Sunset Park

Just south of Greenwood Cemetery, Sunset Park has some commanding views of the New York Harbor. There are also some great taco shops nearby.

Cottontail

This herbivore got away from one of the neighbors and was grazing in our back yard for a few days in a row. He made a meal of the chicory sprouts, so we hope he doesn't become a regular visitor.

Greenwood Cemetery

Brooklyn's beautiful garden cemetery is remarkably similar to Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery. Seeing that they were laid out within 10 years of each other, the sprawling hills and dales of Greenwood was the style preferred for suburban cemeteries in the early 19th century. To put in context what things were like when the 478 acres were imagined, Greenwood was founded 8 years before Carroll Gardens was planned by Richard Butts.

Humor can be found in strange places.

Garlic sprouts

More as an experiment to see if it would really work, last Columbus Day I split up a farmer's market garlic into individual cloves and planted them in the ground. Last fall a few sprouted and weathered the winter. Along with the daffodils and other spring bulbs, all 12 cloves sprouted over the last week or two - another sign of spring.

Salvaged Amaryllis

Here's the amaryllis in all its glory, and as it began.

Before it bloomed, but getting there.

Snapshot: Outside and Inside

Snow Day. There is at least a foot of snow on that table.Here's a close-up of the cherry tree branches about a week after I brought them home from the Union Square Green Market.

13 days after we mashed the cut end of each branch with a hammer, we found it blooming when we came home from work. Note the red-tinged water in the vase, probably tannins. Here are two pictures, not even a week apart, of our exploding amaryllis bulb. Last winter it only put up leaves. We planted it in the ground over the summer and took it out of the ground last November. After drying in a bag for a couple months we potted it January 31.

Red Hook Lobster Pound

Trucked down from Maine every week, this seems to be the closest you can get to fresh lobster in Brooklyn short of boarding a ship out of Montauk. Located on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, just behind the storefront are two tanks full of crustaceans. These two are between 1.5 and 1.75 pounds.

Check out the Lobster Pound. This summer there will be space next door for consuming the lobster rolls.

There was a mini Boston Cream Pie for dessert. It was Valentine's Day after all.