Elk tracks.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Last night, Wings said, "I think our family might come to visit tonight." He meant the elk, and he was right. All those long, thin lines of tracks, look like runner tracks? Those are what elk tracks look like in the snow.

Actually, they were here by 11 PM, because the dogs asked to go out, and just as I opened the door I realized, too late, why — they both took off like a shot. So I grabbed the flashlight and turned it on the east field, and the beam picked up a pair of glowing golden eyes staring right at me. I do what I always do, greet them in the old language, tell them they're welcome here and to stay off the highway, and the dogs came back and the elk went on with whatever forage they were finding under the snow. An hour later, though, they were gone; I could hear some big engine rumbling constantly from somewhere, and that likely scared them off back upslope.

Yesterday was a hard day, between the weather and the medical stuff and getting home late and having to navigate a foot and a half of accumulation during evening chores, but at least all that's in the rear-view. We've both done some shoveling today, Wings much more than I, obviously, but most of what absolutely has to be done is done. And hopefully, I can spend the weekend getting caught up on a few things, because I'm certainly way behind now. Among other things, I need to get that new cuff posted; it's been done for about three days, and I just have had zero time for anything of that nature.

Which is not good, because I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only one so far in this new year. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I won't survive another awful year like last year. Every day I wake up to pain that was worse than the day before. I also wonder what will happen to us if it gets so bad that I can't even do this much every day. Lately, that day is seeming like it's maybe not so far off now, and that scares the hell out of me.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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: We Welcome the Blues of Winter

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a single old-style masterwork shown from four different perspectives. It's a traditional collar-style necklace with five separate pendants in one graceful, striking whole, all them combining to reflect the truth that we welcome the blues of winter, and the medicine they bring.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.       

#TBT: The Atmospheric Blues of the Storm

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT featured work that dates back seven months almost exactly, one of a group of five works commissioned by a dear friend. It's a hair cuff wrought using multiple traditional techniques and set with an extraordinary cabochon of royal lapis, in a design that embodies the atmospheric blues of the storm. 

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. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.       

Out of order again.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Yes, we got snow! Real snow. But combined with other things, it's made for a very busy and very late day for us, so everything's going to appear out of order again tonight. I'll get the easy[ish] things posted first, and the NDN Silver post [and its various threads] will be last.

We had our follow-up appointments today, which is to say, our initial appointments, because today was our first visit with the new practitioner since our doctor took over the administrative side of the practice for the year [and thus is not seeing patients]. She's our doctor's P.A., and she's wonderful, and everything went well and our appointment cycles are now back on schedule. Wings's numbers were also great, so that's always a good thing.

But occurring as it did in the middle of a day with this kind of weather, it's set my own work way back. They had predicted eight inches for our area, but we had that before dawn and then some . . . and it was still snowing. In fact, it was still snowing at 1:00 this afternoon; I don't think it actually quit out here where we are [above a couple of snow lines between us and town] until just before we got home, which I think was around 2:30. I know one area I measured this evening [after plenty of melting had already occurred] was 14", so I think we must have gotten around 16-18" total? Best snow in years.

Too bad it'll all be gone by the weekend. Yup. Supposed to hit 44 tomorrow, 56 by Monday, and I expect that almost all of this will be gone by sometime Saturday. Which means that everything will be MUD.

But it's better than these drought-driven dust storms we've been getting.

It's also a lot of work. You can see him up there plowing the gate area [which was buried under two feet of the stuff when we got home, courtesy of the snowplows on the highway]. both this morning and this evening required me to do some of the heavy labor that my body doesn't handle well anymore [sweeping snow, hauling firewood in this stuff, etc., etc.] and I am absolutely beat. Several subluxes to my hands and wrists later, it'll be a miracle if I get through all of the writing work I still have to do tonight.

But it has to be done, because I have GOT to make some sales, since we've had only one so far in this new year. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I won't survive another awful year like last year. Every day I wake up to pain that was worse than the day before. I also wonder what will happen to us if it gets so bad that I can't even do this much every day. Lately, that day is seeming like it's maybe not so far off now, and that scares the hell out of me.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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.                                                 

Actual snow.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Earlier and elsewhere this afternoon I used the phrase "roiling sky," and that up there? That is it, the very definition of the phrase. This morning it was all sky blue with bands of white fog around the horizon, then the stormy gray, and now? Now, actual snow is falling outside. And collecting. They said eight inches, and I still very much doubt we'll get anywhere near that, but if we have ground cover? That will be a very, very good thing right now.

One bright spot in an otherwise mostly terrible week.

I don't feel as flatly ill as I did yesterday, but I don't feel much better, either. We've both got medical bills, the cash out of pocket kind, coming up at the end of the week, but they're not the kind that will make any difference to my pain levels. I think there's probably nothing that will do that, short of being drugged into oblivion, and that's not possible for a whole host of reasons. But with everything else in the world being such unrelieved horror, I could do without the disease progression now. Yeah, I know; the Stones said it over half a century ago.

But there's an existential horror to each day now, the knowledge that the planet is being killed around us, that all manner of evil is being done at ever greater levels in our names and with our tax dollars, and the hopelessness of doing anything about any of it when our so-called leadership is so cowardly and venal. Right now, I also have to worry about us, medical and dental and other fronts, and most of all right now, about lack of sales, since we've had only one so far in this new year. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. I won't survive another awful year like last year. Every day I wake up to pain that was worse than the day before. I also wonder what will happen to us if it gets so bad that I can't even do this much every day. Lately, that day is seeming like it's maybe not so far off now, and that scares the hell out of me.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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 Blues of Winter Storm and Shadow

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved,

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork for the cold season, and for what we once could rely on as an elemental truth, that from the clouds, the rain [or snow] will fall. It's an extraordinary necklace wrought in an old traditional style and set with gems that are the Earth's own phenomenal artistry, all of the perfect for this that has brought us the blues of winter storm and shadow, in the company of real snow.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.       

It's been a terrible day.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Yeah, beautiful "clouds." Mostly not actual clouds, but whatever. It's been a terrible day.

Mostly because of the illegal acts of this illegitimate administration, which are terrible for everybody. But also because I've been sicker than the proverbial dog all day, my joints are seizing up in terrible, painful ways, and I've had to allow myself to be derailed repeatedly all day long onto other things, which means I'll be up working until midnight. Meanwhile, the wind is absolutely howling outside, so loud that we can hear it even through the adobe walls, and that's going to mean a lot more pain, too. 

There are so many things that need to be done in this country, and the only people willing to do them, it seems, are the ordinary people who are most at risk. In a country populated by people whose privilege means they can afford to pretend that "lack of being positive" is the REAL problem here? Well, let's see; today here it got up to something like 56 degrees when it should be no more than 16. The planet is being killed off around us. HUD, WIC, VA, Medicaid, tribal funds, research funds, all gone [yes, I know about the supposed injunction, and I also know these people think no law applies to them but what they want; who's going to enforce it?]. ICE is detaining Native people and refusing to acknowledge their tribal IDs as legit, all while their bosses are arguing in court that Native people are not birthright citizens, and the locals who voted for that evil motherfucker are busy screaming at the rest of us that we're liars, that none of it is happening, absolute fascist disinformation treated as fact. And I keep getting children in my mentions yapping at me for being insufficiently pure on one front or another, and I'm going to start blocking first and not responding at all, because I am sick unto death of the way people feel like they can speak to me without consequence. And not a one of them is doing anything except sitting there playing Internet edgelord.  I have fucking work to do.

And, of course, I have to worry about us, medical and dental and other fronts, and most of all right now, about lack of sales, since we've had only one so far in this new year. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. We're going to have to replace the well pressure pump, without question. Taxes are coming. My laptop apparently will have to wait yet another year [assuming I can keep this alive that long, which I can't assume for a moment, actually]. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too, including the ones I posted yesterday: a pair of dancing heart earrings at a lower price point than most of his work; an extraordinary new cuff set with an incredible giant specimen of violet-blue sodalite; and an equally spectacular old-style necklace, big and bold and created in a traditional four-directions design. That dino-bone cuff should be coming yet tonight, I hope [it's done; the problem is not having any time to do my own work today.] But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. We're already down three sales on the year so far, and that trend CANNOT continue again. I won't survive another awful year like last year. Every day I wake up to pain that was worse than the day before. I also wonder what will happen to us if it gets so bad that I can't even do this every day. Lately, that day is seeming like it's maybe not so far off now, and that scares the hell out of me.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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: The Sky's Deep and Sheltering Blue

Photo copyright Wings, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for a day rent by terrible news and the prospect of terrifying consequences to come, and for a world that must step up now. It's two images linked by a single all-new work of wearable art, all of them examples of shield and storm, power and medicine, of the need for us to be strong and brave beneath the sky's deep and sheltering blue.

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. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.    

No snow. It's fifty-three degrees. In January, at 8K feet.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Look at that. No snow. It's fifty-three degrees. In January, at 8K feet.

Haze from a fire somewhere, though.

No snowpack. That means no thaw. That means no water flowing into the watersheds in spring; not that "spring" per se matters, since these are late April/early May temps already.

They say we'll get a little snow Wednesday night into. Thursday morning, but they say that a lot, and the result is nothing, so folks will understand if I'm not convinced. We need the weather to break in our favor, which is to say, in the land's favor, because trees are dying around us daily, the soil is aridifying constantly, and it's literally killing this place.

I also need this week to be very much better than the last one [last several ones] on multiple fronts. Part of it is my complex of illnesses/conditions; my joints are getting very much worse, and it's been a rapid acceleration, so I also have to be concerned about organ damage now. That feeds into concern about being able to get things done, because i'm way behind on literally everything . . . and also about whether I'll simply be able to do things at all, and for how long yet.

The much greater concern, though, is about lack of sales, since we've had only one so far in this new year. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too, including the ones I posted yesterday: a pair of dancing heart earrings at a lower price point than most of his work; an extraordinary new cuff set with an incredible giant specimen of violet-blue sodalite; and an equally spectacular old-style necklace, big and bold and created in a traditional four-directions design. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. We're already down three sales on the year so far, and that trend CANNOT continue again. I won't survive another awful year like last year. Every day I wake up to pain that was worse than the day before. I also wonder what will happen to us if it gets so bad that I can't even do this every day.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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: A Hard Blue Winter Beauty

Photo copyright Wings, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for a midwinter's week that has begun amid far too warm and dangerously dry conditions. It's also a meditation on hope, for the snow forecast for the days to come, and for a hard blue winter beauty that these lands need us to restore to it now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.       

More work under way.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

More work under way. He's been trying to cadge every spare minute in the studio, but there are so many interruptions and derailments, always so much that needs to be done outside. I have the same problem, only mostly indoors, which is why this is as late as it is now.

What he's working on there is a cuff, one that will be set with a trillion-cut cab of fossilized dinosaur bone, and it's going to be magnificent. I also posted those new dancing heart earrings and the new giant sodalite shield cuff already today; with a little luck, I'll also have the photos edited and posted and the description written for the giant Four Sacred Directions necklace, and get that live, too.

It's all absolutely incredible work, and I need to sell all of it. 

I also need this week to be very much better than the last one [last several ones]. It was not off to a promising start; I did not get to sleep until the early hours of this morning, thanks to multiple subluxes in my neck and the attendant agonizing pain they cause. No, nothing works. I just have to wait until exhaustion kicks in sufficiently to let me sleep, so that at least I don't have to be consciously aware of it for a while. My joints are getting very much worse, and it's been a rapid acceleration, so I also have to be concerned about organ damage now.

And on top of everything else I had to do today [all the NDN Silver stuff, including the photography and descriptions; some printing; dishes and laundry and vacuuming and bringing in wood for the stove; getting the chile going for buffalo enchiladas for dinner tonight; running a mechanical problem to ground and then finding the right thing to order for it; on and on and on] I need to chase sales daily. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too, including the ones I mentioned up above. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. We're already down three sales on the year so far, and that trend CANNOT continue again. I won't survive another awful year like last year. Every day I wake up to pain that was worse than the day before. I also wonder what will happen to us if it gets so bad that I can't even do this every day.

We need sales. We're already down by three on the year, and it's barely begun. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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 Renewing Blue of the Storm

Photo copyright Aji, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the weather our world currently needs, recalling the days when from last snow, first rain would always appear. It's a work originally created for spring but perfectly apt for these drought-ridden lands as winter now cedes space to it too soon, and as we pray for the renewing blues of the storm.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.       

Worse by the day.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

We've been lamenting the fact that the elk have not been down to visit all winter. And then this morning, the old [rotten] bales out in the mulch pile were disturbed.

It's odd, though; if it were the elk, they'd have torn everything apart and hoovered it all up in record time. Several bales are still intact, and the open ones are just spread all over the place. Maybe they got scared off before they cold do much . . . or maybe it was bears, looking for a comfortable safe spot to sleep. Their hibernation patterns are all screwed up now thanks to climate collapse, so who knows?

Either way, if it keeps them safe, and our animals safe, they're welcome to it. 

Snowy-looking weather today. Emphasis on "looking." So far, we've gotten nothing out of it, and I don't actually expect us to. But it is so deadly dry, and our current snowpack level in the mountains is something like 4.5" for the season.

Four-point-five inches.

When we should have snow down here that's routinely measured in feet.

And there's not a damn thing we can do about it. Don't get me wrong; collectively, as a society, as governmental entities, as a planet? "We" could certainly do something, up to and including reversing a lot of this deadly damage. But they won't. They're determined, all of them, to kill the planet off, and us with it. So for us, the two of us? No, nothing.  Except, of course, watch it all die.

Which is also what's happening to the world in the sociopolitical context: We're all just watching it die. 

And trying not to die ourselves in the meantime. Trying not to let anyone else die, either.

For us, that means that I need to chase sales daily. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. One will be old-style traditional necklace a giant Four Sacred Directions pendant set with giant old turquoise and strung on beads; one will be that extraordinary cuff I posted here the other day, which I should have later today or tonight; the pendant, maybe not]. You can see the pendant and the band in the shot at the top of yesterday's post, waiting for the stones to be set and for buffing [and beads for the necklace]. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. We're already down three sales on the year so far, and that trend CANNOT continue again. I won't survive another awful year like last year. Every day I wake up to pain that was worse than the day before. Yesterday was chemo day, and raising the dose hasn't helped, either. My hands and feet are getting worse by the day, but so are the rest of my joints, and there's no way to stop it. I shudder to think what it's doing to my organs. I also wonder what will happen if it gets so bad I can't even do this every day.

We need sales. We're already down by three on the year, and it's barely begun. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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.                                                 

Winter's Most Ethereal Fire and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the weather we need so badly now, and for the local phenomenon we call snowfire that it delivers with the storm's end in the setting sun. It's winter's most ethereal fire and light, a momentary display of breathtaking beauty that serves as medicine for the spirit before the cold dark of night.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.       

Is this week done yet?

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Is this week done yet?

Obviously not. But I should not, once again, just be getting to today's basic posts at 7:30 at night. This is ridiculous.

Then again, this whole week has been trash.

And today, I had some silly twit of a colonizer in the NDN Silver mentions at the blue place, telling me I should be ashamed of myself and yelling at me, "You're lazy!" because I post the outreach campaign's wishlist. Because I'm "paying oligarchs" and nothing, not even the saving of an unsheltered person's life in -11 actual temps, justifies giving a cent to Amazon.

I'm sure you can imagine just how well that went over with me.

After I blocked her, she apparently continued to whine, from her comfortable seat in Texas, that *I* "attacked" *her*; never mind that she showed up in my mentions out of nowhere, with no justification, and she certainly hasn't done any of the work, to attack ME. You do that, on those grounds? Damn straight I will tell you "you're a bad person." But facts never matter to Beckys and Karens, and they will always pull the [faux] victim card with us after starting shit. 

They gonna learn.

So, since folks are calling me lazy, let's recap the tiny amount of nothing I've done this week, all while barely able to walk and in agonizing pain every second of every day, shall we?  Aside from all my own work, I got life-saving gear gathered and sorted and transferred to another volunteer who came to pick it up; I passed out more life-saving gear to two guys braving the murderous cold under only a sleeping bag, with their two dogs [and Wings got them medical and other supplies]; I shared multiple GFMs and donated to two, ginning up other donations as I went; I raised over $3,000 in a matter of hours for shelter transport; I raised some unknown amount toward the insurance premium for for Pueblo's arts center [and still am]; I bought a dozen hot meals for folks in need of one [and caused a friend to buy five more]; I arranged for some folks in desperate need of heat to come and pick up some of our firewood; and I don't remember the other things off the top of my head.

But I'm lazy.

People wouldn't know it, but I've always been shy. And IRL as well as online, that apparently makes certain types of people think that they can speak to me any old way. Welp, I'm old now, and no one gets away with that shit anymore. You'll go away spanked.

I am so fucking tired. Of everything. Of this evil that's flowering like some toxic death bloom all around us now. Of the people who will shit on us for trying to do something while they sit in the comfort of their little colonizer lives and think screaming at Native people, already under attack, is "doing something." I'm tired of being in constant agonizing pain, too, and not being able to the simplest things anymore, but that's not gonna change, either, so best to focus on what might if we actually do the work.

And, of course, I need to chase sales daily. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. One will be old-style traditional necklace a giant Four Sacred Directions pendant set with giant old turquoise and strung on beads; one will be that extraordinary cuff I posted here the other day. You can see the pendant and the band in the shote above; they're waiting for the stones to be set and for buffing [and beads for the necklace]. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy. We're already down three sales on the year so far, and that trend CANNOT continue again. I won't survive another awful year like last year.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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: The Powerful Fire of a Newborn Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of works that embody the amber flames of the local light. It's a pair of pairs, earrings all, manifest as the powerful fire of a newborn light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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 worst of both scenarios.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

The snow is almost entirely gone. 

It's still bitterly cold, partly from the actual temps, but especially from the winds. It's going to be brutal again tonight. We're supposed to get a warming trend starting tomorrow, but still no snow, and it's the worst of both scenarios.

I'm feeling more than a little overwhelmed right now. It's been an ungodly expensive week, a bunch of those annual/biannual bills coming due now, and the outlay has been absolutely unholy. No sales to counteract it, either. And there are so many people needing help right now, and I can't keep up with this full-blast firehose of need.

It's all the harder in the face of the Nazis' open and public real-time attempts to burn down the entire country and kill all of us who are not them in the process, while the Dems cower and cave and comply in advance. Anyone who voted for Laken-Riley or any of these other evils is dead to me now, and that includes all your faves, the one's y'all so foolishly call things like "Senator Bae." They're not your boyfriends [or girlfriends]. They're public servants who are supposed to be working for us all, and this nonsense just enables their cowardice and venality.

And people die because of it.

We took care of the hot-meal thing yesterday, at least ina. very limited way. I'll also post the outreach campaign's wishlist again as soon as a new shipping address is settled; I'm guessing that will be next week sometime. Today, I'm trying desperately to find a load of firewood for a family in emergency need of it. And there's an emergency need at the Pueblo:  The Oo-oo-nah Arts Center, which serves the Pueblo's children, has been hit hard by the horrors of this economy. They're a (c)(3), not a federal entity, and if they're going to stay open? They have to pay the insurance premium that just hit, which is up to $5K now. If you can spare anything at all, please do; this nurtures each successive generation of artists, and it also functions in part as a community center for the Pueblo, too, and it's absolutely imperative that it stay open.  You can donate via PayPal, Venmo, or debit/credit card here [the site's donate page (scroll down to the turquoise "Donate" button) is here]. If you do give, let me know; I don't have a way of tracing it, which means that self-reporting is the only way I can give folks an indication of how much is still needed.

My joints are so bad now that I'm not going anywhere, I hope, before late next week. That should give me a few days to focus mostly on chasing sales, too, which we need to do daily anyway. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too. One will be ald-style traditional necklace a giant Four Sacred Directions pendant set with giant old turquoise and strung on beads; one will be that extraordinary cuff I posted here the other day. But I've got to sell something, for the love of all that's holy.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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: In a Spiral of Fire and Light

Photo copyrightWings, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #ThrowbackThursday work that dates back some seventeen years, to 2008, if memory serves, and one in Wings's informal series of that time of layered- and flanged-bezel works. It's a ring, unusual even for the series of which it was a part, set with a fiery amber sun and wrapped in a beautifully offset band, holding the wearer's hand in a spiral of fire and light.

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. The last year was frankly terrible, and we need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.      

Bare aridified dirt.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025'; all rights reserved.

Ever wonder what drought look like in winter? Welp. It looks like that. We came outside this morning to find massive cracks in the earth from the area between Miika's pen and th hay al along the studio, in front of the tool and grain boxes, and all the way down to the chicken coop. It's a mix of this deep, brutal cold combined with a complete lack of anything like snow.

The hell of it is that that whole area? Just a half-decade ago, all of that was grass. Yeah, sure, it would be dormant grass right now, but still with ground cover. Now, it's just bare aridified dirt.

Speaking of bare aridified dirt, that's what's in what passes for the souls of those running the show in D.C. right now. I've never seen such utter trash in my life. They are hell-bent on genocide on every conceivable front, and if you're not one of them? They'll be coming for you, too, no matter how may axes of privilege you've enjoyed all your life. For those without? Yeah, every day is going to be a fight.

One of the ways we fight it as by making sure everyone survives. We've been doing that forever behind the scenes, but we took on this more overt role, in public, because it has become necessary now. Today was pure misery on the pain front [hard to stand or walk when your metatarsal joints are all subluxed, but here we are], but we ran our errands, and I took care of the hot-meal thing. I'll also post the outreach campaign's wishlist again as soon as a new shipping address is settled; I'm guessing that will be next week sometime.  For now, there's an emergency need at the Pueblo:  The Oo-oo-nah Arts Center, which serves the Pueblo's children, has been hit hard by the horrors of this economy. They're a (c)(30, not a federal entity, and if they're going to stay open? They have to pay the insurance premium that just hit, which is up to $5K now. If you can spare anything at all, please do; this nurtures each successive generation of artists, and it also functions in part as a community center for the Pueblo, too, and it's absolutely imperative that it stay open.  You can donate via PayPal, Venmo, or debit/credit card here [the site's donate page (scroll down to the turquoise "Donate" button) is here]. If you do give, let me know; I don't have a way of tracing it, which means that self-reporting is the only way I can give folks an indication of how much is still needed.

My joints are so bad now that I'm not going anywhere, I hope, before late next week. That should give me a few days to focus mostly on chasing sales, too, which we need to do daily anyway. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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 Winter Sun's Fire and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork for these days of deep cold, one to warm the spirit with all the shades of the sun. It's a necklace wrought in an extraordinary mix of the Earth's own artistry and that by Wings, as well — a reminder in these dark days to seek the winter sun's fire and light, and to spread it to a world in need of it now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have enormous repair costs ahead and we urgently need to get 2025 under way on a much better footing than last year, so shares are very much needed and much appreciated.

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.       

What's coming.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

One of several things nearing completion. This one is absolutely spectacular, and no, that's not lapis; it's sodalite. What he had intended as a bolo has morphed into a necklace, a really big, bold, old traditional style. And there are some more earrings and cuffs to come.

What's coming is a lot of work that he wanted to get to last year, but could never get time n the studio. There are also some all-new conceptualizations mixed in; either way, it's going to be an incredible assortment.

What's coming on other fronts, though, is a hell of a lot more terrifying. We're mostly ignoring every breathless pronouncement by a corporate media wholly owned by their fascist minders now; there's nothing to be gained by freaking out about every single horror when we all knew [if you didn't, that's on you] it was coming, and the only question that remains is how we fight it all, all at once.

One of the ways we fight it as by making sure everyone survives. We've been doing that forever behind the scenes, but we took on this more overt role, in public, because it has become necessary now. I had intended to ask folks to buy hot meals for local unsheltered folks who can't afford one, but I tried calling today, and apparently it requires a manager, who wasn't there, and I've been swamped with other work ever since. I'm hoping to be well enough to get in to the post office tomorrow [today was terrible from a pain standpoint, as well as other symptoms], and if so, maybe we can go do it in person. I'll also post the outreach campaign's wishlist again as soon as a new shipping address is settled; I'm guessing that will be next week sometime.

Which gives me a few days to focus mostly on chasing sales, which we need to do daily. It takes at least one sale a week [sometimes more] just for us to break even on the year, and last year? We didn't even do half that. So now would still be a good time to buy. TONS of new and fabulous work on the site, and tons more on the way, too.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one far worse than the last, we urgently need to begin 2025 on a better footing before taxes take every cent, so please share all of the links. 

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.