Keeping the wolf from the door.

Photo copyright Aji, 2025; all rights reserved.

A little high fog this morning. Now, most of the snow is gone, including that on the peaks.

I hate DST with the white-hot heat of a thousand suns. It's irredeemably evil. And to start it when we're already having to cope with several months of these destructive winds is just sadistic.

It's not a good day today, on any front. I've been pushing it too hard for too long, and I've got a lot more to do before I can take a break [taxes]. The pain and fatigue are becoming unmanageable again. Sales are not remotely keeping pace with outlay, or even with a shot at breaking even. I can't force people to buy. But I don't know what we do if this doesn't change soon. And, of course, I'm the one who has to live with the stress of it, of making it all happen and keeping the wolf from the door.

And then, of course, there's ::gestures at the outside world::. I can't get over the level of cowardice, of venality, or pure evil.  People I thought were friends, had morals and souls, who have disabused me of that notion thoroughly now. People who are so wrapped up in their own selfishness and demands never to be made uncomfortable or inconvenienced by, say, having to see an unhoused person in public or being asked to part with $5 to help a cancer patient.

I mean, I know that's what the U.S. has always been, pure selfishness. But I'm more than a little tired of watching it rewarded while the most vulnerable die.

Of course, it's also tax season, which means that the loss of sales is going to kill us that much more. I don't have time, in the first place, and if I don't bring in some soon, we're screwed. Last year was a nightmare, all year long: expenses of the sort you can't plan for that were astronomical, combined with one of our worst sales years ever. The really bad part is that we still haven't recovered from it. Meanwhile, new expenses mount [taxes, the well pump, the security system, a lot of other things I had no way of anticipating, but there's no one else to do it], and we've made a grand total of three sales all year so far.

That won't even begin to cut it.

Wings has been rocking in the studio for weeks. There's a ton of new work, but posted just last week alone are two new pairs of Red Creek jasper earrings, plus four new necklaces [one vintage-style oval and three hearts, the latter all made with some really unique materials]. And, of course, there are all the other new works from the past two months, a couple of bolos, a new buckle, endless cuffs, I don't know how many pairs of earrings. If you're in the market? Now would be a really, really good time to buy. I really, really need to sell some of his work, and soon.

Links are here:

• Sales here; 
• Testimonials here; 
• Amazon wishlist here (I put an inexpensive little rice cooker on it, because mine died after MUCH long use; those adjustable Black KN95 masks are badly needed, because I gave away all the rest of ours to relatives); 
• Patreon here;
• Ko-fi here.

After such a grim year last year, and this one beginning at least as badly, we urgently need to move 2025 onto a better footing before taxes take every last cent, so please share all of the links. 

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2025; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.