Moving fast now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

The color change is moving fast now. I would expect that section on the southern slope of the Spoonbowl to look like that around the second week of October. But it was 85 degrees today, 11 degrees hotter than yesterday and 18 degrees hotter than the day before, and none of our usual patterns apply.

It's been a day, and not in a good way. This afternoon, Wings had planned to go pick up a couple of things that we knew would be at the post office, got into the truck . . . and it wouldn't start. Battery was working; lights, fan, sounds, everything, but most of the time, it wouldn't even try to turn over; sometimes, it wouldn't even click. So. New starter needed. But there as no getting it into neutral, even. We needed to have it towed to the shop. The tow guy used one of those literal battery booster contraptions and got it going, so likely the alternator, not the starter. But it set us back a cool $220 + for the tow, and now I have no idea what parts and labor will set us back.

We made a sale yesterday, and now? Still no breathing room, and possibly no transportation for as much as all of next week.

It sucks.

And October's going to be expensive anyway. The last truck repair and everything else really screwed us for everything else; there won't be any roof replacement, because there's no money for it. I also need to find a way to get that solar panel system for our generator that's on the wishlist, but I can't even think about that before everything else is handled. But every winter, we have days of lost power, and we need to be ahead of it this time. But right now, I need to worry about how we get to the post office and the grocery store and the pharmacy, and how much it's going to cost us to be able to do that.

I have got to bring in sales. NOW. Our traffic is down to almost nothing, and I can't conjure the money everyone's demanding from us out of thin air.

 

Late the other night, I posted the four new pairs of sterling silver tab earrings, all with Deco-infused stampwork and at a lower price point than most of his earrings: here, here, here, and here. That new necklace I've been talking about [it's phenomenal] became Wednesday's feature, and its gallery entry is here. In addition, his new naja pendant is up, here, and his new cuff, here. The former features both an interior pendant and amber cabs at the ends; the latter is extraordinary, two strands of Deco butterflies set with something that's not a stone, but is phenomenal all the same. In the photo are the four pairs of sterling silver tab earrings with amazing stampwork that I promised, and eventually, the Picasso jasper earrings will be done, as well as other styles. He also has a miniature collector's bowl in the works [less miniature than his past works in this style]. If I could sell them all, I'd feel a lot more confident about the next several weeks.

The rest of the month [hell, the rest of the year] is going to be geared around making sales, because I don't have a choice about that. I'm so tired after all the nonsense of this year to date, but I can't let up, because so far, we're not even breaking even on the year, and I will have to worry about next year's tax bill soon enough. Also, all indications are for extreme weather this winter [and potentially this afternoon, too], and our generator needs a solar panel set-up; it's now at the top of the wishlist, because at ~$500, there's no way we can afford it. But there's tons of new work on the site, in addition to all that's coming up shortly, so go look:

• Completed just last weekend, two absolutely phenomenal new cuffs, here and here;
• Completed the previous weekend, an all-new wristband, here;
• One extraordinary new belt buckle set with an incredible Skystone, here;
• Another new vintage-style cuff with a mysterious Skystone, here;
• Three new pairs of earrings in his gemstone-bead series, here, here, and here;
• Three new cuffs from last week, two set with incredible turquoise focals, one solid silver; go here, here, and here.
• Six pairs of new concha floral earrings in the Earrings Gallery here [larger are garnet, golden rutilated quartz, and malachite; smaller are amber, carnelian, and iolite];
• Art Deco Labradorite cuff here;  
• Triangle wire youth bangle here; 
• Art Nouveau vine pattern-wire youth bangle here; 
• Small Art Nouveau pattern-wire bangle pair here; 
• Malachite butterfly/leaf-wing earrings here; 
• A big solid silver classic cuff here; 
• Ten new pairs of the gemstone-bead earrings are also up in the Earrings Gallery;
• And another new cuff is also here. 

There's more on the way very soon. And I need to sell them all, because I still need to make multiple sales daily for us to catch up on the year [and that's just breaking even] and cover all the stuff still in the pipeline that needs covering [roof, more medical, etc.]. So: GO BUY! PLEASE! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priority is that solar panel set for the generator at the top of the list; part of prepping for a hard winter. Next to that, Amazon cards are probably most useful at this point); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year, this one already far worse than the last, we really need to get what's left of 2024 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.