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| Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. |
The Swainson's knows me now, too. She came flying from out of nowhere yesterday evening, squeaking and chattering, and she circled over and over the house and where I stood, just talking at me, before soaring away back toward the mountain.
Maybe she missed us, being gone much of yesterday. Or maybe she knew I needed a little boost of energy to get through all my work last night. Or maybe both. Whatever, it worked, and I finally got some sleep.
The task list grows today, though. Meanwhile, Chinook came up yesterday with a puncture wound, and we're not sure of the what or the where. She's on Day 2 of antibiotics, and we're monitoring for now. We're hoping it's just that, a barbed-wire puncture, and hat treating it will take care of it. If not, it's back to the vet next week. ::Sigh:: more expense.
Expense on all fronts now. Of course, locally, our economy is already in tatters. A new wave on the heels of this reopening nonsense, and/or a second epidemic of West Nile (since we have our first confirmed human case of the year in the state, announced the day before yesterday), will leave it just smoking ruins and rubble. Obviously, we'll have no in-person clients and customers this year, none of those who make a practice of visiting annually and buying while they're here. And with so many people out of work, our online sales are way, way down, too.
And yet . . . another almost $200 out the door yesterday, because the medical stuff has to be paid. But I have GOT to bring in enough to cover all these costs piling up. I'm sick with the stress of it. It's endless, and new things keep piling on daily.
After three years of no crops due to drought, and now the pandemic, we HAVE to be able to go back to growing our own food and medicine this year. It's not optional. And to do that, we're going to have to drill a well in the north field. And no, I don't know how we're going to pay for it, but I have to bring in enough sales somehow.
That's just the BIG one. Over the next few weeks, I have to pay our first two rounds of quarterly taxes, about $3,300. One or two big sales would take care of that one. But that's not optional, either, and I need to get this off my plate so I can focus my worry on things less immediately dangerous to our well-being.
We'll have to pay the guys for their help with regard to the water, even if it doesn't work. We've had to hire River back, because I cannot do the work anymore and there's too much of it for Wings to do alone. He's struggling to make rent; worse, his truck now has a cracked head. All of that's going to cost a lot, and he doesn't have it. We can front him some advances intermittently, but we can't pay for the whole shot right now, which leaves him potentially without transportation to come to work. And I can't transfer my ancient Hyundai to him until he can get the paperwork done, and the MVD offices are all closed at least until June.
Also, the lawn mower that we paid $500 to fix? They didn't fix it. Wings started mowing Sunday, and the same damn hose came out and started spraying oil everywhere. The guy came out yesterday to look at it; there's no way we can haul it in because, one, you can't even get it into gear to load it, and two, there's that problem of oil spraying everywhere. He's got to reorder the hose and bring it out to install it. Plus there's my laptop, blowing up routinely (again last night, and so my e-mail's borked until I can fix it again), and my camera, dying slowly, and they are our livelihood, too.
It falls on my shoulders to figure out how to make all this work. And right now, my shoulders are bowed pretty far over, hence the injections today; I can't take on anything more until I can get some of these burdens off them. I also can't conjure the cash out of thin air. So please, share our links; send me testimonials to post on the site; and if you've had your eye on something, for yourself, for Father's Day/graduation/wedding/other gifts, now would be a really, REALLY good time.
The links are here:
Note: For now, please don't buy anything off the Amazon wishlist; to do so would be crossing a picket line, and some of their workers have struck this morning to fight for safer working conditions because their lives are being put at even greater risk during this pandemic. If you find one of the items elsewhere, wonderful (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else).
Other than that, please share everything. Thanks.
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
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