Ajijaakwe: October 2021

Sunday, October 31, 2021

It's finally here: Wings's newest set of gemstone bead jewelry.

I've been promising this for a few days now, and it's finally here: Wings's newest set of gemstone bead jewelry. The fourth and final grouping of this part of his newest collection, this is The Autumn Elementals: Water. As with the other three, it consists of three works, necklace, earrings, and coil bracelet, all clearly related in substance and spirit, but all capable of standing on their own and accordingly sold separately.

First up is the necklace:

Photo copyright Aji, 2021;
all rights reserved.

This is called A Hard Frost, emblematic of the fact that, with one or two rare exceptions, it's usually the only form of water we see in the fall here. You really do want to click through and see the photos of all three works, because they're incredible, but the focals on this one? Fabulously oversized freeform barrels of ultra-high-grade iolite, deep violet and midnight blues, translucent and webbed with icy marbling white. From there it's an upward gradient of frosty blues and whites and silver with fiery foliage shades and earthy browns and greens underpinning it all. You can read its full description here.

Next is the pair of earrings:

Photo copyright Aji, 2021;
all rights reserved.

These are called First Snow, and they're so simple and yet so amazing. I love the flat tops, like snow spreading over the land in a blanket, followed by a gradient of shade and size in orbs and rondels: rainbow moonstone, aquamarine and sterling silver; some of the most incredible kyanite you've ever seen; Dolomite and African jade. You can read their full description here.

And third and finally, but not remotely least, is the coil bracelet:

This one is perfect for this night, even if our weather this day has been only clouds, no rain. This is A Rain of Spirits, and it's a whirling mix of mysterious colors and materials, like the storm whispering through the eddying leaves at night. This one is a mix of gray and rainbow and fabulous black moonstone, kyanite in two shades, indigo and cobalt; blood-red Dolomite, icy aquamarine, and shimmering sterling silver as accents. You can read the full description here, and as with the other two works, be sure to click through and scroll through all the images.

As with the other three informal sets in this collection, they're priced a bit higher than the norm. That's a function purely of the materials used; all of these beads are imported, all ultra-high-grade specimens, all much higher even at cost than usual. These are extraordinary jewels, and worth every penny and more.

You can order any of these works (or all! they really do belong together as a set, even though they're sold individually), via the site's Contact form. Our full current inventory begins with Wings's main page here. And we URGENTLY need to make consistent sales to cover upcoming new medical costs and other expenses and make it through the rest of this terrible second pandemic-ridden year (one that has already been bitter indeed for our communities), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2021; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Everybody's hungry for something.

Wandering spirits, way the hell down where they don't belong. Of course, they just want to eat, in a grass-is-always-greener kind of way, but I guess that's true of most spirits out wandering right now. Everybody's hungry for something.

Right now, what I want is some downtime, uninterrupted, able to take it a little easy. Oh, and sleep; sleep would be nice. I'm unlikely to get much of either between now and the end of the year, partly because of the pace we keep due to Wings's work and the holidays, partly because of all the external stressors right now. And they are Legion.

We can't get the sales we need to order the supplies he has GOT to get this coming week if he's going to be able to do anything remotely related to holiday inventory. I've got to order cabs and beads for him, and that's hundreds of dollars we don't have. I also have to get my eye stuff handled, but I don't have a spare $1,400 lying around.

We need people to buy his work. Now. We don't make some steady sales VERY SOON? We don't make it through the end of this year, never mind the rest of the winter or '22. And I'm the one who has to carry the worry about all of this, every minute of every day. Our sales are already way, way down for the year because the colonial governments' pandemic mismanagement has trashed the economy. Also? Time is short, a lot shorter than you realize. For folks who are planning on Christmas shopping with us, you will need to order early this year, because thanks to DeJoy's damage, we can't guarantee shipping times.

Also, if you're planning on commissioning gifts for the holidays, DO IT NOW. Yes, I mean NOW. We're dealing with the same supply-chain issues as everyone else, and at some point soon, Wings is going to have to get silver and stones to produce holiday inventory, and I'm hearing that the price is already spiking on the metals. More to the point of what customers care about, we also can't guarantee shipping times this year, because see above. But I've posted a ton of Wings's new work lately, and there will be more in the days and weeks to come. If I could sell one of the big works, like one of the belts, maybe I could get us on the drill list for the well that is the only thing that's going to keep this land alive. But I've got way too much to do and too few hours and other resources to do it.

Anyway, I have GOT to make some sales, so links are here:

Sales here;

Testimonials here;

Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders, because see above, and coffee coffee coffee, which we're finding it harder and harder to get locally);

Patreon here;

Ko-fi here.

And if you've been contemplating a purchase? This would be a very, very good time to do it; I've got to cover all this staggering outlay somehow and get us through what's left of the year. And right now? I have no way to do it. But there's lots of fabulous new work, so please share all of the links.

Weaving History and Hope

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for October's end, and a reminder that even with the coming of winter, together we are strong enough to hold up a living sweetgrass sky. It's a cuff braided of silver and stone to remind us of our place within the hoop, and the taks ahead of weaving history and hope.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We URGENTLY need to make consistent sales to cover upcoming new medical costs and other expenses and make it through the rest of this terrible second pandemic-ridden year (one that has already been bitter indeed for our communities), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

Saturday, October 30, 2021

Feels like a metaphor somehow.

This week, hell, this whole month seems determined to stay trash to the bitter end. And that image feels like a metaphor somehow.

I cannot get a single uninterrupted hour to work on chasing sales. Wings can't get one to finish the pieces he has in the works. And we can't get the sales we need to order the supplies he has GOT to get this coming week if he's going to be able to do anything remotely related to holiday inventory. I've got to order cabs and beads for him, and that's hundreds of dollars we don't have. I also have to get my eye stuff handled, but I don't have a spare $1,400 lying around.

Anyway, I have GOT to make some sales, so links are here:

Sales here;

Testimonials here;

Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders, because see above, and coffee coffee coffee, which we're finding it harder and harder to get locally);

Patreon here;

Ko-fi here.

Weaving Strong Spaces With Spirits of Water and Sky

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the elemental forces and animating spirits of our world, one for when the water comes to weave its gifts with those of the land. It's a work, too, to remind us of the truth about where true strength lies, in weaving strong spaces with spirits of water and sky.

Friday, October 29, 2021

It's taking a while.

Making a wave stamp. It's an incredible amount of work to do by hand; there's none of the automatic calibration or symmetry that you get with commercially-made stamps punched out on an assembly line. And he's a perfectionist, so it's taking a while.

So is everything else, apparently. This has been an absolutely god-awful week, and we're both completely wrung out by it. Never enough hours in the day, never enough resources, never enough anything. I think he might ave the fourth of the autumn gemstone-bead series ready to drop later today (or if not, tomorrow), but then there's the next one, and that will require a massive, and massively expensive, order of high-grade beads that I can't swing right now. The costs keep mounting, but the pace of sales continues to drop, and I don't have any options now.

I need people to buy his work. We need it. We don't make some steady sales VERY SOON? We don't make it through the end of this year, never mind the rest of the winter or '22. And I have to carry the worry about all of this, every minute of every day.

So here we go again with the endless chasing of sales to make everything meet where it needs to. And I need to bring in those sales. Desperately. They're already way, way down for the year because the colonial governments' pandemic mismanagement has trashed the economy. Also? Time is short, a lot shorter than you realize. For folks who are planning on Christmas shopping with us, you will need to order early this year, because thanks to DeJoy's damage, we can't guarantee shipping times.

Also, if you're planning on commissioning gifts for the holidays, DO IT NOW. We're dealing with the same supply-chain issues as everyone else, and at some point soon, Wings is going to have to get silver and stones to produce holiday inventory, and I'm hearing that the price is already spiking on the metals. More to the point of what customers care about, we also can't guarantee shipping times this year, because see above. But I've posted a ton of Wings's new work lately, and there will be more in the days and weeks to come. If I could sell one of the big works, like one of the belts, maybe I could get us on the drill list for the well that is the only thing that's going to keep this land alive. But I've got way too much to do and too few hours and other resources to do it.

Anyway, I have GOT to make some sales, so links are here:

Sales here;

Testimonials here;

Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders, because see above, and coffee coffee coffee, which we're finding it harder and harder to get locally);

Patreon here;

Ko-fi here.

Friday Feature: The Web of Community, of Shelter and Medicine

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of works by a local master who has since walked on, an informal family in miniature who balance each other with experience and inquisitiveness side by side in a time of encroaching darkness. They serve, too, as a lesson to us regarding the need need to reweave and strengthen the web of community, of shelter and medicine, that these small but powerful spirits represent: that space and place and time where hope transforms into something tangible, into the truth of prophecy and survival.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We URGENTLY need to make consistent sales to cover upcoming new medical costs and other expenses and make it through the rest of this terrible second pandemic-ridden year (one that has already been bitter indeed for our communities), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Just no end.

Apparently there is just no end to the interruptions and disruptions and irritations and just general fuckery of this week.

I'm only now getting to today's posts because the day was spent yet again with having to go out there, meaning out among the colonial population that doesn't want to vax or mask or generally do the bare minimum humanity requires. One of those colonizers has a pissy OpEd in the local rag about what cowardly corporate sheeple we all are, while another has one about how her "conqueror" ancestors are the real Indigenous people here. I feel like shit because I can't hake the effects of this booster, I've had precious little sleep, too much stress, and no fucking idea how I'm going to keep things going to rest of the year, never mind protect my eyesight.

Meanwhile, Wings can barely get any studio time. That up there was yesterday, and he was back at it late today, working on creating more stamps. I, on the other hand, can't get any time for my own work, either, and this week's events have me at my choking point.

I'm tired. Of all of it. Of the constant physical pain and the fatigue and the balance issues and the side effects and and and. Of the avalanche of unmitigated bullshit we're expected to take every day on top of it. Of always having to worry, every minute of every day, about us, about others, about community members, about who's going to make it and who won't.

Anyway, I have GOT to make some sales, so links are here:

Sales here;

Testimonials here;

Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders, because see above, and coffee coffee coffee, which we're finding it harder and harder to get locally);

Patreon here;

Ko-fi here.

#TBT: A Web of Spirit and Memory

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT work from a little more than eight years ago that was sought as a commission and delivered as a gift for one of my dearest friends, almost five years walked on now. it's a work that reminds me of our own cosmologies, of past and present and future exist in a hoop braided together outside the bonds of death or time, woven in a web of spirit and memory and so much more.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work obviously will never be duplicated, but if the style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own. We URGENTLY need to make consistent sales to cover all of our expenses to come and make it through the rest of this still-terrible, still-pandemic-ridden year (one that, like last year, has already been bitter indeed for our communities), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

So that was fun.

After one, they said. It took them until 3:30 to get here, and I have no idea whether they’ll have it fixed today. Add to that that it’s bitterly cold, wind straight out of the north that cuts straight to the bone, and it had already been a day by 10:30 this morning for multiple reasons, and I’m ready to tear my hair out. And we’re on day three of no ability for me to do any of my work, because everything is online. [And as you can see, I wrote this before they got it fixed at the end of the day.]

Everything was frozen this morning, and it didn't get appreciably better all day (see north wind, above). Wings had to go dig out the chicken and dog water bowls with electrical elements, and install the element in the horses' water trough. It's night now, and the wind's still howling out there.

Wings had a follow-up with the dentist, an early-morning appointment, and those are hard on both of us given everything that needs to be done around here in the first hours of the day. Anyway, it won dup being much shorter than expected, because they had to make bite adjustments and that subsequently required taking new impressions for the next step, which will be . . . who knows? Oh, and the dentist informed us in an aside of the ::cough::mutter under your breath::cough:: variety that she was “over COVID.” So I grilled her, and she said it was “no big deal,” and I said, “but that’s because you’re vaccinated, right?” And she said “yes” (she’d told us months ago that she’d been vaccinated), but . . . diabetic elder having invasive procedures done in his mouth, and “over COVID ::shrug::.”

So that was fun.

Yeah, no, it wasn’t.

I'm mad as hell, and there's not a goddamned thing I can do about it.

Meanwhile, this is our busiest season of the year; the holiday sales season starts roughly October 1st. So what this will mean is that I’ll have been put even further behind, and the need for sales will be more urgent than ever. We're $300 of the way toward the firewood, which means we can order one load this week. I still need to raise another $500 to order the rest. And then I need to raise more than a grand (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,400 before it's all done) for my eye appointment, new lenses, new glasses, etc., etc. And that's getting increasingly urgent, because I'm not supposed to be on the lupus meds this long without getting them checked, even though I'm not having any symptoms. But I can't make the appointment until I know I can pay for all of it at once, and since it's out of town and the appointments themselves are expensive, I can't afford to break it up into two when I need both covered equally badly.

Anyway, I have GOT to make some sales, so links are here:

Sales here;

Testimonials here;

Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders, because see above, and coffee coffee coffee, which we're finding it harder and harder to get locally);

Patreon here;

Ko-fi here.

To Weave a Better World

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it’s a work for the historical spirits of place and the prophetic charges and challenges of our time. It’s a cuff that embodies the ancient work of weaving water and earth together and of the patience required of the process, to create a web not for unwary prey but for nurturing seeds, to weave a better world for the generations to come.

And it's only Tuesday.

[Note: Our Internet service has been out again for the last three days, courtesy of cable having been run incorrectly at the time of installation. During that time, I've kept up with the posts despite not being able to publish them, and I'll be posting all of the missing ones this evening. This is the post from this site from Tuesday, 10/26.]

Still no Internet, so who knows when this will actually post. In theory, we’re on the list after their regularly-scheduled service calls today, but they probably won’t get to us, which puts us on the scheduled list for tomorrow afternoon. Meanwhile, the whole week’s been trash, and it’s only Tuesday.

Wings had a doctor’s appointment yesterday, which was routine and went fine, but it was one more disruption to his schedule. Of course the whole damn day was a disruption thanks to the local telecom provider being hot garbage. It’s the same problem as last time, three short months ago: broken fiber-optic cables, because they were misinstalled without enough tensile leeway. Initially, they pretty clearly were going to blame it on the subcontractors who ran the cable from the pole to the box, but that won’t wash, because it was their own damn staff who connected it from the box to the house, and THAT’s where the problem is.

Also, weather. The storm clouds have been and are already going, but not before they kicked up one hell of wind-and-dirt-storm. [That's not snow in the photo; that's DIRT. The same dirt that had jut gone blasting across our land a second before, one of several walls of it.] Hundreds of tumbleweeds and walls of dirt blowing across our land and getting into everything, and exactly while we were trying to bundle the pups into the truck to take them for their annual shots. They’re a month late with them because it took two months to get them when I called to schedule it, so we couldn’t afford to reschedule. Fortunately this year they could have their 3-year ones instead of 1-year, so we won’t have to wage this particular battle again for a while. Which is good, because the back of the truck is a muddy mess, Sunny peed on the floorboards, they blew coats and dander everywhere, and I have a ripped fingernail and subluxed joints from wrangling the little beasts.

Now, tomorrow, Wings has an early appointment for the next stage in. His dental work, and then presumably the Internet crap in the afternoon (always assuring they don’t show up today, which I think is a pretty safe bet). Meanwhile, after four (for me) good days, the pain came back with a vengeance on Sunday, kept me awake most of last night, and shows no signs of slowing, and I am frustrated beyond description. I can’t even turn on the TV for background noise, never mind get my work done or make any sales, because everything’s Internet-based now.

Anyway, I have GOT to make some sales, so links are here:

Sales here;

Testimonials here;

Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders, because see above, and coffee coffee coffee, which we're finding it harder and harder to get locally);

Patreon here;

Ko-fi here.

Red Willow Spirit: The Web of the Birth of the World to Come

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it’s an edition of Red Willow Spirit for a week of revenant spirits, one marked this day by low clouds, stormy weather, and the ravages of a trickster wind. It’s a time, and a world, seemingly of bare bones and ghost webs now . . . but also one in which the weaving begins again: the web of the birth of the world to come.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, his photos are available in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. With the economy dead courtesy of more than a year's worth of uncontrolled pandemic, we URGENTLY need to make consistent sales to make it through this month and the rest of the year (one that has already been bitter indeed for our communities), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

Speaking of entitlement . . . .

Yes, that’s Butthead back in the chicken coop yesterday. Twice, in fact. Miika never bothers, but Miskwaki ambles in and out at will now. Layered crumble is apparently good. Then again, he’s never had a particularly discerning palate; if it’s food, he’ll eat it.

Whatever. Creatures once starved and abused are entitled to degree of extra comfort and happiness now.

Today has not had much of either for us, given that we came downstairs early this morning to find that we have no Internet. ::Sigh:: it’s the equipment they replaced three months ago, bad already. Indian Killer Telecom’s management is, as usual up to no good; there was a massive and inexplicable outage last week that just happened, strangely [not at all strangely] to coincide with Century Link’s outage, which tells me that they’re renting space/time from Century Link and piggybacking onto their lines. The CEO makes a fortune; meanwhile, the service we pay thousands for over the course of a year in order to maximize uptime for our work? Is crap. Speaking of entitlement, though . . . .

Meanwhile, this is our busiest season of the year; the holiday sales season starts roughly October 1st, and they’re going to try to tell me it will be three or four weeks before they can get someone out here to replace the part, and then we’re gonna go to war. We don’t have that kind of time. But that means that this will post . . . who TF knows? Some days from now, anyway. And you will see me when you see me, but you won’t know that now, obviously.

So what this will mean is that I’ll have been put even further behind, and the need for sales will be more urgent than ever. We're $300 of the way toward the firewood, which means we can order one load this week. I still need to raise another $500 to order the rest. And then I need to raise more than a grand (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,400 before it's all done) for my eye appointment, new lenses, new glasses, etc., etc. And that's getting increasingly urgent, because I'm not supposed to be on the lupus meds this long without getting them checked, even though I'm not having any symptoms. But I can't make the appointment until I know I can pay for all of it at once, and since it's out of town and the appointments themselves are expensive, I can't afford to break it up into two when I need both covered equally badly.

Anyway, I have GOT to make some sales, so links are here:

Sales here;

Testimonials here;

Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders, because see above, and coffee coffee coffee, which we're finding it harder and harder to get locally);

Patreon here;

Ko-fi here.

Monday Photo Meditation: Hoops Woven of Magic and Light

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it’s a photo meditation for a Monday at the start of a week when revenants return and spirits walk. It’s a reminder to us, too, that not even creature associated with this season means us ill, and that some, like this one, actually leave gifts behind: hoops woven of magic and light.

Sunday, October 24, 2021

Vulnerable.

That was yesterday morning. Probably someone burning trash or leaves, but not a smart thing to do with the fall winds that have been kicking up here, and way, way too close to use for comfort. Fortunately, apparently someone put an end to it very rapidly.

But it was a reminder of how much more vulnerable we are now, courtesy of the ravages of colonialism-created climate change (and it IS colonialism that has driven and still drives it, not us).

We've managed to raise enough to cover the giant hay bales and the chainsaw, so while Wings is working to save whatever trees he can this winter, I don't have to worry about the blade getting stuck and spitting back, which, with his small one, is a what will happen on those large trunks. We're $300 of the way toward the firewood, which means we can order one load this week. I still need to raise another $500 to order the rest. And then I need to raise more than a grand (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,400 before it's all done) for my eye appointment, new lenses, new glasses, etc., etc. And that's getting increasingly urgent, because I'm not supposed to be on the lupus meds this long without getting them checked, even though I'm not having any symptoms. But I can't make the appointment until I know I can pay for all of it at once, and since it's out of town and the appointments themselves are expensive, I can't afford to break it up into two when I need both covered equally badly.

Anyway, I have GOT to make some sales, so links are here:

Sales here;

Testimonials here;

Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders, because see above, and coffee coffee coffee, which we're finding it harder and harder to get locally);

Patreon here;

Ko-fi here.

Migratory Paths of the Spirit

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's one of Wings's newest masterworks, one manifest as a being in her final days with us for another year, but whose spirit and gifts remain year-round. It's Butterfly as you've never seen her, showing us how to be vulnerable yet strong, adaptable yet resilient, as we navigate the long road ahead by forging new migratory paths of the spirit.

Saturday, October 23, 2021

No end to the work. No end to the costs, either.

One of yesterday's many tasks.

The buffalo roast we were given last month was cut in such a way as not to be especially great for eating in that form; way too much gristle all through it. So Wings unwrapped it, cut it apart, and sliced and seasoned it into jerky. We have two of those trays of it drying now; it'll be ready for him to eat in a few weeks. Most years he keeps a supply of it, buffalo and/or elk jerky, out in the studio for quick energy when he's working.

And there's no end to the work. No end to the costs, either. He came home from the hardware/feed store yesterday to let me know that the guy we buy our winter hay from now had finally gotten some good-quality stuff in, and that the store also had a high-quality chainsaw on sale (which he needs for all the dead-tree work around here now, his smaller one not being up to the task of giant trunks). We calculated the $700 would cover the two giant bales of hay and the chainsaw, and we've raised $600 of that. Unfortunately, he also ran into one of friends yesterday who has piñon firewood for a good price, and we're already into cold temperatures; we'll need to load up on a lot more than what we've got. Which means in addition to raising the final $100 for the chainsaw, I need to come up with about $800 for firewood. Which I could probably do in two parts, say, $400 now and another $400 worth in a week or two, but still. And having just paid the last of our October bills yesterday, there's nothing left, so here we go again with the endless chasing of sales to make everything meet where it needs to. For folks who are planning on Christmas shopping with us, you will need to order early this year, because thanks to DeJoy's damage, we can't guarantee shipping times.

Also, if you're planning on commissioning gifts for the holidays, DO IT NOW. We're also dealing with the same supply-chain issues as everyone else, and at some point soon, Wings is going to have to get silver and stones to produce holiday inventory, and I'm hearing that the price is already spiking on the metals. More to the point of what customers care about, we also can't guarantee shipping times this year, because see above. But I've posted a ton of Wings's new work lately, and there will be more in the days and weeks to come. If I could sell one of the big works, like one of the belts, maybe I could get us on the drill list for the well that is the only thing that's going to keep this land alive. But I've got way too much to do and too few hours and other resources to do it.

Anyway, I have GOT to make some sales, so links are here:

Sales here;

Testimonials here;

Amazon wishlist here (priorities are first and foremost, the ladders, because see above, and coffee coffee coffee, which we're finding it harder and harder to get locally);

Patreon here;

Ko-fi here.