It's looking like a winter without, well, winter.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

The last day of the December, last day. of the calendar year, and the snow is essentially gone. Oh, there are still some patchy areas, up near the peaks and ridgelines. But everything else? Gone.

The piñon jays are still here, obviously [one of whom is photobombing the shot on the upper right]. They're suddenly saying showers tomorrow morning, but I'll be very surprised, unless things change drastically over the next few hours. They're also saying snow showers on Friday, but again, we'll see. 

It's looking like a winter without, well, winter.

It's been, frankly, a terrible year. Second in a row, and all I can do is pray that 2026 is better, because I can't do a third that's this bad. My health isn't good enough anymore. I'm still so far behind from everything on this year, and there's still all the sales stress. We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment cleared, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here in under four days {!] [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to get his latest up yet tonight. Yeah, I know, I shouldn't being pushing myself, either, given the precarious state of my health now, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're very literally hours away from being out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the thermos [for me, because I always have water with me, no matter what, and the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to end this year on at least a slightly better note.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.            

Ending the Year With the Sun's Blessing

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork manifest in all the shades of the sun, a necklace wrought to honor the light from dawn to storm to dusk and everything in between. It's an object lesson, too, wrought in silver and stone, one to remind us, as we are ending the year with the sun's blessing, that we should make sure we are worthy of the same as we begin a new one tomorrow.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is truly it: only a few hours left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales today just to come anywhere near breaking even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.       

2025 is clearly determined to end entirely on-brand.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Three of the piñon jay horde, wondering why the hell I haven't got my ass down there to get the ice out of the birdbath.

And they are a horde; we have about a hundred of them here this year. Literally. I always lose count somewhere around fifty or sixty, but it's clear from the sheer numbers of them that it's got to be at least 100 or so. We've also got more scrub jays than we've ever had, including fledglings, which is a first. The latter are not as numerous as their cousins, but there are still a lot of them.

And they're all eating us out of house and home. I mean that fairly literally, too. We should buy stock in birdseed companies, except I know they've all been vacuumed up by multinationals that have nothing to do with feeding animals, except to the extent they profit from it this way.

Penultimate day of the calendar year, and 2025 is clearly determined to end entirely on-brand. It has been a fucking DAY, and I am beyond beat. To much time on my feet, too much time standing in line and walking on hard surfaces, too much lifting and carrying and other nonsense, and my pain levels are completely out of control. Nothing works. And that's the way it will be until I can recover a little from the last three months, because that;s what this disease does.

But there's still all the sales stress. We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment cleared, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here in under four days {!] [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to get his latest up yet tonight. Yeah, I know, I shouldn't being pushing myself, either, given the precarious state of my health now, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're very literally almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the thermos [for me, because I always have water with me, no matter what, and the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to end this year on at least a slightly better note.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.            

Red Willow Spirit: A Cold Ceremonial Bonfire

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for the rites of winter, for transitions and passages, for moments of healing and the work of medicine. It's three images linked by two of Wings's newest works of wearable art, all of them perfect for this particular week, and for the work of sun and snow together, conspiring to create a cold ceremonial bonfire for us all.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: essentially one day left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.             

Not enough of it.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Clear and cold, literally not a cloud in the sky today. Spoon Mountain is still capped with snow, but if you're here on the ground, you can see where the tundra is beginning to show through on the southerly-facing ridge/slope. The snow line is higher across the board than yesterday, too; despite last night's genuine cold, there's not enough of it to withstand the sun.

Which is depressing, to say the least. Tonight is supposed to be colder than last night, but tomorrow is supposed to get up into the fifties again, and that's deadly. Our highs now should be no more than 20; by New Year's, we should have three feet of snow on the ground, lows of -20 [actual temp], and highs not much, if any at all, above zero.

It seems that those days are gone entirely, at least for our lifetimes. In under a decade.

So all we can do is be grateful for what we do get, and do our part to turn this little space, at least, into something that can survive and be renewed for generations to come. Certainly nobody in authority or control has  any interest in it. Then again, no one in authority or control has any interest in actually helping peple, preserving rights, or stopping genocides, either.

Which is why it's all up to us, all of us, individually and collectively. Not the faux-recycling nonsense; no, the ACTUAL work of keeping folks alive and safe and denying these monsters any success.

And we need it as much as anyone after this year, which has really done us some damage, and not just financially. A few more days of "holiday" season, and then it's back to the regular grind, but we're going to try to take it relatively easy until then [which means all our regular daily work, but not killing ourselves over all the other stuff]. The work, though? The work never ends. I've spent much of the day today on trying to keep folks gong, one way or another, so my own work is happening at night yet again, and it's likely to be a long night as a result.

And there's still all the sales stress. We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment cleared, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here in under four days {!] [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to get his two latest up. Yeah, I know, I shouldn't being pushing myself, either, given the precarious state of my health now, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're very literally almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the thermos [for me, because I always have water with me, no matter what, and the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to end this year on at least a slightly better note.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.            

Monday Photo Meditation: The Light of a Permanent Solstice

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for winter's reckoning of new years, and new worlds. It's also a contemplation of dark times and the ways in which the light returns, reminding us that out task and obligation is to create, and to become, the light of a permanent solstice now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: fewer than three days left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.           

Hope is a stupid, stubborn thing.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; al rights reserved.

Welp. Today showed us very clearly where the snow line is now. Not even a third of the way down the mountains.

At this point, I guess we should just be grateful there's a snow line at all.

We had a light frost this morning, but no snow. The forecasts are always, always wrong these days. I'm not convinced we'll see anything more at all, in any real way. We do have moderate cold, though; supposed to. hit single digits here tonight and tomorrow night, with tomorrow night colder than tonight. 

But hope is a stupid, stubborn thing.

And we need it after this year, which has really done us some damage, and not just financially. A few more days of "holiday" season, and then it's back to the regular grind, but we're going to try to take it relatively easy until then [which means all our regular daily work, but not killing ourselves over all the other stuff]. The work, though? The work never ends.

And there's still all the sales stress. We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment cleared, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here in under four days {!] [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to get his two latest up. Yeah, I know, I shouldn't being pushing myself, either, given the precarious state of my health now, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're very literally almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the thermos [for me, because I always have water with me, no matter what, and the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to end this year on at least a slightly better note.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.            

A Winter's Prayer For the Light's Return

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an all-new work by Wings, completed only yesterday, and both beautifully seasonal and an instant personal favorite. It's a pair of earrings in his new informal series of multi-stone drops with scalloped sterling silver embrasures, this pair a perfect embodiment of a winter's prayer for the light's return.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: three days left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.       

The work never ends.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Finally, some rain. No snow; not cold enough. But it should be snow on the peaks, and if this actually continues into evening, maybe the mercury will fall enough to turn it into a dusting.

Whatever; it's beautiful, and we're grateful for it.

Slow start today. We were up early; we're just both too exhausted to move very fast right now. This year has really done us some damage, and not just financially. A few more days of "holiday" season, and then it's back to the regular grind, but we're going to try to take it relatively easy until then [which means all our regular daily work, but not killing ourselves over all the other stuff]. The work, though? The work never ends.

And there's still all the sales stress. We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment cleared, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here in under four days {!] [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to get his two latest up. Yeah, I know, I shouldn't being pushing myself, either, given the precarious state of my health now, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're very literally almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to end this year on at least a slightly better note.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.            

All the Shades of the Winter Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a quartet of works of pure light, four pairs of traditional concha earrings inscribed with freehand stampwork and set with beautifully glowing gemstones. Each pair is set with a different kind of jewel, from full sun to palest dawn to sunset fire to the storm's own glow, all the shades of the winter light brought together in four classic and powerful pairs.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: fewer than four days left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.       

All about the exhaustion.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It looked like a dusting of snow this morning, but it was actually just our heaviest frost this year. A little new snow on the peaks, though, which is valuable, if nowhere near enough.  You shouldn't be able to see the earth through the snow up there.

Today was all about the exhaustion.

We run on adrenaline for three months straight, so the first day that doesn't involve that to as significant a degree? Yeah. I'm sicker than the proverbial dog besides, but it's nothing microbial, just the usual autoimmune crap when the flare is off the charts, which it is. And there work is still there, and we both had plenty of it to do today.

And there's still all the sales stress. We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment cleared, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here before we know it [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to pull another late night to get five of them up yet. yeah, I know, I shouldn't, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.            

Friday Feature: Winter Messengers of Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with an all-new matched set, necklace and earrings in the form and shape of dancers of light. It's a set completed only within the last week or so, small fragile spirits of summer become powerful winter messengers of light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: less than one week left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.       

A good day.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

That was early this morning, shortly after midnight — what I was given to understand, as a child, to be the holiest hour of the most sacred night.

It felt like an accomplishment, because I did it all yesterday, all before dark. It's just the trappings, but they're beautiful, powerful trappings, ones that hold all the magic of memory, and of hope.

The hope is for a world that actually prizes peace and generosity, that finds success in helping, in giving, in creating a world where everyone can thrive, and no one goes hungry, unhoused, or without the other necessities of a decent life.

Instead, we're spiraling into the exact opposite of that, which is what makes the work on the ground by ordinary people so much more important now. 

But there's time enough for that before year's end, and in the new year. Today, we took it easy, in the sense that the pace and focus were very different. It probably wouldn't have looked "easy" to anyone watching, but compared to recent weeks, it was much more relaxed, at least. And it was a good day.

But there's still all the sales stress. We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment cleared, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here before we know it [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to pull another late night to get five of them up yet. yeah, I know, I shouldn't, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.           

#ThrowbackThursday: Winter's Sacred Medicines of Snow and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all right s reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #ThrowbackThursday work that dates back just over a month, to a very special multi-work commission by a dear friend. This is one of four that that group comprised, and this one seems to embody the beauty, and the power, of winter's sacred medicines of snow and light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work will never be duplicated exactly, but if the general style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own.  This is it: less than a week left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.         

Did it.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Did it. All of it. Got the tree decorated; got gifts wrapped; got everything ready for tomorrow, all essentially in one day. At right center is one of my own hand-made ornaments, beadwork from a half-dozen years ago. Beadwork takes me a lot longer these days, thanks to the damage to my hands from the RA.

But tonight, we're [mostly] taking it easy, and plan to do the same tomorrow. It's been a very, very hard year, by any and every measure, and this particular holiday season, business-wise, has been especially difficult. We'll still be working every day, but it's a relief to have the pressure of this pace off us now.

Even if we didn't have anywhere near the sales season that we needed.

But there's still all the sales stress. We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment cleared, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here before we know it [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to pull another late night to get five of them up yet. yeah, I know, I shouldn't, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.           

On a Sacred Night, By the Moon's Cold Light

Photo copyright Aji, @025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the cold season, for the deep dark hours of winter, and for the magic that is part of it. It's a cuff wrought in an old traditional vintage style, an embodiment of the gift we are granted now: on a sacred night, by the moon's cold light, a gift of comfort, of power, and of medicine.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: one week left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.       

Except by swearing.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

More from the studio, with the vanishingly small amount of time he got in there today. He was going nonstop until almost 3 PM, but it was all outdoor work. Part of it is this terrible weather [and if I hear one more person describe it as "beautiful," I'm going to scream]. Everything is deadly dry; it's a tinderbox. We should have three feet of snow on the ground by now, and more falling from the sky daily. Then, come the new year, we should get the deep freeze, until the next winter storm a week or so later.

Instead, it's fucking April. The catkins emerged this morning on the aspens on the north side of the house. That shouldn't happen until April; in a bad year, the last week of March. Except they're ALL bad years now, and worse than we could ever have imagined.

Yeah, bah! humbug. I have no holiday spirit. None. It's impossible when it's 50 degrees too warm [not 20, not 30; FIFTY], and when I can get nothing done for us because this has been a second year of ungodly expensive hell, and we have no practical help on the physical stuff that I cannot do anymore. My pain levels are indescribable these days.

Well, except by swearing.

And then there's all the sales stress. We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment cleared, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here before we know it [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to pull another late night to get five of them up yet. yeah, I know, I shouldn't, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.           

Red Willow Spirit: In the Cold Light of Winter

Photo copyright Wings, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for this post-solstice light, for the snow that doesn't come and the storm that cannot midwife itself into being. It's a contemplation of where our small world finds itself in these waning days of the calendar, and a reminder that in the cold light of winter, we have no alternative but to look for hope.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: just over a week left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.             

Finally up.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's finally up. Not decorated; that will come tomorrow. But I manhandled it [girlhandled it?] into the house and into the stand this evening.

Now, if only someone would come and put up our electric farolitos on the deck. I learned the hard way last year that I can't do it anymore. I certainly couldn't do it this year. And I miss them terribly at this time of year, but there's nothing I can do about it, absent a volunteer.

This day has had us both going absolutely nonstop [and I still am; dinner's cooking, and I've got ALL my usual work to get done tonight, because today was taken over with everything else]. Most of today was heavy labor, too; there's literally only one place in the house where the tree can go, which means rearranging the entire living room to make it happen, and that's what I spent the day on. That and packing an order and boxing up a bunch of stuff, and I'm not going to be able to move tomorrow, because every joint system in my body will be on strike.

But there's no time; there's SO MUCH I have yet to get done tomorrow.

And then there's all the sales stress. We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment cleared, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here before we know it [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to pull another late night to get five of them up yet. yeah, I know, I shouldn't, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.           

Monday Photo Meditation: Spirits That Grow In the Winter Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for a week of multiple wintry markers, for the return of the light, one of the holiest of nights, and the biggest celebration of them all. It's an image from just shy of thirteen years ago exactly, of a subject that no longer exists in the same form, and a contemplation of the power and strength of spirits that grow in the winter light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: just over a week left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.           

Return of the light, indeed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

This year's winter solstice ain't playin'. The dawn sky was flawlessly clear, not a mark anywhere on it save the last fading stars; return of the light, indeed. By 8 AM or so, that had all changed, but those aren't clouds. Oh, no, every single mark, line, puff in the sky now is from the crisscrossing contrails, diffusing in the cold upper atmosphere.

And sucking every drop of water out of it in the process.

The chemtrail nonsense is just that — nonsense. But contrails do actually deepen an existing drought.

And it's much too warm; I've been outside without a jacket multiple times now. It's depressing, and it's dangerous, and it's hard to get into any kind of holiday spirit with the way the land looks now.

I'm so far behind on everything to do wit it [and everything else, too]. And yesterday as apparently the last straw for my body to be able to cope; I'm in full crash now, and feel absolutely terrible, and I'm guessing that won't change for weeks now, because I've had to push everything too far. Right now, we're just looking forward to the holiday, because it means we finally get a little time to relax just a little bit.

Now, if only I had someone to put up our electric farolitos on the deck, because I learned the hard way last year that I can't do it anymore. I certainly couldn't do it this year. And I miss them, but there's nothing I can do about it, absent a volunteer.

We were blessed with a really good sale last week, so the pressure to cover immediate things would have been off in a few days when the payment clears, were it not for the thieves that shoved our account into negatives. But even aside from that bullshit, there's still all the rest, all the stuff we couldn't cover all year because of one catastrophe after another, the taxes that still need to be prepaid, all the January bills that will be here before we know it [which include truck insurance and a whole bunch of business-related expenses that come due once a year, but total well into four figures]. So we still need to make the equivalent of a sale a day now, on average. And he has so much new work!  I'm hoping to pull another late night to get five of them up yet. yeah, I know, I shouldn't, but it has to be done, because the last two years have all but killed us financially, and we're almost out of year. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [somebody got the vacuum! which makes priorities now the thermos and the rugs];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need this to be a better month than what we've had so far this year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.           

In the Light's Return, a World Reborn

Photo copyright Aji Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's one of Wings's newest works, perfect for this first "official" day of winter and a reminder that our world is of solstice light reborn. It's a truly extraordinary pendant, formed of suns and moons and a cosmic spiral of stars, an embodiment of the gift the universe offers us on this day: in the light's return, a world reborn.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. This is it: fewer than two weeks left in the year to catch up. The last two years have been nightmares of catastrophic repairs and other astronomical costs, and the damage has been incalculable. We now need to bring in multiple sales virtually daily just to break even on the year.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.