Animal crises and gathering storms. New love dancers at Wings's site. Sales (and shares) very badly needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Every Valentine's Day seems to involve a crisis with one of the animals. Last year, it was Cree (tomorrow evening is the one-year anniversary of the day we lost her). Today, it was Shade. Fortunately, it seems that it might turn out not to be much of a crisis after all, but it required getting the vet out here today (on her day off, poor woman, but she's a good friend).

Wings discovered blood on the manure and sawdust of one of the stalls while mucking them out today (yes, on, not in, indicating the likelihood of a cut of something similar). Shade was just ambling up, so we checked her over. It took a bit to find it, but he noticed a drop of dried blood above her right rear hoof on the inside; looking up, she had dried blood on the thigh. Further yet, she had inflammation and bleeding above and around the nipples. Last year, she developed a soft mass there that seemed to have disappeared with treatment, but given the location, it seemed urgent to get her checked. By the time I hobbled out with the camera to try to get images for the vet, she had ambled back out to plant herself in the red willow stand and scratch. Sure enough, it seems that such scratching is the culprit.

The vet thinks that it's mites; the warmth has been so extreme this winter that all sorts of insects are around and breeding happily that shouldn't be. We're treating it accordingly, and it'll take a while for the swelling to go down and the abrasions to heal, but if this treatment works, we can assume that's what it is; if she's not better by Tuesday, it'll need closer monitoring, given its location.

At any rate, that's been most of our Valentine's Day. As usual. Our concession is splurging, in dietary terms, on pasta for dinner tonight (I'm making linguine with pesto), and watching winter sports on the TV machine. Having to help with Shade wiped me out a lot more than I anticipated, so I need to be fairly quiet for a few days, if possible. My chest hurts constantly, and since we supposedly have 3-5" of snow on the way tonight (that photo was a couple of hours ago; it's a slow-moving storm that's supposed to pick up some 40-mph winds late tonight), staying quiet and indoors is what I need to do. But I've still got a lot to do yet tonight, so the rest is mostly cut-and-paste. But we've got to bring in more income to cover everything (not least, monster medical bills), and Wings has a brand-new work up at his site, just completed today. I love these (and I had a hand in helping him design them), and they're perfect for today, so please share them.

All of this means that we still need sales, which means we need shares. Badly. Again, if you're thinking about donating, DON'T. Give it to Bobby to help get Don Feliberto back into a real home. Here's the latest update. We know what it's like not to have one; we have one now, and donations need to go there to get this elder safe again. I posted a second piece at my other site a couple of nights ago about Bobby's efforts in Puerto Rico, including his adoption of Don Feliberto to get this abandoned elder into safe space again. That will tell you what he's up against, and my e-mail's in my Blogger profile here (or you can DM at Twitter/FB); hit me up for his addresses if you want to contribute, either cash (most needed) or household and other items, some of which you can purchase outright via the Amazon Wishlist Bobby's set up here. He's added a bunch of new items, all badly needed, and I can testify to the fact that need for the power cords, the tools, and the solar lights and equipment is probably exigent at this point. That said, when you're in a situation like Don Feliberto is, it's amazing how wonderful clean clothes and good coffee can make you feel, too.

What we need are SALES. Please. Spread the word. I know it's now too late to ship in time for Valentine's Day, but people have birthdays, anniversaries, I-love-you days; there'll be other holidays and seasons coming up before you know it. Please spread all of our links around on FB and Twitter and other social media, via e-mail and word-of-mouth, to your family and friends and colleagues and whoever. The O2 issue is now solved, but there are all the ongoing regular expenses, the astronomical medical expenses, and of course, someday we'd like to be able to get the house finished. I have no hope of that happening anytime soon; I don't know how we're going to get through the rest of this winter, given current circumstances. So here are the links: 

• Tonight's post elsewhere (what the silence holds in the face of the storm);
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to She-Wolf's & my medical bills);
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• Wings's site, for sales;
• Wayfair gift cards, to replenish all the furnishings that the RV has destroyed in one way or another.
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. There are new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need to replace (either because the RV ruined it or because we gave it away when we had to downsize).
• Partial registry #2, from Wayfair. There are some things left on both registries that I thought by now I might be able just to buy outright, but medical bills (mine and She-Wolf's both) have to come first.

I had planned to some new stuff to launch at my new site today (or, rather, long before today), but between lack of money and technical issues, that's still on hold. This business of ignoring my symptoms and my pain  and discomfort does seem to be helping my brain and body both find some sort of accommodation with this oh-my-god-you're-going-to-die thing that keeps happening, which is to say, every time it crops up, I smack it ruthlessly back down and force myself to sit and breathe through it. I dunno how long this will keep working, but I'm going to bulldoze my way through it as much as possible, DX or no. Thanks, everybody, from both of us, for everything. 



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.