It was overcast, but not really raining, so we went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden after a few rounds of Rummikub and Ticket to Ride Europe. The first and most important stop was the bonsai display. Like most Americans, I want to pronounce it "Bonzai!!!!" - but yet again the Garden informs me that it is properly pronounced bone-sigh. Le sigh.
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| Japanese Apricot - a little past-peak, by the evidence of fallen petals |
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| Root Over Stone is my favorite style |
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| a work in progress |
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| forest style, in a slice of turf on a thin rock shell |
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| I could totally grow a cherry tree in my flat!!! |
Afterward, we visited all the connected greenhouse enclosures -- the hot and humid orchid room and the other specialized environments (temperate, tropical, and desert).
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camera fogged up immediately among
the orchids |
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| Baboon Flower |
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| In the Desert Room |
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| Lithop (aka "Living Stone") |
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| Crocuses in a field of snowdrops |
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| Pigeons on an Eagle - victory, indeed!! |
We went out for Chinese food for lunch, but stayed in with homemade lasagne and ginger carrot lemon soup for dinner. Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies for dessert, followed by a movie. I haven't watched "Bend It Like Beckham" in years (someone borrowed my DVD and apparently never gave it back), but it was every bit as wonderful as I remembered – and I didn't even remember everything. The soundtrack (which I'd bought almost immediately after watching the movie) is still lovely.
For second dessert (is that a thing?), we had raspberry sorbet. It was good enough that my guests didn't mind my launching into song: "She ate some raaaaaaspberry sorbet, the kind you buy at a grocery store. Raaaspberry sorbet! And for second dessert she wouldn't need much more..."
