Vacay! Hooray!

Oh, why don't I take more vacations? Silly me.

My good friends at Ackfeld Mfg. (Peg & Skip Ackfeld) have been asking me to come down & visit them near Branson, MO. Of course, being the work-a-holic that I am, I've been great at conjuring up excuses why I am too busy to take a few days off. Fortunately for me, Peggy Ackfeld booked me for a speaking engagement at a quilt guild meeting near Branson, knowing I would surely visit in the name of work. Thanks Peggy. I owe ya one!

Well, I had such a fantastic time on my "business" trip, that I thought I'd share a few photos of my hard work with you all.

Here I am telling my story of how Patch Abilities came to be. I tend to morph into quite a ham, when I get in front of a large group of people. Surprise, surprise!

This group gets together once a year at their local library (I am told), for a guild meeting & asks everyone to donate $5 to the library. What a great idea to help out their library.

Work, work, work. That's all I do. Here I can be seen deeply contemplating important business

decisions. It helps to take my shoes off.

It also helps if I move my chair to a more sunny location. That's a nice garden waterfall behind me - it was necessary for my decision making.

Rhonda Ragspun, if you're reading this, these are the pictures you've pestered me about. Enjoy!

I worked with these unusually tame flamingos. Shhh. Quiet, or you'll scare them.

To the right here, I am doing my best to test out the fiber quality of this loosely woven fabric. I guess, some people call this a hammock. My tests were inconclusive though, so I'll have to go back for more . . . uh . . . . testing. Yeah, that's it . . . testing.

I spent 5 gruelling days at the Ackfeld Ranch. I worked so hard. So hard. To the left, are the slavedrivers as they surround me.

Oh, who am I kidding? Are you seriously buying the load of crap I'm dealing you? Well, stop it!

I did go down to Missouri for a speaking engagement, but my 5 days with Peg, Skip & Gramma Ackfeld were nothing less than pure bliss. Gramma is 96 & she can still bend over & pick up something off the floor. What a woman! That's more than I can do sometimes. She is quite an inspiration to stay active & live a long life.

A lesson is to be learned from every experience. Yes, every experience. So, what did I learn from my visit to see my friends? That I had waited too long to make my first visit & also that excuses serve me no purpose, rather they hold me back.

For those of you, whom aren't yet sure who the hell these folks are . . . . Peg & Skip Ackfeld are the owners of Ackfeld Mfg. They make the great wire hangers that I feature on all my patterns & my website. Gramma is Skip's Mom. Her name is Flori. They opened me into their home, hearts, & kitchen. Wow, did I eat good . . . like a princess.