There's just no end to it.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020;
all rights reserved.

For the first time in I can't remember when, there's water in the pond. Not nearly as much as there should be, you understand. And the water flowing through the main ditch yesterday looked like this. Normally, it's crystal clear, so clear that you can see every blade of grass, every pebble in the earth of the ditch.

So why is it so dirty? Because the other ditches that bring it down had been so badly damaged that they weren't routing the water at all, and so he had to shore them up while the water was flowing. One, that's not his job, but apparently no one could be bothered; two, combined with the drought we've had, the damage was exponential; and three, the person we've been paying to help out around did as he did last year and completely let us down the one week Wings needed him more than any other, and I am livid. Because aside from the fact that Wings should not have to be doing this kind of heavy labor, and after, just last week, we fronted the money to get "his" vehicle fixed, which turned out to be his mom's? We lost out on a lot of the water that would otherwise have flowed this way, which harms the land here.

We're also too dry generally, and we'll need much more water than is available this way. We got a hard, serious rain yesterday (and the mosquitoes with it, which now seem much more deadly than in years past), but one good rain only tamps down the surface dust. If we don't get this well drilled, we don't eat, and neither do the horses. I'm so tired. May's gone; June starts tomorrow, and we have to plant this week, regardless. There's just no end to it. And it's all too much; Wings says this is the last time, EVER, that he's irrigating the old way. It's gotten too much more physically difficult, and we're both too old to be doing this kind of heavy labor now.

We now have the beginnings of an estimate. Just to bring the rig out and drill down, nothing else, is going to be in the range of $6-7K, cash on the barrelhead. But it will need a pump and piping and so forth, because the whole purpose of this is to get the water out on the land, and wellhouse to protect it, and the whole shot is probably going to hit five figures. Again, cash. Wings is estimating around $15K overall, building in a little padding for the inevitable problems that crop up that no one foresees, but that's still probably on the conservative side before we're done. No, we don't have $15K lying around; why do you ask? And before all that (it's not like they can get out here until August, probably, which means that it would be good only for this year's last round of irrigation, but would be in place for next year), I've got to pay The Man, and I can't even cough up sales to do it.

Behind on other fronts, too, and I have to come up with a way around it. The pandemic is making sales impossible, and I have GOT to sell $3,300 worth this week. I've got to get first- and second-quarter taxes off my shoulders so I can turn my attention to figuring out this well problem. We're supposed to be getting monsoonal-pattern rains starting tomorrow, but we have no idea whether it'll materialize, and even if it does, whether it'll be anything like what our rainy season is supposed to be. If we can't bring the water down (and we likely can't), we're screwed for hay for the horses and crops for ourselves and the folks with whom we normally would share them. And this year of all year, we have to be able to get back to growing our own food.

I've got to make sales, I've got to bring in the scratch, and I can't do it without buyers. I can't create money out of nothing. I can squeeze that stone until the world ends, and the only blood I'll get out of it will be from the damage to my hands. We're looking at no return to anything like a normal rate of sales for at least a year, probably more, and I don't know what to do at this point.

So please. The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: At this point, it's getting to be impossible for us to get some of the things we need without using Amazon. We haven't done so yet, but I suspect we're going to be stuck very soon. If you can find any of the items on wishlist elsewhere, we'd prefer you purchase there instead of with Amazon (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else), but I we realize that they've managed to make themselves essentially indispensable, especially for rural/rez folks like us who are isolated at the best of times. And these are most surely not the best of times.

Please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

When the Light Comes Together

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a pair of vintage-style works, united in a single set, that honor old ways of creating beauty while evoking the spirits of the season and the union of the light. It's a necklace and earrings of hammered ingot that pays tribute to Dragonfly, the messenger — proof that when the light comes together, it works a singular magic, and gives small summer spirits a place to dance.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (with an unusually huge cluster of bills and expenses for January, February, and March, all the same plus taxes for April, the pandemic having reduced our sales virtually to zero through May and looking ahead to rest of the year, and now the pandemic complicating the effects of drought so badly that we need to drill a new well), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

I can't make it happen.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

You probably can't tell from the photo, but that's Wings, yesterday, fixing what it was not his job to do: the main ditch along the road that feeds this land and everything between us and it, and everything south of us, too. The water was backed up because the ditches were left overgrown and filled with debris. 

This is his last day to have the water, and the land got deprived of a lot of it because of that. And the one week Wings actually needed him here, to do this kind of work, our alleged helper has been absent. We'll see if he shows today.

So we lost out on a lot of the water that would otherwise have flowed this way, which harms the land here. We're also too dry generally, and we'll need much more water than is available this way. The "rains" we're getting are barely enough to tamp down the dust. If we don't get this well drilled, we don't eat, and neither do the horses. And I can't make it happen.

We now have the beginnings of an estimate. Just to bring the rig out and drill down, nothing else, is going to be in the range of $6-7K, cash on the barrelhead. But it will need a pump and piping and so forth, because the whole purpose of this is to get the water out on the land, and wellhouse to protect it, and the whole shot is probably going to hit five figures. Again, cash. Wings is estimating around $15K overall, building in a little padding for the inevitable problems that crop up that no one foresees, but that's still probably on the conservative side before we're done. No, we don't have $15K lying around; why do you ask? And before all that (it's not like they can get out here until August, probably, which means that it would be good only for this year's last round of irrigation, but would be in place for next year), I've got to pay The Man, and I can't even cough up sales to do it.

Behind on other fronts, too, and I have to come up with a way around it. The pandemic is making sales impossible, and I have GOT to sell $3,300 worth this week. I've got to get first- and second-quarter taxes off my shoulders so I can turn my attention to figuring out this well problem. We're supposed to be getting monsoonal-pattern rains starting tomorrow, but we have no idea whether it'll materialize, and even if it does, whether it'll be anything like what our rainy season is supposed to be. If we can't bring the water down (and we likely can't), we're screwed for hay for the horses and crops for ourselves and the folks with whom we normally would share them. And this year of all year, we have to be able to get back to growing our own food.

I've got to make sales, I've got to bring in the scratch, and I can't do it without buyers. I can't create money out of nothing. I can squeeze that stone until the world ends, and the only blood I'll get out of it will be from the damage to my hands. We're looking at no return to anything like a normal rate of sales for at least a year, probably more, and I don't know what to do at this point.

So please. The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: At this point, it's getting to be impossible for us to get some of the things we need without using Amazon. We haven't done so yet, but I suspect we're going to be stuck very soon. If you can find any of the items on wishlist elsewhere, we'd prefer you purchase there instead of with Amazon (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else), but I we realize that they've managed to make themselves essentially indispensable, especially for rural/rez folks like us who are isolated at the best of times. And these are most surely not the best of times.

Please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Tiny Rainbows Adance In the Morning Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work wrought in the paler shades of the spectrum, a pair of earrings manifest in all the soft glow of the dawn. These assume the form and shape of messenger spirits, like tiny rainbows adance in the morning light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (with an unusually huge cluster of bills and expenses for January, February, and March, all the same plus taxes for April, and the pandemic having reduced our sales virtually to zero looking ahead to rest of the year), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Complicating the process.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Tilling the vegetable plot by hand. That's Wings's work, not mine. That thing under the tarp is our ancient and apparently now-useless tiller. Not having it working is going to complicate our planting process significantly.

That's not the only thing that's complicating the process, either. The water is flowing at a low, slow rate, far worse than it should be. That's probably due partly to the condition of the upriver ditching, but it's more than that. We're also too dry, and we'll need much more water than is available this way. If we don't get this well drilled, we don't eat, and neither do the horses. 

We now have the beginnings of an estimate. Just to bring the rig out and drill down, nothing else, is going to be in the range of $6-7K, cash on the barrelhead. But it will need a pump and piping and so forth, because the whole purpose of this is to get the water out on the land, and wellhouse to protect it, and the whole shot is probably going to hit five figures. Again, cash. Wings is estimating around $15K overall, building in a little padding for the inevitable problems that crop up that no one foresees, but that's still probably on the conservative side before we're done. No, we don't have $15K lying around; why do you ask? And before all that (it's not like they can get out here until August, probably, which means that it would be good only for this year's last round of irrigation, but would be in place for next year), I've got to pay The Man, and I can't even cough up sales to do it.

Behind on other fronts, too, and I have to come up with a way around it. The pandemic is making sales impossible, and I have GOT to sell $3,300 worth this week. I've got to get first- and second-quarter taxes off my shoulders so I can turn my attention to figuring out this well problem. We're supposed to be getting monsoonal-pattern rains starting tomorrow, but we have no idea whether it'll materialize, and even if it does, whether it'll be anything like what our rainy season is supposed to be. If we can't bring the water down (and we likely can't), we're screwed for hay for the horses and crops for ourselves and the folks with whom we normally would share them. And this year of all year, we have to be able to get back to growing our own food.

I've got to make sales, I've got to bring in the scratch, and I can't do it without buyers. I can't create money out of nothing. I can squeeze that stone until the world ends, and the only blood I'll get out of it will be from the damage to my hands. We're looking at no return to anything like a normal rate of sales for at least a year, probably more, and I don't know what to do at this point.

So please. The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: At this point, it's getting to be impossible for us to get some of the things we need without using Amazon. We haven't done so yet, but I suspect we're going to be stuck very soon. If you can find any of the items on wishlist elsewhere, we'd prefer you purchase there instead of with Amazon (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else), but I we realize that they've managed to make themselves essentially indispensable, especially for rural/rez folks like us who are isolated at the best of times. And these are most surely not the best of times.

Please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Friday Feature: Dancing In a Longer Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

It's our Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog, with a work by a master that evokes the messenger spirits of summer. It's an image of hope for us now, as we await the arrival of deer and dragonfly, and a reminder that we are safe in their embrace, dancing in a longer light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (with an unusually huge cluster of bills and expenses for January, February, and March, all the same plus taxes for April, and the pandemic having reduced our sales virtually to zero looking ahead to rest of the year), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Something of a miracle.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Yesterday's haul. Fourteen masks pieced (that's six separate pieces turned into three separate layers), plus the thunderbird one that I already had pieced together. That one is for Wings, and has four layers, but it requires a different color thread, so I'll do the other 14 first with the black that's already threaded in the machine. I may even get to some of them today. Or not.

The irrigation is going smoothly, in relative terms. In other words, once the water's down here, he's having a relatively easy time routing it where it needs to go (not always the case). But as I said yesterday, the logistics in bringing it down, though, are next to impossible, so the fact that he's got it flowing at all is something of a miracle. It's not sustainable, though. There's not enough flowing down, even now, probably due partly to the condition of the upriver ditching. We're also too dry, and we'll need much more water than is available this way. If we don't get this well drilled, we don't eat, and neither do the horses. Before that, though, I've got to pay The Man, and I can't even cough up sales to do it.

Behind on other fronts, too, and I have to come up with a way around it. The pandemic is making sales impossible, and I have GOT to sell $3,300 worth this week. I've got to get first- and second-quarter taxes off my shoulders so I can turn my attention to figuring out this well problem. We're supposed to be getting monsoonal-pattern rains starting tomorrow, but we have no idea whether it'll materialize, and even if it does, whether it'll be anything like what our rainy season is supposed to be. If we can't bring the water down (and we likely can't), we're screwed for hay for the horses and crops for ourselves and the folks with whom we normally would share them. And this year of all year, we have to be able to get back to growing our own food.

I've got to make sales, I've got to bring in the scratch, and I can't do it without buyers. I can't create money out of nothing. I can squeeze that stone until the world ends, and the only blood I'll get out of it will be from the damage to my hands. We're looking at no return to anything like a normal rate of sales for at least a year, probably more, and I don't know what to do at this point.

So please. The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: At this point, it's getting to be impossible for us to get some of the things we need without using Amazon. We haven't done so yet, but I suspect we're going to be stuck very soon. If you can find any of the items on wishlist elsewhere, we'd prefer you purchase there instead of with Amazon (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else), but I we realize that they've managed to make themselves essentially indispensable, especially for rural/rez folks like us who are isolated at the best of times. And these are most surely not the best of times.

Please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

#TBT: Rainbows In the Sky and On the Wind

Photo copyright Aji, 2020;
all rights reserved.

It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, with a work from just shy of two years ago that was one of a pair of commissions by a very dear friend. It's a pair of earrings in the form and shape of dragonflies — two small spirits of summer, creating rainbows in the sky and on the wind with shimmering wings.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. This work obviously will never be duplicated exactly (all the more true of commissioned works), but if the style speaks to your spirit, simply inquire via the site's Contact form; Wings can create a version uniquely your own. And, as always, sales are very much needed (with an unusually huge cluster of bills and expenses for the first four months of this year, plus taxes now, and the pandemic having reduced our sales to near zero), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Lions.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

What's that about March and lions?  Here it's the end of May, apparently [look at the clouds; there are two, male and female]. Plenty of roaring, sound and fury, but still no freaking rain.

Wings signed up for the water, and has it for through Saturday. The logistics in bringing it down, though, are next to impossible, so the fact that he's got it flowing is something of a miracle. It's not sustainable, though. We're too dry, and we'll need much more water than is available this way. If we don't get this well drilled, we don't eat, and neither do the horses. Before that, though, I've got to pay The Man, and I can't even cough up sales to do it.

Behind on other fronts, too, and I have to come up with a way around it. The pandemic is making sales impossible, and I have GOT to sell $3,300 worth this week. I've got to get first- and second-quarter taxes off my shoulders so I can turn my attention to figuring out this well problem. We're supposed to be getting monsoonal-pattern rains starting tomorrow, but we have no idea whether it'll materialize, and even if it does, whether it'll be anything like what our rainy season is supposed to be. If we can't bring the water down (and we likely can't), we're screwed for hay for the horses and crops for ourselves and the folks with whom we normally would share them. And this year of all year, we have to be able to get back to growing our own food.

I've got to make sales, I've got to bring in the scratch, and I can't do it without buyers. I can't create money out of nothing. I can squeeze that stone until the world ends, and the only blood I'll get out of it will be from the damage to my hands. We're looking at no return to anything like a normal rate of sales for at least a year, probably more, and I don't know what to do at this point.

So please. The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: At this point, it's getting to be impossible for us to get some of the things we need without using Amazon. We haven't done so yet, but I suspect we're going to be stuck very soon. If you can find any of the items on wishlist elsewhere, we'd prefer you purchase there instead of with Amazon (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else), but I we realize that they've managed to make themselves essentially indispensable, especially for rural/rez folks like us who are isolated at the best of times. And these are most surely not the best of times.

Please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Hope and Healing, Sailing On the Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a pair of works as an informal set, manifest as small but powerful rainbow-like spirits of summer. These take the form and shape of Dragonfly, a messenger of hope and healing, sailing on the light.  

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (with an unusually huge cluster of bills and expenses for January, February, and March, all the same plus taxes for April, and the pandemic having reduced our sales virtually to zero looking ahead to rest of the year), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Not one drop of rain.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

That thing sat directly overhead for hours last night, and delivered not one drop of rain. Nothing in the forecast for today, either.

I'm mostly out today; we have an appointment with bureaucracy that needs to be done, but it's going to take up a good share of the day (and my patience). The weekend was a bust on all fronts; no rain, no sales, but I got two more rejections, so there's that.

I'm so fucking tired. And if we don't get this well drilled, we don't eat, and neither do the horses. Before that, though, I've got to pay The Man, and I can't even cough up sales to do it.

Behind on other fronts, too, and I have to come up with a way around it. The pandemic is making sales impossible, and I have GOT to sell $3,300 worth this week. I've got to get first- and second-quarter taxes off my shoulders so I can turn my attention to figuring out this well problem. We're supposed to be getting monsoonal-pattern rains starting tomorrow, but we have no idea whether it'll materialize, and even if it does, whether it'll be anything like what our rainy season is supposed to be. If we can't bring the water down (and we likely can't), we're screwed for hay for the horses and crops for ourselves and the folks with whom we normally would share them. And this year of all year, we have to be able to get back to growing our own food.

I've got to make sales, I've got to bring in the scratch, and I can't do it without buyers. I can't create money out of nothing. I can squeeze that stone until the world ends, and the only blood I'll get out of it will be from the damage to my hands. We're looking at no return to anything like a normal rate of sales for at least a year, probably more, and I don't know what to do at this point.

So please. The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: At this point, it's getting to be impossible for us to get some of the things we need without using Amazon. We haven't done so yet, but I suspect we're going to be stuck very soon. If you can find any of the items on wishlist elsewhere, we'd prefer you purchase there instead of with Amazon (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else), but I we realize that they've managed to make themselves essentially indispensable, especially for rural/rez folks like us who are isolated at the best of times. And these are most surely not the best of times.

Please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Red Willow Spirit: The Petals of the Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2020; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for what is, we hope, the start of the summer monsoons here. It's also a meditation on the gifts of the stormy season, in all the colors of the wildflowers and the petals of the light.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, his photos are available in any of the usual three formats; to order them or the wearable art shown, simply inquire via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (with an unusually huge cluster of bills and expenses for January, February, and March, all the same plus taxes for April, and the pandemic having reduced our sales virtually to zero both for May and looking ahead to rest of the year), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

And I'm STILL behind.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Yesterday's take: fabric traced and cut for a dozen more masks, four fabric patterns in three sizes each, S, M, and L. That was in addition to making a full breakfast, crocking beans for dinner, vacuuming the downstairs, finishing washing all the interior windows and glass upstairs, one load of dishes and three loads of laundry, and all the usual posts and other work I do every day, including tracking the state's COVID-19 numbers.

And I'm STILL behind.

Behind on other fronts, too, and I have to come up with a way around it. The pandemic is making sales impossible, and I have GOT to sell $3,300 worth this week. I've got to get first- and second-quarter taxes off my shoulders so I can turn my attention to figuring out this well problem. We're supposed to be getting monsoonal-pattern rains starting tomorrow, but we have no idea whether it'll materialize, and even if it does, whether it'll be anything like what our rainy season is supposed to be. If we can't bring the water down (and we likely can't), we're screwed for hay for the horses and crops for ourselves and the folks with whom we normally would share them. And this year of all year, we have to be able to get back to growing our own food.

I've got to make sales, I've got to bring in the scratch, and I can't do it without buyers. I can't create money out of nothing. I can squeeze that stone until the world ends, and the only blood I'll get out of it will be from the damage to my hands. We're looking at no return to anything like a normal rate of sales for at least a year, probably more, and I don't know what to do at this point.

So please. The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: At this point, it's getting to be impossible for us to get some of the things we need without using Amazon. We haven't done so yet, but I suspect we're going to be stuck very soon. If you can find any of the items on wishlist elsewhere, we'd prefer you purchase there instead of with Amazon (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else), but I we realize that they've managed to make themselves essentially indispensable, especially for rural/rez folks like us who are isolated at the best of times. And these are most surely not the best of times.

Please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Monday Photo Meditation: A Capacity For Rainbows

Photo copyright Wings, 2020; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a photo meditation for a day when rain is in the offing, but for the moment, the light is what reigns. It's a lesson, too, about where the light lives, a reminder that even on the darkest days, it's not only the sky that has a capacity for rainbows.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, Wings's photos are available in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (with an unusually huge cluster of bills and expenses for January, February, and March, all the same plus taxes for April, and the pandemic having reduced our sales virtually to zero in May and looking ahead to rest of the year), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Failing on all fronts these days.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

That up there? That was one of the things we did yesterday, me holding the ladder and passing tools up, Wings hanging over the edge of the roof to tack down that wood strip on the left where the starlings (colonizer birds in every sense of the term) had pulled it out with their talons and nested in there (yes, we let their two fledgies get fully airborne before doing this, FFS). It was awful, but it's [temporarily] done, until such time as we can get someone out here (and afford to pay them) to do it right.

We also installed the upstairs screens on the windows. Lower ones today, if I can get to it. And yes, I did that except for the the two on the north side, which require ladder work. Wings is steady and not particularly bothered by heights; I fail on both fronts.

Of course, I'm failing on all fronts these days.

The pandemic is making sales impossible, and I have GOT to sell $3,300 worth this week. I've got to get first- and second-quarter taxes off my shoulders so I can turn my attention to figuring out this well problem. We're supposed to be getting monsoonal-pattern rains starting tomorrow, but we have no idea whether it'll materialize, and even if it does, whether it'll be anything like what our rainy season is supposed to be. If we can't bring the water down (and we likely can't), we're screwed for hay for the horses and crops for ourselves and the folks with whom we normally would share them. And this year of all year, we have to be able to get back to growing our own food.

I've got to make sales, I've got to bring in the scratch, and I can't do it without buyers. I can't create money out of nothing. I can squeeze that stone until the world ends, and the only blood I'll get out of it will be from the damage to my hands. We're looking at no return to anything like a normal rate of sales for at least a year, probably more, and I don't know what to do at this point.

So please. The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: At this point, it's getting to be impossible for us to get some of the things we need without using Amazon. We haven't done so yet, but I suspect we're going to be stuck very soon. If you can find any of the items on wishlist elsewhere, we'd prefer you purchase there instead of with Amazon (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else), but I we realize that they've managed to make themselves essentially indispensable, especially for rural/rez folks like us who are isolated at the best of times. And these are most surely not the best of times.

Please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

A Sky Basking In the Blue of a Turquoise Dawn

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a work that's one of my personal favorites, the embodiment of the birth of the day at this time of year. It's a pair of earrings, big and bold and radiant, manifest, as here this morning, as a sky basking in the blue of a turquoise dawn.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. Inquiries via the site's Contact form. And, as always, sales are very much needed (with an unusually huge cluster of bills and expenses for January, February, and March, all the same plus taxes for April, and the pandemic having reduced our sales virtually to zero looking ahead to rest of the year), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Expense on all fronts now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

The Swainson's knows me now, too. She came flying from out of nowhere yesterday evening, squeaking and chattering, and she circled over and over the house and where I stood, just talking at me, before soaring away back toward the mountain.

Maybe she missed us, being gone much of yesterday. Or maybe she knew I needed a little boost of energy to get through all my work last night. Or maybe both. Whatever, it worked, and I finally got some sleep.

The task list grows today, though. Meanwhile, Chinook came up yesterday with a puncture wound, and we're not sure of the what or the where. She's on Day 2 of antibiotics, and we're monitoring for now. We're hoping it's just that, a barbed-wire puncture, and hat treating it will take care of it. If not, it's back to the vet next week. ::Sigh:: more expense.

Expense on all fronts now. Of course, locally, our economy is already in tatters. A new wave on the heels of this reopening nonsense, and/or a second epidemic of West Nile (since we have our first confirmed human case of the year in the state, announced the day before yesterday), will leave it  just smoking ruins and rubble. Obviously, we'll have no in-person clients and customers this year, none of those who make a practice of visiting annually and buying while they're here. And with so many people out of work, our online sales are way, way down, too.

And yet . . . another almost $200 out the door yesterday, because the medical stuff has to be paid. But I have GOT to bring in enough to cover all these costs piling up. I'm sick with the stress of it. It's endless, and new things keep piling on daily.

After three years of no crops due to drought, and now the pandemic, we HAVE to be able to go back to growing our own food and medicine this year. It's not optional. And to do that, we're going to have to drill a well in the north field. And no, I don't know how we're going to pay for it, but I have to bring in enough sales somehow.

That's just the BIG one. Over the next few weeks, I have to pay our first two rounds of quarterly taxes, about $3,300. One or two big sales would take care of that one. But that's not optional, either, and I need to get this off my plate so I can focus my worry on things less immediately dangerous to our well-being.

We'll have to pay the guys for their help with regard to the water, even if it doesn't work. We've had to hire River back, because I cannot do the work anymore and there's too much of it for Wings to do alone. He's struggling to make rent; worse, his truck now has a cracked head. All of that's going to cost a lot, and he doesn't have it. We can front him some advances intermittently, but we can't pay for the whole shot right now, which leaves him potentially without transportation to come to work. And I can't transfer my ancient Hyundai to him until he can get the paperwork done, and the MVD offices are all closed at least until June. 

Also, the lawn mower that we paid $500 to fix? They didn't fix it. Wings started mowing Sunday, and the same damn hose came out and started spraying oil everywhere. The guy came out yesterday to look at it; there's no way we can haul it in because, one, you can't even get it into gear to load it, and two, there's that problem of oil spraying everywhere. He's got to reorder the hose and bring it out to install it. Plus there's my laptop, blowing up routinely (again last night, and so my e-mail's borked until I can fix it again), and my camera, dying slowly, and they are our livelihood, too.

It falls on my shoulders to figure out how to make all this work. And right now, my shoulders are bowed pretty far over, hence the injections today; I can't take on anything more until I can get some of these burdens off them. I also can't conjure the cash out of thin air. So please, share our links; send me testimonials to post on the site; and if you've had your eye on something, for yourself, for Father's Day/graduation/wedding/other gifts, now would be a really, REALLY good time.

The links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here;
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

Note: For now, please don't buy anything off the Amazon wishlist; to do so would be crossing a picket line, and some of their workers have struck this morning to fight for safer working conditions because their lives are being put at even greater risk during this pandemic. If you find one of the items elsewhere, wonderful (there's even a wishlist function where you can note that it's been purchased somewhere else).

Other than that, please share everything. Thanks.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.