Debra LaValley's Blog

A Great Christmas and now A New Year!

Ah – a New Year is here! 2013 ended with lots of fun and family. My parents’ house was filled with people, and we had special guests, Joe and Michael, with us this year. Joe works in Saudi Arabia and recently rented an apartment in Oklahoma as a “home base.” He has to leave Saudi approximately every 12 weeks for about a month to get a new Visa, etc. He went to college in Oklahoma and has friends out there. Michael lives in West Virginia and in November became engaged to Rachel Broughton! My parents had all their grandchildren (except Matt who lives it Portland, ME) and great grandchildren, stop by the house on Christmas day.

MaryBeth, Lucian, Chris

Michael & Rachel

Lucian, Chris, Jessica

Justin & Melissa

Sara, Mom, Dad

Me & My new Mittens

Mom, Dad, Joe opening their stockings

Sara, Jackie, Quincy

Jackie w/ Toby

So far, 2014 has been snowy and very cold! We have had about a foot of snow and last night was around 17 BELOW Zero! (I would still rather have the snow and cold than 90 degrees and humid!)

A heat wave is coming for tomorrow! It is going to be in the 30s!

Happy 2014 to you all! I wish you all Happiness and Good Health!

Debbie 🙂

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year’s Eve!

I hope all have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve and that 2014 brings everyone Happiness and Good Health!

Debbie 🙂

Happy Winter Solstice!

Winter Began at 12:11 PM EST Today!

Happy Winter Everyone! I made this snowman today! We had the perfect snow for snowman making. I haven’t made a snowman in years. I decided to make one near the apple tree in my parents’ back yard. I have a trail camera on the trunk of the apple tree, and deer have been visiting their yard regularly (day and night)! The deer love eating the apples. I once saw a photo of a deer eating the carrot nose of a snowman – so I decided to try and recreate the same event. I built the snowman and turned the trail camera toward it.

Today may be the beginning of winter – but the weather was down right “balmy!” It was in the 40s! It is currently raining. I am hoping my snowman makes it at least through the night or until a deer comes and visits. (I saw two eagles this afternoon as well – unfortunately it was such a dark gray day – the photo were not very good!). Below are trail camera shots of the deer that have been visiting (I picked a few shots from last night/this morning.) I also have added a couple other shots that I took today!

Happy Holidays to All!

Debbie 🙂

“It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!”

The Christmas season has started! The Penacook Christmas Tree is up and lit in the town square and white candles shine in all the windows of the Merchant Block! (The candles are in memory of friends and family. My parents had a candle “lit” in memory of my brother Tom.)

Missing this year are the old Christmas Tree decorations that usually adorn the telephone poles. There has been so much construction – that the city probably decided not to bother. Downtown Penacook is such a quaint place. Unfortunately, this may be the last Christmas season that it will look like this, since there is going to be a traffic circle/rotary built right in the middle of downtown! UGH! I won’t go into how obscene this is to me and many others. It will destroy the look of our quaint historic downtown! But – we have this year, and this year, our hometown has a lovely tree! I am hoping for a bit more snow before Christmas! I will be sure to take more photos of the square and the tree.

As I write this, I am watching Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas – a classic. It is only one of many Christmas Specials that I will be watching over the next few weeks! We do not have too much snow on the ground – but I am hopeful that this year we will have a White Christmas.

Enjoy the Season Everyone!

My First Sleigh Ride

Let the Holiday Season Begin!

I can’t believe that today is already December 1st! We had a great time with family for Thanksgiving over Ken & Dorothy’s house! Plenty of food, good conversations, a few games, and good weather!

Happy Birthday, Mom (also known as Maaaaa)!

Today is the birthday of the best mother in the world! Thank you for everything you have done for us over the years! Enjoy your special day! Love, Debbie 🙂

Alba, Betty, Ken Ross 1937

Molly Loves Her New Hat ..NOT!

Short Days – Early Nights

November is such a gray and gloomy month! Most of the trees have lost their foliage, and it seems the skies are gray most of the month. It is also the month when we “fall back” and the clocks go back an hour – causing the darkness to invade our lives earlier and earlier until December 21st. It takes me weeks to get used to it being so dark so early! I do not enjoy it being pitch dark when I get out of work! At about 5:30 PM, my body seems to think it is time to go to bed. I don’t mind the temperatures cooling – but I do mind the time change and the early darkness!

This weekend, the sun hid itself well. Saturday – though it was dark and gloomy – I was lucky enough to have a great bald eagle sighting along the Merrimack River in Boscawen. The barren trees – do make it easier to spot eagles perched in them. I spotted the eagle in a tree about 11:30 AM and then walked to the river and watched it for awhile. It then took off and flew over me a couple times before flying out of sight. I posted some of the better shots on my Flickr photostream. Below is a sample shot.

Sub-adult/4 year old – Banded Bald Eagle

I never tire of seeing eagles! They are such magnificent birds!

Stay Warm & Have a Great Evening!

Jack o’lantern 2013

Tonight, I carved my jack o’lantern in preparation of Gate Night tomorrow. Penacook and Boscawen go Trick or Treating on Gate Night (10/30). It is our tradition. I love the glow of a jack o’lantern.

I wonder how many trick or treaters I will have tomorrow? My goodies are in my trunk. I had to keep them out there so I wouldn’t eat them 🙂

Have a great night!

It is Almost Halloween!

I love Halloween! It is so much fun! Folks really get in the spirit! I was driving to work the other morning when I noticed the car behind me had an interesting passenger! I was chuckling all the way in to work. I desperately wanted to snap a photo! Luckily for me, the car was still behind me when I arrived at the stop light. I grabbed my cell phone and took a quick photo of my rear view mirror! I didn’t know until I arrived at work that I captured the image. It was extra amusing that Bennett’s Funeral Home was in the foreground along with Church Street! This put a smile on my face all day.

I wonder what I will see this week!

You are Never Too Old!

I just returned from a week in sunny and humid Florida. I spent the week with my good friends Tim & Dianne Blodgett and two of their adult children (Chris & Megan). We spent one day at Universal Studios and enjoyed the new Harry Potter area. The rest of the week was spent at Walt Disney World! We had a great time. It was great to relax and let our inner child have fun at the parks. We stayed at the Beach Club Resort – that was a short distance from both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. If you have never been to Walt Disney World – you should go! I never thought I would enjoy it – but I love it. This trip was my 8th trip to WDW!