Debra LaValley's Blog

Happy Summer!

Here in New Hampshire, we have been having some steamy weather. It is not my favorite. I would rather have it cold than hazy, hot, and humid! As I stay inside with the AC, I have been playing with my ChatGPT apt. I created the above image which I call The Ole’ Swimmin’ Hole. It has been fun playing. My sassy calico Maisey has been the star of many of my creations. I wouldn’t mind being at the swimming hole today! July arrived with even more mugginess! Ugh 🙂

July has its share of fun! I love SHARK WEEK and SHARKFEST that will be on television this month. It is certainly more entertaining than all the repeats! Family will also be visiting this month! It will be great seeing those who live out of state!

July is also Summer-ween! It really is a thing 🙂 I am all for Halloween type themes any time of the year!

Wishing everyone a safe and wonderful summer! Stay cool!

It was a dark and stormy Saturday . . .

Greetings from the great Water World of New Hampshire! It seems as if it has been raining forever! May was one of the rainiest May’s on record, and today marks the 12th consecutive Saturday with measurable rain. It seems as if measurable is about an inch or 3 by the height of the river, streams, and ponds! The mosquitoes, blackflies, and ticks are loving it! There certainly is no shortage of any of those beasties! The grass is a lovely green and everything is in bloom!

Usually, I would be out and about looking for photo ops, but not today. I was also hoping to check in on the local eagle’s nest that I have been monitory for NH Audubon for years. The pair has one eaglet that appears to be about 4 weeks old. I had not seen it until a week ago.

The eaglet will be growing quickly over the next couple months! I will be sharing photos of its growth as the weeks go by.

I hope everyone is having a great Spring!

PS – the image of Maisey watching the storm, I created in ChatGPT from a photo that I took of her watching the rain.

Florida Vacation!

I had a great time on my Florida vacation with my friends Tim & Dianne and their daughter Megan. I hadn’t been on an air travel flight since November 2019. It was a bit warmer than I would like but only a couple days were oppressive. We spent a day a Kennedy Space Center then spent four nights at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort that was quite lovely! Our last two nights were at Universal’s Loew’s Royal Pacific Resort. We had never stayed on site at Universal before. It was nice to be on site. These were the hottest days too and enabled me to get back to the room mid-afternoon. We were able to ride E.T. three times! It is one of our favorite rides. Most of the old favorites at Universal Studios are no longer there. We had a good time though. We took a group shot at E.T. inside the closet with him. I was then talked into scaling the steps and getting on the suspended bicycle for the classic bicycle across the moon shot! I bet there haven’t been too many people 67 years old doing that! LOL! At least, I am only a hair over 5 feet tall.

FYI – On 5/8, when we were at Vero Beach, we watched the Falcon 9 rocket launch. The link below is my video link: https://youtube.com/shorts/PHqz2QzhTXg?si=tlKIWQx7YnirtDNV

Hope everyone is having a great spring!

A first! A short-tailed Weasel

About a week ago, I was watching the local eagles when a brown blur peaked out from behind a tree from me. I was surprised to see my first NH weasel in the wild! It was running around very fast trying to get away. I managed a few fairly clear shots.

No eaglets yet – but any day now!

Happy Spring, Everyone!

Rabbit Rabbit and Happy April Fool’s Day!

Happy Spring too! I hope everyone is having a great spring! The eagles are incubating at the local nest. I will be posting updates as time goes on. Last year, they did not have a successful nest. Hopefully, the nest will have a successful hatch! I missed watching the eaglets grow last year.

Enjoy your day and watch out for pranksters! 🙂

Happy March!

Winter started off slowly. We barely had any snow through January. That surely changed in February! We have arctic temperatures, high winds, and many snowstorms. We had about 3 weeks with storms on Wednesdays/Thursdays and on the weekend. We have a very good ground cover of snow out there! March came in like a lamb! In Concord, we came close to 50 degrees! I think we got to 49! However, today it will be in the low 20s with an even colder windchill. Tomorrow will also be very cold. Luckily, the rest of the week looks like mild weather.

I hope everyone is having a good winter. Take care and be safe! 🙂

Above is a photo of a cow that was in one of Morrill Farm’s fields. It was lapping the post like it was an ice cream! I figure maybe some of the road salt hit the wood.

Happy New Year – 2025!

Let the sunshine into the New Year! Wishing everyone a year filled with joy, laughter, peace, and good health!

Merry Christmas to All!

This Christmas will be our first without our mother. It is sad; however, the memories that our parents and other relatives and friends who are no longer with us fill us also with joy, laughter and sometimes a few tears. I feel blessed that I grew up in a loving home surrounded by family and friends. I am still blessed with friends and family. It also brings me joy that I have Maisey (my sweet Calico) who tolerates me putting her in hats, etc. LOL! I spoil her often.

Below is a photo of the Christmas Tree in downtown Penacook this year.

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. It is a quiet one here in New Hampshire this year. There is a bit of mixed frozen precipitation, so my Thanksgiving with my sister Mary Beth has been pushed to tomorrow. I decorated my little tabletop Christmas tree and watched parades on TV and a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It is certainly different with my mom now not with us. Our parents certainly left us with great and wonderful memories! We are truly blessed. I am thankful for all my relatives and friends! Enjoy the holiday and stay safe out there!

Debbie 🙂