Monday Photo Meditation: From Fire and Time Come Fragments In Black and White

Photo copyright Wings, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a Monday Photo Meditation for one of the flame-tempered arts of the summer season, and for its timeless gifts that last centuries, even millennia. It's an image that Wings took deliberately some dozen years ago for illustrative purposes, of ancient pottery sherds from his private collection and the truth that from fire and time come fragments in black and white.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We still have to ensure that we break even on the year, and that begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail.

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.

Hope remains a stupid and stubborn thing.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Look at all those beautiful dark clouds. It's been like this all day, and not a drop of rain. The mercury shot up near 100 again, though.

::Sigh:: hope remains a stupid and stubborn thing. 

Speaking of hope, that's probably the only thing that will get me through this week. I have seriously overdone it the last three days straight, which will probably knock me flat tomorrow, and I don't have time for that. I also have GOT to bring in some sales, preferably tonight, because I've got to order a bunch of supplies for him this week, and silver is absurdly expensive now [gouging; it's gouging], and will only get ore so as we head into fall. I've also got a couple of other big-ticket things to take care of before the first, and that only happens if we make some sales now. And we can still use help with shares, testimonials, wishlist stuff I can't get to yet, etc. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [the current remaining priorities are the LaminaSaver for Miika, and the Farnam fly spray, which is the very last item on the list as it displays here, despite being "highest" priority, so go figure];
• 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 get this year onto a better footing than the last two, a year that, so far, has been very grim.

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.

Of Dark and Light and the Flames of Night

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the lights of summer, for the little fires in the dark that keep us safely on the proper path. It's a pair of old-style loop earrings, a traditional design rendered in unusual materials that embody the gifts of our post-sunset world, of dark and light and the flames of night.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We still have to ensure that we break even on the year, and that begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail.

 

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.

So much in the works.

Photo copyright Aji, ,2026; all rights reserved.

Me holding one of three new cuffs he's got currently in progress. All three are slender but solid; two have single larger stones, this one six smaller ones. There's also a ring in the works, and a multi-stone figurative necklace [jasper, turquoise, and citrine].

I said he was rockin'. He's got so much in the works, and a lot more in the way of ideas he's turning over in his mind, too. If he keeps going like this, we should have a really spectacular selection for the holidays this year. 

Then, of course, I need to sell it all.

I need to make some sales this weekend, too. It's been a hugely expensive year thus far, and that's not changing anytime soon, apparently. This past week, it was all repair stuff that was years overdue, and supplies for his work. This coming week, more repair stuff, plus I need to order him a bunch of silver before it skyrockets again, and there a piece of equipment we need that's $300.

So I'm going to have to make this up with sales, and fast. I've already got to bring in a lot more sales than I expected us to need at this particular moment. July's always one of the worst months of the year in terms of expense, anyway, but this month has been an unholy mess of expenses, and I really need to make some of that up over the next few days, especially with more big, mostly one-off expenses looming fast. And we can still use help with shares, testimonials, wishlist stuff I can't get to yet, etc. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [the current remaining priorities are the LaminaSaver for Miika, and the Farnam fly spray, which is the very last item on the list as it displays here, despite being "highest" priority, so go figure];
• 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 get this year onto a better footing than the last two, a year that, so far, has been very grim.

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.

Rain Is Where Earth Meets Sky

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work for the return of real summer, which here is defined as the rainy season. It's a pair of earrings wrought in an old traditional style updated for contemporary wear, perfect for the truth manifest here today that rain is where earth meets sky.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We still have to ensure that we break even on the year, and that begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail.

 

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 Spirits of a More Ancient Sky

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a pair of works that capture the beauty and power of this ancient land, and its resilience too. It's two necklaces wrought in traditional styles but updated with unusual elements, both of them infused with the spirits of a more ancient sky, and of the land and waters and light, as well.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. We still have to ensure that we break even on the year, and that begins with a minimum of one sale a week, without fail.

 

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.

Any day now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2026; all rights reserved.

Yes, out of order tonight. It's been a day: six separate errands, and we accomplished it all in under four hours, but it was a lot, and as badly as my body is handling just, you know, staying upright and breathing, this will wipe me out for several days to come.

I am not doing well, at all. But that's the nature of this illness, and I suspect it's not going to improve. This was the first time I've left the house in . . . I don't even know how long. Two weeks? more? and the reason I don't go anywhere is because one trip to the grocery store wipes me out for a week. Today, it was grocery store, two pharmacies, bank, post office, and the one fun part, which is what you see up there.

That's what an unholy amount of money looks like. Actually, it's a really good deal; if I had tried to buy him that same sort of collection online or at one of the bead ships [if there even still are any] in Santa Fe, it would have been much more, because our friends who run the local place price their offerings very fairly. And we've also been planning for this, because he needed to stock up before it's time to start building inventory for the holiday season.

Given that August first is right around the corner, that's basically any day now. 

Still. I'm going to have to make this up with sales, and fast. I've already got to bring in a lot more sales than I expected us to need at this particular moment. July's always one of the worst months of the year in terms of expense, anyway, but this month has been an unholy mess of expenses, and I really need to make some of that up over the next few days, especially with more big, mostly one-off expenses looming fast. And we can still use help with shares, testimonials, wishlist stuff I can't get to yet, etc. To that end, links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here [the current remaining priorities are the LaminaSaver for Miika, and the Farnam fly spray, which is the very last item on the list as it displays here, despite being "highest" priority, so go figure];
• 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 get this year onto a better footing than the last two, a year that, so far, has been very grim.

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.