The Warming Fire of Winter Starlight

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for winter days and cold, cold nights, for flames given by the spirits of prophecy and renewal. It's the feathers of the Spirit Bird as you've never seen her before, bearing the warming fire of winter starlight on her wings, the better to help us outlast the dark once more.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales as we enter this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and while most of the holiday season is officially over, there are opportunities for belated gifts and many occasions for gifts thereafter, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

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

Everything's melting.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

One of those long, long days where nothing goes the way you intend and everything takes far longer than it should. Stuck waiting for deliveries, one of which is now delayed indefinitely with no updates, because FedEx is terrible (and it's something we had to have and they're the only the shipper the seller uses, but unfortunately it's perishable and will likely be worthless at this rate). Then we had to go into town, and the colonizer nonsense that began this day from a few hundred feet overhead was echoed at the post office, up close and personal, with someone being abusive to staff (no, I did not stand there and let him do it unchallenged; what the hell do you take me for), and lo and behold, it turns out that they may actually be the same person, so . . . .

Anyway, we got home very late, by which time the clouds were back. Most of them, of course, aren't actually real clouds; they're contrails, some of them from colonizers openly violating the MOU (and buzzing our house and land, like this morning, AGAIN), and sucking all the moisture out of the sky, thereby deepening the drought. It's getting up to 45 every day now, and everything's melting: mud everywhere, but if we don't get snow again very shortly, it'll be dry all too soon.

And I'm getting to everything incredibly late, because of everything else that took up the rest of the day. As I said, my mind is tired, my body is tired, both are sore, and still, I need to bring in one sale a week to break even. Still trying to have that new cuff posted by tonight, and a new necklace tonight, too, but it might have to be tomorrow; depends on how efficiently I get everything else done tonight. All of our links are here; emphasis on sales and testimonials for now (and subscriptions, if you're looking for that; I'll have more on that to come in the next few weeks, hopefully with some changes):

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priority right now is the liquid soaps, any fragrance);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site (and there will be more to come for Valentine's Day), so please share all of the links. 

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

Friday Feature: A Cold Celestial Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a masterwork of old-style, eminently traditional Indigenous silversmithing that tells its own story of following the sun. It's a cuff wrought in old freehand techniques, its texture and glow manifest, like the winter sun, in a cold celestial light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales as we enter this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and while most of the holiday season is officially over, there are opportunities for belated gifts and many occasions for gifts thereafter, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

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

Mostly gone.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Forty degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and the snow is mostly gone. Unfortunately, that means that people think that means they can take the roads at high speeds no matter the time of day or the other conditions. We've had three rollovers in the space of a week, one of them just this morning. The high school is on lockdown today; COVID cases are up even though there's virtually no testing or recording, meaning that they're actually A LOT higher than anyone knows; and the climate is better suited to the end of the April than the second of February.

We're in trouble here on so many, many fronts now.

But the freaky weather has another nasty side effect for me, sending my symptoms skyrocketing, and just being is extremely painful. I don't see that changing anytime soon, but it's hard to cope with the constant progression, when there's never a single moment's respite.

So my mind is tired, my body is tired, both are sore, and still, I need to bring in one sale a week to break even. With luck, I'll have that new cuff posted by tonight, and a new necklace probably tomorrow. All of our links are here; emphasis on sales and testimonials for now (and subscriptions, if you're looking for that; I'll have more on that to come in the next few weeks, hopefully with some changes):

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priority right now is the liquid soaps, any fragrance);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site (and there will be more to come for Valentine's Day), so please share all of the links. 

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

#TBT: Sun On the Snowy Ridge

Photo copyright Wings, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a #TBT work that dates back some fourteen years or so, a simple, elegant embodiment of season and place. It's two delicate strands of silver, stamped freehand in an evocation of sun on the snowy ridge that surrounds us, fused together in a cuff like the arc of the light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work will never 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 will still need to make consistent sales as we enter this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and while most of the holiday season is officially over, there are opportunities for belated gifts and many occasions for gifts thereafter, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

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

Trinkets.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023;
all rights reserved.

Flowers . . . and trinkets. Wings bought me the flowers yesterday, brilliant yellows and deep purples. The trinkets are mine.

Wings has me learning to make jewelry.

Part of it is that he thought it would help strengthen my hands again, and lemme tell you, over the last two weeks that's been a nightmare, with three fingers that wouldn't bend or unbend. They're doing a little better this week, since he made me copper rings for each one that I've been wearing full time. I can finally make a fist with each hand, which I haven't been able to do for weeks. Part of it is that he somehow thinks I have creative capabilities that no one else has ever thought I have, so he wants me to explore it. So I'm just starting slowly on the new hobby, which does have the advantage of allowing me to play with beads and stones and metals and clear my mind in the process. These are all very much 101-level wire-work, like something a child would do. But it's fun, it takes my mind off things, and I can already see clear improvement in working with the materials. My biggest problem is my hands and fingers not being able to do what my brain is telling them to do. But I have a new bracelet that's actually wearable, and I made a key chain for him last month in the style of the hearts.

Speaking of clearing minds, the cops' nonsense in the early, early hours of Sunday morning turned out to have tragic consequences. Their bullshit in stampeding the elk needlessly resulted in a baby being separated from its mama, and it apparently wandered southwestward into the west field . . . and got brought down, also apparently, judging from the results, by what was probably a pack of coyotes. It's mating season, they're absolutely feral then, and they've been around. The dogs were agitated by them Sunday night. And Monday, they scent of what was left summoned them through the fence; Wings follows them and found it. He's taken care of the remains, but it breaks my heart. And all for nothing, except a bunch of cops playing around at high speeds shining spotlights all over where they didn't belong.

So my mind is tired, my body is tired, both are sore, and still, I need to bring in one sale a week to break even. All of our links are here; emphasis on sales and testimonials for now (and subscriptions, if you're looking for that; I'll have more on that to come in the next few weeks, hopefully with some changes):

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priority right now is the liquid soaps, any fragrance);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site (and there will be more to come for Valentine's Day), so please share all of the links. 

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

Between the Stars and the Winter Winds

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork for bright skies and beloved spirits, those with us and those who live on in memory. It's a cuff created in honor of our departed red paint horse, one who I like to think still visits his companion here between the stars and the winter winds.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We will still need to make consistent sales as we enter this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and while most of the holiday season is officially over, there are opportunities for belated gifts and many occasions for gifts thereafter, so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

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