Tag: family

Day of Driving, Eight Eposodes of Serial and Ever Closer to our Passport Goal.

So we’ve got this rain thing happening in my part of Oregon, you might have heard.  And we do things in the rain, because if you don’t do things in the rain, you don’t get to do much for nine months of the year.  But man, was it a miserable spring day when we set out on our journey.  The kind with dark skies and pouring rain and everything just sopping wet.  The kind of day where you can be sitting warm and dry in a car and still feel chilly.

Our aim was to drive to Lincoln City, get our passport stamp there, then head up 101 to Gearheart and grab our stamps there, then head home on 26.  We brought along episodes of Season 1 of the Serial Podcast to keep us company.

This is after the rain had lightened up. I wanted to grab a picture when it looked really terrible, but I was busy driving.IMG_5117

One nice things about rainy days, you get some great rainbows.  I saw two full rainbows and another partial. IMG_5118

Our first destination.  McMenamins Lighthouse Brewpub is another strip mall McMenamins, this one located in Lincoln City. IMG_5119

Unlike most restaurants, this one had a photo hunt.  It wasn’t too hard though. IMG_5120

In fact, it was to the right of the clue. Here, Matt poses with the picture. IMG_5121

We completed that passport goal.  Aside from driving to Lincoln City, this was the easiest one so far, requiring only one stamp. IMG_5122

Matt chose the crab fondue appetizer.IMG_5123

I went with the bowl of clam chowder.  And I got two bags of oyster crackers!IMG_5124

Though it was a strip mall McMenamins, I liked how the second floor made me feel like I was tucked away in a crow’s nest.   IMG_5125

Our weather improved a ton and we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where I bought my traditional bag of squeaky cheese.  The factory was producing 40 pound blocks of cheese.IMG_5126

This is a terrible picture, information-wise, as well as compositionally. IMG_5127

We stopped at the viewpoint at Tillamook Bay.  There was a lot of wind going on.IMG_5128

Our next stop was a quick hike to Short Sands beach in Oswald West State Park.  The waves were crashing like mad.IMG_5129

Matt and I had visited this summer, when the tide was out and there was a good amount of sand.  This time, the tide was in and we discovered just how short the sand at Short Sands Beach can be.  The wind was intense–it pushed us off the beach when we turned to go.IMG_5130

We stopped at Gearheart Hotel to get our stamps and prizes.  This was the answer to the photo clue.  Unique to McMenamins hotels, this location had interperative text on nearly every photo.  This made finding the correct photo a challenge.  Luckily for me, a guy in the Pot Bunker Bar told me where it was. IMG_5131

Matt and Linda pose outside the hotel. IMG_5132

Though Matt could have gotten a second leather drink cosy, he opted for the pint glass and pin, as did I.IMG_5133

Forktown Food Tour: Alphabet District and the Pearl

Matt’s mom Linda is visiting and she bought us tickets for another fabulous Forktown Food Tour.

Our first stop was the Picnic House.IMG_5106

Here’s the food plan for the day.  Doesn’t it sound fabulous?

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At Picnic House we had a great beet salad as well as a very good sample of wine.  I loved the beet/panko crumb topping to the salad.  They take beet juice and mix it with panko, then roast it.  Very good.

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I also learned that the Picnic House was the entrance to the original Heathman Hotel.  When the owners found what was behind the drywall, they revamped their restaurant concept and their goal is to bring the picnic indoors.  Thus, they have a lot of moss in their decor.  They also use old lithograph plates, which are fun to look at.IMG_5109

Here you can see the original tile floor and the grand staircase. I’d eaten here before, and enjoyed it, so it was even more fun to get the story behind the restaurant’s origin.IMG_5110

Our next stop was the Dump Truck, so we could sample some dumplings.  We also learned about Portland food cart culture.  The guy in the picture was not part of our tour, but was super excited to show off the Dump Truck’s dumplings to his friends.

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Here is Mr. Ma’s Special (pork dumpling) and the Down to Earth (the vegan selection).  They were both quite good, and I’m not a huge fan of dumplings.IMG_5112

Our next stop was Verde Cocina, which has a location near Matt’s work and so he eats there often.  He really enjoys their specials.  We had enchilada with mole sauce, guacamole and vegetables, plus a margarita, all of which were delightful.  And I don’t usually drink margaritas.IMG_5113

Next was Lardo, another of my favorites.  We were treated to a pork meatball banh mi and Lardo fries.  Lardo started as a food cart and became a brick and mortar establishment.  You can also (and I have) eat at Grassa, which is the handcrafted pasta establishment.

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Next was Cacao, where we sampled two different single origin chocolates as well as Cacao’s famous drinking chocolate.  Which was amazing.  So amazing that at least one person from almost every group on the tour purchased drinking chocolate to take home.IMG_5115

Our last stop was Petunia’s Pie and Pastries where we sampled a marionberry bar as well as a salted caramel bar.  All items sold at Petunia’s are gluten-free and vegan.IMG_5116

It was a great food tour.  Thanks Linda!

Cupcakes and frosting roses for mom’s birthday.

My mom wanted almond-flavored cupcakes for her birthday, and thus I made them.  I have tidied my way to owning just one muffin tin, so I only made 12 cupcakes.*   So I made a small cake with the rest.  And then got carried away with the frosting part.  Those are the first frosting roses I’ve made since I took the cake decorating class when I was 14 or something.**  My grandmother could make frosting roses.  She was a cake decorator before she got married.  I used her flower nails, which are the base where you build the rose.  Hers are made of wood, not metal or plastic like the ones in the tutorials.  This was also fun, using tools that my grandmother had used.IMG_5039

Overall, the frosting was great.  The cake was a little dense, probably because I had trouble understanding done-ness.

*Plus, what was I going to do with 24 cupcakes? The new workplace really doesn’t eat sugar. Three boxes of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies stayed on the table unopened for two weeks.  And even then, they weren’t eaten, they were eventually moved to snacks drawer.
**More evidence that I’ve always been a middle-aged woman at heart.

Williams Ave and just one picture from our food tour.

Matt, his mother Linda and I are on our way to a Forktown Food Tour of N. Mississippi Street.  I wanted to update you on the ch-ch-ch-changes on N. Williams Avenue first.  This sign was photographed in January.

Across the street, this building has undergone a huge transformation.  I even have compare/contrast photos for you.  Now:

Here’s what it looked like on 1/28:

And here’s just one picture from our food tour.  That is a huge shelf of bitters.  Read more about it here.

Great Aunt Betty’s memorial gathering.

Here’s Aunt Betty as a younger girl.

Here are the 15 Whitmore children and their parents.  My grandmother, Helen, is third from the left.
(Update!  According to my mother, this was a celebration for my grandmother’s 40th birthday. See her comment below.)  

I love the fact that she still had her War Ration Book (I’ve never seen one before,) but I love even more that she was 4 feet 11 inches and 98 pounds.  I looked up the house address too.  It’s still there.

When you have 15 children, it’s not hard for gatherings to get this big.  My copy is blurry, but I think that’s my grandfather George second from the right, standing next to my Great-Grandmother.  My grandma is in the first standing row, six (!) from the left.  She’s wearing a dark colored dress.

More of the 15.  Not so well composed, as some of them are hidden.

This is a really fabulous photo of Aunt Betty.

As is this.  That’s Aunt Joanne standing next to Aunt Betty. 
(Update!  The problem with having 14 great aunts and uncles is you might have trouble with their names.  Mom says this is Aunt Margaret, not Aunt Joanne.) 

This is a picture of my grandmother and grandfather I’ve never seen before. I particularly love my grandmother’s coat, which I’m willing to bet she made.

A Jantzen Swimsuit!

This is the shirt Aunt Betty is wearing in a really fun photo of (nearly) all the Whitmore girls.  I’ve looked at that picture for years as it’s in my Aunt’s kitchen, so it was funny to see the shirt neatly folded among the memorabilia.

Then I hit gold!  Aunt Betty’s autograph book.  This is from a friend of Aunt Betty’s and I laughed at the saying.

From Uncle Harold.

My grandfather!  I was surprised to see him in this book because it was from 1936 and I didn’t realize he was around then. My grandparents didn’t marry until 1941.

Auntie Bea

Aunt Mary.  (Who is amusingly wicked in her entry)

Aunt Lucretia.

Because Aunt Betty loved ice cream, there was an ice cream shop.

This is Uncle Jack, who was married to Aunt Lucretia (the one from the autograph book).

Aunt Virginia (married to Uncle Harold), Aunt Janet (who was stubbornly looking away from the camera) Aunt Joanne, Aunt Mary.
I waited around until Aunt Janet didn’t notice me taking the picture.

A nice poem about the Whitmore Family.

Great Aunt Betty’s Obit.

This is one of my grandmother’s younger sisters.
Elizabeth Jane Whitmore MacDougall
October 15, 1920 – April 8, 2014
Betty was born in Portland to Helen (Hawes) and Raymond Whitmore, the sixth of 15 children.  Betty is survived by her children Dolores (Woods) Veenendaal and Dwayne Woods. 
To Betty, family was life’s most important gift and she loved them all.  She enjoyed family occasions both big and small.
“Grannie” aka “The Great One” was thrilled to welcome her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.
Betty was a retired meat wrapper.  She was a skilled seamstress and ceramic painter.  She loved to crochet, a skill she learned from her mother.  She enjoyed gardening and having flowers in her backyard.  She also grew berries to make jam for her great-grandchildren.
Betty’s memorial will be a party serving her favorite foods, chocolate, ice cream, Sprite and coffee.  All family and friends are welcome.

New Glass!

My Aunt Carol has been on a clean and purge streak and boy, did I win.  Do I want the cactus glasses that were my Great-Uncle Tom’s?  Yep.  Do I want the cocktail glasses that were my grandmother’s?  Yes ma’am.
Uncle Tom’s cactus glasses. There were 12, but I’ve learned that they don’t stack well, so now there are 10.

Grandma’s cocktail glasses, which would be even more amazing if I had put them against something white, so you could see the fabulous color.

They have these pretty roses etched on them.

And this is fabulous.  It has a glass stir stick and I love the shape.  Plus, the cups stack.
And now I must purchase something to contain all this glassware.

Dead Relative’s Tour 2013

Yes, it’s that time again:  time to put flowers on the graves of the dead relatives.  You can come along too.

In Rose City Cemetery I snapped a picture of this gravestone because someone I know has this same last name.  And Joshnston-with-a-“t” is much less common than Johnson.
 

I strode far away from the family grave to see who this large stone belonged too. From the space left on the stone, it looks like Rudolf was expecting company who never arrived.  Gravestones like this leave me a little sad.
 
I love headstones with photos.
 
A little something for the fans of the Waldorf method.  Plus, look at that great detail on the top!
 
(Argh. Didn’t rotate this one)
I was intrigued because it had fresh flowers, so someone is still coming around.  But it’s in a section of 1930s era deaths and has no headstone.  There’s a story here.
 
Basil and Basiliki are bedecked for another year.
 
The tools of the trade.  Also, this is the first year we haven’t gone in the Jeep Cherokee because my aunt has a new car.  It’s a silver car.  I can’t remember which kind.
 
That is so meta.
 
This hedge was gorgeous in color and undulated marvelously.
I wish I’d taken a bit more time to properly capture it.
 
Much speculation ensued about the family relationship here.
 
I love this epithet.  You go, Tyyne, with your double “y” in your name and all.
 
Working on Grandma and Grampa’s grave (with the new car in the background)

This year we learned that the cemetery is not providing the green vases to stick in the ground.  I flagged down a maintenance worker to ask him for one and got an earful about how the cemetery is now cheap and doesn’t want to give them out anymore because it just causes more work to pick them all up.  Then he gave me one on the down-low.  Thanks guy, you are awesome.  We will bring our own next year.