Spring storms, power outages, delayed schedules, and shares needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2017; all rights reserved.

So, this is what the weather did to one of our piñons this morning. It's broken in four separate places (one was cracked already from last year's spring storms, hence the rubber-covered twine [no longer] holding that branch in place). It also sent the magpie nest sliding, which I suppose means that they'll be limited to the condo they built in the neighboring cedar tree unless they decide to rebuild elsewhere. This tree will now be too exposed for them to use.

That wasn't all the weather accomplished. Up-mountain from us, it supposedly downed a bunch of power lines (of course, Indian Killer Utility's definition of "a bunch" could just as easily be "one"). At any rate, the power went out at 6 AM (and thus the water, too, since the well pump is electric, never mind our Internet access, with a router that requires electricity), and we didn't get it back for eight and a half hours. We did, however, get bitter cold and a hard north wind this morning, leaving me bundled up in three layers of fleece, a hat, gloves, wool socks, a poncho, and two blankets, all with no heat and no coffee and this tin can rocking back and forth in the wind. And then this afternoon, the temp shot up to 50 degrees.

We really do need to get out of this place. This year.

Here are the links to share:

• 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.

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.