The fires are never distant enough.

Photo copyright Aji, 2019;; all rights reserved.

After a hazy start, it's clear for the moment, but we're hoping the winds don't shift. The fires are never distant enough.

Speaking of which, I spend far too much time these days putting out fires of other sorts. No crew this week, as I said yesterday, because we simply can't afford it and the wood's too wet anyway. IN the meantime, I am absolutely slammed right now, with barely a spare moment to sit down and knock out a post (I can't tell you how many times I get interrupted in the course of a half-hour). I'm beat, and this week I'm going to have maintain a full-tilt kind of pace, and just thinking about it makes me want to go back to bed. Fortunately (or not, depending on your point of view), lying down inflicts so much pain that I'm not inclined to do it in the daytime. Multiple subluxes at the moment, and the schedule won't wait for that to change, because that point is . . . well, never. So on with it I get.

I'm literally without time for anything extra that doesn't involve chasing sales. We have got to make some, and soon. And as I also said yesterday, that prospect is a big if right now. (The rest is all cut-and-paste, because I have to get on to a bunch of other stuff right now.) I'm canceling all of my September medical appointments but one. It'll be the most expensive one, natch; there are factors that are cause for concern about my kidney function, and so I need to get those labs done at the end of the month, but everything else? Getting canceled. ::Sigh:: there's a way in which I don't even mind all that much, because my pain and fatigue levels are so bad at the moment that I really don't feel like getting poked and prodded repeatedly week after week right now.

For those wondering about either the 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, 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).

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, and we really need the help now:

• 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. All the other stuff is helpful, too; the candles are to deal with the residual mildew odor in the utility room .

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.