Underground.

Photo copyright Aji, 2019; all rights reserved.

That's one massively pregnant prairie dog. We have three hunting dogs, so they'd both do well to stay underground.

::Sigh:: the little grackle girl we saved last week (she'd fallen [we thought] into the horse trough overnight and nearly froze to death, but Wings brought her to me to thaw her out, and she was on her way in under half an hour) didn't make it. I wondered at the time whether she'd actually fallen in or been dropped in by something larger that was trying to carry her off. I found her (the horses made sure of it) yesterday morning, lying dead not far from the trough, with feathers missing on her sides and a broken neck. We managed to give her a few more days, but I imagine the earlier injuries made her slow, and thus vulnerable.

On top of that, I had to send River to Urgent Care a little while ago; he got stung by a wasp at a friend's house last night, and instead of receding, the swelling was increasing. He was afraid we'd be upset at him not finishing out the hours he was scheduled for today; I told him never, ever to let anyone tell him that anything matters more than his health and well-being. Hopefully it'll turn out to be nothing more than just an unusually intense reaction; I think I've identified what got him, based on his description, and harsher reactions are not unusual, but they also mostly pass after a few days. But always better safe than sorry.

So everything seems to be underground or underwater or under this damn smoke haze or under some other oppressive development. That includes my own health, of course, and the financial issues, which are both driving up the wall. As I said, we had set aside some money for [at least a little of] the medical testing I was supposed to get done yet this year, and since Friday we've paid out ~$4,500 in taxes, medical bills and expenses, insurance, etc. And once again, my health has to take a back seat to everything else, and so do the repairs on the plumbing disaster, which is also affecting my health in tangible ways. 

So, yeah, I'm still discouraged right now, and I don't see any way out over the long haul. I'm still suffering this invasive, full-body reaction to the steroids; there's been a little lessening, but not much, and I have no idea how long it's going to take to get this out of my system. As a result, my pain levels are completely out of control, unresponsive to such pain meds as I'm allowed (which isn't much, but it usually takes the edge off; not today, though, and a lot of that is due to the fact that, other than last night, I can't sleep, from, you know, the pain and inflammatory response and the breathing issues). I'm about an inch from dissolving myself, and I can't, because there's so much work to do, and so many things that have to be paid. Every time I think I've managed to get us ahead of the curve, even the tiniest bit, we get slapped back down, and the stress and fatigue are killing me.

I've got to make some sales NOW to cover all of this, so what follows is all the cut-and-paste: sales here; testimonials here; wishlist (such as it is still) here. Thanks to the two folks who sent in testimonials; once again, I'm going to try to get them up tonight, although it all depends on how the rest of the day goes. We need more folks to send them in, too. Wings dropped his new bead pieces (two necklaces; four pairs of earrings) a few days ago; you can find the summary post here. Please share their individual links, and be on the lookout for the other new works, especially the belt, which he hopes will be done finally this week. He also has two new cuffs (which, if all goes well, will drop later today or tonight, so please be on the lookout), two new necklaces, and a pair of earrings in the works. [Edit: Also, his new beads are waiting at the P.O. box here, as noted above, so he will no doubt have more in the new series of necklaces and earrings soon, four of the latter of which dropped the other day, here; these are from a U.K. lapidarist, and they are a phenomenal selection, so please share them, as well.] And while I spend every spare moment chasing those sales, there aren't many spare moments for me these days, especially with my ongoing breathing issues and whatever else is going on that they haven't identified yet. So please, help us get the word out. I've got to bring in more sales somehow.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2019; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.