Bent-Beak, back to free-range. A miracle, and the crew's coming back, but truck repair/medical/other stuff looming. Sales/subscribers/shares still needed

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

Little Bent-Beak, out ranging yesterday with the rest. Of all the Americaunas, she was the one who had the most perfect tail: high, full, broadly fanned, expressive. All gone. Most of her comb, too. She's got a long recovery ahead of her, and there are still no guarantees. But she's mobile, pecking and scratching, drinking lots of water, willing to let me pick her up and hold her briefly, and she's made herself a little nest in the north corner of the inner coop to stay warm at night (her balance isn't good enough yet, at least, to hop up on top with the other girls). We're doing everything we can to make sure she makes it.

Good news on the construction front: Thanks to a big sale yesterday and some help from another quarter, the crew will back to work tomorrow. We're hoping they can get the stairs completely finished this week. There's a lot more to do on the house, but the stairs were a safety issue (and one that couldn't be done until we could have the doors wide open to deal with the dust and sealer). The rest is important, but most (not all, but) of it can likely be pushed into next year without it being an issue with regard to insurance, etc. Thank you to everyone who made it possible for us to keep them on the job another week. I can't describe how it feels — the prospect of having safety railings and balusters at the top so that I don't pitch over when my balance fails me (as it has done innumerable times both on the stairs and at the top, so I've had to give the edge a very wide berth). 

All that said, we still have huge expenses looming, particularly the medical ones. Those are not going away any time soon (nor is the hounding that accompanies them), and the truck is going into the shop tomorrow morning to find out exactly what's going on (and see if we can get a lower estimate than Wings's regular mechanic gave us). We know it'll be expensive; the question is just how bad it's going to be. And now, I have to get to work — with my health issues and the level of stress I'm carrying these days, I'm always behind — so the rest is cut-and-paste.

There are a lot of ways to help out. First, obviously, is sales; purchases of Wings's work (and/or work by the other artists whose art we carry) is always the first option, and it was the baseline for the construction in the first place. [And next week will be their last, most likely, because he don't have the cash to pay them beyond that for the labor — and right now, it's virtually all labor.] Second is subscribing to my Patreon page, which gets updated regularly with really cool imagery and a good amount of really good writing; if you now for September, you won't be billed until October 1st. Below there's also a link for "coffee," which allows folks to make small donations, and a couple of wishlists for keeping the animals in kibble and filling out needs around the house. In the middle is the link to Wings's PayPal account, and no, I won't turn away any donations, because we have to get this done and I have to have some peace of mind over it because I have none over my own survival these days). The only fundraising we'll be doing is right here; nowhere else. So here are all the links; please share them around, and if you are able to purchase, subscribe, donate, whatever, we'd be profoundly grateful:

• My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
• Wings's site, for sales, with new items posted;
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount);
• Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of animal and household stuff;
• 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).

That all I've got. I'm going to be back under the gun for the next several weeks. Thanks to everyone in advance. 

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.