Offerings Info....

Trying something a bit different with a few items we will be offering for purchase and wanted to explain the particulars on how it will work.  Hopefully....  never know what to expect with our internet here....  or should I say, lack thereof!!  

At 7pm EST tomorrow, Tuesday January 4, we will add an "Offerings" page and you will see it here on our homepage in the sidebar to the left under "Home"  Click on it and it will take you to the page that will show the selection.  

If you find something you would like you will need to EMAIL me at

yellowdoglane@gmail.com

We will take the emails as they come in and will respond letting you know if your choice is yours with any other info needed.  

We will also answer to let you know if the item you want has sold.  

Orders will be taken on some items if requested.  

Please don't hesitate to email with questions you might have after reading this post.  It's been a challenge since PictureTrail closed to find a platform that is as easy for us and for you.  Will give this a shot and see what happens!

Hope you'll pop back in on the 4th at 7pm EST

Thanks for your interest and continued support, 

Sharon, BigPops and the Girls

❤️

And Most Importantly........

 

Make Magic, Dreams and Madness....

~Sharon

Merry Christmas......

from our home, to yours ❤️

May your Christmas be Merry and your New Year be Bright!

BigPops, Sharon, Ivy & Lola

 

The Paper Bag Santa......

the Santa that watches over our family each year throughout the holidays.

A year ago I wrote a short story about this sweet Santa and it was published in FOLK magazine along with the photo that my nephew Ryan took.  Sadly, when the magazine arrived and I opened to see and read, I realized that I had sent my rough draft to Ben instead of my finished story.  I'm going to go ahead and tell his story once again, here, to all of you.  It will be told a bit differently, as it will come from my head and my heart and not copied from the draft. 

 

Many years ago, my Dad popped in to see me.  He was carrying a paper bag, lunch sized.  My first thought was that he brought me cookies!  His first words were, "I found something for you".  I remember the words, because those were words I heard from him many times.  He proceeded to pull his find from the paper bag, his face lighting up as he revealed his find.  I remember that moment when I laid eyes on the sweetest old Santa.  At one time, when he was new and shiny, his arm animated to ring the little bell.  Dad knew me well.  He knew that I was a lover of anything old, Christmas and most especially that I was always drawn to the less than perfect.  I didn't mind the tattered and torn, the well used, well loved or sometimes not loved enough.  He knew this Santa was perfect for me, he knew my heart.  

Each year as I prepare to dress our home for the holidays, I pull a brown paper bag from a cupboard.  The brown bag that Dad held with this precious Santa inside.  Sweet memories of Christmas' past.  Years of memories with him present.  Too many years of his presence only in spirit.  Tears always fall, some happy, others sad.  We have so many good memories of Dad, at Christmas and year round.  We also have one sad memory that re visits us each year at this time.  The memory that Dad spent his last Christmas in ICU at the U of M hospital.  He was in need of a heart, a heart to replace the one that so much love had flowed from over the years.  The doctors advised that he stood a better chance of the receipt from a donor over the holidays.  We all knew that he didn't have many days before it would be too late for the gift of life he was in need of.  I vividly remember that Christmas Eve, as we readied to leave his bedside for home.  Giving him the choice of staying or going home with us.  He gave it long thought and his answer was that he would stay, giving up this one Christmas at home in hopes of many future ones spent with all of us.  It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, walking out of that room and turning to tell him one last time,  Merry Christmas Dad.  

His last Christmas on earth, the man with a heart bigger than the sky.  The transplant coordinator said that God couldn't find a heart big enough or good enough for Dad.  Three weeks later she attended his funeral service, something she had never done for a patient that she wasn't supposed to form a personal attachment with.  In her words, an impossible task, he had found a place in her heart.   We like to think that he still holds that place in her heart and that, like all of us, she thinks of him at this time of year.

Each year, this special Santa, is pulled from that brown paper bag and placed in a comfy spot to oversee all of us who loved him so, and who he loved back.  He was 63 years young.  This year makes 25 years of Christmas without him.  In body.  He is always with us in spirit.  In our hearts and our memories.  Always spending Christmas with us at home, through the eyes of this old tattered and torn, seen better days, well loved or not loved enough Santa.  The most perfect Santa of all.  

Merry Heavenly Christmas Dad.  You are loved and missed every day.  Every single day.  

❤️

                           

 

GingerBread Bars Recipe.....

 I posting this morning on IG that I would be baking my GingerBread Bars, and well..... requests for the recipe came in, so sharing it here with all.  

I hope all of you are having a wonderful December of getting ready for Christmas and making sweet memories to revisit in years to come.  

Remember to look for the good..... it's there.  Sometimes you have to look a bit harder than other times but  it's there if you just take the time to find it!

Now..... here's the recipe.  Enjoy!

Have a great rest of your weekend.... 

I'll be sharing some Christmas photos later today or tomorrow for those who've asked ❤️

Make Merry!

Sharon 

Sweet Isabelle......

from a teeny tiny ball of fur, rescued from the edge of the swale, to a beautiful gray tortie....  Mothered by Gracie and then by Sophie.  Ivy gave her a run for her money and she loved every second of it.  Lola took to her instantly and the feeling was mutual.  

She blessed our lives for many years..... 

Our hearts broke...... she is mended.

Rest in peace our sweet, sweet Isabelle Lee.

Spot on.......

..... and the bedroom, the Keeping Room, the closet, the pantry, the Cellar, and well everywhere!

When I sing or when I dance they're always ready to party, too.  

I wouldn't want it any other way!

Wishing you a happy start to this final week of October, gosh where has 2021 gone!

From the Lane....

Sharon, Ivy, Lola & Isabelle

BigPops is still the resident guy, but he's been sorta living in the woods since October showed itself!!

Hello......

 remember me?  I hope at least a few of you do..... and that you're still following along, tap tap tapping your foot awaiting some news, some photos, a story.... or just a "hey there"!

Well.... Hey there!!  I'm back and I'm ready to share some photos, creations and maybe even a story or two.  Isn't it hard to believe that it's almost two years since our world ran into this big... no, make that huge, bump in our road of life?   The bump started a bit sooner with us when in January of '20 we lost a great friend.  The friend that made the Sharon/BigPops team happen.  A blind date it was, and well...... the rest is history, 23 years of history, good history.  We watched him fail with Parkinsons for several years and then in December of '19 he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer.  He was gone a few weeks later. And so it began.  The months of one loss after another of people I loved.  Friends.  Family.                   

Junior, Uncle Joe, Curt, Aunt Judy, Harriet, Bill aka Bos and Helen.  

These are the ones who held a special place in my heart, the ones I have stories to tell of, memories to share, and how they made my life better.  

I will share a story of each in future posts as I think I have finally found my "voice" to put words to "paper"...... I so hope I have, and I hope you'll enjoy the little stories of each I have to tell and how I loved each of them.  

For now, I just want to say, "hey there", "how ya doin'", "so happy to see you again"..... and of course, a Happy, happy Autumn to everyone!  I love all of our wonderful seasons here in the mitten but I really do love Fall most of all!  It's the leaves coming alive with color, pumpkins, bittersweet, mums, gourds and the scent.... you know that scent of Fall.... that's how I know when it's really arrived, and I smile.  

A few photos to share..... 

and of course one of The Girls.....

They've missed you all, too!

I do hope this finds you all well and your world bright..... 

I'll see you all soon, with a story or two and some photos as well.

Hoping you'll check in when you can.  

Until then, eat the cake, take chance..... smile.  Life is fleeting, take time to enjoy!

From the Lane,

Sharon 🧡

A Promise of Spring......

 We have just what you need to add a sweet touch of Spring to your home....

Click on our "Offerings from the Lane" link in the left column to take a peek!

Let us know if you might like a bunch or a pot of spring.....

yellowdoglane@gmail.com

Peek A Boo.....

 Did I make you scream?  I think I almost screamed myself and I knew it was me!  

This is me.... after a valiant try at back combing my hair, upside down, with the use of only my non dominant arm.  I know, there probably should be a video to share as I'm sure many of you have wondered how one might accomplish this task.  Don't try it.  For starters I got dizzy when I stood up, scared myself when I looked in the mirror and had to try smoothing the mess out with the non dominant arm to boot.  

This of course all took place after Big Pops try at getting my hair into a clip.  He said it was too slippery?  Not to mention that he kept losing the clip in those big paws of his.  He did manage to finally get the clip  in..... it was sideways.  I couldn't get it in sideways if I wanted to, and I'm a veteran Hairstylist.  He offered to try and curl it with the iron, I diplomatically declined when the thought of the burns from the iron entered my mental picture of the task.  The guy does have a way with those hair clips though.  

Pops has also been doing well with the vacuum and he makes a good stab at making the bed.  He has actually taken on the role of Chief Cook and BottleWasher here since my shoulder surgery a little over a week ago.    They tell me it will be thee months plus before I'm able to do my normal tasks, I of course scoff at that thought.  I am woman, after all!  

This has given me just one more thing to add to the long list of occurrences, losses, gains and just things in general that I must try to "embrace".  Some I do with laughter, some with tears..... some with a swear or two.  I even have a few that I've stomped on and thrown out the back door, never to allow back in.  

At the end of each day I try to reflect on what I've been handed to embrace and remain thankful for all the good that's in that handful.  

I hope you noticed that I did a bit of sprucing up here on the site.... new background, new colors, new photo.  I'm in hopes that it will help me to embrace the task of writing and sharing more here and I have lots of stuff in mind, and to be honest.... it was something I could do fairly easily with my non dominant arm by sneaking in my right hand to help a bit.  I have put wallpapering, stenciling, hairstyling and quite a few other things on the back burner for now.  I can still dance though, just no cartwheels.  

May your handfuls at days end be full of all things good...... with a Big Pops tucked in for good measure.

From the Lane ~ Sharon

Well here we are.....

 over a week out since my last post and I had vowed to myself to post more often!

Rest assured, I haven't been just sitting on my duff.... really I haven't.  I've  been cleaning, sorting, purging and selling!!  It's been kind of fun really.... and I've even got Big Pops into helping me!  I shouldn't make that sound like it's such a big deal because truly, he's alway at the ready when I need him to  help out.  I do have to admit though it's kinda cute when I get that big ole guy to give me his ideas on rearranging the  Keeping Room and whether or not I should sell something or maybe keep it!!  He's a former super athlete in any sport he played pretty much and here he is telling me if he thinks that cute little chair will look good in the corner, or not so much.  He is a keeper for sure ❤️  He did tell me today though that he thought I had a problem with books.  Hardcover home decor, primitive, country and the like..... books.  He estimates he piled over a hundred of them on the table that I will sort and decide which ones to part with.  Problem???  Whatever!!  I love him that's all that matters!

This is just the start of my purging..... I added much more after this photo and I have more to go, and oh yes, I nearly forgot the books that I have a problem with!!

I found that with all the happenings in our world this past week that if I didn't keep myself busy I may just dig a hole and crawl into it.  So..... I decided to bring calm and comfort to my own little world here on the Lane, that I would simplify and weed things out that have been packed away or crammed in to where they needn't be and get them along to a new home where they could be enjoyed.  Lord only knows why I kept all of this after I closed Saltbox Farm.  Just in case I guess.  I've decided if "just in case" comes along, I will improvise and make it happen, just like always.  

I'm also working on another blog/website??? Not really sure myself.  I just know that PictureTrail will be no longer at the end of February and I either need to curl up and die or find another outlet for my offerings and other nonsense, so.....  stay tuned my friends, foes and followers, I will keep you posted on the progress right here!  

I wish you all peace in your heart and not the hatred I see in so many.  A post I seen read, "don't let some people that you don't know and don't know you, fracture a friendship",  we all have our opinions and our political views but really, are they worth the loss of a friend?  I think not.  

Wishing you all a good week to come and better things beyond.  

From the Lane.....

Sharon