Debra LaValley's Blog

What a glorious day! 85 degrees in Concord! I had to dig out the shorts – it was like summer! A bit too warm for my liking -but no complaints for April 3rd. I can’t believe tomorrow is Easter – it seems like Christmas was only yesterday. I did my laundry and hung my sheets and towels out on the line. Nothings smells as good as sheets etc. hung out side! My mother and the neighbor were amused at my clothesline technique. It seems that I hung my sheets upside down – who knew?!

FYI – on Friday, I was on Jewett Road and passed Equinox Farms. They have alpacas. They are the cutest things!

Have a wonderful Easter everyone!

Today was Earth Hour – around the world individuals and cities turned off the lights at 8:30 pm local time for one hour. I decided to do it – tv junkie that I am. I succeeded. I did use a headlamp so I could fold my laundry and put it away. I also realized that when your in the dark and have a headlamp on – cobwebs come out of the woodwork! There were TONS that I had never seen. I spend a good amount of time cleaning them.

Earlier in the day – I took a long walk. I decided to walk by the river to see how high it has been after all the rain we have had. The river was really high and powerful. It was a little chilly today – but the walk warmed me up so I decided to walk to Hannah Dustin. I am glad that I did. When I left the island and was starting back down the road – out of the corner of my eye I caught the sight of a crow chasing a large bird. It wasn’t a turkey vulture and was flying like an eagle though I could not see any white head or tail. I snapped away with my camera and it flew closer. It was an immature bald eagle. The white patches on its underside resembled a Halloween skeleton costume to me 😉 Really . . .I thought the eagles had left time. I am glad at least one has stayed longer. I watched it for 4-5 minutes before it flew down river. (You can see a couple of the photos on my Flickr photostream.)

It was a good day! Enjoy!

Alba Mary Mastroianni Ross

Happy 100th Birthday, Nana! Alba was born in Hardwick, Vermont on 3/13/1910. We have about 100 friends and family attending the big bash this afternoon. More photos to come.

100 years – WOW! She still lives at home too and is active.

Spring Solitude

We have been blessed with spring weather the past few days. It has been lovely. You know that it has been a cold winter when temperatures in the 40s and low 50s have people in shorts and short sleeves. I haven’t gone that far, but I have replaced my bulky winter jacket with my wind breaker. It has been glorious. It may be short-lived, but we will enjoy it while we can. There is virtually little to no snow around. Mud is appearing – the ground thawing. The black flies and the mosquitoes are not out yet – so you can enjoy the outdoors without covering yourself with DEET. Unfortunately – the ticks will be appearing — I HATE TICKS!

My dad and I walked an old railroad bed to a secluded cove near Crete’s Farm in Boscawen and came upon the mute swan that has been in the Penacook/Boscawen area. It was pretty far away and was keeping company with a flock of Canada geese. It was a fairly monotone-gray photo so I got creative in my HDR software and also did some tone mapping. It gave the shot new life.

Enjoy the nice weather – the weatherman said we are in for about 3 days of rain starting this Friday. It is too bad because the big 100th Birthday Celebration for Nana is on Saturday. Hopefully, it will only be light rain and not a deluge!

Sign of Spring Today: I heard a red-wing blackbird trilling this afternoon! They have returned. 🙂

Merrimack River - Penacook, NH

February has sped by! I can’t believe that March is tomorrow! It has been a cold and cloudy weekend. I was a volunteer for the Audubon Late Winter Bald Eagle Survey yesterday and saw no eagles 😦 It was cold and snowy. Today, I went out for a little while and did see one of the sub-adult eagles.

Many folks are still out of power after the bad wind storm we had in the state last week. My brother Ken and his family got theirs back today – but MaryBeth is still without power.

I have been playing around with HDR photography. I have only done a few – it is neat. The above is an example. It is actually 3 bracketed shots combined and then doing tone mapping adjustments. It took a very blah and gray photo and gave it a bit of life. I can’t wait until the weather improves so I can experiment more.

13 more days and then the 100th birthday party for Nana. Family and friends are coming from all over the country. It will be fun! More later!

Mute Swan

It was a beautiful day today – even though with the wind blowing it was a bit chilly. I spent most of the day with my dad. He wanted to see an eagle. I have been seeing them for over a month – wouldn’t you know that we would not see any eagles today. A cousin did give me a tip that there was a swan on the river on Eel Street in Boscawen. My dad and I swung by and sure enough. It is highly unusual to see a swan around here – they are a rarer sight than a bald eagle.

Tonight – I am going to veg and watch the Winter Olympics. I really enjoy watching them.

PreValentine's Day Lunch - Duck Al Fresco

This isn’t the best shot – but considering I was lying sideways on the bank of the river in the snow and trying to shoot over and under bushes and through tree branches – it didn’t come out half bad. This handsome couple appeared to be fighting over who gets the wishbone! It seems that they had duck for lunch!

This was taken in Penacook along the Merrimack River. Bald Eagles are Awesome! I hope they are a breeding pair and that there is a nest in the area!

Penacook Girl Scouts

I have been looking through my photos and I came across this scan. My mother is the girl on the left. I spent many years in Girl Scouting. I was even a Senior Girl Scout and quit in my Junior year (If I remember correctly). I have many found memories of camp especially. I always loved camping, and we really roughed it with tents with no floors and “wiffies” instead of outhouses. Those were the days! Of course, now I require plumbing when I go camping and at least an air mattress (only if I plan to stand and walk the next day LOL). My mom was a Girl Scout leader for many years as well. I never see uniformed Girl Scouts any more. I know there must be Girl Scouts around – since I have seen the Girl Scout Cookie order forms. My favorites are the Samoas and the Thin Mints (one sleeve is a serving). I would imagine that the Girl Scout numbers have decrease significantly over the past 40 years, which is a shame. Scouting was a great experience!

Squirrel Friends

It has been like Siberia here the past week or so. I don’t mind snow – but I do not like subzero temperatures and wind combined. So – let’s think of summer – a particular summer – the Summer of 2003. My parents were visited by an albino squirrel. I would stop over their house on the way to and from work – armed with a camera and a zoom lens. I used the breezeway like a duck blind. I sat on a footstool and point my camera out the window and waited for the albino squirrel to come. And come he did – like clockwork. We really enjoyed watching the unusual squirrel do the regular squirrel acrobatics. This white little fellow was the center of attention when ever he came into the yard. He was extra shy and any sudden noises would send him running back into the woods.

The albino squirrel came around most every day and then suddenly disappeared. We had hoped that he had found another backyard with better food – but alas – my brother informed us that he had heard that a neighbor’s grandson had shot and killed it with an BB gun. What a shame. You wonder why anyone would feel it necessary to kill such a lovely animal – just for fun. I won’t start preaching on my views of an unsupervised child with a BB gun.

The albino squirrel may be gone, and we may never see another one in our lifetime – but we will remember the Summer of 2003 – the Summer of the Albino Squirrel.