Sunday, August 06, 2006

Bad blogger! BAD!

Five dozen billion little things taken care of today, and I actually *forgot* that one of them was supposed to be "finish the Harlot post." I shall not let this deteriorate into Bad Blogging Habits! So instead, I present you with what news I can.

This was, first and foremost, an All-Hubby, All The Time weekend, and a very nice (albeit ugly hot) one to boot. Saturday lunch, we took what was - surprisingly - our first trip to Kahn's. Proprietor Michael Kahn is the son of Houston legend Alfred Kahn...owner of Alfred's Deli, a source of numerous childhood memories, most of them trips with my grandmother that ended with Alfred himself handing me Brown-Eyed Susan cookies over the bakery counter.

The pictures are a walk down memory lane - and one of Michael and Alfred together in the mid-80s brought tears to my eyes. I teared up again when I bit into the hot pastrami I'd ordered - just like the old days, it was unbelievably tasty, and TechieBK was overjoyed with the monster Reuben, declaring it the best he'd ever had in Houston. We grinned our way through a Coke float for dessert. And all the while, I kept thinking of my grandmother, imagining her nodding and smiling at us from a quiet corner. Maybe she was.

Don't know if I've ever mentioned how sentimental I am.

In a neat small-world twist, several months ago I discovered that my friend Gretchen from work...is Michael's daughter and Alfred's granddaughter. That brought tears to my eyes too. Gretchen's family seems really close-knit and awesome, and I think that makes all the memories even sweeter.

Oh, all right, already, I'll talk about some knitting. I decided to pick up some Paton's Grace for lace practice. It's working FAR better than the handpainted rayon I tried on Thursday, miles better than Sugar 'n' Cream (and the crowd yelled: DUH). Grace is a nice sport/DK mercerized cotton; very smooth and seems as though it will have a nice drape. Mine is a gorgeous muted periwinkle shade.

I am apparently too tired to take a decent picture, but I assure you that my swatch - incomplete though it may be - is coming along rather nicely, with only a few false starts. I've spent enough time with it that I haven't once had to frog back more than two rows, nor felt the need to start over. Can I get a what-what? :) (For those curious, it's the lace pattern from the Kimono Shawl in Folk Shawls.) I bought enough of the Grace for a small shawl, which I will probably make myself finish before touching the Debbie Bliss Pure Silk I bought at HCW while Under The Influence.

The rest of the Hubby Weekend included Thai food, a visit to PetSmart, several loads of laundry, Wing Stop wings, a Lewis Black DVD, Cheesecake Factory, and a watching of The Dead Zone. I remain in denial that I must go to work in the morning.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting about Kahns. I haven't heard of it and have so many great childhood memories of Alfreds.

Great to meet you last Thursday.

Plum Texan said...

Great to meet you too...can I ask which of the new folks you are? There were others... :)

Anonymous said...

awwww, Brown-Eyed Susan cookies, to a brown eyed Susan.... how sweet... I love Kahn's. We'll have to go one weekend. Perhaps we can talk some other knittas into going. *grin*