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| Photo copyright Aji, 2019;; all rights reserved. |
That was the clean side. Wood shavings and dust everywhere right now. Yeah, I'm staying indoors as much as possible. Stuffy, though, with the windows closed. Thank heaven for the adobe downstairs; it's a full 20 degrees cooler in here than outside through the middle of the day.
We did get some nice feedback from the organizers of the annual parish fundraiser. It's a husband-and-wife team who are friends of ours, and the husband just told me that his wife couldn't sleep all night, thinking about the pieces we donated and how best to maximize them for the good of their charitable work. Nice to know we did something good.
The other work just won't let up, though. Two mornings in a row that we've had to go to Questa; tomorrow will make three. Today, we had to return some of the grit that won't work and buy additional pads for the sander. We were going to return it this evening, but they said we can do it tomorrow morning and they won't charge us for the extra day, which is a relief, because we both have so much that we need to be doing here the rest of today. I am also doubly (at least) slow with everything right now, because my pain levels are completely out of control. It's all part of getting this done before winter, though, so it's one painful foot in front of the other, all the time.
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. For August, a record number/amount of my Patreon patrons' cards were declined, too, so that income is lower than usual (no, I don't know who and haven't checked; I'm not going to contact anyone who probably is already scrambling to juggle their own stuff, too).
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 completed Monday — 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 Monday 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:
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. All the other stuff is helpful, too; the candles are to deal with the residual mildew odor in the utility room (which we have to get the plumber out to finish, probably next week, which means more $$ out the door, and I'm tearing my hair out trying to juggle it all; I'll be canceling some medical stuff to do it).
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.
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