Nope.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

The next one in the pipeline. All he needs to do is set the stone, which is seraphinite, and buff it, and it'll be available for sale.

Today, we were both so beat that we decided to move today's planned tasks to tomorrow . . . thinking that that would give us a little breathing room today. Nope. We have both been running all day, and in my case, falling farther and farther behind. The next two days, at the very least, will be more of the same.

Today was also extremely hot, no chance of rain, and just . . . hot. Uncomfortably so. The kind that keeps my brain from working properly. Like yesterday, remembering that it was 7 years ago late yesterday afternoon that we were forced to say goodbye to Shade [at that point leaving Miskwaki alone and in mourning, hence the need to take in Miika; now my boy is gone, too], but not remembering to point it out. I'm so tired, and there's nothing I can do about it.

The mutual-aid group seems, at just shy of nine months, to be reaching a kind of critical mass finally, which is great. The problem is that there is so much that goes into pushing people's fundraising needs, and so that's added to my workload in a big way lately. And after a very long dry spell, we're getting a bunch of commission inquiries all at once, which is also great, but all the back-end prep work falls to me.  if I were to do everything I need to do just today alone, I wouldn't get any sleep before Sunday.

And then there's the well mess. We have a call in to the drilling company, but no response yet, so I don't know whether the tank is in yet or not. I hope it's in by Friday, at least; the new pressure-pump assembly began burning out after something like three days [so the old tank must be completely shot], and that's only getting worse, 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. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, are 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 World In Bloom By the Sun's Fire and Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an all new trio of works, created together but offered separately — a celestial fire of sunsparks and atmospheric flames. It's one necklace and two pairs of coordinating earrings, all built around the sunny shades of. natural spiny oyster shell and manifest as that daily gift of our nearest star, a world in bloom by the sun's fire and light.

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 this week, with luck. 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.       

Red Willow Spirit: Painting the Earth With Fire

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for the brilliant flames of the summer season, the kind that deliver no destruction, only beauty and medicine. It's three images from nearly two decades past, linked by two current and patly matched works of wearable art, all of them tributes to the power and beauty of Indian paintbrush its practice of painting the earth with fire.

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 hopefully yet this week. 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.   

Out of order it is.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Clouds gathering, but a lot less chance of any rain today.

And I am having a day [and not in a good way], so everything is out of order. Yesterday was overloaded; today's worse, if that's possible. And then tomorrow will be more of the same, probably Thursday, too.

I need more hours in the day. Why is that too much to ask?

::Sigh:: anyway. The big boulder of stress that's sitting on my chest is not going to budge if I don't get some of this off my desk immediately, so out of order it is. 

We have a call in to the drilling company, but no response yet, so I don't know whether the tank is in yet or not. I hope it's in by tomorrow or Thursday, at least; the new pressure-pump assembly began burning out after something like three days [so the old tank must be completely shot], and that's only getting worse, 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. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, are 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.                    

Nonstop, all day.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Bright and clear and hot this morning, barely a cloud in the sky, and then by afternoon, it looked like that. A few scattered showers, and two relatively short but steady episodes of real rain, so we're good.

Of course, we got caught in it, natch.

It's been a week, and it's only Monday. Okay, a day, but man . . . .  We both had to be up early because there were things we needed to do before the chimney service guys got here a little before nine. We have two clean flues for another year now. But ever since, it's just been nonstop, all day. I'm finally sitting down to, you know, my work — in the evening. Again. 

Tomorrow is going to be more of the same, and so is Wednesday, it appears. My bigger concern is that Thursday and Friday will wind up being like this, too, and if that happens, I'll be useless by the weekend, because I'll have pushed myself way beyond what my body will handle anymore. Because I still don't know when the well tank will be here, and whenever it arrives and they can come out, everything else has to get rearranged, canceled, postponed, whatever, so we can deal with that.

I hope it's in by mid-week, at least; the new assembly began burning out after something like three days, 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. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, are 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 Fiery Flowering Land

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for a world finally ready to get down to the business of summer. It's a remembrance of what this place at this season once was combined with the hope that it could be again, a fiery flowering land of petaled flames dancing in the rain.

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 hopefully this week. 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.    

And it's only Sunday.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; al rights reserved.

That's what was haded our way just a little while ago. It's since moved overhead, continued on to ricochet around the peaks, been blown back to deliver a few scattered drops, and is moving out again.

It feels like a metaphor for my life right now. Good god, I'm tired. And it's only Sunday.

The week to come is going to be a monster.  Chimney cleaners first thing tomorrow, and they're going to have to do a repair to one of the stoves. All that bureaucratic stuff I thought we'd be doing a week ago? There's still all that to be done now. And presumably the well tank will be in, and we'll have to get them out here to dig. Which likely means a day or two without running water again. In the meantime, there's another wrinkle that I'm not even going to go into; the idea is help for Wings with stuff I can't do anymore, but . . . we'll see. This week is already completely overloaded, every single day; this doesn't feel like a time to start yet another thing.

Especially with this well nonsense still looming. I hope the new tank is in by mid-week, at the very least; the new assembly began burning out after something like three days, 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. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, are 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.                    

Petals of Wild Crimson Flame

Photo copyright Aji, 2025;
all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the first wild petals of summer, too many of them no longer able to flower here. It's a pair of earrings set with rich sponge coral cabochons in the color of Indian paintbrush, petals of wild crimson flame to match tonight's fiery sunset skies to come.

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 this week, with luck. 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.      

Projects.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

One of his projects for today. Specifically, it's the post lying in the ground in the photo, which is now upright, but not yet thoroughly packed in or cemented. He needs a second shade sail to cover the rest of the studio front, because the single one doesn't even cover the rolling mill at certain times of day, and it doesn't reach the grinder and buffer at all.

And it's too hot to do that in this kind of sun.

It's been a slow day, or rather, it just seems that way. No matter how much I get done, I'm still so far behind on everything that I just look at my to-do list and want to give up. Not an option, but man, I'm tired.

And the week to come is going to be a monster.  Chimney cleaners first thing Monday, and they're going to have to do a repair to one of the stoves. All that bureaucratic stuff I thought we'd be doing a week ago? There's still all that to be done now. And presumably the well tank will be in, and we'll have to get them out here to dig. Which likely means a day or two without running water again.

And I hope it's in by mid-week, at least; the new assembly already began burning out after something like three days, 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. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, are 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 Gift of a Wide-Open Turquoise Blue Sky

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for these hot summer days, and for the blessings we are granted when the sky opens. It's a pair of earrings in shape of raindrops touched with drips of sun, the gift of a wide-open turquoise blue sky that is nothing less than the First Medicines of the water and the light.

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 next week, with luck. 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.      

In process.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

In process. It's the latest, likely done tomorrow: a heavy-gauge triangle-wire cuff with wraparound freehand filework, with an oblong focal of red tiger's eye. Yes, it occurs that way naturally. There's a blue variant, too, known as hawk's eye, although he doesn't have any of that in inventory. He has three other red tiger's eye cabs, I believe, each a different shape.

Some friends came by this morning, so they got to encounter Cricket, the feral guard dog. Wings is doing a special commission for them, which is why he's not taking on new ones right now; this one will keep him occupied for a while. But it was good to see them in person, and they were headed to the protest in town from here, doing what we could not.

No, this isn't a day we celebrate. Mostly it's just tiring, and I'll be glad to have it in the rear-view after this weekend. We've got enough to deal with right now, starting with the new well tank, which is on order allegedly supposed to be in this coming week.

And I hope it's in by mid-week, at least; the new assembly already began burning out after something like three days, 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. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, are 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 Blue of Sacred Waters and Sky

Photo copyright Aji, 2025;
all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with the medicine of a sacred sky, a trio of clearly related works for the waters and the light. It's a necklace, pair of earrings, and cuff bracelet, all created independently of each and offered separately, yet built around Skystones from the same parcel, all manifest in the blue of sacred waters and sky.

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 next week, with luck. 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.     

Something bright.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Present from my honey. Something bright in here to counteract the gray of the day.

To be clear, I don't mind gray days at all. But after sun this morning, the rest of the day's been pretty dark indoors, courtesy of the black stormclouds outside and the literal cloudburst we got this afternoon. No, I did not get a shot of the rain coming down in an absolute wall of water, but that's what we got.

There's more coming down over the north/northeast peaks right now, and we're supposed to get more tonight as well. Probably not the extreme weather we got this afternoon, but with the drought we've had, we'll take whatever we can get and be grateful for it.

Still behind on everything , hence the reason this is posting tonight instead of, you know, this morning, or at least early afternoon. Next week is clearly going to be a mess, too, in part because everything will be closed tomorrow. The stuff I thought we'd be doing the first of this week got bumped [not by us] to next week, and we're also hoping that the well tank is in and we can get it replaced next week, which is going to be a whole mess on its own, since they have to dig the old one out and then install the new one underground.

And I hope it's in by mid-week, at least; the new assembly already began burning out after something like three days, 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. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (new priorities, needed for Miika, are 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: Along the Trail of a Turquoise Blue Sky

Photo copyrightWings, 2025; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT featured work that dates back to 2008, if memory serves, and to a ring that embodied the turquoise trail that the tourists never see. It's a ring I'd forgotten in Wings's then-intermittent and informal series of layered-bezel works, reminding us that we travel daily along the trail of a turquoise blue sky.

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.  We have had huge expenses looming over us, including the replacement of our well tank presumably next week. 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.          

No wonder I'm tired.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Beautiful day, but no chance of rain.

So much for the forecast, all the talking heads breathlessly declaring that this was "the beginning of the monsoon season" and it would start with flooding daily rains.

They really need to quit predicting anything, because they're always, always wrong.

No real sleep last night; too much pain, and I find myself incredibly stressed. No word yet on the well tank; no word yet, either, on the bureaucratic stuff that we were supposed to take care of this week. And no time for any of the things I need to be doing, because so much other crap keeps derailing it all. And the stress, the relentless, unremitting full-body pain, and the fatigue mean that I forget all sorts of things. Just like yesterday. No, I remembered Wings's birthday; that one's hard-wired. What I forgot is that it's also now the birthday of The NDN Silver Blog, which launched on July 1st, 2014 [the Web site, of course, is much older, dating back to 2007, but back then it didn't have the capacity for a blog]. I've been doing those posts every single day for eleven solid years, and haven't missed a single day. Good grief; no wonder I'm tired all the time.

Supposedly, though, we'll be able to get the new tank in next week [I hope; the new assembly already began burning out after something like three days, 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, are 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.                  

Of the Blue Sky Are Whole Worlds Born

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an all-new masterwork to honor the First Medicines, and for their gifts in these long hot days of summer. It's a bolo manifest as both the water and the light, reminding us that of the blue sky are whole worlds born.

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.    

Work.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

Today is Wings's birthday, so of course, what's he doing? Work. In the garden, in the studio, you name it. He just cannot believe that he's not still in his 20s.

This is one of his two latest works in progress, both of them heavy-gauge triangle-wire cuffs.  The other is stamped on both upper angles; this one has wraparound scorework incised deeply, diagonals on either half facing each other. And it's all freehand work, as always.

Most of my work was indoors, as it usually is now. We used to be able to split a lot of the outdoor stuff pretty evenly, but almost dying multiple times and never fully recovering tends to kind of prevent that. Besides, if I tried most of it now, my tendons and ligaments would disintegrate completely and rip my joints fully out of their sockets, instead of the partial way they do it all the time these days. It looks as though I'm never going to have any of that functionality back again. [Of course, it also looks as though my pain levels are just going to ramp up continually, no more remission.]

Anyway, if you're wondering what I got him, I got him a pair of hearing aids. Yes, because that's what happens when you get to our ages. He has huge difficulties with mainstream aids, and that includes all the really expensive in-the-ear kinds, and finally, I got fed up with the fact that they don't seem to make any for people like him, and dug around until I finally found one that claimed to be different. It had 132 reviews, every single one a full five stars, and I had trouble believing it, but they addressed the very problems he was having. And they were anywhere from 1/2 to 1/10 the cost of most brands, so I figured it was worth trying them. And the reviews were right! Finally, he has his hearing back somewhat, and he really, really is enjoying having them. [I wasn't sure how long they'd take to ship, so I ordered them a good while ago, and they came in about 2 weeks ago; he's been wearing them ever since.]

And all day long, I've been thinking it's Saturday. No, don't ask me why; ever since the last legal holiday, my sense of time has been completely screwed up. It's still going to be a busy week, at least the next two, three days. Some of it [okay, most of it] is bureaucratic stuff that has to be handled., and the people I was expecting to have to deal with yesterday and today have ghosted me for the moment, so that's two days already gone. Not my favorite thing to do, but vastly preferable to what we were doing a week ago without water.

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.                 

Red Willow Spirit: A Sky Blue With the Gathering Storm

Photo copyright Wings, 2025; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for the gifts that are at the very very heart of summer. It's a trio of related images linked by a single new wrk of wearable art shown from two perspectives, all of them illustrating the beauty and power of a sky blue with the gathering 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 in 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.