Things on fire.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

What started as a very gray and wintry is now suddenly mostly sunny . . . with a side of heavy smoke over toward Peñasco. Apparently it's a prescribed burn, which I think is our area's first of the calendar year. Supposed to be snow starting tomorrow and on into Saturday, just showers, but something, at least, so maybe this one won't get away from them.

That said, I hope they bother to make sure it's entirely out. [Unlike what they did with the Calf Canyon Fire, also a January prescribe burn, that continued to smolder until the winds whipped it up and it merged with the Hermit's Peak Fire to create the largest wildfire in recorded state history. People are still left with nothing two years later, and without the promised payouts.]

Speaking of things on fire [aside from my joints and my nerves], that's what our current and upcoming expenses are doing to our finances. Taxes are due in a few weeks. That's non-negotiable. But we are also cursed with this septic system mess, and the guy who does the work of fixing these kinds of disasters [who we know; he's a good guy] 1) is unlikely to be able to do it before well into March, and 2) is convinced, based on our description and what the septic cleanout guys have told us, that it's going to require digging a whole new leachfield. We don't have that kind of money.

On top of that, my laptop is dying, and I don't have the kind of money I need to replace it [the image work I do means that it has to have a certain level of power]. It's been on the decline for three or four months, but I thought I had more time; last night, it became clear that it's going to be a very big problem sooner rather than later. If I can't replace it, I can't work; if I can't work, there's no income. 

Oh, and at some point, I'm going to need a power wheelchair. 

And the only way out of this is SALES.

My Patreon down $250 again this month; I'm guessing tomorrow's payout will be more of the same. We're already paying out $200+ every 8-10 days to have the tank pumped, because the water has nowhere to go [and believe me, we're conserving as much as we can]. The most recent was yesterday. All this nonsense comes in one of our two most costly months of the year as it is, and in the same quarter as taxes, and no amount of tearing my hair out is going to make all this reconcile, but here we are. Amid the constant, unremitting physical pain and the ugly new developments and complete and utter lack of an immune system in a place where no one mitigates the pandemic in the slightest, leaving me almost entirely housebound.

I got the Wings's four new pairs of earrings up yesterday: here, here, here, and here [this pair already sold, only our second sale of the month; he has more planned in this size/style]. The other works were posted the day before: the ring and four pairs of earrings, here, here, here, here, and here. These are all more moderately priced than most of his work, and the silverwork and stones are absolutely incredible . . . and Valentine's Day is only two weeks away, so go look. Please. I am at my wits' end after our worst year in recent memory last year and this year starting off so badly on so many fronts, and I need help sharing our links and his work. If I could make two more sales yet today, I'd at least be current with the month. 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 about a dozen all told over the last three weeks or so, cuffs and earrings and pins, plus the necklace and earrings to come. 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.