We always hope for the best, but we also always know to expect the worst.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

It's another miserably hot, dry day. When even the official forecast says it'll get up past 90 (today, tomorrow, and Tuesday, increasing each day), then our actual temperature here is going to perilously close to the century mark.

Supposedly, the rains begin on Wednesday. We'll believe it when it happens. After the way the summer has gone so far? We always hope for the best, but we also always know to expect the worst.

And worst it has been.

Aside from my own condition worsening, there's this mess with Wings's dental work. And this is the week I take Stormy to the vet to see what's going on with her. Best case scenario would be a simple UTI, treated with antibiotics. Unfortunately, I can already tell it's not that. The question is what degree of bad it's going to be: what it's going to set us back in cash this week (and potentially far beyond), and more importantly, what it means for her health. I'm choosing to focus on the fact that she's her usual energetic self (read: wild and into absolutely everything), seems to have no discomfort beyond the boys bothering her, and seems otherwise incredibly healthy. 

Because I can't even entertain the alternative.

I still don't have this Patreon e-mail issue resolved, and this is on top of it beyond down around $270 as of July 1st, a hit we couldn't afford but here we are. If they won't resolve it, then I'm out our only guaranteed monthly income, and I don't know what we'll do then.  There are still all of next year's taxes that need quarterly prepayments, and I only just got this year's paid off. No matter how hard I work, we can't catch a break. Every time I think I have a handle on whatever's immediately in front of us, two or three or four new things pile on. The weight is starting to break me.

But the dental stuff is going to be $25k before we're done, and for us, that's all in cash, and . . . $25K. I don't even have words. Or anything else. I'm just numb. But I can't let Wings go without this dental work; aside from the damage to his quality of life, for a diabetic? It's a medical issue, and two different dental institutions have spent years jerking him around and risking his health and well-being, and there is apparently nothing we can do about any of that, only move forward with the new dentist to fix it. At a five-figure cost, of course.

So I have GOT to bring in more sales, NOW. But our Web site hits are down drastically from what they should be in any given month, never mind the middle of the year. This despite the fact that there's a lot of new work on the site already, including Wings's newest trio, one for those who love the blues, just finished yesterday and up here; and his absolutely phenomenal new cuff, which you can see from all angles here (and you want to see it from all angles, believe me). I posted the two new pairs of earrings here the other night, and the new gemstone bead trio featured lasts week, here. Meanwhile, he has more silverwork in rotation, too (two cuffs, more earrings). And . . . $25K. I don't have any way to solve any of this outside sales, so I'm begging folks, please: All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (current priority still the Zero-Odor sprays, because these days we're back to wet dogs again; and the liquid soaps, which we can't get locally); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and things are grim here, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.