Grenville decorated the house front and back patio.
When holiday decorations go unused for several years, there’s quite a few that can find other homes. A large bag of holiday stuffed toys was donated to a local assisted living.
(Thrift stores have an abundance of stuffed toys at the holidays and many go unsold. Other places, however, really appreciate getting them especially as these had never been played with by children – if you discount us.)
Despite the giveaways, we STILL have a lot of holiday toys – some were gifts, many we bought, just because. Ever done that too?
For many years, Beatrice collected teddy bears . . .
Then, Beatrice met Grenville, and the frog collection started. It might have something to do with his story of being a frog prince who needed to be kissed (FYI, Beatrice is still waiting for the changeover). 
Penguins came after the frogs – we’re STILL not exactly sure WHY, but the combo worked well, hence the house name.
At the F&P, penguins also hang out with teddy bears and snowmen . . .
MORE penguins . . .
Santa and the Grinch are also here – both are battery operated and fun to watch. We start them up when friends visit – Toys are fun for all ages.
The Nativity set is over 15 years old and; it was purchased for about $10 at a K-Mart store and came with ceramic vs. plastic figures. (The plastic sheep and camel were added later.) I was planning to put some cut greenery around it, but Grenville pointed out that this would not be good as it is set up on the gas fireplace mantle. Grenville has a set that’s over 30 years old and next year we’ll set that one up.
This year, we have two trees. The one on the left is a fiber-optic tree that was donated to us last year because we were not home to set up a tree; it’s set up near a window in the library. The tree on the right is REAL (always for us) and is by the bay windows in the living room. We checked out some artificial ones this year and decided they were not for us – at least not now.
We couldn’t agree MORE
Pucker up – here’s some mistletoe for YOU
Merry Christmas from Grenville & Beatrice
The Frog & PenguINN
The Frog & PenguINN
11 comments:
Bea, I have some stuffed Christmas toys to take to the local women's shelter too, not my bears though they get to stay but some moose and I'm not sure what else is in that stack...and yes we've bought and accumulated too much. I love your penguin collage...Merry Christmas
It looks VERY festive inside and out. It's good to see that there are plenty of Christmas decorations that include frogs and penguins. Hope you have a VERY merry Christmas.
Very nicely decorated! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I like Your decoration! I had a real old nativity set once, but I think I gave itv to my sister and her family. I´ve been looking for a new one for some years now but never found anyone that I like, but I will keep on looking!
Toys are fun at every age :-) But I´m more in to mechanical things :-) I think I´ll buy a train set this christmas to myself :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.
Nice. Good outside shots, which are not necessarily easy to take.
Very nice, I like the real tree a lot more.You found a winner. I looked for the misstletoe but then was reminded I might not get anyone to notice me other than the dog.When I lived in AZ kids went around and sold it, even though you could go harvest some in the desert, it was fun to give them a quater.
I enjoyed all your decorations. I have a lot too and I am just surprised that we don't have any of the same ones. I do a large Christmas village every year and have several themed sets of ornaments for the tree. This year the theme of choice is birds. I'll have to do a post on them.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, Happy New Year to all.
Pat, thanks for the comments on how you also shared some of your Christmas toys. I did share some of the bears as well as a few penguins and a couple of moose, but we had more than enough to go around - as you could see. The penguin collage was fun to do - Merry Christmas to you and Jerry too.
Hi Scott, thanks for the comments - it "feels" festive too this year and lots of fun to see these frogs and penguins all around.
Thanks Mona and Merry Christmas to you!
Hi Christer, we also have a second nativity set belonging to Grenville and that one is over 30 years old so next year that one will be set up. Hope you find one as well. And, a train set is always a good gift - especially when its to yourself. Grenville is looking for one as well.
Steve, we agree with the rteal tree and are glad we decided NOT to get an artificial one. The pine scent is wonderful. The mistletoe was not real. I didn't know it grows in the AZ desert.
Thanks Elaine, we had fun re-discovering them again this year and seeing many brought back memories of where we got them or who gave them to us. The trip down memory lane was fun. Looking forward to seeing your decos too. We also have a New England holiday village, but there was no place to set it up. Next year we will have to start earlier to get it up too.
Anvilcloud, outdoor night shots ARE very tough and it was VERY cold the night I tried to get these. I took a tripos and used a shutter release. These were the better of the ones taken that night.
what a great selection of fun ornaments and yep, I too buy some of them just because.
Carole, we parted with some of the overflow this year, but not any of the ornaments because most hold special memories. We used to buy more but now have become a bit more , but then there are those "just for fun" purchases too and they are such fun!
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