And now, we are wiped out. Completely.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

I meant to get this shot yesterday, but it was such a hard, horrible day that I completely forgot. It's of the winterberry bush on the north side of the house; it has produced our very first leaves this year [of any tree or bush], and a little earlier than usual. That's probably not good, but I'm glad to see them anyway, because it probably means that we're closer to summer in terms of conditions, and that's better for everybody right now.

Which is important, because nothing else is these days.

Today I finally abandoned all hope of making any new sales, wrote out a very big check that was still nowhere near big enough to cover the bill, and sent it off to the tax man. Then we went to today's appointment, where I learned, out of the blue, that we would need to pay $707 [cash on the barrelhead] for one of the things Wings's needs for his long-term dental work. Nobody had mentioned this to me; I didn't even know it was part of the process for him. But it needed to done.

And now, we are wiped out. Completely. There will be no purchases of any sort for the rest of the month, barring sales, and since we're not making any of those, I'm guessing that means we're done until May 2nd, at the earliest. No food, no gas, nothing. Everything went on today's bill.

It would help if I could lessen some of the stress that's on my shoulders, but there's apparently no hope there, either. There's a new and particularly heavy one that I have to deal with myself, and it's weighing me down terribly right now. Yesterday was a big part of that; today didn't help. And of course I've still got to deal with the rest of the payment part of our taxes, because 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 before Monday [in which case, I can write out another check for the difference and get it postmarked then]. Considering that I've brought in literally less than nothing for several weeks now [less than, because we're actually in the hole on costs], I think that's probably a fruitless hope, too.

Unless that changes, all we can do is 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 last year's 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 I hope to have three new pairs of earrings posted yet tonight. 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.