Groan...

Had a great time at the Heartland Quilters meeting in North Platte, NE. They're warm, friendly and talented -- what a pleasure to see their work!

   Joan, my hostess, took me around to see the sights next morning: streets of very old houses, a bunch of railroad history (including two viaducts), and three thrift shops. We couldn't squeeze in Buffalo Bill's ranch, but hope to do that next time. 

Sheilah, one of my new Heartland buddies, gave me a absorbing book: Vile Obsession by Nellie Snyder Yost. (You should recognize that name: Nellie was Grace Snyder's daughter, and wrote a memoir of her famous quilter mom: No Time on My Hands.)
     Annie Cook, the subject of Vile Obsession, did what she liked in the North Platte area, including running brothels, working her family and employees to death (including abusing inmates at the Poor Farm she ran for years), cheating, stealing -- and murdering, though she was never tried for it. 

Annie in the Forties. No doubt her trademark whip is in her pocket. 

     Annie was a real piece of work. Fascinating, in the way you watch a rattlesnake -- but never quite dare turn your back on it. She's the main feature on a graveyard tour this fall, sponsored by the North Platte Public Library Foundation. Wish I could have gone on one. Perhaps you can -- info's here.
      Her farm is said to be haunted. No big surprise there.

     Unfortunately, some dear soul on the plane ride home seems to have given me a bonus: I ache all over, throat hurts and the lymph glands are swollen. A good night's sleep and a bunch of Vitamin C should help; a bunch of appraisal reports are due. I've also got work to do in Creede, CO early next week, and can't afford to be sick right now.