Still too much to get done.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Snow is mostly gone; only traces left now. There's more in permanently-shadowed spots, of course, but even that won't last long now, given the warm-up that's coming. We're already at 60 here, no matter what the official reports say or what the wind chill makes it feel like.

I was feeling infinitesimally better this morning, but not now. Of course, I've also been overdoing it, but 1) shit has to get done, and 2) when a flare is this bad, doing literally anything at all is "overdoing it." I don't have a choice. And now I have a dilemma, because tomorrow is chemo day, and I'm not sure whether I should take it or skip it. Either could prove horribly problematic, and there's no way to tell in advance which is the worst option now.

I'll probably decide at the last possible moment tomorrow.

For what's left of today, there's still too much to get done, and not enough hours, never mind enough energy on my part. I've got to bring in a bunch of sales, and I've got to do it now. Have to shell out $650 cash last week to replace Miika's hay was not in the budget. Our floor for sales and breaking even is making a minimum of one sale per week for the year, and we're almost three weeks in the hole already. I may have those three new bead necklaces fully up tonight; I'll post them on social media, whether the descriptions are done yet or not. But I've got to do something. Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse and ensuing septic disaster; and the LaminaSaver, because apparently Miika's out of it again];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to begin this year on a better footing than the last two.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.              

A Silver-Spangled World In Full Winter Flower

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's one of Wings's newer works, wrought in vintage style to honor the crystalline bloom of frost on the wintergreen and on the cold season's other medicines. It's a wearable reminder that for some time yet, ours will still be a silver-spangled world in full winter flower, in defiance of all that contributes to climate collapse, and that is cause for gratitude. 

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. It's a new calendar year, and we very much need to make this a better than the last two have been. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail, and we're already nearing three weeks without one.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.   

Substance.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Here are the three: the two greens, light and shadow; and the purple/pearls, which does not perfectly match but is meant to coordinate with his newest coil and loop earrings. These are weighty; it always amazes me, when he's done, how much substance there is to the beads he uses.

I'll try to have them up by tomorrow, but no promises. I'm absolutely wrecked. I still felt like hell yesterday, but there was just too much that had to get done, so I did it, and then I had to get up this morning, and wow, was everything ever a mistake. Today's high winds made it all so much worse; I've spent the day hobbling, not even able to stand up completely straight, because it wasn't enough to have my left knee dislocate yesterday; my right hip had to do it overnight, too. And I'm still plagued by that feeling of my body literally dying around me, and good god, I really hope I'm over that nonsense by Monday.

Because I don't have time for any of it. I've got to bring in a bunch of sales, not least because of that HUGE chunk of cash that we were not anticipating having to lay out this week. And aside from that, we just simply need to have a much better sales year overall, with fewer catastrophes outside our control, than the last two have presented us. And that means, just to break even, at least one sale per week [and we haven't made one yet in 2026, so we're already two full weeks behind, and we need to rectify that and then some, preferably tonight]. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse and ensuing septic disaster; and the LaminaSaver, because apparently Miika's out of it again];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to begin this year on a better footing than the last two.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.             

The Cloudswept Blue of a Cold Cobblestone Sky

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a masterwork for the powerful skies of midwinter, wrought in uniquely beautiful fashion. It's a big, bold cuff with an unusual "overlay," formed of old, old turquoise nuggets from Wings's private collection, manifest here in the starkly textured beauty of the cloudswept blue of a cold cobblestone sky.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. It's a new calendar year, and we very much need to make this a better than the last two have been. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail, and we're already more than two weeks without one.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.   

Friday, and it has been *a day*.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Friday, and it has been a day. At least my honey brought me those. They're beautiful, and they smell lovely, too.

I had so much to do today that couldn't be avoided, and a lot of it was physical labor: laundry, linens, outdoor stuff, indoor stuff, even made homemade adobo potato soup with bacon, garlic, and chives, which will be great tonight because it's freaking cold out there again. And there's all the mutual-aid stuff, and I've got a few that have to get resolved; I've also got about four people who have not gotten back to me, and if you don't get back to me, I'm not sure what you expect me to do, because I can't just snap my fingers and make it all happen by magic. If folks won't respond with the info required, there's nothing I can do about it, but my time and bandwidth are both limited, and I'm done chasing people around. I get up every morning to new requests in my inbox.  There's a long line behind them.

And then there's the date: This would've been my dad's birthday, and if you know me well at all, you know those kinds of reminders are for me. If he were still alive? He'd be 102 today. But these kinds of markers are hard, and not for the reasons most people think.

But I'm still dealing with all the crap regarding my health, or, more accurately, lack thereof. As I said yesterday, I'm so tired. Just . . . the fatigue is killing me. And yes, that's part and parcel of chemo, even the low-dose chemo they use in people like me for autoimmune disease, because it does cause cell death [which is why I take methylated folate on my non-chemo days]. But I have felt for weeks as though my body is literally dying around me, breaking down at the most basic level and dying, and I'm so over this already. And since my right knee finally decided to go back into place the other day, today, my left one decided it was time to pull the same nonsense. It's partially dislocated, the swelling and pain are immense, and no, there's nothing I can do except ride out it out, which is all I can do with any of this shit.

And on top of it all, my own regular work is endless, which is why I'm still doing it this late in the evening. I've got to bring in a bunch of sales, not least because of that HUGE chunk of cash that we were not anticipating having to lay out this week. And aside from that, we just simply need to have a much better sales year overall, with fewer catastrophes outside our control, than the last two have presented us. And that means, just to break even, at least one sale per week [and we haven't made one yet in 2026, so we're already two full weeks behind, and we need to rectify that tonight, and then some]. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse and ensuing septic disaster; and the LaminaSaver, because apparently Miika's out of it again];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to begin this year on a better footing than the last two.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.             

Friday Feature: The Electric Blues of a Deep Winter Sky

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a trio of neckwear works, a bolo and two necklaces wrought in old traditional styles that are not dissimilar, but are also utterly unique. All are wrought freehand of sterling silver and set with extraordinary stones that manifest in the electric blue of a deep winter sky, and all the power and medicine they hold.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. It's a new calendar year, and we very much need to make this a better than the last two have been. That begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail, and we're already two weeks without one.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.  

Welcome to *my* world.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

The second one is now done. Well, done except for findings, both of them; he's planning on adding those tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have enough time to get them photographed, uploaded, descriptions written, and actually for sale.

They're not so much day and night as shadow and light, I think. The first, which is on the right, is strung with green-flash faceted Labradorite briolettes, sterling silver, high-quality faux pearls in a gorgeous silver-gray, green aventurine, Columbia jade, green moss agate, regular Labradorite, and fine silver. It's less forest daylight than forest moonlight, I think. The second one, on the left, is shadows: not night, but forest shadows in daylight, I think. It's strung with green-flash faceted Labradorite briolettes, sterling silver, hematite, green aventurine, Columbia jade, verdite, regular Labradorite, and fine silver. FWIW, as far as I can tell, "Columbia jade" is not jade at all, but a form of verdite, which is sometimes called "African jade," and is not a stone at all, and therefore not a mineral, but a rock, but it manifests in that brilliant green. 

Confused yet? Welcome to my world.

But this is the work, one very small part of it. And my world is not something anyone wants, for a lot bigger reasons than that. I'm so tired. Just . . . the fatigue is killing me. And yes, that's part and parcel of chemo, even the low-dose chemo they use in people like me for autoimmune disease, because it does cause cell death [which is why I take methylated folate on my non-chemo days]. But I have felt for weeks as though my body is literally dying around me, breaking down at the most basic level and dying, and I'm so over this already.

And the work is endless. I've got to bring in a bunch of sales, not least because of that HUGE chunk of cash that we were not anticipating having to lay out yesterday. And aside from that, we just simply need to have a much better sales year overall, with fewer catastrophes outside our control, than the last two have presented us. And that means, just to break even, at least one sale per week [and we haven't made one yet in 2026, so we're already two full weeks behind, and we need to rectify that tonight, and then some]. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [priorities are the rugs, to replace those destroyed 2 years ago by the leachfield collapse and ensuing septic disaster; and the LaminaSaver, because apparently Miika's out of it again];
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

And we do still need to make those regular weekly [daily now, really] sales, so please share all of the links. We really do need to begin this year on a better footing than the last two.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2026; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.