A bitter north wind.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

That bird is braving a bitter north wind. It is cold. It shouldn't be — it's in the 60s now, after all — but it is, and that wind is why.

Seems to be a bitter north wind blowing in every aspect of our lives right now.

The next two days are going to be as disrupted and disruptive as the last two [and last week, and basically all of this year stretching back to the latter half of last year]. But this is more immediate disruption, which means you'll see me when you see, which means expect everything to be late and likely half-assed. On top of everything else I'm dealing with, I'm still coping with this full-body allergic reaction to one of my meds [no longer taking it, obviously], and just generally feeling like shit besides. The latter problem is simply what autoimmune diseases do when they decide to flare, and given the extreme swings of weather, the high winds, and the unending stress that I've had to carry for months now, it's no surprise.

But knowing what it is doesn't make it any easier to cope with it. My neck and shoulders and wrists and hands, my hips and knees and feet, every major joint system and all my connective tissues are screaming at me nonstop, and there's nothing I can do about it.

It would help if I could lessen some of the stress that's on my shoulders, but there's apparently no hope there, either. And now I've got to deal with the payment part of our taxes, and where I'd hoped to pay them all at once, that's not remotely possible. 

Not unless I bring in more than $6K in sales by Friday.

But sales are at a standstill. Unless that changes, all we can do is send what we can, and pay the penalties and interest over the course of the year. I had really hoped to pay them all at once and be able to spend the rest of the year prepaying for next year [as we were not able to do for this year, because of the unrelenting demands from all quarters that have only ramped up already this year]. 

And I am so, so tired.

But this means that we are done with giving for a good while. We gave away far too much last year for our own good, and this year has already outpaced it, and for now, we are done. We have no choice. On top of all that, we had to pay out nearly $10K [cash] since the leachfield failed on Christmas Day to deal with the septic disaster. On top of that, my Patreon, our steadiest source of monthly income, is down more than $700 a month since this time last year. Do you what that kind of hit does to folks like us? So we're done donating for a while, locally or otherwise. I have to get the tax bill monkey off my back, in full, and get next year's prepayments taken care of as well, before we'll be able to help anyone else. My health is fragile already, and I cannot go through this again. 

Somehow, I have to bring in sales. This is what they used to call the drop-dead moment in a process or dynamic, and we're at it. If you're in the market, now would be a really, REALLY good time. There's lots of new work on the site, including a fabulous new pair of earrings and five new Warrior Woman pins. And as always, all the regular links are listed below, with sales, as always, being the most important:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here ( we'll always need the dog treats for the monsters, and Amazon and Lowe's cards [the Lowe's cards are probably going to have to go on a new fridge, so I'm hoarding them]); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim 2023, and with this year starting off MUCH worse, we really need to get 2024 moving onto 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.