Penny the Traveling Clothespin Doll shares her adventures at home and abroad.
All posts in Winter
23
Dec
"Silent night! Holy night! Son of God, Love's pure light, Radiant beams from Thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace; Jesus, Lord at Thy birth; Jesus, Lord at Thy birth." Read more
28
Feb
We sure have had a snowy February here in New York! It has been clean and bright white, but the sunshine has been rather rare. One frigid day, Penny went out for a walk in the snow on our farm. She climbed an elm tree to gaze about. Suddenly, she heard a warm and friendly voice from below inviting her to drop in for a visit.
Mr. Jedidiah was so happy to have some company after so many cold and snowy days when most creatures have been staying indoors. He met Penny in the tree and showed her how to reach his home under the low gnarly log.
WEEEeeeeee!! Down Penny slid in the soft, fluffy snow.
Mr. Jedidiah had a safe little porch where they could chat together and gaze at the lovely scenes around them.
Such a delightful visit it was for both of them as Mr. Jedidiah was full of knowledge about the forest and all the critters that lived there. He also had a rich memory of many past winters and the varieties of weather he had seen and the adventures he had lived through. He was eager to share stories and tales with Penny and she really enjoyed making a new friend that wintry day as the snow fell softly around them.
After Penny trudged home to the dollhouse that night, she fixed herself a cup of hot cocoa and burrowed down in her favorite chair to sip it slowly and recall the stories of the afternoon. The fire in the fireplace crackled and popped contentedly beside her.
Just a little whipped cream on the cocoa added the perfect touch, and Penny even got a bit on her nose before it all melted away into a hot creamy pool.
This jar of cocoa mix came for Christmas and he is sure loving Penny’s warm house. How about a cup for yourself, Mr. Jolly Cocoa Jar?
“Don’t mind if I do,” says he.
May you all have a safe and warm winter season where you are today!
God bless you, real good!
*****
29
JanHello Friends, winter days are here and our view is full of clean, white, lovely snowflakes.
Please join us as Penny hosts a craft day on cutting paper snowflakes. We have decorated our windows by taping up paper snowflakes that match the white world outside. It looks so festive from both inside looking out, and outside looking in!
For this project, I would like to thank Lynnea and Emily Mayne for hosting Penny and organizing the instructions to share with you. They are some pretty talented snowflake cutters!
First, let me share some snowy photos I took outside to capture some of this pure white beauty.
And now, lets begin our craft by selecting a sheet of smooth white paper, and some sharp scissors.
Carefully folding our first triangle….
Time to trim it up on the paper cutter. Good thing you have someone to supervise, Penny!
Folded and folded again….
And now friends, we are ready to do some creative cutting!
Chop, chop, chop!!
The exciting part is when you open your folded paper to discover the design you invented!
Hurray!!! Good job!
Thank you for joining us, this has been a fun craft, and it was special to do it with Lynnea and Emily. ♥
Its time now to bundle up and head outside together for some sledding and laughter. Are you ready? Let’s take a close look and admire how God made each snowflake beautifully designed in miniature, with no two alike.
That’s pretty amazing.
How many snowflakes do you see?
*******
24
Dec
Penny has a cousin that has been living in Mongolia. She wanted to send her own Merry Christmas to you readers. Here she poses with a hand-carved Mongolian nativity scene. She is making friends with the camels.
Camels are native here in Mongolia; they are used for transportation and for milking. In this land the animals have owners but are allowed to run loose and feed themselves in the wild.
The herdsman live in little round houses called “gers”. The fences are used to keep animals away from the houses.
Mongolia is a land between Russia and China. Far in the north, the summers are short and snow can often be seen out on the mountains.
Come visit and take a turn at riding a camel for yourself!
Christmas is not celebrated here as in Christian countries.
Maybe you’d like to see a close up of that nativity scene at my friend’s house. It is beautifully made.
Mary and Joseph in the background and the baby Jesus in the manger.
We three Mongolian kings…bearing gifts.
I see a restless camel itching to go out exploring!
Our little gal also enjoyed checking out the gingerbread house competition for Christmas. Here is a scene with gers and animals and the mountains in the background. So detailed and clever!
Next, a tall skinny house dusted with snow.
And last of all, a little log cabin, complete with interior furnishings.
Before we say goodbye, you are welcome to sample some “aaruul” or dried yogurt that they make here in Mongolia.
Thanks for visiting!! Merry Christmas!!
Happy New Year!! from Mongolia.
“шинэ жилийн баярын мэнд хүргы”
21
Dec
Merry Christmas from Penny and Friends!!
Penny recently went to visit her friend Cathy, and had such a lovely time making new friends and enjoying an old fashioned Christmas home. Come along and share the fun!
Ho, Ho, Ho!! Come on in, many joyful surprises await you here!
Penny is sitting above the door to invite you in. What a cute homemade garland this is with red beads and green fabric ties.
First, come to the stable, where the shepherds and wise men have traveled to see that the wonderful news is true, a Savior is born!!
“God must have said, ‘I know what I’ll do, I’ll send my love right down there where they are. And I’ll send it as a tiny baby so they’ll have to touch it and they’ll have to hold it close.’ “
– Gloria Gaither
Jesus, You are the reason for this season of festive joy.
We come to celebrate your birthday!
On the mantel, Penny wanders among the lights, pine cones and greenery exploring on the back of a friendly stuffed reindeer steed.
The Christmas tree is a splendid display of beauty!
This is Felicity, the darling folk art angel holding the star at the top of the tree. How do you do, dear? What a lovely view!
Nestled among the other ornaments Penny feels right at home. Here she meets jolly little snowmen and a Christmas cat! Why, that must be Stitch’s favorite ornament! Let’s go meet Stitch, the kitty…
Here, kitty, kitty!
Hello Stitch, what a warm and cozy pal you make, with your little “stitched” half mustache, and your long soft fur.
How about a frosty sleigh ride together with you, Mr. Snowman? Wheee!
Now we’ll rest a bit on this old fashioned trunk and decide where to go visit next. Do I see someone cat napping on the couch back there?
I love the old Santas and lots of little Christmas trees.
Red berries and mittens are joyful additions,
And a sparkly lamp shines with cheer!
Another pretty old lantern sits in this corner on a square basket box where hangs a single white snowflake.
Penny found another little Christmas tree, perfect for sitting under as she chats with a few more snowmen buddies. I like this one beside her with the sleepy eyes.
She can’t resist the invitation to come sit by these two snowmen’s campfire while they entertain her with jolly tales.
Come to the kitchen now, Penny! There are lots of special things in here!
These rows and rows of cookies smell, oh, so delicious!
See the shadow of the window snowflake on the cupboard’s side? So pretty.
More Christmas friends spread cheer in their bright corner over here.
Even the shaggy dark fellow under the hat can’t resist all those snowman smiles that surround him.
Penny oversees the operation of more cookies underway.
I’ll volunteer to be a taste tester!!
Yes, you may, as long as you come join the sink crew and take a turn washing some dishes!!
Its evening now, and the Santa moon is out.
Penny is resting and gazing at all the labors below she was happy to be a part of.
What’s that old English Carol? “On a cold winter’s night that was so deep..”
The First Noel, the Angels did say,
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay,
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter’s night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel!
They looked up and saw a star,
Shining in the East beyond them far,
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night.
And by the light of that same star
Three Wise Men came from country far;
To seek for a king was their intent,
And to follow the star wherever it went.
This star drew nigh to the northwest,
O’er Bethlehem it took its rest;
And there it did both stop and stay,
Right over the place where Jesus lay.
Then entered in those Wise Men three,
Full reverently upon the knee,
And offered there, in his presence,
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense.
Then let us all with one accord,
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord,
That hath made heaven and earth of naught,
And with His blood mankind hath bought.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel!
1833 Old English Christmas Carol – Author Unknown
Merry Christmas, friends, near and far, thank you for coming along. May God bless your home with His grace and peace this Christmas.
*******
22
Dec
A very merry Christmas from our house to yours! ♥
Penny and I have been enjoying trying our hand at making gingerbread houses this year. A new experience for me. Thanks to Google, we found a good recipe and set to work mixing ingredients, kneading lots of flour into the dough to make it very stiff, and then rolling it out to cut into shapes to create our little houses.
I am thankful to have found the tip saying to hot glue the house together, rather than relying on just frosting, and it sounded like a good step to make things simpler. So that’s what I did, with no regrets, though it would not be purely edible. I wasn’t planning on these getting eaten.
You can see here that I drew lines on the roof with a pencil for the “shingle” pattern. Penny and her pets wanted to run in and out to explore the cute little house.
Another tip I learned was to make the candies available in a muffin tray. Good idea! We had red and green M&Ms, white chocolate wafers, gummy candies, little cinnamon drops, pretzels, pecans, and dates. And of course, candy canes. Go easy on the sampling here!!
And now for the little people to begin. I made royal frosting from egg whites and confectionery sugar that is meant to dry quickly. I gave the workers each a sandwich bag with the tip cut off so they could pipe it on as they wished. Here the pencil lines are roughly followed with frosting and M&Ms applied with little fingers.
This is a busy gingerbread house construction site with kids very intent on their labors. So cute!
Someone got carried away with candy cane ridgepoles here, but no fear, there is nothing that a little more frosting can’t fix! How do you like it now, Penny?
First we decorated the fronts, then the sides got candy accessories too – bright little Christmas bushes and white chocolate wafers.
Oh, here is a good idea, a pretzel log sidewalk to the front door.
I added frosting to the roof edges and some dripping icicles to complete this masterpiece.
This home belongs to the gummy snowmen who wonder if you won’t step inside and join them for a cup of cocoa?
After a busy day, here is Penny posing by the finished houses. A big one for the children to take home, and a littler one for their Grandma. Merry Christmas one and all!
In the background is the recently made Christmas banner celebrating “God with us”.
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:23
And that’s why we celebrate Christmas!!
