Local jewels.

Photo copyright Aji, 2022; all rights reserved.

More work in progress, along with several other pieces in various stages that aren't shown here. This will be a work of local jewels, literally — or jewel, singular, anyway. This is one of the few places on earth where staurolites are found, and they are indeed naturally-occurring phenomena. Wings has a handful of them, and one is slated to find its way into the next cuff.

Nothing else feels particularly jewel-like after the week this has been. I'm beat, but I'm not getting any sleep because of my pain levels, and also because of the systemic effects of the lupus meds. The constant outlay is also bedeviling me, and combined with everything else, it makes work all that much harder, and I have really, really got to pull in some sales immediately.

Yesterday, I paid the rest of the regular monthly bills (my medical loan, insurance, etc.). And as I said earlier, I went to the doctor Wednesday, for another $200 cash out the door in one go. As I also said, thanks to the lupus meds, I've been effectively OD'ing on insulin for a full year now, which is the reason my blood glucose is through the floor even as I've put on 25 pounds in that one year. The new protocol is MAH (major autohemotherapy), which we're going to try in a couple of weeks. If I'm eligible (we'll determine that then, with an on-site lab test), they will draw some of my blood, mix it with ozone, and transfuse it back into me.; think of it as the poor person's plasmapharesis. It helps with oxygenation, with helps with the muscle/joint/connective tissue problems for some people, and it also helps suppress or kill outright certain infectious agents. Given that much of my problem is lifelong post-viral syndromes, anything that suppresses opportunistic infection is probably good. Of course, it may not do a damn thing, but it might, and I need something to work, so we're trying it. It'll likely take at least three treatments before I really have any idea whether it's going to help or not, which means over $200 a pop. I've rescheduled my pain therapy for the first week in September, which is another $560. And I also still have to worry constantly about how to meet all the tax installments (another one due now on this year's taxes; quarterly for next year due in September) and other medical bills still to come, plus farrier/horse vet next week. So, yeah, I need to make some consistent sales this week and the next few weeks. Badly.

And I can't even get any time to push sales, because I'm so far behind on everything else.

Meanwhile, as you can see, Wings is still cranking out new inventory when he can, but he's suddenly having to be much more mindful of what he creates, given the crisis-level spike in silver prices. As I said earlier, we just learned that both silver suppliers in this state have more than tripled their silver prices (for some types of silver, much more), which has left me pretty badly shaken. And it's across the board; even small things, like findings and earring wires and backs, have gone way, way up. He's got enough for now to do what he needs to do, but nothing's going to change anytime soon, given that the justifications for it will be "supply-chain issues," "fuel prices," "war in Ukraine," and "inflation"; these prices are here for the foreseeable future. It's going to put a lot of Native smiths and jewelers completely out of business, and to make sure that Wings does not become one of them, I have GOT to make some sales. That's especially true with the holidays coming; these silver spikes are going to make this fall a crisis point for a lot of jewelers. Unfortunately, I'm being hobbled by everything else, not least of which is this flare that is making the progression in my illness much worse: numbness, contractures, crippling pain, another side effect that has forced me to discontinue my lupus meds entirely (dangerously low BG, and now I'm getting the muscle-contracture effects of doing without it). I'm going to need help to do this. All the links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priority is first and foremost, the other ladder; also sheets);
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

We're still hoping to put aside enough for a new well when the ground thaws enough to drill in the spring, too, Nah, we've given up on the well. No one's available to drill before late next year at the earliest, and this year's tax burden means we would never be able to afford it anyway. But it's even more of a good time to make a purchase, because Uncle Sam is a vindictive colonizer, and my current stress levels about paying it all are off the charts. And there's lots of fabulous work, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2022; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.