New crew member & a faster work pace. New & fabulous art coming up.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

Yeah, that's from January, too. Even so, starting tomorrow, it'll change drastically: metal lath over everything, preparatory to interior plasterwork beginning next week. We hired a third guy onto the crew today, an experienced mason with a lot of plastering expertise. Both guys know him, and can vouch for his work; again, it's kind of the family business for him. He starts on Monday, gave us a really good hourly rate, and if we can afford him thereafter and he wants to work on the rest of the project, we'll keep him on the crew.

Yes, I'm watching dollar signs racking up again, and I feel an anxiety attack in the offing.

Most of the day was spent on other issues, and we were lucky enough to get cooperation on some of what we needed. We also got one honest-to-god miracle out of this day, and It's a huge weight off our shoulders. Nothing to do with the construction, but in very fundamental ways, something far more important.

Now that the crew's back to work, though, it's clear that the pace is going to pick up, and very fast. Interior plasterwork next week means that they may be ready to do exterior plastering as early as a couple of weeks thereafter, depending on weather and temperature. And, of course, there's a huge amount of work yet to be done inside. Still sick or no (and yes, I am), I'm going back to painting on Thursday, because I've got to get that done so they can get to work on the bathroom and bedrooms.

What all this means is that I'm not going to have much of a reprieve on the fundraising. I'm going to have to set up the next one sometime in the next week or so. Yes, I hate it, but there's nothing else to do; sales this time of year are far too slow to fund construction at the pace we need now. In the meantime, though, folks can still share Wings's site, and the wishlist for the Lowe's cards. More than anything right now, we need to make sales, so getting his site in front of as many eyes as possible is the quickest way to help. And, of course, anyone who wants to add to their own collection, hit me up via the Contact form. Also, those of you who've expressed an interest in, oh, say, barrettes and butterflies? Stay tuned tomorrow. It might be late in the day, but I'll have something new and fabulous (also, this weekend, a new turquoise cuff, lapis/amber and/or turquoise earrings, and at some point, a precious little carnelian baby bracelet).

And now, I'm about ready to crash. I got through the whole day despite cough and migraine, but my body's giving out, and so is my brain. Thanks for the link shares, everybody (and for everything else).

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.