End-of-year sky.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

End-of-year sky.

On a day that insists there is no more than 1% chance of precipitation, they now say snow in the next half-hour, which is actually unlikely in the extreme. We can hope, but I don't see it happening.

All we can reasonably do is pin our hopes to the new year for some small improvement. Spirit knows we need it; there's been no respite from awfulness in every context all year long.

And no respite even now from the need to chase sales, either. It's been such a terrible year, in that regard but also in so many others, and there's . . . what? essentially one day left in which to make up this horrible sales deficit? We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we needed to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously, clearly, that's not going to happen. Which sets the stage for a terrible year next year, too, apart from all the global and political horrors it will necessarily involve. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

Normally, I would've been pre-paying taxes quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES last week [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

A New World, Waiting

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for new days and new worlds, new beginnings just visible on the dawn horizon of this last day of the calendar year. It's a pair of earrings wrought in an old traditional style, with simple but powerful freehand stampwork that embodies light, hope, and a new world, waiting . . . waiting for us to bring it into being now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. With half a week left in this last month of this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we still need to make consistent sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

Hard not to look forward to a fresh start of sorts.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Iridescence. Happens a lot this time of year, but usually with deeper cold; it's forty-five degrees here right now, which is twenty to thirty degrees too warm.

Less than two days.

Then we mark a new year, by the colonial calendar, anyway [we have other ways of reckoning that frankly make much more sense]. As I said elsewhere last night, I'm not usually in favor of trying to hurry time along, but this has been an unspeakably bad year, one that has snowballed into all kinds of terrible as the year draws to a close, not just on a personal level, but on a truly global one.

Hard not to look forward to a fresh start of sorts.

And no respite even now from the need to chase sales, either. It's been such a terrible year, in that regard but also in so many others, and there's . . . what? essentially one day left in which to make up this horrible sales deficit? We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we needed to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously, clearly, that's not going to happen. Which sets the stage for a terrible year next year, too, apart from all the global and political horrors it will necessarily involve. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

Normally, I would've been pre-paying taxes quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES last week [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

Medicine For the Winter Dark

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the little winter moons that light these long cold nights. It's a pair of earrings the glow with the ethereal beauty and power of softness, of a gentle healing glow, manifest as medicine for the winter dark.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. With half a week left in this last month of this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we still need to make consistent sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

No respite.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

At this elevation, in this environment? Aspen catkins should first begin — just begin — to open in late March to the first half of April.

Instead, they've been opening for five, six weeks already.

The planet is thrashing, trying to survive. Any reasonable society would try to halt her death throes, but we live in one led by the very merchants of death.

And they're going to kill us all if people don't step up and stand up to them.

This has been a terrible year, and it's ending on multiple even more terrible notes. And in the short, immediate term? None of that matters; there's no respite. No respite from death and destruction, no respite from climate collapse, no respite from taxes used against our will to fund colonial genocides. And no respite even now from the need to chase sales, either. It's been such a terrible year, in that regard but also in so many others, and there are . . . what? two days left in which to make up this horrible sales deficit? We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we'll need to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously, and since there are exactly two of those days left, we won't even come close to making it. Which sets the stage for a terrible year next year, too. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

Normally, I would've been pre-paying taxes quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES a few nights ago [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

Friday Feature: Prayer, Smoke, Light, Medicine

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of works not created to match, but that nevertheless seem now to belong together. It's a necklace and ring, set with stones that reflect and refract each other's power, an embodiment of prayer, smoke, light, medicine.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. With fewer than three days left in this last month of this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we still need to make consistent sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.   

Most of the snow is gone.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Despite the cold, most of the snow is gone, even from the peaks. Despite the clouds at the western horizon, there's supposed to no chance of anything this weekend now. It's another drought-ridden winter.

Meanwhile, the colonizers who have zero idea of what patterns should be here are spreading continual disinformation "reporting" for the local rag, referring to last winter's thaw as "massive" when in fact it was vastly below where it should've been. I'm so tired of this deadly nonsense, but that's who gets to set the narrative here now.

::Sigh:: just dropped my phone, because the RA is hell on my hands right now. And since the living room rug is gone [ruined by the flood event of Christmas Day], it landed on the tile, and of course the screen is now cracked in two places at one end. 

Merry humbug.

I don't think the tree will stay up as long this year. I think we just want to leave '23 behind.

But there's no respite even now from the need to chase sales, either. It's been such a terrible year, in that regard but also in so many others, and there are . . . what? three days in which to make up this horrible sales deficit? We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we'll need to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously, and since there are exactly three of those days left, we won't even come close to making it. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

Normally, I would've been pre-paying taxes quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES a few nights ago [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

#ThrowbackThursday: Alight With the Shades of Snowfire

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #ThrowbackThursday work that dates back only about six weeks, to a special commission from a client and friend, a holiday gift for a family member in one of the whimsical shapes of the season. It's one in Wings's longstanding series of holiday tree pins, this one unique in a couple of additional ways, set with the recipient's favorite colors and setting it alight with the shades of snowfire.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, this work will never be duplicated exactly, but if the style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own. And with three days left in this last month of this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we still need to make consistent sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.    

Entirely on-brand.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Not a cloud in the sky for the whole first half of the day.

Not much snow left, either.

It was warmer by a good ten or twelve degrees today, but the wind canceled most of that out. Supposed to be a warming trend over the days to come, but they also pushed back the predictions of the next snow from this Saturday and Sunday to next Thursday.

So it looks like this year will go out entirely on-brand: dry as the proverbial bone, and full of problems.

I'm not going to repeat all the stuff about the plumbing and the [now] slow-motion septic disaster we're dealing with; you can read all about that in yesterday's post. But my relaxing final week of the year has gone up in a puff of smoke, or, more accurately, washed away in a flood of standing water. And I've been forced to spend the last four days straight on my feet, entirely too much standing, walking, climbing, and the pain is murderous now. I've got to start researching wheelchairs again, although with taxes ahead and at least four figures' worth of septic misinstall to deal with in early '24, I have no idea how we can afford that. The short answer, of course, is that we can't [given the details a power chair would need to have to make it worth the purchase for me], and the inevitable result is that I will simply become ever more housebound.

Which at least has the virtue of keeping me from others' unmasked, infectious selves, given that I now have no immune system whatsoever.

But it all means that there's no respite even now from the need to chase sales, either. It's been such a terrible year, in that regard but also in so many others, and there are . . . what? half a week left in which to make up this horrible sales deficit? We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we'll need to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously, and since there are exactly four of those days left, I'm guessing we won't come anywhere close. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

Normally, I would've been pre-paying taxes quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES a few nights ago [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

The Last of the Storm Births an Extraordinary Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for deep winter days when the storm has long since departed, but the world still needs its medicine. It's a pendant wrought in al the shades of snowfire, a reminder of the seemingly contradictory nature of true elemental power, and the ways in which the last of the storm births an extraordinary light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. With half a week left in this last month of this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we still need to make consistent sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

First light.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

The full Little Spirit Moon, first light.

Today was Day 2 of the plumbing nonsense, and we are both exhausted, but there's ignoring that winter here? Moments of awe all around us.

The good news is that the septic guys were able to handle it temporarily. The not-so-good news is that the apparent problem means that we will have to check it every few days, and have them out to pump it every 2-4 weeks. For, you know, the next five months.

That's because of the bad news.

The bad news is that the problem appears to be between tank and leach field. It could mean an exploratory dig, finding a blocked pipe [from subsidence, etc.], and replacing it. Apparently far more likely it means re-digging the whole damn leach field. We'll be looking at at least four figures' worth of cost, maybe five, and this will be right after taxes are due, and I can't even think about it right now. The intermediate costs will be more than enough to contemplate.

Why five months? Because the ground is frozen. Not like other years, but not suitable for this kind of digging before April, maybe even May.

Anyway, it's fixed for the moment, and we know what to do in the short term. Expensive, yes, but far better than the last two mornings.

But my relaxing final week of the year has gone up in a puff of smoke, or, more accurately, washed away in a flood of standing water.

So there's no respite even now from the need to chase sales, either. It's been such a terrible year, in that regard but also in so many others, and there are . . . what? seven days left in which to make up this horrible sales deficit? We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we'll need to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously, and since there are exactly five of those days left, I'm guessing we won't come anywhere close. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

Normally, I would've been pre-paying taxes quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES a few nights ago [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

Red Willow Spirit: An Emergence of Magic

Photo copyright Wings, 2023;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for to brighten up these cold dark days when the commercial holiday is done and the snow has already departed. It's three older images linked to and by two new works of wearable art, all of them illustrative of winter's capacity for an emergence of magic, of wonder and awe and joy as medicine.

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 less than a week left in this last month of this fourth year  of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we still need to make consistent sales now, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.  

Moments of awe.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

What a day. And still time for some moments of awe.

The photo makes it look so big. It's actually very small [for which we were profoundly grateful earlier today] but the deck extends way beyond it, and that makes it seem large. I just love the light.

Especially after this morning. 

We got up a little after 6:30. Wings was the first one down the stairs, and he started yelling immediately. There was an inch of standing water all over the ground floor.

Everywhere.

The living room rug? Ruined. Countless towels? Ruined. The grandkids gifts, which circumstances these past two weeks kept us from getting organized and wrapped and shipped? Ruined. Everything on the floor of the pantry? Ruined.

It's been much colder here than it was last night; I left the taps dripping, too. But circumstances [probably, among other things, a cold north wind that we slept through] combined to freeze part of the septic line solid, and everything backed up into the house. My dominant wrist dislocated last night, so Wings did most of the heavy work of getting the flood out [turns out it had already receded a lot by the time we got up; wall plaster above the baseboards? ruined]. We had it mostly dry by shortly after noon; it took me another 3 hours or so to get it sanitized. A lot of stuff will have to be thrown out.

But through it all, we kept our tempers and our sense of unity and our love for each other, and that was a greater gift than anything. Also, we've since opened our gifts to each other this evening, and I made out like a bandit; Wings feels like he did, too. I just have to make the gravy, and we'll eat.

And then tomorrow, I have to get to work bringing in enough to cover whatever it takes to fix it all and replace what's damaged.

So there's no respite even now from the need to chase sales, either. It's been such a terrible year, in that regard but also in so many others, and there are . . . what? seven days left in which to make up this horrible sales [and Patreon] deficit? We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we'll need to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously. My Patreon for the month is still down ~$250 at the moment [that's how much it was short on the December 1st payout for subscriptions for the month of November, and so far, all of those still haven't been paid]. My guess is that those won't materialize later in the month; that will be the penalty [or one of them anyway] for taking a vocal stand about the genocide being perpetrated against Palestine and its people now. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

And aside from all of that, I also need to bring in at least $6K in sales between now and year's end to cover tax prepayments, and we haven't hit the $1K mark on that yet. Normally, I would've been paying them quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES a few nights ago [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

Monday Photo Meditation: Sacred Moments and an Ornamental Snow

Photo copyright Wings, 2023;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for a Christmas that seems anything but, and for moments of magic and medicine when one finds them. It's an image from eleven years ago nearly to the very day, and while this day shared perhaps relatively little in common with it superficially, it, too, was one of sacred moments and an ornamental snow . . . of renewed commitments to what peace and love require of us.

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 less than a week left in this last month of this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we still need to make consistent sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.   

Just a dusting.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It did not, in fact, get bitterly cold last night . . . because the rain that turned to snow got hit by a warm front that turned it all to fog. Just a dusting — that's all we got.

The deep freeze comes tonight, though.

It's a hectic day; all the things I've had to put off for other reasons this month now have to get done TODAY, and I'm so slow from the pain and the damage to my joints. Yes, the MTX [that's the chemo] is helping; there's no question about that. But "help" on one front can mean *harm* on another, and there's no longer any swelling to pad out the missing cartilage in my joints. Still. I'd rather have this than what I had before starting it, even if there is no respite from the pain at all.

Not that there's any respite from the need to chase sales, either. It's been such a terrible year, in that regard but also in so many others, and there are . . . what? seven days left in which to make up this horrible sales [and Patreon] deficit? We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we'll need to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously. My Patreon for the month is still down ~$250 at the moment [that's how much it was short on the December 1st payout for subscriptions for the month of November, and so far, all of those still haven't been paid]. My guess is that those won't materialize later in the month; that will be the penalty [or one of them anyway] for taking a vocal stand about the genocide being perpetrated against Palestine and its people now. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

And aside from all of that, I also need to bring in at least $6K in sales between now and year's end to cover tax prepayments, and we haven't hit the $1K mark on that yet. Normally, I would've been paying them quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES a few nights ago [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

Garlanded By Snow and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a pair of all-new works for the winter holiday season, perfect for what some traditions regard as the holiest night of the year. It's a pair of works from Wings's long-running signature series of evergreen trees, a bit like our own this morning, garlanded by snow and light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. With one week left in this last month of this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we still need to make consistent sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

It will be a bitter cold tonight.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

The freezing rain arrived in the dark hours of the morning. Now, it's more fog, hanging low and heavy over everything. It's also, at this moment, a rising wind and a falling mercury, and the snow is on the way. It will be a bitter cold tonight.

I can barely move after yesterday's episode with the farolitos. Of course, they're not staying in place because the bases are so cheaply made, so we're having to fix THAT. Not like I don't already have too many things to do. No progress on the tree yet, because nobody lets me have a minute to myself; there's always something more important than whatever work I'm doing, never mind the tree. I lost two full weeks of work this month [of the non-NDN Silver variety], and the more things that are getting dropped onto me right now, the more resentful I get, especially since it was all for nothing.

The freezing rain is back; Wings is up on the deck trying to nail/staple the frames into place. At least dinner [buffalo stew] is in the crock pot. There's a fire in each stove. Now maybe I can get some other stuff done before dark.

Not that there's any respite from the need to chase sales. It's been such a terrible year, in that regard but also in so many others, and there are . . . what? ten days left in which to make up this horrible sales [and Patreon] deficit? We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we'll need to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously. My Patreon for the month is still down ~$250 at the moment [that's how much it was short on the December 1st payout for subscriptions for the month of November, and so far, all of those still haven't been paid]. My guess is that those won't materialize later in the month; that will be the penalty [or one of them anyway] for taking a vocal stand about the genocide being perpetrated against Palestine and its people now. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

And aside from all of that, I also need to bring in at least $6K in sales between now and year's end to cover tax prepayments, and we haven't hit the $1K mark on that yet. Normally, I would've been paying them quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES a few nights ago [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

If Hope Is Light, Justice Is Fire

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work specific to the season, one rooted in the myth of a children's tale, but with a spirit of fire in the ice and lessons to impart. It's Rudolph as you've never seen him before, a tiny red-nosed reindeer here to remind us of a lesson too much of the world has forgotten, that if hope is light, justice is fire, and it is our obligation to nurture both every day in our hearts and spirits and actions.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. With fewer than ten days left in this last month of this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we still need to make consistent sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

Christmas flowers.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Christmas flowers. Wings brought these home for me a few days ago, when my pain levels were causing me such agony. Today, the red lily in the bunch began to open. He knows that lilies are my favorite, and he always tries to find me the bunch that has at least one in it. This one is beautiful, and it's perfect that it should open now.

For the second day in a row, my left knee is inexplicably better. On Wednesday, it felt as though my body was literally breaking apart around me; today, there's still extreme pain all over, but nothing like that. And there's been only one change since Wednesday night, which tells us something, at least.

Tree is up. Some of the lights are on, but the third strand was dead. Wings found the indoor/outdoor ones today, and they're airing out outside right now. I'll put the rest on this evening, probably, and then we can get the rest of the decorations up. Christmas for us is typically Christmas Eve to Epiphany [or beyond], because our work means that we have no time to experience it, never mind enjoy it, in the weeks leading up to the actual day.

Of course, even that doesn't give us a respite from current circumstances.  And given how terrible a year this has been sales-wise, through it all I still have to make sales, of course. We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we'll need to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously. My Patreon for the month is still down ~$250 at the moment [that's how much it was short on the December 1st payout for subscriptions for the month of November, and so far, all of those still haven't been paid]. My guess is that those won't materialize later in the month; that will be the penalty [or one of them anyway] for taking a vocal stand about the genocide being perpetrated against Palestine and its people now. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

And aside from all of that, I also need to bring in at least $6K in sales between now and year's end to cover tax prepayments, and we haven't hit the $1K mark on that yet. Normally, I would've been paying them quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES a few nights ago [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.                           

Friday Feature: All the Shades of Winter's Fiery Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2023;
all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a trio of works that were not all conceived to coordinate with each other, yet complement each other in powerful ways. It's necklace, earrings, and coil bracelet from Wings's signature gemstone-bead series, created in all the shades of winter's fiery light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. With fewer than ten days left in this last month of this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and facing enormous expenses in the middle of our worst sales year in a very long time, we still need to make consistent sales, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.        

Socked in.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

That was the extent of our visibility this morning, even with a zoom. We were socked in by fog all morning, and I do mean exactly that.

It started to dissipate in early afternoon, and of course, we had errands that could not be avoided . . . except that we wound up having to avoid three of them, because a car slamming into "a significant pole" in town force IKP to down electricity to everything south of Cid's. No power, no ability to process transactions, and there was no way we were sitting in that mess with no stoplights, either. So it'll all have to wait until next week, most likely.

Which is fine. I stood in line at the post office, and  then gimped my way around the grocery store, and that was more than enough. It also took far too much time out of my day for all the other thing that I needed to get don, but here we are. At least today was a bit better on the pain front [emphasis on "bit," and noting that it's all relative]. Wings and I decided that for now I should stop taking a traditional medicine I've been on for years, and it seems to have made a difference. There will be a point when I return to it, albeit a bit differently in dynamics. But circumstances require flexibility now.

Of course, the "made a difference" part is all very much relative, too, natch.  And given how terrible a year this has been sales-wise, through it all I still have to make sales, of course. We've had a half-dozen now since T-Day, but we'll need to sell a lot more between now and year's end, obviously. My Patreon for the month is still down ~$250 at the moment [that's how much it was short on the December 1st payout for subscriptions for the month of November, and so far, all of those still haven't been paid]. My guess is that those won't materialize later in the month; that will be the penalty [or one of them anyway] for taking a vocal stand about the genocide being perpetrated against Palestine and its people now. Of course, we haven't brought in anywhere nearly enough sales all year across the board, even before recent developments that require a moral stand of us. It's grim.

And aside from all of that, I also need to bring in at least $6K in sales between now and year's end to cover tax prepayments, and we haven't hit the $1K mark on that yet. Normally, I would've been paying them quarterly, but not this year; we haven't had enough sales to do that, and I'm behind on everything else, too, all while my illness worsens seemingly by the day. Until those prepayments are off my desk, I can't relax, can't do anything other than push to get them covered. I really need help. As always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are Wings's Flex-Tape, and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there will be much more in the days to come [EIGHT NEW PIECES a few nights ago [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays are already here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.