Deadly conditions.

Photo copyright Aji, 2024; all rights reserved.

All clear blue skies, except for in the west. Even that isn't clouds; it's a smoke plume, although there is no reported burn today. Either there's a new one not being reported, or the ones from eleven days ago have reignited; either way, everything's dry as dust, far too warm despite the bitter winds, and there's no precipitation in sight.

Deadly conditions.

Meanwhile, I am beat. I have refused to go anywhere at all today and tomorrow. My joints are screaming at me, and despite the pain, I'm going to have to help Wings unload the first trailer-load of hay in a bit. That is the ONLY thing that's not my own work that I'm doing this weekend; I'm too far behind, and tomorrow is December first, and we have yet to make a single holiday sale. And I still have to create those shower passes that we funded earlier this week, which is going to take a big chunk out of tomorrow, probably.

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.

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 is classic Wings, a horse giving a very old traditional style his own inimitable twist. It's a naja necklace set with and strung from absolutely phenomenal Skystones. And there are four other naja-style works in current inventory, a second necklace, two pendants, and a pair of earrings:

• "The Arc of an Evergreen Earth," a necklace perfect for this season, with a similarly saw-cut and stamped dual-naja pendant, sterling silver set with malachite, suspended from a bead strand consisting of malachite cubes; new jade; ultra-high-grade rainbow moonstone; rainbow moonstone; sterling silver; and genuine emerald, here;
• "Meeting On the Bridge of Stars" a pendant that's a personal favorite, heavy gauge sterling silver triangle wire stamped freehand on both upper angles and the apex, with an internal pendant formed of a rare local material, a staurolite, here;
• "The Breath of the Light," another pendant formed of slightly lighter-gauge sterling silver triangle wire, again, stamped freehand on upper angles and apex, set at either end with amber and with an internal naja pendant saw-cut and stamped freehand, here; and
• "Held In the Light," a stylized pair of earrings saw-cut freehand in vintage style from sterling silver, internal pendants set with round, highly domed gray moonstone cabochons that have an incredible amount of color shift depending on the light, 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.