Shades of snowballs

As ever, I find lighting a challenge. The color of the snowballs shows up bes in natural light, but then you can't really see that it perfectly matches the border on the pale yellow china. This snowball has been taking up color for 48 hours.

These snowballs have been taking up color for 5 hours. Each petal has just a thin, thin edge of teal, which gives a hint of color to the whole bouquet. Ben likes the way they contrast with his snowy white belly and brisket.

After I got the dishes all washed up and thedining room table shrunken down to seating for 6 insted of seating for 12, DH asked me what I wanted to do with the rest of the afternoon. It was the prettiest day we have seen in a long time. (Portland had 28 days of rain in April)

"Let's go for a walk." I suggested. I was thinking a nice leisurely stroll around the neighborhood.

We went for a walk by the river. Can't complain about that. On the way, we spotted this family group out for a hike.

There were two ladies herding the brood, and traffic waited patiently while the ducklings waddled across the street. OMG they were cute!

Then we got to the river. This is a lovely city park down by the sewage treatment plant.

We had not realized that it went on for quite a ways.

With vistas across the river

And views down the river toward the city. I bet you could see the Fourth of July fireworks from here.

The river beaches are kind of muddy. (DH sure is a scenic lad, isn't he?)

Another family on an outing.

We got out to Elk Rock Island and hiked around.

There are some big old trees on that island.

And on the way back we passed a play structure witha fish-eye mirror. I did a self-portrait. Straw hat, purse slung across the bososm and loose, breezy over blouse. If, when I was 18, I had known I would dress like this at 60, I would have killed myself. I'm at the age where comfort is foremost.

The walk wound up being a lot longer than either one of us anaticipated. I have sore calves and ankles today, but it was worth it!