Still no delivery, but more complications. A lot more smoke, too. Sales, subscribers, and shares all badly needed now.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

So this week seems to be replicating last week. Woke up sometime before three with another massive migraine, although this time I managed to avoid last week's, erm, extra complications (but still too blind to write well or easily). This one is both mechanical (like last week's, a product of my neck injuries) AND a product of the wall of smoke that filled last night's western sky. That up there was early, before dark, that dark blue-gray at the bottom stretched halfway up from the horizon. Sore, swollen throat and congested nasal passages today, too, along, of course, with all the lung problems I've come to expect since last November. We're also still waiting on the propane delivery, with more complications yet; the question is whether it's their tank or the water heater or what. Still waiting for management . . . and it's all going to cost.

So. Sales. Sales, sales, SALES. We need them badly. We can't do this kind of outlay without juggling and shifting and otherwise delaying elsewhere. And none of that even begins to get at what I'm dealing with (and will be for a very, very long time yet). We managed to pay outright on the medical stuff (because we had no choice; it's all cash on the barrelhead), but this leaves us seriously short. So please share the links, because we really need to bring in a lot more to make it through the rest of the season, forget the rest of the year:

• My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
• Wings's site, for sales, with new items posted;
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount);
• Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of animal and household stuff;
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. There are new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need to replace (either because the RV ruined it or because we gave it away when we had to downsize).

That all I've got. My entire existence is focused around chasing sales to pay medical and other) bills, and it's not going well.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Red Willow Spirit: A Changed and Changing Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's an edition of Red Willow Spirit for a changed and changing world, one where we are privileged (and terrified) to observe climate change occurring in real time and accelerating fast. It's a look at the elemental spirit that perhaps best defines this place, and at what it's like to live in a space and season of a changed and changing light, in more ways than one.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. It's all photos today, and it includes a few of my own purely for illustrative purposes, but as always, those by Wings are available for purchase in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. Also as always, sales are very much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

New worlds, blue worlds, new work by Wings.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

We need new worlds, or at least one new world, but we'll have to make do with repairing our current one. Even so, the thought of blue worlds, in this drought, seems to hold the promise of pure magic. Wings has created a pair out of lapis and silver, and they are as simple as it gets, but so complexly beautiful. Yes, Blue Worlds is the their name, and you can read the full description here. They might just as easily have been called Big Blue Marbles, though, especially given their marbled bezels:

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

The photos don't do them justice; they're amazing on (because you know I had to try them). Just over an inch across — they hang a bit longer than an inch thanks to wires and jump rings — and they dance perfectly. And the stones? Yes, they really are that blue. If interested, get hold me via the site's Contact form.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Orange leaves and dead trees. Propane and igniters and endless expense. Sales/subscribers/shares needed.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

The elms started going orange yesterday. That's about six weeks early. Usually, they'd go gold in the latter half of September, and hit orange only around the first of October. If you'd heard and felt the wind here this morning, though, you'd know without a doubt: Fall is here. The dead trees testify to that.

So are more bills. We're waiting on the propane delivery right now, but that's meant shuffling bills and incurring a late fee for one. They're backlogged more than two weeks on deliveries, which means that even if we get it today (or any time in the next two weeks), there's going to be a $100 "special delivery" surcharge slapped on it, and it's already $300. That doesn't fill the tank, either, but it does buy us another six months' to a year's worth. Meanwhile, we have to wait until that's done to know whether we have to replace the igniter in the water heater; in the meantime, they're digging the old RV gas pipe out. They'll send us a bill, so we don't have to pay that today, but we'll have to come up with it shortly, and it won't be cheap. Last week's medical stuff really put us in a hole (we thought we'd get out of all of it for about half what we did; some of it we couldn't anticipate). I'm running on two hours' sleep right now, and too much caffeine for my own good. The stress of the never-ending money chase, all these life-threatening health problems with the house not even finished, is killing me. My breathing is trash.

So. Sales. Sales, sales, SALES. We need them badly. We can't do this kind of outlay without juggling and shifting and otherwise delaying elsewhere. And none of that even begins to get at what I'm dealing with (and will be for a very, very long time yet). We managed to pay outright on the medical stuff (because we had no choice; it's all cash on the barrelhead), but this leaves us seriously short. So please share the links, because we really need to bring in a lot more to make it through the rest of the season, forget the rest of the year:

• My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
• Wings's site, for sales, with new items posted;
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount);
• Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of animal and household stuff;
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. There are new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need to replace (either because the RV ruined it or because we gave it away when we had to downsize).

That all I've got. My entire existence is focused around chasing sales to pay medical and other) bills, and it's not going well.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Monday Photo Meditation: A World On Fire

Photo copyright Wings, 2018; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a photo meditation for a time of late summer storms and early autumn skies in a week when fall is solidly here. It's a contemplation of an earth drastically altered, and of the harsh stark beauty of a world on fire.

The post is here. Wings's main page is here. As always, Wings's photos are available for purchase in any of the usual three formats; simply inquire via the site's Contact form. Also as always, sales are very much needed (especially now), so shares of the site links are much appreciated.



All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

All new by Wings, and fitting for the stormy season.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

It's an all-new work by Wings, one especially well-suited to the stormy season (like yesterday's wild weather). It's a pair of earrings made from an absolutely spectacular pair of matched landscape jasper cabochons, big, bold, and with a lot of dancing, dangling elegance. They're called After the Rain, a reference to our banded sunset skies here in the aftermath of monsoonal storms, and you can read the full description here. They also rest in a unique setting:

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; 
all rights reserved.

It's a repeating feather pattern, all gently flowing whorls and graceful lines, soft as the light when the storm has passed.

As the description notes, these earrings are built around exceptionally large cabochons, requiring a substantial amount of silver. They're best worn by someone accustomed to wearing earrings with some weight to them. [My own ears were pierced a little too low, making heavy earrings noticeable; I can wear these with no problem, but I'm used to big traditional styles.]

If you're interested, you can reach me through the site's Contact form.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.

Storms and outlays. Sales desperately needed; subscribers and shares needed, too.

Photo copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved.

One wave of yesterday's wall of dirt. Walls, plural, actually. Yes, it's played hell with my breathing. It was actually a terrible storm, the kind that is trying fiercely to speed up the rotation in the clouds enough to turn it into a tornado or several, but we got off relatively easy here. Parts of town, notsomuch. As far as anybody knows, it was only bursts and no funnel managed to touch down, but it took out tree branches and power lines, the latter sparking fires in the trees in some places, and left a good chunk of tribal lands and town without power. Under those circumstances, a few short brownouts and blackouts and an unwelcome asthmatic response on my part are actually not bad, considering.

The water heater issue is less welcome. It does need a part, and he'll bring it by early tomorrow. The other thing it needs is a fuller propane tank, and that's gonna cost. Our tank is the one we've had forever, something like 200-gallon capacity, and it takes us half of forever to use that up. We're now down almost, but not quite, to the red zone, which is to say, 20%. We would normally be fine, but this is a tankless water heater, and given how long it's been since we've had to put any significant amount of propane in the tank, it's no doubt settled a lot. There's a liquid antifreeze solution that gets mixed with it to prevent freezing in winter, and while the part replacement will fix a lot, what's still happening is that, now that it's low, when the water heater powers up, it sucks up the liquid faster than the gas and it's foiling the ignition. So we have no choice but to fill it this week preferably tomorrow, but I don't see how we can if we don't make some sales today; the medical stuff this past week wiped us out).

So. Sales. Sales, sales, SALES. We need them badly. We can't do this kind of outlay without juggling and shifting and otherwise delaying elsewhere. And none of that even begins to get at what I'm dealing with (and will be for a very, very long time yet). We managed to pay outright on the medical stuff (because we had no choice; it's all cash on the barrelhead), but this leaves us seriously short. So please share the links, because we really need to bring in a lot more to make it through the rest of the season, forget the rest of the year:

• My new Patreon, The Interstices (Writing Between Worlds);
• Wings's site, for sales, with new items posted;
• Wings's direct PayPal link;
• A way to buy me coffee (which actually goes to all of our medical bills, which continue to mount);
• Amazon wishlist, which mostly consists of animal and household stuff;
• Partial registry #1, from Bed, Bath and Beyond. There are new kitchen-y things on it now, stuff that I didn't realize we'd need to replace (either because the RV ruined it or because we gave it away when we had to downsize).

That all I've got. My entire existence is focused around chasing sales to pay medical and other) bills, and it's not going well.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2018; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.