Tracking an Ancestor’s Wife In working on the details of my great-great grandfather James M. Vining’s life, I began obsessing about his second wife, Rhoda Dernell. She was in his life a very short …

We arrived at our summer place in New Hampshire earlier than usual. It was a joy to see the little native iris blooming. Before long, the tall irises joined in with their delicate purple flowers. I…

Farmington, New Mexico 1929-1931 Updated on June 5, 2019 By Virginia Allain  Entrance to the Navajo School | Source Navajo Methodist Mission School In 1929, my great-aunt, Bertha McGhee s…

An Acadian cart at the Acadian village in New Brunswick. Photo by Virginia Allain Background on the Acadians The Acadians settled in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick in the 1600…

By Virginia Allain A clipping from WWII era newspaper in Maine.Allain Family Album Musical Group from Sanford, Maine In the 1930s and 1940s, my husband’s father, Alban Allain, played in a gro…

Many of us feel underwhelmed, let down, or downright disappointed on or after Christmas. Why is that? | Source What Is Christmas Day Letdown? For some people, the frenzy leading up to Chr…

Skiing in the 1940s. | Source Christmas in the ’40s Have you ever wondered what your parents or grandparents experienced at Christmas time in the 1940s? I started focusing on this h…

Christmas Calendar for December 1930 from the Ellsworth Reporter newspaper, Ellsworth, Kansas 11 Dec 1930, Thu • Page 14 | Source What Was Christmas Like in the Great Depression of 1930 &…

By Virginia Allain  I love Christmas and history, so I’m sharing what I learn about Christmas and its customs as they’ve changed over the decades and centuries. Christmas at the Keech h…

By Virginia Allain  I love Christmas and history, so I’m sharing what I learn about Christmas and its customs as they change over the decades and centuries. This was originally published on H…

Credit: Pixabay – A Vintage Santa Early Christmas Card By Virginia Allain (originally on Hubpages in 2023) Looking Back at Christmas in the Early 1900s It fascinates me to see the way people …

Virginia Allain  Crafts are great for one-of-a-kind gifts or special decorations at Christmas time. You can make ornaments or other decorative items. I go all-out for Christmas decorating and even …

By Virginia Allain Source: Virginia Allain How Can You Save Money on Gift Wrapping? If you are frugal by nature or have to be thrifty to make the budget stretch, then spending money on fancy gift w…

Use the Theme of “Little House on the Prairie” for a Thrifty Christmas Christmas might be limited if finances are tight. Turn the bleak looking holiday into something special by celebra…

I’ll be sharing some family history from my husband’s family in the next few posts. Historical Marker for Louis Allain This is located on the waterfront in Annapolis Royal in Nova Scoti…

Toni loves getting new outfits and this time she wanted a ballet tutu. I’m not sure where this notion came from but I found quite a lovely one made for Emily Rose dolls. They are 14-inch doll…

We missed most of August in New Hampshire this summer as we took a Danube River Cruise. When we returned, I found a story I wrote back on August 3, 2009 about the loons. Observing the Loons I didn’t take my camera today when we went for a 45-minute…

How to Deal With Your Chipmunk Problem I have a web page about getting rid of chipmunks humanely and it has been very popular. The focus there was on deterring the little critters. It became obvious to me over time, that some people wanted something…

A writer that I admire, Annette Gendler, wrote about the things that make a summer complete for her. That made me think of what I look forward to each summer in New Hampshire. Essentials for My NH Summer Wandering in the woods looking for interesting…

It isn't always easy to tell waterbirds apart. Was that a great egret, snowy egret, or white ibis? Many waterbirds look quite similar, so it can be tricky to identify them. If you want to tell an anhinga from a cormorant or distinguish between a…