Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Red Willow Spirit: A Lushness of Earth and Sky

Photo copyright Wings, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for hot midsummer days and dreams of cooling rain and light. It's two images linked by a single work of wearable art, the petals of summer bestowing upon us a lushness of earth and sky.

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 will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so shares 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.       

Monday, July 3, 2023

A hot blue.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Colonial holiday notwithstanding, we were up and at it very early this morning. It's a hot blue out there, and unspeakably dry, and tonight through tomorrow night will put us all at wildfire risk because of people's fireworks nonsense.

We spent more than two hours today in the dentist's office, a different one, and wow, you can really, really tell. I mentioned a few months ago about a situation in which a certain professional screwed us out of a huge amount of money only to produce less than nothing and leave Wings essentially abandoned. That was the situation I meant. Apparently said dentist is in bankruptcy receivership, and I'm sure there will be no getting any of what they owe back. But at least we have a professional place to go forward and try to get his dental issues resolved once and for all. For folks who don't know, diabetes raises dental problems to the level of a medical emergency, and he's been dealing with these for literally decades; this is one of those things that has to be fixed for his own health, and I will go without whatever's required to scrounge up the funding to do this. All told, we're probably looking at $25K, but unlike they who shall not be named, these folks are doing it properly, as a process, and I can have some time to scrape together the amount for each stage. It was about $300 out of pocket this morning, and the next phase will be about $1K; then it gets much more expensive from there, but at least it's a start.

But it doesn't help that June was a damnably expensive month, particularly these last two weeks. Part of it was local relatives in dire need right now. Then there was the hay yesterday morning, cash. And my Patreon is down this month (i.e., yesterday's payout for June) by more than $250, which is a huge monthly hit that we can't afford. I don't know whether it's just folks' cards being reissued with new expiration dates and thus not going through, or whether there's been that much drop-off in subscriptions, but at the moment, it's a big problem, and I have to find a way to get the numbers back up, but right now, I don't even have time to write, never mind anything else. Oh, and Stormy has to go to the vet in two weeks; might require surgery (or lifelong meds) to treat, and if so . . . ::sigh:: I don't know how I'm going to pull all this together. 

Damn.

So I have to bring in more sales, and soon. Thinking that we were okay for now was entirely predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can possibly go. There's a lot of new work on the site already, including Wings's absolutely phenomenal new cuff, which you can see from all angles here (and you want to see it from all angles, believe me). Meanwhile, Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too (two cuffs, two pairs of earrings, a bead set of necklace, earrings, and coil). And I really do need to start bringing in consistent sales again; the year's only half over, and there's a lot of expense to get through yet. All the links are listed below, so please share:

  • Sales here; 
  • Testimonials here; 
  • Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
  • Patreon here;
  • Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, 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.                

Monday Photo Meditation: A Fog-Enwrapped Green

Photo copyright wings, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for a week of colonial reminders, and for unscheduled promises outside the drought's deadly scope. It's an image from just shy of a year ago of a fog-enwrapped green, and a world still worthy of hope.

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 will still need to make consistent sales in this fourth year of pandemic and loss,  and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so shares 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.     

Sunday, July 2, 2023

So many more to go.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

They showed up an hour or two early this morning with the hay. Now you know what $1,200 looks like. Doesn't look like much, does it?

But at least Miika will be covered through the winter. And it's beautiful hay. Not as good as ours used to be, but nothing is. Compared to what's been on offer locally, this stuff is great.

So that's one thing down. So many more to go.

And as I said, June was a damnably expensive month, particularly these last two weeks. Part of it was local relatives in dire need right now. Then there was the hay this morning. And my Patreon is down this month (i.e., yesterday's payout for June) by more than $250, which is a huge monthly hit that we can't afford. I don't know whether it's just folks' cards being reissued with new expiration dates and thus not going through, or whether there's been that much drop-off in subscriptions, but at the moment, it's a big problem. 

So I have to bring in some more sales, and soon. Thinking that we were okay for now was entirely predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can possibly go. There's a lot of new work on the site already, including Wings's absolutely phenomenal new cuff, which you can see from all angles here (and you want to see it from all angles, believe me). Meanwhile, Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too (two cuffs, two pairs of earrings, a bead set of necklace, earrings, and coil). And I really do need to start bringing in consistent sales again; the year's only half over, and there's a lot of expense to get through yet. All the links are listed below, so please share:

  • Sales here; 
  • Testimonials here; 
  • Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
  • Patreon here;
  • Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, 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.                

A Persistent Feeling of Abundance

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's one of Wings's newest works, a cuff to honor these glorious days in the middle of summer's green eye. It's a work set with an extraordinary stone, old turquoise in an unusual but powerful shape and shade, here to remind us that there is a persistent feeling of abundance in the air now, and to be grateful for it.

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 in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share 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.     

Saturday, July 1, 2023

A pretty good day.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Too much shade for a good shot, but that's Wings having just opened a gift from a very dear friend of ours who shares the same birthday. She had commissioned a barrette some time back in very specific stones/colors, to match some of her other work by him, and the stampwork wound up taking the form of twinned half-mandalas. What he's holding is an LP painted in a mandala that looks astonishingly like the barrette.

He absolutely loves it.

So far, he's having a good birthday overall. The weather is glorious, even if there's no rain (at least not yet). We're avoiding the terrible heat that's affecting points east of here, so it's not so hard to be out in it today. As I said the other day, he "found" ::ahem:: my gift to him three days early, but I'll be making his requested dinner tonight (a ribeye with herbed Japanese sweet potatoes and Vidalia onions), and all in all, it seems to be turning out to be a pretty good day.

But as I said yesterday, it's also been a damnably expensive month, particularly these last two weeks. Part of it was local relatives in dire need right now. And we have to shell out $1,200 in cash tomorrow to cover Miika's hay, but at least then, hopefully, it will be done for the year. But there's so much else to come, and I'm so short on time all the time these days.

So I have to bring in some more sales, and soon. Thinking that we were okay for now was entirely predicated on the assumption of consistent sales for the second half of this year; if we don't make them, then no, we're not okay now, because I have to make everything stretch a lot further than it can possibly go. There's a lot of new work on the site already, including Wings's absolutely phenomenal new cuff, which you can see from all angles here (and you want to see it form all angles, believe me). Meanwhile, Wings has more silverwork and gemstone bead items in rotation, too (two cuffs, two pairs of earrings, a bead set of necklace, earrings, and coil). And I really do need to bring in consistent sales; the year's only half over, and there's a lot of expense to get through yet. All the links are listed below, so please share:

  • Sales here; 
  • Testimonials here; 
  • Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
  • Patreon here;
  • Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, 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.                

Water and Fire In Summer Celebration

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a whirlwind tribute to that gift of summer here, a storm-tossed wildfire sky. It's a spiraling strand of extraordinary gems, honoring the elemental medicines of water and fire in summer celebration.

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 in this fourth year of pandemic and loss, and just breaking even means making at least one sale a week, so share 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.