So much gold.

Photo copyright Aji, 2023; all rights reserved.

I literally cannot remember the last time we had so much gold up there. We thought those stands were gone forever.

What a gift.

First frost coming tonight, reportedly. There'll be a lot more gold and red and bronze tomorrow, and not all of it will be still be on the branches.

Winter's very close now. As I said, the first was officially the start of our holiday creative season and it's going to be 16-hour days for the next three months. That's the way it is every year, because what we sell during this period? Was always traditionally what got us through the first half of the next year.

Not this year. This year has been so slow that we're way behind on everything, including prepaying next year's taxes [that's a zero; a big fat zero]. The rapid progression of my autoimmune disease this year isn't helping, especially not these last couple of weeks. Wings finally laid down the law with regard to the mess that is my right hand: no use of it, period. He keeps applying topical stuff, I'm using traditional medicine on it, and I have it in a brace, and after the last several days of almost zero use, I can finally straighten my fingers again [mostly], although not my thumb, and today my thumb a little, too. I can type a little. I can feed myself properly. That's about it. It's still in the brace, and the wrist is still wrecked. I can't do anything that flexes it (IOW, I can't really do anything at all). Still. Just having the swelling mostly out of my fingers is a big plus right now. Knees and feet are another matter entirely, and not in a good way. Nothing I can do about them, though.

But it's meant that I can't DO anything. It's also meant that he's taken over all the stuff I would normally do, and so he hasn't been able to get any studio time until Sunday, and that wasn't much. And I'm so much farther behind on everything, even more than I usually am: pushing sales, paperwork, housework, you name it.

We have to make up a LOT of ground financially over the next three+ months. A LOT. And it's clear that, even if my dominant hand and wrist weren't functionally unuseable, I cannot maintain the pace or workload I have in years past. Half the time I can hardly walk, because my hips, knees, and feet are the same situation. That means that we need help with shares, and with testimonials, too. If you have some of Wings's work and are willing to have a testimonial published on the site, send it to me via the Contact form (we will list you however you wish, by name, name and initial, initials only, some other way that doesn't identify you; you can see an example n our newest, here). All the links are listed below, so please share:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (apparently the sponges are unavailable, but the other two things I need that I can't get here are the Bar Keeper's Friend coffeemaker cleaner and descaler; we're entirely out of both [or Amazon cards, and I can order them myself]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site, and there wll be much, much more in the weeks to come. The way this year has gone, things will still be grim for a good while and the holidays will be here before you know it, 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.