*Everything* is different now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Storm clouds.

Not much in the way of rain, though; so far, the wind's coming from the wrong direction.  Speaking of wind, they had an honest-to-god tornado touch down momentarily on Sandia Peak in Albuquerque this afternoon. Im old enough to remember when thy used to say the mountains made tornadoes impossible in the whole vicinity, never mind on the peaks themselves.

But everything is different now.

It's going to be busy week, at least the next two, three days. Some of it [okay, most of it] is bureaucratic stuff that has to be handled. Not my favorite thing to do, but vastly preferable to what we doing a week ago.

Speaking of which there's the new well tank coming up in the next week or so [I hope; the new assembly is already burning out, so the old tank must be completely shot, and I would really, really like to get that taken care of before we lose water again]. Of course, all that expense to come means that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Which means I have to get caught up on the work somehow. Someone, please, tell me how I'm supposed to do all this. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refilling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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 Clear Blue Sky, Calling the Clouds Together

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for the skies of summer, and for what they can teach us now. It's an image that dates back to a summer afternoon twelve years ago, and a clear blue sky, calling the clouds together to create the storm.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank within the next week or so. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

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.    

Like everything else.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Beautiful day, but it's felt at least ten degrees hotter than it actually is. I know they said we repaired the hole in the ozone layer, at least partially, but these are still not the atmospheric conditions of our youth. It's a lot more dangerous now.

Like everything else.

At least we're supposed to get rain starting tomorrow. Even if its only a temporary return of our monsoonal patterns, it's desperately needed now. The land is a tinderbox; the grass literally crunches underfoot, and if it hits your bare ankles, it's like cactus spines. 

Start of a new week, and I'm already beat. It's hard to keep to the pace I need to be maintaining with this kind of unrelenting pain, and it's making me wonder how much longer I'll be able to maintain any kind of semblance of normalcy at all. This is going to be another unexpectedly hectic week; I'll have some appointments I wasn't anticipating, in addition to the ones I was expecting, and so I think it's a safe bet to expect me to be slow and late with everything else across the board.

And then there's the new well tank coming up in the next week or so [I hope; the new assembly is already burning out, so the old tank must be completely shot, and I would really, really like to get that taken care of before we lose water again]. Of course, all that expense to come means that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Which means I have to get caught up on the work somehow. Someone, please, tell me how I'm supposed to do all this. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refilling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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.                 

A Flowering Blue of Sky and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a classic work for the radiant sky of summer here, as manifest in the jewel that bears its name. It's one of Wings's newer necklaces created in an old traditional style, a flowering blue of sky and light embodied in silver and stone.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank in another week or so. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

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.    

Armor.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

More cool clouds this morning. That one looks like some sort of prehistoric boar, or maybe a prehistoric aardvark with armor plates made of . . . wispy air and water?

I don't imagine we'll get any rain out of any of it. The winds are already blowing them out again. But they still insist we have two weeks of monsoonal-pattern rains to come [that's the extent of the extended forecast, so beyond that, who knows].

Speaking of armor plates and things that are wispy at best, yesterday was chemo day, and for the first time in several weeks, it might have made a slight difference in my functionality again. The last few days, I've been so swamped by pain that nothing breaks through. Then again, it might be the return to a traditional medicine, which I began yesterday and repeated today. Come to think of it, it's probably that and not the immunosuppressants, but again, who knows? If it lets me work, that's frankly all I care about at this point.

Because the work is still piling up, and I'm so far behind on everything now that I can't even figure out where to begin.

And then there's the new well tank coming up in a couple of weeks. Of course, all that expense to come means that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Which means I have to get caught up on the work somehow. Someone, please, tell me how I'm supposed to do all this. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refilling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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.                 

A Time of Transformation and Transcendence

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork for the summer season, a time of romance and a time for family, for hearts aflutter with love and for the harder work of survival. It's Butterfly as you've never seen her before, a necklace wrought in her image and ethereal beauty, reminding us that this season is also a gift, a time of transformation and transcendence.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank in couple of weeks. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

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.    

Reason eleventy-one.

Photo copyright. Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Reason eleventy-one why you can never believe official forecasts around here. 

That was the sky this morning. We were supposed to have zero chance of rain today and tomorrow. Then, those clouds, particularly their counterparts to the west [out of range to the left of the viewer's eye here]m built up into a massive blue-black wall. 

They altered the forecast with a quickness. Rain to begin at 1:30 and continue for a couple of hours: "70% chance."

Uh-huh. A few minutes later, as the wind kicked up, I watched it blow the clouds apart, and what remained it sent around the peaks away from us. Meanwhile, the weather people informed me that the rain would continue until 3:30.

To continue, it first has to fall, you numpties.

I doubt we'll get anything today but the heat and the wind.

In my case, of course, there's always the pain. I get that no matter what. This week has been a nightmare on that front, and yesterday and today are both exceptionally bad. The hell of it is that there isn't anything I can do about it. They won't let me have enough pain meds to numb it, and when it's organic pain caused by full-body damage to joints and connective tissue and muscle, it's not like you can "positive-think" yourself out of perceiving it, FFS.

And I can feel the depression returning, because there's nothing I can do. I'm not even angry; I don't have the energy to be angry. I'm just sad. This morning, I realized too late that I'd forgotten to pass an important message on to Wings; it worked out okay, but the whole reason I forgot? Is because right now the pain is so bad that I literally cannot think.

Meanwhile, the work piles up, I'm slower than ever, and I can't even begin to get done everything I need to do. 

And then there's the new ell tank coming up in a couple of weeks. Of course, all that expense to come means that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Which means I have to get caught up on the work somehow. Someone, please, tell me how I'm supposed to do all this. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refilling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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 Adaptive Power of Metamorphosis

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a trio of works from the same category wrought in an old traditional vintage style, all infused with a spirit of transformation. It's Butterly, in the form of vertical conchas transmuted into pair of earrings, all of them bearing the adaptive power of metamorphosis on their wings.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank in couple of weeks. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

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.   

LOL. LMAO, even.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Wings's latest. Sold separately, not as a set: necklace, large earrings, small earrings. It's spiny oyster; the bead strand is spiny oyster, natural Hubei turquoise, white shell, and fine silver. No, of course it's not on the site yet.

I said yesterday, "I am hoping that this is the last day where I'm horribly overextended and just as horribly late as a result. No guarantees, of course. But I have too much to do, from getting his new work posted to catching up on all the housework I've had to let slide the last few days to trying to get a whole bunch of other projects either caught up or tied up entirely."

LOL. LMAO, even. Today's been another one. I'm just now getting to the stuff I should've had done before noon, but couldn't.

Of course, all the expense to come means that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refilling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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: Like the Butterfly, Becoming

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #TBT at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #ThrowbackThursday work that dates back only to last month, and an honor gift for a young relative marking a major life event. It's a concha belt, one made entirely by hand specifically to honor who she is . . . and who she will be, like the butterfly, becoming, in the adult life ahead of her now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work will never, ever be duplicated, 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.  We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank in couple of weeks. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

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 those beautiful clouds.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

All those beautiful clouds; not a single drop of rain.

I mean, we had an absolutely glorious rain yesterday, from around 2 PM to midnight. But given this drought, we'll always welcome more.

I am hoping that this is the last day where I'm horribly overextended and just as horribly late as a result. No guarantees, of course. But I have too much to do, from getting his new work posted to catching up on all the housework I've had to let slide the last few days to trying to get a whole bunch of other projects either caught up or tied up entirely. And, of course, all the expense to come means that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refilling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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 Way of Migratory Spirits

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork by any measure, one to honor the small spirits of summer and the migratory paths they travel. It's an extraordinary cuff, wrought entirely freehand and infused with the lessons we can learn from the way of migratory spirits, wisdom that humanity needs badly now.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank in couple of weeks. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

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.   

Interesting times.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Pretty cool effect, huh?

It looks like shooting stars in daylight, but it's actually raindrops at dusk, seemingly turned to meteors by the flash required to pick up anything but evening mist and haze. We actually had a rainbow arcing over it, too, in the near-dark.

Strange phenomena.

Fitting, I suppose, for interesting times.

It's been a hell of a day. Everything's late because it's just been one derailment after another. Also still trying to get caught up on stuff I couldn't get to over the weekend while dealing with the well-pump mess. Tomorrow will also be fraught, and I am determined that the rest of the week will be mine. Well, mine in the sense of being devoted to all the work I need to do.

The hell of it is that the one big thing the sidetracked me? I found out this evening was not even needed after all. So, yeah, I'm grumpy. Especially since I'm going to be working for several hours yet as a result.

But there's so much work I have to do. Well tank replacement in a couple of weeks; annual chimney cleaning, too. Cancellation fees for our appointments, courtesy of the dead well pump. A hell of a lot more that I'm refusing to think about right now. 

All of this means, of course, that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered.Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refiling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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: Spirits of Transfiguration

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for a world whose patterns are no longer recognizeable, and for the messenger spirits here to show us the path required of us now. It's two images from more than a decade past, linked by a single extraordinary work of wearable art, monarchs all, spirits of transfiguration arrived with lessons in hope, and for survival.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank in couple of weeks. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

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.   

We have water!

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Is that not the most beautiful sight?

We have water!

We got up early this morning and Wings headed into town as soon as he thought the drilling company might be open [they weren't]. So he ran and errand and went back, and ran right into the owner, just arriving [who dug our well in the first place all those years ago]. Wings explained to him what was going on, he promised to have someone out this afternoon, and instead was out here himself, part in hand, this morning. 

The pressure pump assembly has been replaced, and we were able to pay cash for it. The tank is bad, so that's going to have be replaced, but that requires digging. It also, obviously, requires a new tank, and he said he'd order it when he got back to the office; he didn't even ask us for a deposit on it. It's supposed to be in about two weeks from now, and they'll get us on the dig schedule, and then we'll have some messy inconvenience for a day or two, but we'll have a properly working well again. Even tonight, with the pressure assembly replaced? It's SO much better; we hadn't even realized how bad it had gotten.

Of course, having to be here meant that we had to cancel our doctor's appointments for today, so there'll be a fee for both of us for that. Worth it, though, and we were able to get one other big thing off my desk, so to speak, so all in all? This turned out to be a good day.

All of this means, of course, that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refiling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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 Transformative Season and Time

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for the arrival of the our first large butterfly of the season, and for the rains that it seems determined to bring with it. It's an image that's a throwback to a midsummer day some nine years ago, and a different sort of butterfly, one whose presence, in particular, reminds us that this is meant to be a transformative season and time.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank in couple of weeks. We need to bring in consistent sales each and every week to cover it all.

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.    

Anyway.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

New dog; who dis? That dog is actually an Americauna chicken, which is a Spanish Aracauna crossed with a Buff Orp. She's being bullied by the 'lorps, who are archetypal mean girls and masters of bitchery, so she's been hanging out on the front deck.

And also in the dogs' crate. And also in Cricket's doghouse, and the studio, and wherever else she feels like going, basically. She really wants to get in the house, but that's a nope.

Anyway. No, today has not improved in any material way from yesterday, but my mood is better. That might all change again tomorrow if there's no chance of getting anyone out by Tuesday to replace the well pump. Then again, if I don't bring in several grand in sales, no one's coming out to do it anyway. And the taxes are going to have to wait, penalties and late fees notwithstanding, because we need water.

There are basically two things folks can do to help:  Share our site, with a testimonial [link below]; or, if you're in the market for something? Now would be a really, really good time to buy. On top of the well pump and the tax payment, we are both going to have hideously expensive medical bills this week, and also an even more hideously expensive bill for annual chimney cleaning the following week [and we can't afford to cancel it, because scheduling is too far out; you know, kind of like trying to get a doctor's appointment anywhere in this country now].

All of this means, of course, that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need sales, several grand's worth of sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered [and that will be a good long while]. I don't get any breaks from that, either. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refiling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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.                 

A Chrysalis Sun Emergent From the Cocoon of Night

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for dawn as Butterfly, that tiny summer messenger of the spirits. It's a pair of earrings wrought of old-style butterfly conchas set with amber, a chrysalis sun emergent from the cocoon of night.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have huge expenses looming over us now: Our well pump failed yesterday, which means that we have no water, and the next giant tax payment is due tomorrow, so we need to bring in sales, plural, immediately to be able to cover them. So we need shares, but most of all, we need sales.

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.  

Now we see how summer's going to go.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Hot, clear, dry, windy. And utterly terrible.

Welp, I guess at least now we see how summer's going to go.

The short answer is "badly." Our well pump failed this morning. Completely. Boom, dead stop. It's going to be, at the absolute barest minimum, at least $3,500, cash on the barrelhead, to fix it. I fully expect it to exceed $5 grand before they're done. If/when they're done, because right now? We have no water, and I have no idea when we'll be ble to get it back. It's Saturday, natch; can't get hold of anyone. They'll want a big down payment for parts and so forth, and full payment as soon as it's done. Do we have it? Are you kidding me?

Of course we don't have it.

So as of this moment, no water, no idea when we'll have water again? In the hottest part of the year? Everything is shit.

I'm tired, I'm discouraged, the pain doesn't let up and that makes everything else harder to do and deal with, and this fucking Nazi regime wants our next tax payment in two days, and we don't have that, either. I'm at the end of my fucking tether. I'm just fucking done.

All of this means, of course, that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need weekly sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered [and that will be a good long while]. I don't get any breaks from that, either. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refiling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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 Gravity and Glow of the Summer Sun

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, with one of Wings's newest pairs of earrings, embodying the powerful gift of centripetal fire that our world takes so much for granted. It's a pair wrought in an old-style "rolling sun" motif around an extraordinary pair of rare vintage cabochons of opal-effect Japanese glass, each with a spectacular shift of color and light, perfectly manifesting the gravity and glow of the summer sun.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have huge expenses looming over us now: Our well pump failed today, which means that we have no water, and the next giant tax payment is due Monday, so we need to bring in sales, plural, immediately to be able to cover them. So we need shares, but most of all, we need sales.

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.  

Summer light.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

That's the summer light, right there. Ironically, it reminds me of the summer skies at dusk in my own homelands way up north, or at least how they looked when I was a kid. Probably not so much now. They're having droughts and wildfires in the ot months now, something unheard-of there when I was young [save, of course, for the Klan's fires several decades ago, but that was a wholly different thing, albeit one no doubt on the rise again].

Yeah, the words "Klan" and "north" actually do go together. Much more intimately than most people know. My family has too much cause to know it up close and personal, back in the '20s and '30s.  The regular Klan and their even more terroristic offshoot, the Black Legion, went after families like mine [and lots of other very specific demographics, too]. We're seeing it everywhere again now, too, even if they're not wearing bedsheets. They are wearing masks, though, and they're just as much a bunch of genocidal criminals and monsters, every last one of them.

It's been a hell of a day. Everything's late; I couldn't even get to two of the errands I was hoping to do today, because the other half-dozen ate up the whole day as it was. No sleep last night to speak of, and my pain levels just keep rising by the day. Chemo day, and it's not working, but I'd be worse off without it, so here we are. And then I got home to word that a friend was gone; I didn't even know she'd entered hospice six days ago. I've been stupid busy all the time lately, and I'm furious with myself, but again, here we are, and there's nothing I can do about it.

It seems like the first day of official summer should be one for hope. But the whole fucking world's on fire, and the light seems very small and inconsequential now.

We have that big tax payment due in in just days. I need to make a middling four figures' worth of sales to cover all of it. The likelihood of that by Sunday? Yeah. But I have to try. I would dearly love to cover them all at once and not have to worry about it for a while, since we know there are there are other huge expenses lying in wait for us. Which means, of course, that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need weekly sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered [and that will be a good long while]. I don't get any breaks from that, either. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refiling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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: A Light That Spans the Worlds of Summer

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of works from the signature series perhaps closest to Wings's heart, the Warrior Woman. It's the last two in our current inventory, and a post newly written partly in memory of a departed friend, whose own spirit, like those that animate the pins, still possesses a light that spans the worlds of summer.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We have huge expenses looming over us now, including the next giant tax payment due in a matter of days, and we need to bring in sales, plural, each and every week to cover them. So we need shares, but most of all, we need sales.

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.  

Looking at possibilities.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Not exactly work in progress, yet. More an example of looking at possibilities. Not all of these will make it into something wearable, at least not anytime soon; those that do will likely change several times before he actually decides how each will look. This is, just as I said, looking at possibilities.

Meanwhile, the spiny oyster pieces are nearly done [and we have to pick up beads for the necklace]. He has a baby bracelet for a local little one that's done, but I still have to photograph it and get dimensions and so forth before sending it on its way. And there's a TON of other work to get done, both jewelry-related and otherwise, for both of us. My pain levels, and the lack of sleep that goes with them, have me even further behind than usual now.

One sale this week, which is great.  Not nearly enough to cover what I have to cover in the next few days, because this Nazi regime still demands our fucking taxes to line billionaires' pockets while people die.

We have that big payment due in in just days. I need to make a middling four figures' worth of sales to cover all of it. The likelihood of that? Yeah. But I have to try. I would dearly love to cover them all at once and not have to worry about it for a while, since we know there are there are other huge expenses lying in wait for us. Which means, of course, that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need weekly sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered [and that will be a good long while]. I don't get any breaks from that, either. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refiling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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.                 

#TBT: The Glow of the Last Ember of Night

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT featured work that dates back some two decades, to an entry in Wings's then-ongoing series of layered-bezel works set with beautifully mysterious stones. It's a ring set with a haunting scarlet stone that hints at hidden depths, a deep-red garnet with the glow of the last ember of night.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, this work will never be duplicated, but if the style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own.  We have huge expenses looming over us now, including the next giant tax payment due in a matter of days, and we need to bring in sales, plural, each and every week to cover them. So we need shares, but most of all, we need sales.

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.         

That's something.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

The garden is rockin'. So are the weeds, too, natch. I have no idea how I'm going to do any weeding now; can't kneel, can't bend, hands are wrecked. But at least the corn and beans and squash and everything else are thriving. In what's been, in a lot of ways, an otherwise very bad month, that's something.

That's not due just to what little precipitation we got last week. Wings has been watering it every few days in the evening, and each time he does, everything's visibly higher in the morning. They're changed the forecast for next week now to possible thunderstorms more days than not, but given that this place is a tinderbox now, we know better than to depend on that.

I don't know why my pain levels should have ratcheted up so badly this week, but it's impairing my ability to get anything done. This is not my ordinary level of constant, relentless pain; this is something else altogether. I'm not sick, so there's nothing like that aggravating it. But it's full-body pain, no respite anywhere, and nothing works on it. It's accompanied by new subluxes [dislocations], including ribs and chest and hips, and also new muscle contractions that are refusing to stretch out. I mean, obviously, it's disease progression, but why now, why so intensely, and why are there SO MANY new variables working against each other? I'm supposed to get steroid injections next week, but I don't know if they'll want to do it under these circumstances, and if not, I'm really screwed. The chemo's not helping, but I know if I went off it would get demonstrably worse right away, and every time I try to raise my dose, it leaves me feeling too lousy to function anyway.

I think I'm screwed regardless.

And this Nazi regime still demands our fucking taxes.

We have a big payment due in under a week. I need to make a middling four figures' worth of sales to cover all of it. The likelihood of that? Yeah. But I have to try. I would dearly love to cover them all at once and not have to worry about it for a while, since we know there are there are other huge expenses lying in wait for us. Which means, of course, that we still need shares, and we most definitely still need weekly sales, until I can get everything covered that has to get covered [and that will be a good long while]. I don't get any breaks from that, either. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, and after refiling her meds we just can't swing it:  3-4 pairs of the fly traps [the second item on the list]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and the first half of this one at least as bad, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing, because taxes to this Nazi administration have already tapped us out and we still owe more anyway, 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.