No blue skies.

Photo copyright Aji, 2019; all rights reserved.

Those are not blue skies.

Oh, I know it looks like it, but see that sort of electric quality to the contrast between the greens of the leaves and the blue above it? That's because, momentary sun notwithstanding, that's a wall of pure storm. It moved north and east yesterday evening, isolated and clearly visible; I might use the traveling storm shot on my Patreon later. Probably more of the same, weather-wise, for today. For now it's hot, hazy, and humid, the haze courtesy of the various wildfires and controlled burns around the area. So the skies are blue, but even now only nominally so. 

No blue skies in other ways, though.

We learned a hard lesson last night: Don't ever buy buffalo from white ranchers/ producers. This is the second time we've had a problem (two different ones, from different states, this one very local). Right after I started eating dinner last night, I knew something was wrong; I wound up very, very sick all night long and into today, and Wings isn't feeling so hot, either. What was labeled "bison" was either beefalo or just flatly plain old cow. Both of us digest buffalo just fine (as well as elk and venison); neither of us can metabolize beef. So I'm feeing extra crappy today, and extra out of it. A full-body allergic reaction is not a good thing, especially when your body's already in full reactive, inflammatory response for other reasons. Anyway, back only to Native sellers. Sadly, Picuris no longer has their Bison Project, but Wings called around, and Pojoaque has one of their own now; the gentleman he spoke with told him that we are welcome down there any time, and they will always sell us what we need, including a butchered yearling next spring if we can afford to do it.

That's always the million-dollar question, of course. We would save a ton of money by doing it that way and freezing everything, but I don't know what the up-front costs would be. ::Shrug:: not something I need to worry about for months yet, at least. For now, there are plenty of other costly stressors keeping me up at night. We had set aside some money for [at least a little of] the medical testing I was supposed to get done yet this year, and since Friday we've paid out ~$4,500 in taxes, medical bills and expenses, insurance, etc. And once again, my health has to take a back seat to everything else, and so do the repairs on the plumbing disaster, which is also affecting my health in tangible ways. 

So, yeah, I'm discouraged right now, and I don't see any way out. I'm still suffering this invasive, full-body reaction to the steroids. My pain levels are completely out of control, unresponsive to such pain meds as I'm allowed (which isn't much, but it usually takes the edge off; not today, though, and a lot of that is due to the fact that I can't sleep, from, you know, the pain and inflammatory response and the breathing issues). I'm about an inch from dissolving myself, and I can't, because there's so much work to do, and so many things that have to be paid. Every time I think I've managed to get us ahead of the curve, even the tiniest bit, we get slapped back down, and the stress and fatigue are killing me.

I've got to make some sales NOW to cover all of this, so what follows is all the cut-and-paste: sales here; testimonials here; wishlist (such as it is still) here. Thanks to the two folks who sent in testimonials; once again, I'm going to try to get them up tonight, although it all depends on how the rest of the day goes. We need more folks to send them in, too. Wings dropped his new bead pieces (two necklaces; four pairs of earrings) a few days ago; you can find the summary post here. Please share their individual links, and be on the lookout for the other new works, especially the belt, which he hopes will be done finally this week. He also has two new cuffs (which, if all goes well, will drop later today or tonight, so please be on the lookout), two new necklaces, and a pair of earrings in the works. [Edit: Also, his new beads are waiting at the P.O. box here, as noted above, so he will no doubt have more in the new series of necklaces and earrings soon, four of the latter of which dropped the other day, here; these are from a U.K. lapidarist, and they are a phenomenal selection, so please share them, as well.] And while I spend every spare moment chasing those sales, there aren't many spare moments for me these days, especially with my ongoing breathing issues and whatever else is going on that they haven't identified yet. So please, help us get the word out. I've got to bring in more sales somehow.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2019; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.