Sometimes you get a surprise.

Photo copyright Aji, 2019; all rights reserved.

Sometimes you get a surprise.

Among all the other things we had to do yesterday was a quick down-and-back trip to Santa Fe. We had some business to take care of that had to be done in person, things to sign, and neither of us was feeling very well, but we had already had to delay it far too long. That took a about an hour and a half, and I hadn't had a chance to eat all day, so we went to the place we usually go for lunch: Jambo, which is owned and run by a chef from Kenya's Lamu Island. I've posted about them before; we've gone there since they first opened, because their African and Afro-Caribbean food is outstanding, with modest prices, and the owner returns a percentage of his profits to his island, where his foundation has already built a school and and a maternal-and-child hospital that were badly needed. Two or three years ago, they opened an import shop two doors down from the restaurant, and it's where Wings goes to get authentic African beads that he sometimes incorporates into his work.

Our original plan for our next trip to Santa Fe had also involved going to our usual supplier; he's badly in need of certain stones, especially the larger turquoise focal cabs. We almost always make a trip for that purpose alone this time of year, because those are the supplies he uses to build his holiday inventory (and fulfill commissions). But money is just too tight. We talked about it over lunch, and decided that, entirely aside from the amount of pain we were both in yesterday (aggravated immensely today because of the trip), we just couldn't afford it. We could, however, potentially afford a few strands of the beads that Jambo Imports sells, and it was a chance to see Ali, who runs the shop and has become a friend. So we walked over, and sure enough, he was there.

Together, we selected several strands of beads (you'll be seeing some of them in the months to come, ranging from more ordinary trade beads to varnished bone and painted shell beads, one strand each of mahogany and ebony, and some gorgeous shellacked paper beads that look like glossy stone or glass, hand-made by women on Lamu Island to recycle newspapers and magazines and other colored paper items). I was looking rather wistfully, probably, at one of the racks of textiles — scarves and shawls and fabric to use in decorating — and ventured into the back room where they keep a large supply stacked up, including some amazing hand-colored indigo cloth. Not to buy, of course; just to look and dream. When I was done, I turned around to come back into the main room of the shop, and Ali was standing a few yards away, unfolding a piece of bright red fabric, fringed on the ends: the scarf up there in the photo, hand-painted in shimmering ivory and gold and brown and black, giraffes and trees and wild birds in silhouette. He said, "You like this?" I said that it was beautiful, but how much? "All the money you have," he replied with a grin, and I said, "Then we're both out of luck, because that's a couple of quarters rolling around the bottom of my purse." And he said, "No, this is yours." He said he had been keeping it back for a very, very long time, and he felt that it was supposed to be mine.

I hugged him and nearly cried right then and there. I held it out as I returned to the main room, and Wings asked me if I was wanting to buy it, and I said, "it's already mine; Ali gave it to me." I put it on immediately, winding around my throat, and Wings's whole face lit up; he complimented me on it all the way home. Something about the color with my coloring — it's a perfect clear red, no orange or purple in it. And it smells of sandalwood. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face for the rest of the day. He gave Wings a beaded leather bracelet, too, the kind of beadwork that's tough to do because of the thickness of the leather, all made by hand. Next time we go down, we'll go with some return gifts for him and his beautiful wife and baby girl.

So despite the hectic and stressful nature of yesterday, and all the physical discomfort involved, it turned into a beautiful day with a friend. Even so, we have got to make some steady sales soon. We do need to pick up stones and other supplies before we really get into the holiday creative season for Wings, which means soon. And I'm still watching the expenses continue to pile up, and there's nothing coming in to pay for them, and I'm losing my mind trying to juggle it all.

As always, I'll be bumping Ona's post up after this. He's a over $13K right this moment (I see you, and thank you), and I'd like to see him hit $15K before the end of the week (which is, you know, today). We need y'all to keep sharing while the family tries to get transport issues sorted out and keep his recovery going simultaneously.

The rest is all cut-and-paste. I have my own stubborn insistence on survival, no matter how far behind I get, but I'm way behind now and have to get on it. 

For those wondering about my own health issues, see here; with regard to the work being done, some of the details are here. We still have to get the plumber in to finish up, and I regard that as a bigger priority right now in practical terms, so whatever we take in sales-wise will have to go to that. This is all complicated by the fact that, for August, a record number/amount of my Patreon patrons' cards were declined, too, more than $250 worth, so that income is a lot lower than usual and I now have to worry about whether that will be the case for September, too (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).

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

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

On the wishlist, now the cold is here at night, the flies are getting chased out by the cold, so the top priority is probably the candles, to deal with the residual mildew odor in the utility room, which I hope the plumber will be here to finish next week (the utility room work, not the mildew, and yeah, I know i said that last week, but there's no money for it). But the costs on all of this are killing us right now.

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. 

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.