If only.

Photo copyright Aji, 2019;; all rights reserved.

It must be really, really nice to reach such a state of complete and utter relaxation, to be able to sleep without a care in the world.

If only.

Well, at least Chinook sleeps. Lucky, lucky dog. I wouldn't know what that is.

::Sigh:: speaking of lack of sleep, also having trouble not only with pain but with breathing today, and it's making me really irritable. We had to be up and out of here early to go pick up the sander, so there's all that money out the door, although the real monster is the labor. On that, there's noise and vibration and wood shavings and dust EVERYWHERE right now, and its driving me up the wall. I can't focus, can't concentrate, and can't really go outside because of the dust. The constant interruptions aren't helping my mood, either.

I've got a ton of work to do, sales to chase, and we're running out of time.

As I said before, the work the guys are doing has to be done before the weather turns cold, much less before the first snow (which, by the way, local elders are apparently predicting for late September this year, not mid-October). We're already tapping the funds we had set aside for my medical testing to do this (and I have some testing at the end of this month that cannot be put off, so we'll have to pay for that anyway). I don't have the requisite alchemical powers to manufacture money out of nothing, but as always, I'll find a way because I have no choice. But we have got to make some sales.

The medical expenses aren't going to let up for me, either. Nothing's changed on the pain front; see here for details if you really want to know (it's not pleasant). What we're having to expend now to fix all this before winter comes (and when the guys are available to do it), because it will be many more times as expensive if we have to replace everything next year because it rotted over the winter months? That's what we had set aside for my future medical testing later this year and into next (because there's a LOT of it yet to be done, and it all costs a fortune). So I'm having to push sales to replace that, and that means it's all stress all the time, because I now have to raise a lot more money sooner than I expected, and still deal with whatever might be in the offing medically. Some of the details are here; the upshot is that I've got to raise about $3,500 just for this first go-around, which I hope will cover about three weeks' worth of labor on all this stuff. We've managed $755 in sales, which means another $2,745 to go, and I'm so tired.

I'm going to be slammed all week, in terms of both time and money. Today is no exception. Wings did get his four new necklaces posted completed yesterday — ones that he crafted these to complement four of the stand-alone pairs of earrings in that collection (and I expect that he will likely wind up doing the same with all of those that have not yet sold, but we'll see). I posted them (with their coordinating earrings) here last night, so please go to the links and share them all (and buy if you happen to be in the market, of course).

Anyway. Back to the grind; so I need help to get all this done. Folks can help in several ways:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here. 

On the wishlist, there are two MAJOR priorities right now:  the fly traps and the peppermint oil. The former are needed in quantity because this is horsefly season, and the numbers are overwhelming our efforts; the latter, because it's the safest, most human method of keeping mice out, and with lows now in the 40s, they'll be trying to find a way in every, house, studio, vehicles, barn, chicken coop, you name it. Also, around here? It's deer mice. You know, the ones that carry hantavirus and plague.

And as I said, sales are ideal, of course; one or two of Wings's bigger pieces would cover the whole shot for this round of work. Patreon subscriptions are good, too. Either way, it's a trade for value. But I'm already feeling panicked at what we thought would be our schedule being so suddenly and thoroughly upended, and we'll take it however it comes at this point. Oh, Wings dropped new bead pieces a few days, with more to come probably over the weekend/early in the week (the reason I'm laying them out for him today, as it happens); you can see, share, and shop the newest ones here.

Please share everything, because I'm suddenly back behind the eight-ball on a whole additional front, and yeah, I'm scared about covering everything and surviving, too. Thanks.

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.