Debra LaValley's Blog

“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!

Most of the Gang at Bob & Shary’s Party

What A Great Summer!

We certainly shared special moments with many relatives from near and far this summer. At the end of September, Uncle Bob (who lives in Arizona) came to New Hampshire for a visit so we could meet his new wife Shary. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone. Here are just a few of the photos taken during the week they were visiting.

The Cousins

Mom and Dad

Doug, Oliver, Paul, Donna

Shary & I

Bob & Shary

Aunt Sheila having fun with the bug-zapper racquet 🙂

Aunt Mary Jane and Uncle Bob Bailey

Sheila, Mary Jane, Betty, Tom, Shary, Bob Ross

Family Fun

On Saturday, September 15th we had a gathering at my folks’ house to celebrate my nephew Michael’s birthday. He was up for the long weekend from West Virginia. His brother Joe who works in Saudi Arabia was also in town for the week. That morning, I saw my first praying mantis in a few years. It flew on me, and my sister Jackie snapped a photos. Below are a few of the family shots taken on Sunday that some of you will enjoy.

Joe and Mike in Back
Danielle, Melissa (holding Jaxon) and Rachel

Great Grandma & Jaxon

Great Grandpa & Jaxon

Chris, Jessica, Dad, Mom, Jaxon

Jackie, MaryBeth, Me

Melissa, Justin, Mom

Jessica and Lucian

Joe, Jaxon, Mike

Mike and Rachel

Labor Day 2013

I woke up at 6:00 AM to the wildest thunderstorm! Molly was hiding under the bed. My mom called from the campground in Weare at 7:00 AM to tell me about the storms there. The air was thick and the sun was only seen for a few seconds here and there. It was a relaxing day though. I managed to take a few decent photos early in the morning of a Broad-winged Hawk that was trying to dry its feathers.

Broad-winged Hawk

It was a good day to stay close to home. The southbound traffic on the highway looked like a giant parking lot. All the vacationers were heading home after spending the last “unofficial” Day of Summer in New Hampshire. Some left the highway and traveled the back roads. It was crazy out there.

I got my flu shot and then picked up my sister Jackie, and we spent a few hours in Penacook. Tomorrow is back to work, and hopefully the end of this humidity and rain.

Moooooo!