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| Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. |
That was late yesterday morning, still about two inches on hard surfaces, although it was already melting into the ground. The 2-5" predicted for last night never materialized, because it apparently didn't get quite as cold, courtesy of the fog moving back in late; we had rain early that turned to snow in the air by late evening, but it melted on contact. The mountains will have gotten some, though, I have no doubt; I can't say for sure, because they're entirely hidden behind a solid gray-white wall this morning. Fog and clouds will probably burn off by early to mid-afternoon, though.
We're lucky that the deep freeze was mostly momentary, like, largely, the snow itself. The garden didn't get as badly damaged as we had feared, nor did the trees; late yesterday, purple asters were blooming stubbornly out of the earth. I think the earth has been so terribly dehydrated that it didn't even really process the cold; it was too busy soaking in the water as fast as it could.
Still, winter is here. And yes, that's worrisome, not merely because it's this early, but because it's in a drought year, and a pandemic year, and things are bad. One of chickens (Dahlia, one of the oldest, and one of the two who survived Coyote's attack a couple of years ago) doesn't have much time, and so I'm just trying to keep her comfortable and happy for whatever days she has yet; she's still engaged and motivated by food, at least. But I'm battling monstrous pain and fatigue, all of aggravated by this ridiculous weather, so the rest is cut-and-paste, but if you haven't read it yet, please do, because if you're a Patreon subscriber, particularly, there's something that might apply to you.
After a summer of stolen dogs and drought and almost no sales and a tidal wave of illness and death and community need, sales are so few and far between that I don't know how we're going to make it just on that basis alone. And my Patreon is down drastically. For August first, it was down by $100, which is a significant hit, but manageable. This month? Tuesday's payout was down by $360. Three hundred and sixty dollars that I was expecting to be there that isn't. Now, it might just be that people's cards have expired and they haven't bothered to update them. They've changed their interface, so I have no way of knowing who, so PLEASE check to see if it's you. And if that's not it; if you want to unsubscribe? Then please, please, actually unsubscribe, so that I don't get to the end of a month with all indications that we will be $360 further ahead than we are. That was going to bills and car repairs, and now . . . ::shrug:: nope. And I have quarterly taxes, four figures' worth, breathing down my neck for October, too.
I am struggling now. In every conceivable way. Pain levels are out of control, which by definition means too little sleep. I can't get enough hours in the day to do the very minimum of my own work. The stress I'm carrying, on multiple fronts, is staggering now. And I'm about $1,500 now $900, thanks to a sale Saturday morning (and thank you so much, E), down from the last 2-3 weeks' worth of outlays (some of which were not even for us, but helping in our communities). The kennel is covered, thanks to a bunch of y'all; at least when it arrives maybe I can get some work done again. But on top of all of this, I've now had to bump the car repair yet another week (or two, or three, or more), because it will require a tow plus a costly repair, which, combined, is probably going to set me back more than $700. And winter, as the saying goes, is coming.
WE HAVE TO MAKE SALES. I can't do this alone. We need help.
Wings has a bunch of new work out, too. Check out the Bracelets and Rings Galleries on the site; five new entries in the latter, and a couple new cuffs in the former, plus Sunday's spectacular new work, which you can read about here. There is also a lot on the wishlist that is urgent, particularly fly spray, his KT tape, the cleaning supplies to deal with the plumbing fallout, and the air purifiers, because yesterday was the first day I've been able to breathe at all in weeks, thanks to the constant smoke (and the inability to breathe is complicating my health severely in all kinds of ways now).
The links are here:
[Obviously, the wishlist is back in force. There are things I absolutely cannot get except through Amazon, and I can't add that stress onto all the others now.] Please share everything, because I have got to make regular sales; that part of it is all on me. Thanks.
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and 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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