Standstill. Shares needed.

Too sick to think, to function in any normal kind of way. Just cut-and-paste, with one side note: We will probably have to cancel the crew's return next week. There isn't enough to pay their labor, much less to buy the materials they need for the interior plastering. We are, apparently, at a standstill, and I have no idea when (or even whether) we'll ever be able to get it finished and get out of this tin can that's killing us. 

Here's the usual:

• 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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.

The First Love Medicine

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]

Water was the first love medicine.

It will be the last, 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.

Red Willow Spirit: When It's Time

Photo copyright Wings, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the final February installment in our Red Willow Spirit series. Only two photos today, but ones that bespeak important lessons about life, love, and humility. Today, it's a message about control, and about recognizing that things happen when it's time.

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


*Note: I'm posting the bare minimum right now. I can't remember the last time I was this sick, and I'm not remotely functional. We're at a standstill on everything right now, not least of which will be the work on the house.


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.

Ruminations on death edition. Shares badly needed.

It's all cut and paste from last night. I literally cannot remember the last time I felt this hellish, the kind of pain where you start ruminating on the positive aspects of death. My autoimmune pain is ad enough; a 101-degree fever has turned into sheer torture, and I can't think, can't function. I dunno when I'll be back; not unless and until I shake this thing.

We need shares. I mean, I just can't seem to emphasize it enough, apparently. Takes two seconds. Two minutes if you add a sentence or two of endorsement. But we need them, and badly. Here's the cut-and-paste (sorry, no energy for anything else these days): 

• 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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.

Love Medicine of Another Sort

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]


And as he descends for the night, the wind dies and the snow arrives, and it is love medicine of another sort.


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: Love and Humility, Sacrifice and Flying Free

Photo copyright Wings, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a photo meditation for the last Monday in February, one that reminds us to look for love in acts of humility. It's a nod in the direction of the ancestors, and our peers, too, those forced into acts of great sacrifice to ensure our ability to fly free.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, Wings's 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, 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.

Proverbial dog edition. Shares desperately needed.

Well, this weekend has been a complete waste. I have accomplished nothing on the house; we're both sicker than the proverbial dog, and nothing I do will even begin to shake this croupy cough. I feel like absolute death, not even sure about the warmed-over part, and he's not feeling any better than I am.

Anyway. My laptop also barely functions; my e-mail doesn't work on it at all. There is something very wrong that I can't find, and we don't have a Mac repair person here in town, and I can't be without what little functionality it gives me anyway, certainly not for days to ship it off to someone I neither know nor trust with my data. So between that and my health issues, I'm going to be very not-at-all on top of everything for the foreseeable future. 

Not that it's going to matter much after next week if some things don't change soon. We can't go forward without the ability to buy materials and pay for labor. Period. Our health is severely compromised by this, entering our seventh year of living in this tin can, and I had so hoped that we would get out of it by summer, but I'm no longer sure that will happen. I let myself believe in it for a while, but I let myself believe in a lot of things that have since proved to be a mirage. This just hits a little closer to, well, home.

Yeah. It's bleak right now. And more dangerous winds and bitter cold on the way, this time allegedly with snow (tomorrow and Tuesday). 

We need shares. I mean, I just can't seem to emphasize it enough, apparently. Takes two seconds. Two minutes if you add a sentence or two of endorsement. But we need them, and badly. Here's the cut-and-paste (sorry, no energy for anything else these days): 

• 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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.

Indigo Fire

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]


And he sits there on the post, limned by setting sun, gold and red and blue all at once, indigo fire and molten ice, and he brings me

Love medicine.



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.

Love In the Message, Love In the Dance

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's another informal collection in miniature, a pair of complementary works that evoke the dancing spirits of warmer winds and the messages they bring. Taken together, they remind us to look for these beings' arrival, and to look for love in the message, love in the dance.

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.

Day of [relative] rest, otherwise known as a sick day. Shares badly needed.

Still no e-mail. This bug is still with us, too — both of us. Bad enough, in fact, that we decided against painting today. It's bitterly cold, the wind has blown at gale force nonstop for three days straight, and our resistance is at a low ebb physically, so better to make today a rare day of [relative] rest. Regular chores, yes; work on the house, no. We have a hugely busy week coming up, and we have to be able to deal with it.

We also have huge expenses coming up. I don't know how we're going to do this, absent drastic change. I am bullheaded, and I will keep plodding forward, but there are such things as immovable objects, and lack of funds is a one hell of a big and immovable one. 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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.

Promise

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]


The bluebird is here, and his indigo feathers hold the promise of spring.



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.

Love In the Vortex

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's another complementary pair of works, this time a necklace and earrings designed not to match precisely, but to work in unison nonetheless. Together, they serve as a reminder of how to withstand the force of the storm, by seeking love in the vortex to help us stand strong, to resist, to build a better world for our children.

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.

Priming almost done; return to color coats. Crew off until 6th, but shares desperately needed.

Welp, my e-mail is still hosed. I'm no longer sure how long this has been building, nor how much I've missed in the way of messages. I also have no idea how to fix it.

No time, either. The weather has been horrendous the last two days, 40-mph Arctic winds with plummeting temps that will hit single digits again tonight, with wind chills well below zero. This bug I've had since October is trying to get a foothold in my chest again, and I'm past tired of it. But there's never an end to the task list, and today was no exception.

The priming is mostly done, save for a few spots of edging on the west side, which Wings is planning on finishing tomorrow. Thank heaven for him, because he can handle the roller so much faster than I can, especially with the high ceilings. Today I began the second coat of color in the bathroom — sponged copper over a velvety charcoal gray. [Opalescent white will be the third coat.] Yes, I have photos. No, I can't show them to you right now. The insoluble e-mail mess is taking up all the space on my laptop, and I can't download anything at all. 

I don't know how we're going to finish, though. Had we had any kind of reasonable, believable, decent result on November 8th, both sales and donations would likely be on a relatively even keel, but given the reality of what we're facing . . . . I no longer have any confidence in it. We will keep plugging ahead as best we can, but without something changing drastically, we'll have to call a halt not all that long after the crew comes back to work the week of the 6th. We desperately need to make sales, and 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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.  

Assurance

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]


Their love medicine is confidence, assurance, the knowledge that we will survive, and thrive, and live to fly on warmer winds.




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: Love Is Honor and Respect

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a look at the fourth and final of the series of small paintings that we've highlighted this month. This week's feature is combines several spirits into a beautiful wintry expression of their love for us, one we are bound to return with honor and respect.

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.

Priming almost done; color next. Huge costs upcoming. Shares badly needed.

The priming is never going to end.

I exaggerate; we should be done with it tomorrow. Wings took care of the scary stairwell bits that my balance isn't sure enough to handle today; he's got roughly one wall in the spare bedroom to finish, and I've got edging to do in the stairwell, open area, and spare room. Then I can get to the second color coat in the bathroom while the primer dries.

I'm beat. It's been a horrible day, for too many reasons to recount, although I will just note the unpleasantness that accompanies a 20-degree drop in temperature AND 40-mph sustained winds. We had to set up a space heater halfway through, and I'm still chilled.

I'm also getting worried about our ability to finish the job. There's too much left to be done, starting with the downstairs lath work and plaster. The labor costs aren't going anywhere; there's no way around that. But the materials costs are skyrocketing now, because the flooring and other fixtures and cabinetry and so forth are each their own small fortune, plus there's that damned septic system that got pre-empted by the need to rip out the wiring and redo it. It's still not topped out, either.

We desperately need to make sales, and 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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.  

Afterglow; First Light

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]


Sun meets Moon in one last embrace before he sets off on his daily journey across the sky.


To him, it is afterglow; to us, first 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.

#ThrowbackThursday: The Love That Bridges Earth and Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2017; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, it's a trip back to 2009 or so, and a look at a work that links worlds. It's a small, spare, simple piece, but one that embodies the love that bridges earth and light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work sold years ago, of course, but if it speaks to you, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; he 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.

The sound of primer is screaming joints. Shares needed. Badly.

No, I have no photos; I couldn't download them even if I'd remembered to take them. I have no e-mail right now, either. The space issues on my laptop are going to make me lose my mind, if the other stressors around here don't do the job first. I'm at the stage of actively searching for a solid wall so I ca go bang my head against it. It would be as productive as anything else right now, and it might hold the added benefit of amnesia. Heaven knows there are things I'd like to be able to forget, even if only for an evening or so, right now.

At any rate, yes, priming proceeds apace, and no, I didn't even think to get photos, because I can't hear anything beyond the screaming of my joints right now. If I'm lucky, I'll get back to color tomorrow. For now, I have to come up with a way to gin up sales, given that Cree and vehicle issues wiped out everything we'd made via recent ones. I also need to find a way to jump-start donations, because it's about to get very expensive once again, and there's no hope of rest or sanity until the house is just done. 

So. Shares. We need them. 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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.  

The First Day of Spring

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]

Today is the first day of spring.

Oh, I know what the calendar says, but the calendar is wrong. In this place, the first day of spring is the day the first meadowlark appears.

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.

Love As the Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a collection in miniature, a pair of works especially well suited to this day when the light is at its most changeable. It's a reminder of powers that far exceed our own, and of their elemental expressions of affection for us and for our world, expressions of love as the light.

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.

More priming, interrupted by vehicle and technical difficulties. Shares badly needed.

It has been a day. Strike that; the last eight days have been just one damn thing after another. On the plus side, Wings and I spent the day priming the rest of the upstairs ceiling (with just a bit left to go). I started it, but he's a lot faster (and obviously, much stronger) than I am, so he took over rolling and I did the ladder work, hand-edging with the brush. Tomorrow, we'll work on priming the walls for all three rooms, and I may get to the second color coat in the bathroom (or not; the semi-gloss base takes a while to dry). No, I didn't even have time to get photos today of the changes, not that I could've uploaded them anyway; my laptop has crashed multiple times tonight, and my e-mail has been half-useless all month. All this technology, and it's barely functioning at all.

Meanwhile, we desperately need to make sales, and I do mean desperately. Three hundred out the door for vehicle repairs (the truck died, and we had to get a tow up to the mechanic yesterday), with more to come when a part gets in. Last week, of course, was also a hellish amount of unexpected expense, what with two horse vet visits in a day and John's backhoe services for Cree. The last week has been . . . difficult, for more reasons than I can explain here. And by "difficult," I mean marked by daily worry and fear and more tears than I can count, none of which had anything to do with the house. So we also 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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.  

Lovers' Dance

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]

They sit atop the fence, side by side in the late sunlight.

This is the start of the lovers’ dance, love medicine made form and flesh and act.

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 Return of the Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's this week's entry in our Red Willow Spirit series, with a look at the return of the light. It's also an exploration of what the light brings with it, the gift of the spirits in the form of an elemental love.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, his 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.

First color coat upstairs. More primer tomorrow. Shares much needed.

Still no pix; still can't get this issue fixed.  Maybe tomorrow.

I actually did have something to show tonight, too; I painted the base coat in the upstairs bath today, the first coat of color. Tomorrow, we're switching to priming the bedroom, to ensure that the semi-gloss charcoal color can dry thoroughly, and then Wednesday I'll begin on the second color coat, the so-called "faux finish." There'll be another color coat to come, but the paint had to be ordered; our local store is too small to keep it in stock (although they have an amazing array of regular shades).

Meanwhile, we desperately need to make sales, and we also 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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.  

Shadows On Hearts

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]

And the spirit horse, all spirit now, lives in the light, and she sends us the shadow in lieu of her touch.

That is her gift now, her love medicine: shadows on hearts.



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: The Love of the Light Spirits

Photo copyright Wings, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a photo meditation for a Monday when the light makes its return fully evident. It's also a reminder of the love of the light spirits, their for us and ours for them.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, Wings's 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.

Errands and exhaustion edition. Shares badly needed.

No painting today after all; just errands and exhaustion. For both of us. This past week was an absolute nightmare, for too many reasons to explain here. Losing Cree was only one small part of it.

As of today, we're reconstituting the crew. Wings fired the electrician last week; there will be another shake-up, too. The crew (two returnees) will be off until March 6th, so that we can regroup a little bit physically. The drain on us has been indescribable, and we've been paying for it health-wise. No more. But even with two weeks off, though, the expenses will continue to mount. I'll be back to painting (and possibly starting the priming of the bedroom) tomorrow, but we're going to need to buy flooring and the materials for the interior plastering downstairs very, very soon. We need to make sales, and 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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. 

Distant Blue

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]


They are the color of the sky behind the storm, the distant blue above the setting sun.



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.

The Bundle That Is Love

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the final three entries in Wings's newest collection, pieces symbolizing love turned to a life of commitment. Today's featured works also remind us that if we are to carry anything with us into the world beyond, we could do far worse than the bundle that is love.

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.

Primer and no pix edition. Shares needed.

I'm about to lose my mind.

I had photos to post tonight — before and after shots for the upstairs bath — but my laptop refuses to download them, and I cannot offload them anywhere else. How the fuck do professional photogs and image designers do he jobs with these things, anyway? It's been nothing but grief for well over a year, and now, it simply will not do anything, and I'm at my wits' end. No, don't anyone give me a bunch of tech steps that will supposedly work; my brain shut down somewhere around the first of the year when my pain levels jacked up, and I couldn't follow instructions if you paid me.

Anyway. Today was primer for the upstairs bath, and if my knees and hips and ankles and feet were screaming earlier, I don't know what the word is for it now, but it's that. Tomorrow will be the first base color coat; Monday, the second color (textured glaze). The third color for the last glaze coat was out of stock, so we have to wait on that, but I can start priming the bedroom in the meantime. I can't actually articulate the relief I feel at the prospect of a couple of weeks to do my thing without having the crew here. I'm so tired. [For those interested, the horses are adjusting better than expected, so that's one less thing we have to worry about right now.]

Even with two weeks off, though, the expenses will continue to mount, 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 above.
• 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. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool. We're going to have to take care of the flooring very, very soon.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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. 

Clouds and Ships

[Photo later. My laptop refuses to download it.]

Clouds and ships are asail on 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.

Love Is Red

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the third and fourth works from Wings's newest collection, the fourth in The Seventh Fire Series and one devoted to the gift of love. These two represent the courting stage, entwined with passion and fire in the blood, and are a reminder that, like the crowns of the birds who lend their songs to the love flutes, love is red.

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.

Hiatus back on. Shares very much needed.

It has been a very long time since I've felt this level of fatigue. The word seems so benign, but it's not. I'm not functional.

And it's been a frankly terrible week. We've gotten through what had to be handled, on several different fronts. And we've put the crew on hiatus for two weeks. It's not the cost, although that's a looming issue soon, too. Our health has to be prioritized, and right now, it's one thing too many among all the other pressures demanding our attention.

We did pick up primer and some of the paint today, so I can start that upstairs tomorrow. I'll be taking it slowly, working a little at a time over the next two weeks while the crew's off. We both need a chance to regroup and rebuild our energy levels.

In the meantime, I also have to try to find a way to gin up sales. Cree meant significant cost — the initial visit and meds, the subsequent return visit that night, the cost of excavation and interment for her yesterday — completely unexpectedly right now. And when the crew comes back, there'll be a lot more than labor to pay for: plaster materials for the downstairs; flooring for the upstairs. The former we'll have to buy locally, which means more cash outlay; the latter, from Lowe's, so the gift cards are immediately useful, right this moment. 

Links shares are immediately useful, too:

• 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 Lowe's gift cards to our Amazon wishlist. We're having to spring for lumber, lath, and plaster material locally. The rest of what makes it habitable — flooring, paint, appliances, etc. — are coming from Lowe's, which is giving us the best selection and price, and therefore best bang for our buck, but it's still a lot. A LOT. And so one of the best, most immediate ways to help at this point is with Lowe's gift cards. I have three separate denominations posted on the wishlist, but cards in any amount whatsoever are useful; they all go into the same pool.

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.

In the meantime, please also take a moment to share the links above.

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.