been reduced to buying half-ton bales from a local guy for some months now just to make it stretch. It's not like our grass hay by any means, but it's better than most of what's out there.

Which brings me to our current dilemma. We have to raise the money for this somehow. I've already posted these items on Facebook this morning, but I'm going to ask all of our friends and family, here and elsewhere, to help share this. We're promoting the sale of two really spectacular pieces of inventory, true collector's items, museum-qaulity showpieces. And despite the sticker shock, considering the extent to which they will only appreciate in value, the prices are pretty fabulous, too.

First up, an absolutely incredible bolo, handcrafted by famed Navajo silversmith Tommy Singer, who walked a few weeks ago — truly a loss to the world of Native art, and Native silversmithing particularly:

Photo copyright Wings, 2013;2014; all rights reserved.

Spectacular, really deep and uniform hand-stampwork on heavy-gauge sterling silver. The man made his own bezel, cuffs, and tips, all by hand, all sterling. The barrels above the squash-blossom tips are shown in the second photo and feature what's known as micro-chip inlay in natural turquoise and natural coral; the big oval cab in the middle is natural freeform Morenci turquoise from Arizona. 

Photo copyright Wings, 2013;2014; all rights reserved.

The tie itself is heavy-duty tightly-braided leather in a deep rich brown - two pieces, held with hand-made fasteners under the collar. $1,800 + $30 s/h/i. And, again, for people who truly love traditional work, this is perfect; now that our little world has lost Mr. Singer, it will also appreciate substantially in value in the years to come. 

Second, this concha belt from Wings's private collection:

Photo copyright Aji, 2013; 2014; all rights reserved.

Beautiful old-style work; heavy silver, all conchas individually hand-stamped. The belt is high-quality, heavy leather, such dark brown that it's nearly black in color. $1,500 + $25 s/h/i. 

And, of course, we have much, much more, including Wings's own showpieces from his recent on-man exhibition. All of his work and much more are available on our Web site, although please pardon the mess while we finish renovations there.

Sales of these will go a long way toward paying the troops and keeping the beasts fed, so if you know anyone who might be in the market for a gorgeous wearable showpiece, true collector's items traditionally made in the traditional style, please share this with them. Thanks.