Croton Aqueduct Hike (Stroll)

croton dam panorama.jpg, originally uploaded by isabelle gr.

Last weekend we tried our first hike from a new book, 50 Hikes in the Lower Hudson Valley. The Croton Aqueduct is an utterly flat, fun hike through small towns, woods, and backyards between Ossining and Croton-on-Hudson along the top of the original aqueduct. At the end (or the beginning) of this linear hike you come to the stunning, Roman-Empire-in-America Croton Dam.

This is the perfect hike for Saturdays in spring, when it is a little cool out, your allergies are just awakening, and you have your best history buff/architect by your side.

Squares

yellow granny square, originally uploaded by isabelle gr.

For the last few days I have been immersed in crochet for an article about granny squares. I'd like to say a word about them here:

Oh lowly granny square, how nimble you are,
how full of grace and symmetry.

Also this week I'd like to praise Craigslist, one of the most important catalysts for social intermingling in our metrop. We bought ourselves a new/newish couch thanks to Craig, from a trio of architects our same age who have just completed their licensing exams. In celebration of this milestone, one of them broke up with her lame boyfriend and moved out. Then she sold their nearly new couch to us.

When we arrived to check it out, she and her friends declared that they knew only a fellow architect could love this simple, squareish undecorated piece of furniture with a hidden purpose (a sofa bed). Immediately connections were realized, common professors, colleagues, etc. It was an impromptu professional development meeting conducted in the stairwell while hoisting a couch.

Since then Craig has also brought us another new friend, our buddy Aziz the steam cleaner. It's always a good idea to get new furniture cleaned, especially if you have asthma like me, but Aziz worked a miracle on our couch. It looks great!

Lastly, our friend Mike has almost completed the transition to being our upstairs neighbor. In fact, I can hear him cutting cement board for the bathroom walls right now. For some reason, we cannot seem to simple move between apartments like normal people. We must have heavy renovation.

Anyway, I forsee a lot of quality time with Craig in his future.

Thanks Craig, for our new couch and new friends!

Snowshoe at Steven's Pass, WA

snowshoe trip to steven's pass, originally uploaded by isabelle gr.

goodbye winter!

Time to Bike

We signed up for the 5 Boro Bike Tour, which takes place on May 6. I can't wait! The tour takes you throughout the city free of car traffic, over the main bridges and even on the FDR Drive and the BQE. Visit the Bike New York website.

First we have to get our bikes tuned up, and I need a helmet. Oh and maybe we should see if we still know how to ride a bike, after this whole long winter.

Palette

I have been in the printshop with Eva all week, mixing ink, making screens, proofing our new prints ... what a wonderful vacation. These three test strips were the proving ground for a whole palette. You can see the colors we chose soon!
belle