This is April.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

TWo to three inches of snow can create a hell of a ground blizzard. All that snow on the ground is pretty much gone, of course; melted in late morning, that which wasn't blown out by the gale-force winds, anyway. Now, in literally the last sixty seconds, those same winds have begin bringing a layer of graupel flying on the horizontal, enough to make the grass look like it's covered with hail.

This is April.

April is also the worst month of the year financially. Most of that is due to the tax nonsense; we paid the accountant on Thursday and picked up the forms, but we don't have anywhere near what's needed to pay them off. I still need to bring in a little over $6K, and sales are at a standstill. 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]. But we have GOT to bring in some sales.

But this means that we are done with giving for a good while. We gave far too much away last year for our own good, and this year has already outpaced it, and 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. 

And meanwhile, somehow, I have to bring in sales. This is what tey used to call the drop-dead moment in a process or dynamic, and we're here. 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.