Taping today. Interior plaster begins upstairs tomorrow. Shares very much needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

That's the bedroom, as of tonight. Ice and his guy were here today, taping the upstairs drywall. Tomorrow, they'll do the plasterwork on upstairs walls and ceilings. There are a few places they can't get to yet, as I understand it, but then they'll begin on the sections of the downstairs that will be sheetrocked (as opposed to those areas where the brick is currently exposed that will be plastered).

So progress continues, although we are still approaching a point where layoffs may be necessary. There's far more than enough work to keep them busy, but this month has been far, far more expensive than we could've predicted, compounded by the fact that several of the big expenses all converged in the space of a couple of weeks.

We need shares, and they're way, way down; almost no movement on that front. Right now, my mini-goal is raising another $3K. To that end, I have a share goal of 30; in other words, since our share count is currently at 400, I'd like to get it up at least to 430 as soon as possible. The more people whose eyes we can get on it, the more likely we are to make progress — and sharing costs nothing more than about ten seconds and a couple of clicks:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just below:

• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. Those are one of the things we most need, since our materials costs are climbing daily. There's a lot left to buy, unfortunately, and more flooring and interior paint are both on tap for next week, as are lumber, lath, and plaster material locally.

Still, before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

And just know that I am way, way behind right now. And, yes, I am still sicker than a dog tonight, he's about the same, and I can barely string two words together coherently. Until I can shake this at least a little bit, I'm going to be useless for most things, so please just bear with me.

Thanks, everyone.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

Trickster Spirit

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

He gave me a few moments before turning and making his way through a clearly familiar space in the barbed-wire fence, as though giving a bit of his Trickster spirit to the land.

Perhaps a little to me, too.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Sunny Went Home.

Photo copyright Aji, 2016; all rights reserved.

Yes, that's an allusion to the title of the Shawn Colvin song, but the subject is a Sunny of a different sort. Our Sunny was the little yellow chicken on the far right in the photo. She walked on from us today, sleeping in the sun.

That photo was taken on May 2nd, 2015, when she was much healthier overall. She was a lively but skittish little thing, the most beautiful of the yellows, frankly, with feather tips in creamy off-white and bright gold in a pattern that looked like moiré. 

Later that summer, she became badly egg-bound, and we almost lost her. It took days of working on her, and weeks of recovery, for her to bounce back to what would be a relatively pale version of her old self. We had gotten that round of chicks the previous year, and we would come to learn that, like some of those from 2012, a couple of the groupings came from what seemed to be inexperienced breeders. The chickens would turn out to be not nearly as hardy as the others, more prone to egg-binding and other issues. But they are family, and so we deal with whatever life presents them as best we can.

Sunny didn't fare well; the binding ruptured something, creating a fistula. She would never lay again, but she did recover, and that was more than enough. She was more subdued, with occasional flares of discomfort although apparently no pain, and what seemed to be a hip injury resulting from the whole process would also flare periodically, too. I kept an eye on her more closely than the others, of course, and late last summer, she flared badly enough that we thought we might lose her. Still, we soaked her repeatedly in warm water, I held her on my lap and massaged her, and once again, she surprised us — she pulled through.

She has a couple of preferred areas in the coop where she'd build the usual divot in the dirt and nestle in comfortably. Whenever I'd scatter the chicken treats, I'd make sure to drop a bunch in front of her so that she wouldn't have to move too much to get at them. As of last night, she was still hopping around and hoovering them up.

When I let the chickens out this morning, she hopped out the gate with the rest, looking perfectly happy — subdued compared to the others, of course, but still her usual self. Around 1:30 this afternoon, Wings came and got me, telling me that one of the chickens was gone. He led me to a place in front of the hay barn, and there she lay, nestled gently between the glass recyclables and a stand of posts from the electric fence, right in the brilliant gold sunlight. She had apparently abandoned the slush and mud that are now everywhere and picked out that spot in which to rest, then gone to sleep in the warm sun for which she was named, and simply . . . kept going.

She far outlived what any normal life expectancy would have been for her, given what happened to her two summers ago. And as far as we can tell, she simply settled in in the sun and the warmth and went to sleep, and then fell into that deeper sleep without ever waking. As such things go, it seems to have been an easy start to her journey. We were grateful for every minute that she had, given what her little body had endured, and we're now grateful that she was apparently comfortable to the end, which would have been, at a guess, about noon today (her body was still warm from the sun, but rigor had set in). She's at rest next to Cinder, over by Carter's tree.

She was the color of the sun, and very nearly as bright and happy, and she was one of our lights. We love you, little Sunny girl.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Red Willow Spirit: The Love of Family

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's this week's edition of Red Willow Spirit, beginning, as we head into February in a few hours, a month-long look at love. Today, it's the love of family, and the way in which it manifests as a series of acts, individual, collective, and spiritual.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Photos are available for purchase in any of the usual three formats, but the silverwork is a mix of commissioned, sold, and available items; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Relapse edition. Shares needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

That's the current state of the upstairs bath. Doesn't look like much now, but that's about to change. 

Ice arrives tomorrow morning to begin taping for the interior plasterwork. Meanwhile, the crew will begin casing the downstairs windows, preparatory to plastering over the adobe. The latter is a multi-stage process, beginning with lath over the bricks and going through at least three coats of plaster (scratch, fill, float). Once Ice is done, I'm going to need to settle on paint colors for the upstairs, because I need to have that done before the tile goes in in the bathroom (and the rest of the flooring, too, although that remains to be ordered).

It's all more money out the door. They'll be picking up lumber tomorrow on the way on for casing the windows. There'll be a lot more than just that before the week is out.

We need shares. Badly. Consistent daily shares:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just below:

• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowes gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. Those will really, really help with materials costs from this point forward.

Still, before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

And just know that I am way, way behind right now. I have messages to send and answer, but my brain has ceased function for the night; Wings and I have both relapsed from this same bug that's been hanging around since October, and I spent about 40 minutes walking Cree this evening because she colicked (which is what happens when, in the space of a couple of days, the temps go from seven below zero at night to a high of 49 this afternoon). I am sicker than a dog tonight, he's about the same, and I can barely strong two words together coherently. Until I can shake this at least a little bit, I'm going to be useless for most things, so please just bear with me.

Thanks, everyone.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner. 

Space for the Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

In the grid of the piñon posts, in the web of the red willow, in the shadowed drifts of melting snow, there is always space for the light.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Monday Photo Meditation: What Love Does

Photo copyright Wings, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a photo meditation on the nature of love, even in dark times. It's an image that reminds us of one of the great gifts of indigenous cultures: a reminder that what love does is to link us in an unbroken hoop of survival.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, photos are available for purchase in the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. Also as always, sales are much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Back at it tomorrow. More expenses this week; next week's a question mark. Shares needed.

Thank all that's holy for heat waves.

This time last night, it was 17. The night before, 7, with a wind chill already well below zero. Tonight, it's 27 (even if the wind chill's much lower), coming off a high of 43, six degrees higher than the forecast predicted. I feel like I can breathe again a little bit.

It all starts up again tomorrow. We should be getting the house entirely closed in sometime this week; the front doors are due, although the day is still uncertain. It'll be a couple of weeks, at least, before the materials from Lowe's are delivered, which may give us room for the taping of everything upstairs but the bathroom (or maybe even that; I feel like I'm hearing a dozen different versions of what can happen). Thanks to a kind donor last night, and another one today (and profound thanks to you both), we'll be able to cover the week's labor and materials, but next week is a big question mark right now. So we need shares. Lots of them. Daily:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just above.
• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowes gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. Those will really, really help with materials costs from this point forward. We need to keep the cash freed up for labor as much as possible, but we're going to have to buy a water heater, kitchen fixtures, flooring, and a host of other material items in the days and weeks to come, and this is the best place to do it. 

And before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. A fitting immediate legacy for Lin would have been funding her YouCaring effort fully by year's end, to provide Laura with the assurance of a safety net. There has been zero movement on it for at least a week, probably more. This is not acceptable to me; Lin's memory deserves better, and so does Laura, who has given so very, very much of herself in recent months for someone so many claimed to love. Yeserday would have been Lin's birthday. It would be a fitting final gift to her to donate to Laura's safety net. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

Thanks, everyone. 



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Gold and Diamonds

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

The diamonds are already melting to mud, gold wands tarnished gray in the low winter light.

And the hawks will stay close to home, because without the gold and diamonds, their world will hold all they need.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Teachers of Wisdom, Sources of Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the final three entries from Wings's brand-new collection. As has been the case all week, not all are still in inventory; two are already sold, but their message is as valuable as that of the one that remains. Today, they serve as teachers of wisdom and sources of light upon the road that we are given in this life to walk.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Warm-up, and a bug. Costs climbing; layoffs looming. Shares badly needed.

Still the same bitter cold here, but the day was more manageable thanks to a lot less wind than the last few days. Except for the bug I seem to have picked up yesterday (or maybe it's just the old one that I had for a solid three months, deciding to gear up for a fourth). Tonight's supposed to stay above zero, at least, and starting tomorrow, the days are supposed to begin getting into the upper 30s again.

We have tomorrow to rest (that's a figure of speech, not to be taken literally), and then it all gets ridiculous again bright and early Monday. So much lined up that has to be done, and so much of our finances depleted thanks to the wiring screw-up. I'm genuinely afraid that we'll be laying the crew off after Wednesday. 

We need shares, and badly:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just above.
• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowes gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. Those will really, really help with materials costs from this point forward. We need to keep the cash freed up for labor as much as possible, but we're going to have to buy a water heater, kitchen fixtures, flooring, and a host of other material items in the days and weeks to come, and this is the best place to do it. 

And before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. A fitting immediate legacy for Lin would have been funding her YouCaring effort fully by year's end, to provide Laura with the assurance of a safety net. There has been zero movement on it for at least a week, probably more. This is not acceptable to me; Lin's memory deserves better, and so does Laura, who has given so very, very much of herself in recent months for someone so many claimed to love. Today would have been Lin's birthday. It would be a fitting final gift to her to donate to Laura's safety net. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

Thanks, everyone. 



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Medicine

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

They have their own medicine, are their own medicine. 

Their world is a lodge of air and light and shadow.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Dreams for the Dark, and for the Dawn

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's another complementary pair of works from Wings's newest collection. As with Wednesday's pair, one of these is already sold, but the other remains available for purchase. Both evoke visionary experiences, regardless of when and how they come: of dreams for the dark, and for the dawn.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Sub-zero temps again tonight. More cash outlay today. Shares badly needed.

No photos tonight. I've been awake since three, up since four, and we've both been on the run all day long on house-related errands spread far and wide. We didn't get home until just before dark, and after a whole day in unrelievedly, bitterly cold winds (sub-zero temps until about 9 AM; sub-zero wind chills even thereafter), we're both wiped out. As it happens, it is exactly nine degrees above zero at this moment, with a wind chill of one, and both will go well below zero tonight. I literally had to wear my earmuffs indoors this morning, it was so freaking cold in here.

This whole month has been ungodly expensive, and today was no exception. We're going to have to raise additional monies soon, whether via the YouCaring effort or through sales, or we're going to have to lay the crew off for a while. Between the rewiring mess and the plumbing and the gas line and the labor and everything else, we'll be cutting it very close again very, very soon.

There's no other way around it. We need shares:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just above.
• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowes gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. Those will really, really help with materials costs from this point forward. We need to keep the cash freed up for labor as much as possible, but we're going to have to buy a water heater, kitchen fixtures, flooring, and a host of other material items in the days and weeks to come, and this is the best place to do it. 

And before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. A fitting immediate legacy for Lin would have been funding her YouCaring effort fully by year's end, to provide Laura with the assurance of a safety net. There has been zero movement on it for at least a week, probably more. This is not acceptable to me; Lin's memory deserves better, and so does Laura, who has given so very, very much of herself in recent months for someone so many claimed to love. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

Thanks, everyone. 



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Matriarch

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

But in this place, she is grandmother and governor, matriarch and chief.

We all know it.

So does he, and he won’t argue with her for long.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Friday Feature: Wisdom for the Generations

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's our final Friday Feature for the month of January, with a look at feminine imagery and identity. It's a pair of complementary, albeit not matching, spirit cups, each summoning the spirit and substance of women, each holding wisdom for the generations. 

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Breaker box and gas line in. 14 hours without water; dangerous cold. Shares very much needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Finally, we have one of these.

It's been a hell of a day. We were supposed to be out taking care of a thousand errands, and no one was supposed to work today except Carlos. But the plumbers showed up early to finish running the gas lines, which they did, and they also vented the roof and connected the fans. And then the electrician showed up, finally, and did the outside work, setting up the breaker box. That's two big things off the to-do list. And we were around, because we were without water from 9:30 last night until 11:30 this morning, everything having frozen solid. Today was the dangerous kind of cold, and tonight and tomorrow will be more of the same. [Yes, I can't wait until we're in the house and not dealing with this anymore; why do you ask?]

It's also been a hellishly expensive week. We've had to lay out an absolutely unholy amount of cash, which is starting to worry me. There are a lot of materials left to buy (that's where we can use the Lowe's cars at this point), and a lot of labor left to pay (and none of this includes the septic, which is going to have to be a whole other thing), and so we need shares:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just below:

• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowes gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. Those will really, really help with materials costs from this point forward. We need to keep the cash freed up for labor as much as possible, but we're going to have to buy a water heater, kitchen fixtures, flooring, and a host of other material items in the days and weeks to come, and this is the best place to do it. 

And before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. A fitting immediate legacy for Lin would have been funding her YouCaring effort fully by year's end, to provide Laura with the assurance of a safety net. There has been zero movement on it for at least a week, probably more. This is not acceptable to me; Lin's memory deserves better, and so does Laura, who has given so very, very much of herself in recent months for someone so many claimed to love. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

Thanks, everyone.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

A Place to Sit

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Even — especially — in the cold and the dark, everyone needs a place to sit.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

#ThrowbackThursday: The Dust of an Ancient Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a throwback to less than a month ago and a very special work commissioned by a dear friend. It's one that evokes the rarity and value of the dust of an ancient light, that of a blue moon fitting for an equally rare spirit.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As a special commission, this design will never be repeated, but if the general style speaks to you, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a work uniquely your own. And, as always, sales are much needed, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Gas line in. Trenching under way. Sub-zero temps tonight. Shares badly needed.

Yes, I have a few shots, but I'm too tired to deal with it. The plumbers were back today to install the gas lines from where the range and the water heater will be. Expensive, but it had to be done, and done right. But in addition to the labor costs we shelled out today, it was another big expense.

Today was the crew's last day for the week, although Carlos will be back tomorrow and Friday to do more of the trenching for the gas line to the propane tank and buried electrical line. He started it today, despite the bitter cold, and it turns out that our winter has been so dangerously mild that, even with the recent snow and ice and cold, the ground was frozen only to two inches down. Below that? Soft, all the way up to the house. I'm glad he got it well under way, because tonight and tomorrow night will be well below zero. No word on electrician dude yet. He doesn't get paid the balance until it's done, though, so . . . ::shrug::.

The front doors will likely be delivered sometime next week. That will finally pretty much enclose the whole house, except for the weather stripping on one window that shipped without it; the company rep will be out sometime in the next couple of weeks to install it. In the meantime, the short term is shower bases, upstairs bath tile, fixture install, and then flooring for the rest of the upstairs. Ice will start taping for the interior plaster. Then I have to decide on colors and paint and stain (yes, I'm doing THAT myself, because 1) I have the experience to do what I want, and 2) I want it done the way I want it). And mixed in all of it re the never-ending labor costs. I don't begrudge any of it, because the guys are great; they work their asses off, and they know their stuff. But it's a major source of stress, and it's always hanging over my head, every single day.

We have to ramp up the YouCaring shares again. Badly. We've been really blessed, but these are the hugely expensive stages of the project, and it's eating up what we've had in reserve for this really fast now. So please go back to sharing daily:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just above.
• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowes gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. Those will really, really help with materials costs from this point forward. We need to keep the cash freed up for labor as much as possible, but we're going to have to buy a water heater, kitchen fixtures, flooring, and a host of other material items in the days and weeks to come, and this is the best place to do it. 

And before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. A fitting immediate legacy for Lin would have been funding her YouCaring effort fully by year's end, to provide Laura with the assurance of a safety net. There has been zero movement on it for at least a week, probably more. This is not acceptable to me; Lin's memory deserves better, and so does Laura, who has given so very, very much of herself in recent months for someone so many claimed to love. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

Thanks, everyone.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

One With the Night

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

And while the doves perform their dusken dance, trapeze artists upon the arc of the light, somewhere, the hawk sits silent, invisible, becoming one with the night.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

A Visionary Blueprint

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a look, up close and personal, at two of the first entries in Wings's latest collection. One of these has already been sold, but its imagery remains worth exploring; the other is still available, and, like the first, serves as a visionary blueprint.

The post is here.  Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always (especially now), sales are much needed, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
  

New snow, high winds, ground blizzard, deep freeze. No end to the work, or the expense. Shares needed.

I'm beat. It's been a long week already, and it's only Tuesday. It'll get a lot longer.

After multiple winter storm warnings insisting on a 100% chance of snow that produced only a few flurries, the weather service backed off last night to a 40% chance. So we got 4-6 new inches, natch, and a ground blizzard today to usher it out between the peaks. It is bitterly cold, and the nights to come for the rest of the week are expected to get below zero. I don't mind the storm at all; I love it, in fact. It's the deep freeze that invariably follows that damn near kills my body. And we're there now. It's also snowing again at the moment, in defiance of all forecasts.

We have a huge amount of work to do this week on managing the next stages of the building process. They're coming out to measure for the gas line tomorrow, for the range and the water heater. More money. The shower bases are being built mid-February. More money. We have to pick up more materials for the bath (flooring, etc.), and then the rest of the upstairs. More money. There is literally no end to it. As I said last night, my mini-goal for the moment is $3K.

So we need shares, on a daily basis:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just above:
• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowes gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. Those will really, really help with materials costs from this point forward. We need to keep the cash freed up for labor as much as possible, but we're going to have to buy a water heater, kitchen fixtures, flooring, and a host of other material items in the days and weeks to come, and this is the best place to do it. 

And before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. A fitting immediate legacy for Lin would have been funding her YouCaring effort fully by year's end, to provide Laura with the assurance of a safety net. There has been zero movement on it for at least a week, probably more. This is not acceptable to me; Lin's memory deserves better, and so does Laura, who has given so very, very much of herself in recent months for someone so many claimed to love. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

Thanks, everyone.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

What Matters

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

The hawk knows that what matters is the light.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Red Willow Spirit: Illumination In Full

Photo copyright Wings, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's this week's edition of our Red Willow Spirit series, with a look at the nature and identity of certain sometimes-feminine spirits and the wisdom they possess. Today, we explore the relationship of indigenous cultures to the moon, and the ways in which those connections link up with ideas of the nature of womanhood, the power that it represents, of illumination in full or in part, in vision and in fact.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Photos are available for purchase in any of the usual three formats.  The silverwork shown today is all either sold or was made to order, but if it speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own. And, as always, sales are much needed, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Monday. *That* kind of Monday. Mini-goal: $3K; shares needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Well, at least now we won't be electrocuted in the shower. Allegedly. But it took all damn day just to get him here, after not showing yesterday, and then only because both Wings and José called him up and yelled at him. At this point, he's lucky it was them.

I am so done with this mess, and yet I can't be done until it's actually DONE, and so we'll be dealing with it a while longer. In the meantime, it's set everything back, and we're way behind on other stuff. Especially finances. The next thing has to be the flooring and other stuff for the upstairs, as much of it as they can finish off in conjunction with Ice doing the interior taping. The wiring mess hurt us in a really, really big way financially, and so what I had planned to have on hand for all of that is now allocated to labor. I've set a mini-goal of $3K for this next round.

Raising $3K will require consistent daily shares:

• Shares of our YouCaring page via the widgets provided, especially the widget code, which has once again been moved back to the purple box at the lower right-hand side of the page, that produces the image shown just below:

• Shares of Wings's site; sales also fund the construction (indeed, they are the baseline for it). Testimonials help.
• I've added Lowes gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. Those will really, really help with materials costs from this point forward. We need to keep the cash freed up for labor as much as possible, but we're going to have to buy a water heater, kitchen fixtures, flooring, and a host of other material items in the days and weeks to come, and this is the best place to do it. 

And before you share our links, please go share Laura's. Lin's spirit is where the water meets the light, but Laura will still need our help for a while. A fitting immediate legacy for Lin would have been funding her YouCaring effort fully by year's end, to provide Laura with the assurance of a safety net. There has been zero movement on it for at least a week, probably more. This is not acceptable to me; Lin's memory deserves better, and so does Laura, who has given so very, very much of herself in recent months for someone so many claimed to love. Please T/R/share/donate to her fund if you can. Especially that last. It's needed.

Also, there's another person many of y'all will know from the GOS who's gotten a terrible diagnosis. She needs help desperately. I'm told by a friend who's involved in her fundraising effort that there's a $100 match on offer, so that would be a good place to kick in some scratch right now, too.

Thanks, everyone.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Seeing

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

It’s a greeting.

Acknowledgment.

The seeing of a sister spirit.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Monday Photo Meditation: Time to Listen to the Moon

Photo copyright Wings, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a photo meditation for a Monday when the world seems dark, and here, at least, stormclouds cover the face of the moon. It's a reminder that our Grandmother is always with us, even if her face is not visible, and that she (like we, her granddaughters) has wisdom to share, and that now is a time to listen to the moon.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, photos are available for purchase in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. Also as always, sales are much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.