Every day, I lose something more.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

Elk tracks.  That's what those parallel lines in the snow are; the elk paid us their first visit of the season about 1:30 this morning. From a distance, they really do look like tracks, as in the imprints of runners made by a sleigh. Their long slender legs and small hooves stride so effortlessly through the snow that it creates this effect.

I had my camera upstairs, but it was far, far too cold [below zero, actual temp] for me to go out and get photos. Now that my RA is flaring so badly, just being out in the cold is enough to make the joints of my hands and wrists and knees and feet start screaming at me in pain. Apparently, I am now officially at that point where I cannot push through the discomfort for my photography anymore.

Every day, I lose something more.

The pain today has been agonizing, and it has been constant. No respite. And I am way behind on even this basic stuff, never mind anything else, and I have been pushing myself so hard for months and . . . new year? Nothing changes. Except more pain, of course. And given the state of the world right now and the profound evil that is coming from this country, I suppose I should not be surprised to find that I'm depressed, but I am. Both: surprised; and depressed.

I am feeling really hopeless tonight. And that will change; I just have to ride it out, as always, but since my condition is progressive, I expect that it will take, proportionately, an increasingly long time to do so. But no sales so far this week, and I need to make at least one. Five pairs of earrings featured today; they're all fabulous, and I have absolutely no confidence in selling a single one of them. January's always hard anyway, regardless of weather. Aside from taxes, it's one of our two most costly months [the other being July], when we have a disproportionate number of one- and two-off expenses [insurance; several business-related renewals like site hosting, software platforms, domain services, etc.]. Coming on the heels of such a terrible sales year, it's not good. It's even worse since, once again, my Patreon is short ~$250, and made worse still by the new $600-800 a month for septic service all winter and half of spring ($200 of it paid out Saturday, and the next round will be in 3-5 days]. 

But that means the need to make at least one sale a week never lets up. We were blessed with one last week; now I need to do the same for this one. As I said earlier, the two new cuffs are done, and they're posted here and here (the second is gone already, a gift for someone dear to us who did us a huge favor the other day). Those who like turquoise in the greens, these will be for you. There will be two more new works to come, probably tomorrow [one necklace, one ring, and I know I said "probably tomorrow yesterday, but yesterday set us back even further] never mind Wings saying that he was taking time off from creating new work from sheer fatigue; that resolution lasted all of two days. The new necklace is his fourth [recent] naja, is done save for the bead strand; maybe tomorrow. The fifth is in the works. And also as always, all the links are listed below, and sales are the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (priorities now are the liquid soaps and especially the vacuum, because mine has died a complete and ignominious death, and if I don't vacuum every single day, the dog hair takes over completely [and the dustbuster is just not cutting it]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

There's lots of fabulous work on the site [EIGHT NEW PIECES before Christmas [one sold], plus two new ones a couple of nights before that]. After such a grim 2023, we really need to get this year started off on a better footing, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2024; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.