Monday, Monday...........What's on the Line?

I am really missing the opportunity to share quilts and projects "on the line". I have good reason for not doing that and I'll tell ya in a minute. But first.........last Friday, I had some "blogging buddy fun"!  I know that many of you have met blogging friends "in person" and I got the opportunity to do that when I met Victoria Findlay Wolfe of Bumble*Beans blog. We met at Eagle*Creek*Quilt*Shop in Shakopee..............

and we did a little "meet and greet" and a little bit of shopping. Imagine that!!  Victoria bought some pretty fabrics that will end up in one of her colorful quilts. Check out this blogpost to see where else she's been shopping while in Minnesota. And me?...... did I buy anything?  Why, yes, I did and I'll tell you tomorrow because that's a whole other project.

It was such a treat to meet Victoria. I love her colorful quilt projects and "found her" when Pat Sloan shared a post about Victoria's charity quilt drive Bumble*Beans*Basics. I sent off a quilt and also a block for a group quilt project. I loved making that block, three little row houses and one day I will make a whole row house quilt! But I'm getting off the subject.........
The evening before we were to meet, I packed a little picnic lunch........egg salad, fresh fruit, some cookies, chips, and a little cake. It was a tiny cake I baked in a loaf pan and had set in the freezer about a month ago. I knew it would come in handy one day..........and it did!  It was the perfect size to slice and frost and set in a butter dish!  Preparing this little picnic lunch reminded me of the Teddy Bear picnics I used to coordinate for the Prior Lake Library. Somebody I know will remember those events!

I knew that Victoria's daughter, Beatrice, would be joining us and I thought she might just enjoy a little picnic lunch..........and she did! I asked her if she enjoys fabric and she said she "sews but doesn't quilt". After we finished our picnic lunch, I brought out some quilts and tops. I picked just a couple that I knew Victoria would enjoy..........colorful ones with vintage fabrics, like so many that she uses in her own projects.  And, if you follow my blog, most of those quilts and tops have shown up "on the line" on Mondays. And that brings me to why I haven't posted anything "on the line" lately.

Many of you know that I have had some health issues for quite some time. This spring I learned the answers to many of my health issues when I was diagnosed with histoplasmosis. Long word that means..........fungus in your lungs. Now interestingly, I happened to mention to Victoria that it was a possibility that I had this condition and right away, she asked if I'd been tested because she was very familiar with the fungus. She had it as a teenager and was basically a "guinea pig" for finding this condition.  So she joked that we are "histo-sisters". And there we are .........the "histo-sisters". LOL!

We are both doing well and just have scar tissue in our lungs that remind us of the condition. If you read Victoria's post, you'll learn how she contracted it. For me...........well, that's where my "what's on the line" feature may have led me to contract the fungus. I have that lovely spot out in our backyard where I take photos of all those quilts and tops. It's full of loose soil where the dirt and spores of birds and bats dwell and a very dead tree.............

That's right...........one of the two trees that supported my clothesline showed signs of a problem that we first noticed last year. This is what it looks like today. And pretty soon, it's not going to be there at all. My husband is going to have the tree guy come out and cut it down along with any other suspect looking trees. We have plenty so I'm not worried about losing the forest in our backyard. And then, when the trees are gone, he's going to install a new line with a pulley system and he's promised this will all be done by sometime in September!!! He also plans to spread some wood chips that will tamp down the loose soil so that I don't have any future issues. Before long, I'll be "back on line" and I have quilts that are just waiting to be hung and shared.

So that's the scoop, my blogging friends! I had a great morning with Victoria and Beatrice that made me smile for the rest of the day. Now tell me............have you met a blogging friend in person that really made you smile?

Have a good Monday all and stop back tomorrow to see what I felt like I had to buy at ECQ. There's a big clue in that sentence. LOL!
Sandi