A little rain, a lot of turning leaves and uncooperative four-leggeds. A lot of bills still mounting. Sales and subscribers and shares all badly needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

That's out the east windows a few minutes ago. The clouds have since resolved, more or less, into a solid gray veil, and we have a little bit of rain here courtesy of their payload. Not much; not nearly enough. Overnight, the west willows, the big lush ones that are among the last to turn every year, went yellow from the side branches out. yes, they're still mostly green overall, but we have whole branches that are not.

It's been a bitch of a day from jump: hot, oppressive, very little sleep. Right off the bat, the ferals all took off out onto the highway; there is water in the stream on the other side of the highway (although not ours, natch), and it brings all the small creatures out of hiding, which appeals to the dogs' predatory instincts. (Yes, they all survived and made it back safely.) Then, the first attempt at integrating the horses bombed spectacularly. It all seemed to be going very smoothly; Wings actually brought them together yesterday, with only the carrot stick between them, and then today, we brought Miskwaki over to eat out of the dual trough. All seemed fine; of course, they waited until I was in the shower and he was on the roof of the RV to start shit. Now, he has one abrasion on the inside of the knee of his left hind; she has about four lacerations on her left hind. I'm fed up with both of them at the moment (yes, I know, I know, better than most, actually, and we'll deal with it accordingly, but right now? I'll be in a more forgiving frame of mind once I get some decent rest).

Speaking of pain, like I've said, I'm still not sleeping, and still dealing with jacked pain levels and repeated small episodes like what happened to me in November. This is not letting go, and I don't know how much of it is related to this ungodly het and how much is something else, and no way to find out. It makes it a lot harder to deal with the autoimmune pain, though, to say nothing of my worthless left wrist. I'm also not worth much in terms of anything physical, and having only one really functional hand makes me even less useful. All this puts me way behind, as always, so here comes the cut-and-paste. We very much, very badly need sales and new Patreon subscribers, and if you subscribe today, you won't be billed until August 1st. We have got to make some sales, though. The last big tourist even of the season, the Fiesta, is over, with very little trade accompanying it for anyone. Business is nonexistent all over town, and without those sales and subscribers, I honestly don't know how we get through this drought, both literal and metaphorical, with no tourist trade and not much else, either. Here are the links and a request to share them:

• My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
• Wings's site, for sales, with new items posted;
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount);
• Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of animal and household stuff;
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. There are new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need to replace (either because the RV ruined it or because we gave it away when we had to downsize).

I had said that I'd really like to raise another $500 in subscriptions before July is out, just to have a little more to throw to the medical wolves that are constantly at my throat. That never ends, either, and the stress is not helping with the cardio stuff. Now, we've got a lot more that needs to be done, too, and I'm damned if I know how. The truck was more than enough to throw a wrench in the works (and that's still unfixed, for the most part, given that just the one part is more than $1,200, so . . . ), but this thing with Shade? Out of left field. And once you're in it, you have to keep going; there's no way out but forward, whatever the result. So please, please share the links. Thanks to everyone for the prayers and kind words and other help for Shade. I know she was better off for it, and I know she appreciated that. Miskwaki, too, and now his new girl, who never knew how good life could be until now.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.