Dogs and trees and storms edition. Shares needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Well, it appears we're back up to four dogs.

Not literally — they're still spending their nights wherever it is they've been living up until now — but Raccoon is over here bright and early every day now, and her brother (or boyfriend, whichever) has begun joining her. Meet Smoke. He looks so much like Lilith it's scary. Nah, I have no idea what their real names are, or whether they even have names, but we have to call them something other than "Dog," "Hey, You," or "Butthead." That last applies to ours as much as to them, so it gets confusing.

The snow is virtually all gone, fourteen inches of it. Oh, there's still a light layer out in the fields, but it's really just a few inches of white slush. Here, it's mostly mud now. And our piñon tree actually broke in SIX places, at least two of which are irreparable, so Wings pruned it a little and we tied up the biggest break that looked like it might be able to reattach itself over time. We're going to see whether the other three breaks are manageable. Even so, it's shot as a home for the magpies for now.

In the meantime, blue-black clouds are amassing in the west, and the storm that was supposed to hit tomorrow into Monday is now slated for tonight into tomorrow. Rain turning to snow again. And, yes, the high was 64 today.

I have also discovered that I am in no way back yet. My cough is now mostly gone, although it comes back every night and early in the morning for a while. My energy levels? Nonexistent. I know I can't expect to bounce back like I did was 20 (or 30, or even 40), but I was really not prepared for just how bad, and how long-term, this is apparently going to be. I can't think straight, can't carry on a conversation, mostly can't even construct a coherent sentence. I was supposed to paint today, and [insert cackling with an edge of hysteria here] there is just. no. way.

I'll try again tomorrow.

In the meantime, shares. We need 'em. I'm sorry; I'm just too wiped to do anything but copy and past from last night's post, so here goes:

• Wings's PayPal account, for donations to the house fund (out of a current $30K goal, we've as of this moment raised $2,300 since Monday, leaving a balance of $27,700.
• His Web site, for sales (always preferable, and the base upon which the whole project hinges anyway, along with paying our day-to-day living expenses) — and just by the way, he's got some really incredible new works up now.
• Our Amazon wishlist, which contains Lowe's cards that will allow us to purchase some materials more cheaply than here in town, and also allow us to divert the extra funds to labor costs.

And as I also said last night:

Many thanks to the folks who have donated, purchased art, bought wishlist items (Gorilla tape, already in service since Shade decided to charge through barbed wire a couple of days ago; aloe, which is keeping Ice healthy; and the Lowe's cards, which will be put to use on materials just as soon as we can schedule a supply run down to Santa Fe). And many, many thanks to everyone who has helped us so much, whether it's with donations, purchase, shares, diaries, moral support, or just lending an ear/hand/shoulder when recent weeks have threatened to steal my sanity along with our health. We love you all.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.