Debra LaValley's Blog

Happy Father’s Day!

Today, we are having a party to celebrate my Dad’s birthday (6/15) and Father’s Day. We all will be gathering at the homestead for food and fun – things my family know a lot about. On this day celebrating my Dad – brings back the many memories I have doing fun things with my Dad. The things that I remember the most are the rock hunts he used to bring us on. His major in college was geology not teaching – though he ended up being a teacher because there were no jobs for geologists in New Hampshire. He would take us to Ruggle’s Mine or highway outcrops (for new highways that weren’t open yet) and we would search out amethyst, quartz crystals and other sparkly things. To this day, I pick up interesting rocks wherever I travel. You could say that my Dad put rocks in my head. 🙂 When we were young, my dad also had a telescope and showed me the heavens. Even today, we go out from time-to-time and he will point out constellations, etc. I chose this recent photo of my Dad flyfishing because out of all the things that I have done with my Dad – fishing stands out the most. When we were all little – he fashioned bamboo fishing rods for us to use and we would go to Broad Cove or Stumpfield Pond and fish from shore with my Mom and usually my Aunt Mary Jane – while he would be just off shore in a rowboat with my Uncle Bob Bailey. When I got older, I would go fishing with my Dad during the week and weekends – usually going to Hothole Pond and flyfishing from the canoe for trout. I haven’t fished in years. I became a vegetarian and felt it did not go well with vegetarianism. My brother Ken fishes with Dad every once in a while. They were fishing together the day I took this photo.

I could go on and on with memories of family camping trips in our 6 person tent at Shawtown and most every other campground in the state – but then this would become a novel. So , I will end with saying, “Thank You, Dad for all the great memories (may we have many more) and for being such a great Dad!” Love, Debbie 🙂

I am sitting here and watching the PBS special Carole King /James Taylor live! Wow – they are both so fabulous. If I were to pick the most perfect album ever done and which album that I would pick to bring to a deserted island it would be Tapestry by Carole King. Both singers are poets extraordinaire. Of course, I also adored Simon and Garfunkel, Carly Simon, and Judy Collins. All were who I listed too my high school years. When visiting my best friend at the time we would stack their albums on the record player and listen to their music over and over again. Out of all the albums and music that I have listened to over the years – nothing brings back the memories as the songs of these “folk” singers. What most folks may not know is the “You’ve Got a Friend” was written by Carole King though James Taylor is better known for that song. This song is also on Tapestry. They certainly don’t write songs like they did back then! 🙂

We had a very stormy day here in New Hampshire. There was a tornado warning – very rare in these parts. We had torrential downpours and thunderstorms. When they subsided – I took some shots. I liked the cosmic affect of the reflections in the puddles. Yes, I am a Trekker (aka Trekkie). I love Star Trek = all of the variations. I love Science Fiction in general 🙂

We certainly needed the rain – we have not had much the past month and things were very dry. The rain today should really help. It was coming down so hard that I saw manhole covers bubbling over with water. It was very freaky. Unfortunately – it wasn’t safe to pull over and snap photos where I saw it. All is calm now! I hope all is well with everyone and you didn’t have any storm damage where you are. Enjoy your day!

I can’t believe it is June already! For the past few days the skies have been hazy and smelling of campfires. Quebec has approximately 60 wildfires going on right now and the wind is blowing the smoke over New England. It is a bit better today. We hope and pray that the fires get under control soon. Many in Quebec have been evacuated from their homes. Yesterday, my eyes were burning (even Molly, my cat, was squinting her eyes).

On another subject relating to my last post – I found the photo of my mom in her youth dressed in her Girl Scout uniform.

Memorial Day Weekend: This weekend brings back many memories. Growing up when I was in Girl Scouts we would be marching in a parade in downtown Penacook. We would all be decked-out in our uniforms and it would either be raining or HOT HOT HOT! Penacook no longer has Memorial Day parade and who knows if there are any Girl Scouts left. I am sure there are because there are still Girl Scout cookies – but I can’t remember the last time I saw a Girl Scout or even a Brownie in uniform. Of course, in this day in age -their peers would most likely tease them terribly. I was a Girl Scout all the way up into Senior Girl Scout – but only stayed for one year. My mom was a Junior Girl Scout leader (and a Brownie leader one year) for many years too. I loved the camping the best and could go on and on about the fun and mischief during these camping trips. Good times! We learned a great deal as well. I haven’t camped (really camped aka in a tent) in a few years. Our family used to go to Orford, NH and stay at Jacob’s Brook campground on Memorial Day Weekend. It is in the woods and far from the maddening crowd. We really need to go back there again sometime soon. It was a more rustic campground – where you could walk the country dirt roads – see a waterfall and lots of wildlife. The view of the night sky was also wonderful since the lights of the city were miles and miles away. We will all be gathering at my sister’s house for a cookout tomorrow. That will be fun. I am sure some of us will walk to the small pond nearby to see if the big snapping turtle is still around. We will also talk about past Memorial Days, I am sure. So – enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend with friends and family. Stay safe and take a moment or two to remember those brave men and women who gave their lives for our country.

Spring is certainly here and summer is well on its way. We have snuck in a few very summery days already. I snapped this shot of Kimball Pond (lake) that was hand dug many moons ago. One of my favorite places to eat used to be the Horseshoe Tavern that is now Blaser’s Fireside Tavern. It is located on the shores of Kimball Pond. I never knew there were trails along the pond. It is a beautiful area. I love walking along bodies of water – rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, and the ocean. It is very peaceful and calming. Today – is perfect … in the high 60s …sunny and breezy. I am waiting for the cable guy to come – but once he leaves – I will be heading out to enjoy the beautiful day. I hope that all is well with all who are reading this and that you too can go out and enjoy the day!

This morning, my mom and I left the house early to go see Einstein the World’s Smallest Stallion in Barnstead. They were having an open house. It was PACKED! They did not allow flash photography so my photos were not great. Also, little Einstein was sleeping and hard to get a good shot. They had him in the barn in a stall with his mother. He was born 4/22/10 and weighed 6 lbs. and 14 inches high. He now is 14-15 lbs. He looked about the size of Molly 🙂 I wish we could have seen him running around the field. Unfortunately, it was a rainy cold day today.

http://www.einsteinminihorse.com

Can you believe that it is May already? Last week, it was very windy and chilly here in NH – this weekend it is like July! It may hit 90 today! I don’t think that I will need my heat on tonight!

Yesterday, I walked by Horseshoe Pond in hopes of getting some Tree Sparrow shots. They are fast little guys! I got lucky and got a handful of decent shots. I used my Photomatix HDR program to tweek a few of them. I think they came out pretty well. Check out my flickr photostream for more.

I just came back from volunteering 10-1 at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discover Center’s Aerospace Day. It was starting to get to hot – so I am glad that I only volunteered for 3 hours. I spent an hour and a half guarding the back door.

Happy Spring, Everyone!

I was looking around the apartment and decided to take a photo of some of my “toys” aka collection. Pictured is a vinyl troll house and various Wishniks (aka trolls). My favorite toys that I can remember receiving were Wishniks and the vinyl troll house that I got for Christmas one year. That is the same year that I got a Polly Pocket Doll too. I used to play for hours and hours with my Wishniks, the little Polly Pocket doll and my vinyl Tiki Troll house. A couple years ago – I found a vinyl troll house on ebay and purchased it along with the two-headed trolls in the photo. I remember having a two-headed troll (black and red hair) that I purchased at the Giant Store with a dollar that I found. I don’t know whatever happened to my original trolls/Wishniks, but I can tell you that the originals made by Uneeda in the 60s are collector’s items. About 10-15 years ago – the stores were filled with troll/Wishnik remakes which were never as good as the originals. I remember buying Wishnik clothes and having a scuba outfit for one. Seeing my collection again – brings back many wonderful memories of creative play.

Above are some itemes that I purchased on ebay a couple years ago. These are all vintage as well – but not items that I remember seeing. There is a “Wishnik/Uneeda” cow, two Goon/Alien Martian type creatures – I think these are fairly hard to come by, and a Wishnik pony.

I certainly enjoyed my Wishniks. I have two on top of my printer’s box that holds various nik-naks in my living room. When I look at them – I have very fond memories.

What was your favorite toy growing up?

I recently had a nasty encounter with a deer tick and had to go to Urgent Care to have it extracted. I am pretty phobic about ticks – even more now. Growing up, we never cared about or saw ticks of any kind. I spent most of my childhood in the woods and tall grass and never saw one. Maybe it is another thing to blame on global warming – I don’t know – but I HATE TICKS! This time of year – I start wearing my bug jacket (I have matching bug pants too) to protect me from the vile ticks and disease carrying mosquitoes! No – I am not too paranoid … twitch twitch! I can handle the mosquitoes – but anything that burrows its head into you etc. is GROSSER than Gross. 🙂 Have a nice day!