The Adventures of Pam & Frank

Come see us at Salem Saturday Market

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 05:23:00 PDT

We'll be there again today, from 8am-3pm. Stop by to say Hi to Pam and Frank!

Mention this blog for 10% off your purchase.

Today's Market also includes – Salem Friends of Felines. Friends of SSM will continue with their food preservation classes. Old Time Fiddlers will entertain from 10 am to 2 pm.

Other upcoming events:

August 15 – Marion County Dog Shelter and the Salem Chamber Orchestra are the non-profits. FSSM food preservation classes continue. Oregon Valley Boys will play from 10 to 2.

August 22 – Habitat for Humanity will be our non-profit; FSSM will hold our annual Tomato Tasting. Andrew Kendoll and Madison Hall will be the entertainment from 10 to 2.

August 29 – Master Gardeners and YWCA will be our non-profits. Roundhouse Band will entertain from 10 am to 2 pm

September 5 – Hope’s Haven will be our non-profit. Bluebonics will play from 10 am to 2 pm.

Market update

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:13:56 PDT

We are across from mrs. clugston?s pies & next to the egg art lady.

The Banana is in

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:15:54 PDT

The Banana is in, originally uploaded by V.H.S..

This is why I love Oregon.

(Notice his cup is full of ones. So he's been busy today.)

Naked Emperor on the Singapore stock market?

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:55:00 PDT

wow, beautiful clothes, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

The other day I was looking at my flickr stats and saw that someone found my photostream through a blog called CashBench.

Curious, I clicked to find out that CashBench is, at the owner states, "An Asia-focused blog from Singapore on money tips & news."

He's using this picture to advertise his new blog's facelift.

Huh. That's pretty darned funny.

So now I wonder:
Does he know the story of The Emperor's New Clothes?

(He's got an MBA, so he's pretty smart. But he's from a different country, so maybe he just doesn't know...)

And at the same time I can't help but ask:
Who's the real fool? The person who gave the blog a facelift? Or his readers for pretending they see the new design?

Dizzy Dish

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:04:00 PDT

The Dizzy Dish, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

A couple years ago I went to one of those "Paint Your Own Pottery" shops. They had a ladies' night where for just $10 you could have dinner - girl food, of course (shrimp caesar salads) - lots of champagne, and chocolate cake, and they let you paint and giggle and dish until close.

I figured that if I was drinking and painting, there's no point trying to get my lines straight. What I ended up making has been one of my favorite dishes, ever: my Dizzy Dish.

The Dizzy Dish, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

No saturday market for us today

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:36:53 PDT

Don't want to share my cold with y'all...

The 17th

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:49:31 PDT

If you're paying very very close attention, you'll have noticed that the thing we talked about for the 17th (that's today) didn't happen.

With the new job and all, I'm pooped.

Besides August 17th is on a Monday and I just never feel like doing anything on a Monday.
Blah.

We're going to start up our thing on the 17th next month. Stay tuned for more info on joining us at Oktoberfest in September in Mt. Angel (September 17 is their first day!)

The 17th...

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:49:59 PDT

Inexpensive family fun
A few years ago, when we lived in an actual house, we would invite everyone we know to come over for pot luck dinner and board game night. It was always a lot of fun. In our dinky condo we just don't have the space to invite more than two or three people over any more, and it stinks because we have a really hard time getting everyone together.

Rachel and I have hatched a plan to kind of revive the regular parties...

Every month we would invite everyone we know to join us or meet up with us somewhere to have some fun. This would be on the same date each month, so the day of the week (and time of day) would vary. That way if you can't make it to the event one month, there's a chance you could make it next month. Also this makes it easier for people to know when the next event will be held.
Events need to be inexpensive and no hassle in getting there.
Events need to be family friendly.
We picked the 17th of each month because it doesn't interfere with any other holidays (except St. Pat's Day and occasionally Easter.) Plus it's a prime number and for some weird reason that appeals to us.

Our first event will be Monday Aug 17th. Following that, we have Thursday Sept 17, Saturday Oct 17th, Tuesday Nov 17th, and Thursday Dec 17th.

Where will we meet up on the 17th?
We've had a lot of great suggestions including many (ok, most of these) from my friend Todd:

Game wise, I vote Apples to Apples one night! I even have a big party hardy game pack thingymabobber. Ooo another thing is like some sort of card game competition, like a speed war or something with rounds and the winners of each battle battle away until only one is left standing…there can only be one highlander!!…oh man. Fun stuff.
Billiards at The Cue Ball (they're open to all ages)
Bowling
Hiking at silver falls
Picnic at Minto Brown park possibly a scavenger hunt
This mini golf is old school. Auburn Center Miniature Golf at 220 Center St NE Salem, OR 97317-3219 (503) 363-4404‎
Of course there is always Best Little Roadhouse and Garden Golf
We could all grab hold of our inner child and go to Pietro’s for pizza and mini golf.
Go to a movie (Pam's note: I vote to go to The Palace Theatre in Silverton!)
Go to the Northern Lights Theatre Pub
Listen to Live music at Whatever Lefty’s is now known as (Pam's note: it's Roxxy)
Do a barbecue in a park with one of those grill thingies
Frisbee Golf
Game night … but please save this for the crummy winter months
We could do a murder mystery party our group seems eccentric enough for this
We could go to a play at Pentacle Theatre or The Elsinore
If 17th falls on a Wed, Elsinore shows movie classics for just a few bucks and frequently has live pipe organ music prior to the shows
We could do wine tasting at a vineyard
If it falls on a weekend we could make a run to the coast. It's only an hour and we could carpool
Oh yes Spirit Mountain Casino
Restaurant lottery, you make a list of unique restaurants you would like to try and draw one out of a fishbowl at random.
Do a Halloween Haunt there are several through October
Oktoberfest in September in Mt. Angel (September 17 is their first day!)
Oh Mission Mill at Christmastime is very special
Hallie Ford Art Museum
The new Kroc Center will have water slides
We Could do a Themed potluck; there are some good cooks in your group

Andi asked, Could we bring someone with us? The more the merrier?
Our answer: Yes, please!

So... d'ya want to join us? Mark your calendar for August 17 and stay tuned here to find out where to go!

PS: Comment here if you want to join us or if you have more activity suggestions...

Is the sale fun? Or are they selling fun?

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:57:00 PDT

Is the sale fun? Or are they selling fun?, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Is the sale fun? Or are they selling fun?

Gosh, how irresistable. We'd better turn left and check it out!

Are you jealous?

pam@passitonplates.com (Pam Hawk) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:30:00 PDT

This drummer loves his job. I mean he LOVES what he does.
Click it to see him in action.

There's always a crazy one at social hour

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:21:00 PDT

Caesar (the little black dog on the left) and Big Yellow were greeting each other on the beach when all of a sudden Big Crazy Black Dog indicated that he would rather play than practice social niceties.

There's always a crazy one at social hour, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Come, follow our adventures

pam@passitonplates.com (Pam Hawk) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:59:00 PDT

There's a doohickey on the sidebar.

Old Time-y memories, getting zapped, and a cure for what ails ya

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:12:00 PDT

When I was a kid in the mid 70's, old time-y decorations from the turn of the century were all the rage. A popular clothing store had decorated its changing rooms with wallpaper that looked like old Sears catalog ads.

A few years later, mom took me to a big flea market in town where she had a booth. I got to wander around looking at all the antiques and misc crap (there was a lot of misc crap.) I was fascinated by the old medicine bottles. At about the same time, at home we had a bottle of some curious liquid that smelled terrible. The label said "Sloan's Liniment." Not sure where it came from, but I was amazed that people used that stuff... even more amazed that it seemed to work. Mom used it as a decoration and brought it out to show people when they came over to visit.

This is unrelated, but somehow whenever I remember the old medicine bottles, these memories merge with a day in the bathroom of our little old house in Washburn when I reached up to the wall sconce turn on the light. It was an old house with bizarre construction and weird nooks and crannies... and I'm sure it had several wiring and other code violations. Maybe it's because the house was kind of old time-y? Maybe it's because we lived there when old time-y things were so popular.

Maybe it's because that's where I lived when I developed my fascination with "all things old time-y?" I'm really not sure.
Anyway, when I touched the metal knob on the wall sconce, I got a huge ZAP! on my fingers that still hurts to this day when I think about it.

(On the upside, that little dose of electrical medicine taught me it's ok to pee in the dark.)

The other day I got an email full of old time-y pictures that made my fingers burn and ache, reminding me of the big shock I got from the light switch.

Maybe if I had been on one or more of these medicines, I wouldn't have minded the electric shock quite so much.

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A bottle of Bayer's heroin. Between 1890 and 1910 heroin was sold as a non-addictive substitute for morphine. It was also used to treat children with strong cough. ----------

Metcalf Coca Wine was one of a huge variety of wines with cocaine on the market. Everybody used to say that it would make you happy and it would also work as a medicinal treatment. ----------

Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous Coca wine of its time. Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time. He awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with aVatican gold medal.

----------

A paper weight promoting C.F. Boehringer & Soehne ( Mannheim , Germany ). They were proud of being the biggest producers in the world of products containing Quinine and Cocaine.

----------

Produced by Maltine Manufacturing Company of New York . It was suggested that you should take a full glass with or after every meal. Children should take half a glass.
----------

Cocaine tablets (1900)
All stage actors, singers teachers and preachers had to have them for a maximum performance. Great to "smooth" the voice.

----------

Opium for Asthma

----------

Cocaine drops for toothache

Very popular for children in 1885. Not only they relieved the pain, they made the children happy!

----------

Opium for new-borns

I'm sure this would make them sleep well (not only the Opium, but 46% alcohol!!!!!)

----------

PS: To this day, I still love old bottles.

Butterfly Tote Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:23:00 PDT

Bright purple tote bag, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

I have a thing for tote bags.

As I sew up other projects, I find fabrics that go together and I often whip up a quick tote bag - the size is based on my immediate need.

A few months ago I needed one big enough to hold a couple three-ring binders and a few other misc things, so I took some leftover obnoxious butterfly fabric and some leftover obnoxious purple fabric and made this cute-and-not-really-obnoxious tote bag. The handles are grosgrain ribbon.

DSCN5118, originally uploaded by passitonplates.

My discerning (now) 13 year old decided I should put the butterflies on the inside and the solid color purple on the outside. She said it's for a visual surprise, but I really think she doesn't want to be embarrassed if I carry the bag while we're out together ... in public.

Ok, yeah, it's wrinkly in the picture. It had been stuffed in another tote bag for a while. I use it to haul notebooks and my calendar (and lunch) to the day job. It's also handy for packing shoes into a suitcase or carrying display stuff to a craft show. I can fit a small crock pot in here, too.

Despite the wrinkles, it's cute, eh?

Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:06:00 PDT

This is one of our favorite beaches. Never too crowded like the ones in Lincoln City, interesting tide pools, and there's always the sand dune to climb...

Ummm, yeah, this must be low tide.

Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City, Oregon, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

The group of people to the left of the tidepools found something interesting. Maybe a starfish? Could be sea anenomes or some tiny rockfish?

Cape Kiwanda Tidepools, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Those gnarly looking black and white things at the bottom of the rock walls are mussels. Like the kind you would order in a seafood or Italian restaurant.

Rachel in a cove at Cape Kiwanda, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

This was a dumb idea. Barnacles (the hard pointy little white things) hurt to walk on. Like walking on tacks. Ouch!

barefoot on the tidepools, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

This virtual visit to Pacific City has been brought to you by the letter S.

For Sun.

And Sand.

And Sea.

Getting Zapped at the Science Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:59:00 PDT

...as seen in the OMSI parking lot...

Electric Vehicle Charging Station, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

It's a Zap car, parked at an Electric Vehicle Charging Station at OMSI*... plugged in and charging.

How neat is that?

...as seen in the OMSI parking lot..., originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

When I mentioned this to a friend, he said they have these charging stations in downtown Salem, too. I hadn't seen them, but we do have a few of these three-wheeled Zap cards tooling around in the city, so it makes perfect sense to me.

Have you seen anything like this in your area?

*OMSI = Oregon Museum of Science & Industry

Foggy Lens

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:57:00 PDT

This is one of my favorite paintings. When she was in the 3rd grade, Rachel asked me to buy her a $2 canvas because she wanted to paint. She took it outside to the picnic table with a box of paint and brushes and went to work.

Within a short time, she had created this. She calls it a mess and doesn't like it, but there's just something about it that I love. It hangs on my bedroom wall so I can look at it every day.

Cost? We already had the paint, and the canvas was $2.

Oh, and I had the feed the starving artist when she was done.
A PB&J sandwich and a glass of milk set me back an additional 35 cents.

Lunch Saga, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:22:30 PDT

For the last few years I have had dishes and flatware as well as my lunch stolen from the lunch bag I keep in the refrigerator down in the break room here at work. It's so frustrating to go to a deli and pick up 2-3 days worth of lunchy stuff only to find my empty lunch bag sitting on top of the fridge the next day when I want to eat lunch. My home silverware collection has dwindled to the point where I'm considering buying a whole new set so we have enough forks and spoons to get us through a meal.

I blame the night cleaning guy for throwing it in the trash, but I could be wrong.

My lunch bag has a bright ribbon on it so I can identify it in the fridge, (my name is even written on the ribbon) and there's now a big nasty note taped inside the lid that basically says "Keep Out and Stop Stealing My Sh!t" This has helped... until today when the most bizarre thing happened.
Today I went to get a snack out of my lunch bag and couldn't find it in the fridge where I usually keep it. I looked on top of the fridge, in the cupboards, then had the thought that someone finally stole or threw away the entire bag. A little voice in my head suggested I open the other side of the fridge, just in case.

Voila! There it is...on a shelf I never use, with my bright ribbon facing the back of the fridge.

I opened it up, pushed aside my nasty note, and was amazed to discover someone's package of hot dogs tucked in the back behind my yogurt, a bagel, and today's lunch, which was brought in on Friday.

Huh. Is this a gift?

Or have they been having the same problem I'm having and thought it would be more secure in my bag with the nasty note inside?

Since they didn't leave me any buns or ketchup, I decided to remove the hot dogs and place them on the shelf where my bag had been sitting (on the other side of the fridge from where I always keep my bag.) Then I put my bag back in its usual space, turned so I can see the bright ribbon right in front.

I'm debating putting a note on the fridge to let the hot dog owner know where they can find their lunch...

Dear Hot Dog Owner:

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:02:00 PDT

I didn’t steal your lunch. I know there are a lot of similar lunch bags in here, but I’m amazed you didn’t wonder why there was someone else’s lunch in your bag - or why it was on the opposite side of the fridge. Honestly, it made me giggle. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a secure place to hide your dogs so they too don’t get stolen, you might want to compose your own nasty note for the lunch thief. Or bring in a Tupperware of earth worms… just in case…

Billy Mays Caps Lock

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:12:00 PDT

Whenever Rachel and I see an "As Seen On TV" item for sale in a store that features a late but well-known loud bearded pitchman, she wails, "Oh, Billy Mays! Wahhhhhh...."

Ok, she's sarcastic, but we liked doing Billy Mays impersonations and have several of his pitched products around the house. We do think it's sad he died at such a young age.

For her birthday (as a joke) I'm thinking of installing this little program on our computer. Every time you hit your Caps Lock key on the keyboard, Billy Mays voice belts out one of his well-known phrases.

The humor will be totally lost on Frank, but she'll get a kick out of it.

Sleeping Ollie

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:24:00 PDT

Ollie, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

As long as he has a comfy place to sleep, Ollie doesn't care what position he's in.

He's on a comfy bed and he's gonna go to sleep, dammit.

He's such a dork.

When we got Ollie and Violet, the Humane Society had a buy one get one free sale on cats. We keep reminding each other that he was the free one.

You get what you pay for.

... he just wanted a bottle of water...

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:46:00 PDT

"...he just wanted a bottle of water...", originally uploaded by passitonplates.

"...he just wanted a bottle of water..."

Ollie looks so comfy, doesn't he?

Remember - he was the free one.

Lenticular clouds and Mt. Rainier

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:50:01 PDT

Pam's note: the Pacific NW is one of the neatest places on the planet. The following pictures and text were in an email that I received (via many many forwards.)

Enjoy!

This is the coolest, most bizarre weather phenomenon I've ever seen.

For those who don't live in the Seattle, Washington area, Vashon is one of the islands in the puget sound. A couple people saw this - it was so amazing, people were pulling over on the freeway to take pictures.

A lot of these are taken from Vashon but there was the most amazing view from the top of the 15th Street hill. CRAZY!

Mt. Rainier puts on a show!

By Scott Sistek
Our little dry streak is about to come to an end. But if you looked at Mt. Rainier today, you would have known that already.

Take a look at some of these incredible clouds captured over Mt. Rainier today.

(Photos by Tim Thompson and David Embrey.)

Those are called "lenticular clouds" They're caused when the air flow is just right so when it flows over Mt. Rainier, the air gets pushed upward where it cools and condenses into clouds. Depending on how smooth the flow is, you can get some amazing clouds formations.
Here is more information on what causes them.

It's usually a sign of rain within 24 hours because typically the moist flow that precedes a storm around here is the perfect set up for these clouds.

Pretty amazing huh!!

My dual Halloween costume

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:10:49 PDT

Rachel and I found a really tacky jacket at Goodwill so I thought I was just going to dress tacky for the day.

"Tacky" Halloween costume, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Wrong.

An hour into work, I realized I had a dual costume...

PoW costume, originally uploaded by Adventures of Pam & Frank.

Not sure why this is funny?

Look. http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

Keep Portland Weird

noreply@blogger.com (Pam) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:50:24 PST

That was on a bumper sticker we saw when we first moved here. It took a while, but now it all makes sense, and I wish more than ever that we lived right in the middle of it instead of an hour or so south... Here's some of the delightful weirdness courtesy of Flickr:
(We don't know these people, but if would be fun if we did!)

"David and his Art Trike"

David and his Art Trike, originally uploaded by gregraisman.

Makes perfect sense to me.

"Nice Socks!"

Nice socks!, originally uploaded by METROFIETS.

Nice socks? What about that cargo bike?
What's that you say? Cargo bike?

One of the comments on this picture (by the photographer) is:
"We make them this way! This bike pictured above is just one example of the bikes we make. Any of our bikes can have a pallet or a box - just pull the box and put on the pallet - no tools required. The pallet works really well for awkward loads like couches, pet carriers, stoves, pottery wheels etc."

I don't see the need to carry my couch or pottery wheel across town on my bike... But if I could get a keg of beer on my bike, then we're in business.

"Katie getting ready for Kegging Day"

Katie getting ready for kegging day_2, originally uploaded by METROFIETS.

Yep, a keg on a cargo bike.
Is you jaw on the floor? Is that the most wonderful thing you've ever seen?

Just a side note: I want to paint my house to look exactly like that one in the background.

...placing my order today.

See more at www.metrofiets.com