A disgrace.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

The world's most contented dogs . . . for the moment, anyway. Yes, Cricket got a bone, too, but he likes to carry his off and bury them so that they get nicely fermented, then dig them up later and go all dog-in-the-manger over them.

Because what fun is it if you can't make anyone else jealous, I guess?

He is outside in his fully insulated and very warm doghouse on the deck; these two are indoors on their respective beds. Wings is snoozing in his recliner, and I am at long last getting to my work, which seems to come in dead last to everything else these days. I pout my foot down tonight; I am not going anywhere over the next two days. Period. I have to much to do, too few hours already in which to do it, and I have spent the last three weeks at everyone else's beck and call and I'm just done. My body can't take it, for one; my pain levels have skyrocketed in ways for which there just aren't words.

Because I had to spend yet another day walking and standing and being out in the cold running errands, and I am just done. There was a young man huddled up outside the pharmacy, woefully underdressed, sign indicated that he's unhoused. I gave him the last of my cash, a five-dollar bill, and asked him what he could use in terms of gear. He asked only for gloves and a hat, but I had a neckwarmer and handwarmers and wool socks and mylar blankets and snacks in the truck, so I threw them all in a bag with the hat and gloves and  took them back to him. 

This country is a disgrace.

But all this needs doing because the housing crisis worsens daily here. On that note, also go here, buy something, or several somethings, off the outreach group's wishlist, and you will literally be saving a life, probably more than one [BUT THROUGH MONDAY, BUY IT ELSEWHERE, SO THAT YOU'RE NOT CROSSING THE AMAZON EMPLOYEES' PICKET LINE; I HAVE THE SHIPPING ADDRESS IF YOU PURCHASE ITEMS ELSEWHERE]. It's not really possible to overstate how bad it is out there, nor how great the need is. I've sorted it in their Priority order, but they've given out so much stuff this week that they now have new priorities: hand warmers, snacks, tarps, duct tape, two-person tents [only $22 each! and they've given out all the existing tents already], the safety stuff like flashlights and pepper spray; they also need large-size men's stuff, socks, and large- and extra-large-size dog stuff, like collars and harnesses and dog coats, further down on the list.

Oh, and I also need to raise another $54.17 [odd amount, but that's where we are] for a local elderly woman on a very fixed income whose only family are her cat and dog. The cat became ill, and she paid money she couldn't afford to try to save it; it had to be euthanized today, and that's more cost, too. All we need is $54.17, so hit the PayPal link below and put "Sylvester" [the cat's name] in the notes section, and let's see if we can take the cost off her shoulders, at least.

And then there's my own actual work. WE NEED SALES. As always at this time of year, I'm already putting in 12- to 16-hour days every day, 7 days a week, because the work won't wait, and for us, being able to help anyone else starts with us making those sales, of course. But beyond that? I also am finding myself unexpectedly under the gun on another front; besides needing to bring in enough in seasonal sales to repay a big chunk on our '24 taxes, the election has made the need to replace my laptop NOW absolutely mandatory, before the end of the year, because the price, already hellish for the one I need, will skyrocket at the first of the year. So if you're contemplating buying? Now would be a really, really good time. Our laptop is our whole work, everything, and it fails me on the daily now.

Today's feature consists of two works from the same category, both bolos made the old way, both featuring extraordinary freehand silverwork and smithing, plus equally phenomenal stones. I think belts and buckles also qualify as accessories, so two of those here, and selling the belt would make our year:

• "Illuminating Skies," a very old-school concha belt, all the work freehand and meticulously even, with 25 conchas [12 ovals set with Skystones; 13 butterfly concha spacers] plus the buckle, all sterling silver, what are likely Montezuma and Royston turquoise, and heavy brown-black leather, here;
• "From the Heart of the Sky," a big, bold, but classically tailored rectangular buckle, all freehand score- and stampwork, with a fabulous cab at the center; sterling silver and what we believe to be old Sleeping Beauty turquoise with a quartz inclusion, here.

There's more on the way very soon; he's got something like four more cuffs [one hopefully going up tonight, and it's incredible, with a stone like pure foxfire; another with old green turquoise in an electric shade], a couple of pendants, several new pairs of earrings [again, one, a small tiger iron pair, done yesterday and slated to go up by tonight, really, this time, or not, depending on how long I last tonight], and eventually all the new coils he'll need for holiday inventory. And I need to sell them all, because I still need to make sales weekly for us to catch up on the year and cover all the stuff still in the pipeline that needs covering [laptop, roof next year, more medical, always prepaid taxes, etc.]. So: GO BUY! Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (Priority is the liquid soaps and Amazon cards, 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 before it ends, 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.