Finished listening to the audiobook Absolution by Alice McDermott. I rate it a meh. I had a difficult time following it and who was speaking. And I found my mind drifting off to other things. I don't think I'll read/listen to another by the author.

Dilly-dallied all Sunday morning because it had rained overnight, but the sun peeked through around 11 and I was back out in the yard by noon. Sprayed Roundup on the weedy grass where the new garden will go. So now I wait for the chemical to do its job. Dug more dandelions and cleaned the leaves out of the window wells. Made a run to the yard waste drop-off. And then, after two days of thinking about lunches for the week, I walked to the grocery store and got celery and yogurt-ranch dressing and I'll have that for lunch this week. (Note to self, I need to walk to the grocery more often when I just need a few things, it is only 1.25mi away.)

Dinner for the week ended up being tofu stir-fry over riced cauliflower. I tossed in some peaches too, since I have a ton of frozen peaches. It was so pretty, I had to take a picture. And it tasted good too. Win-win.

The good news is the swan pair is back to their usual nesting site from the past few years. I think. They've been MIA and then Saturday I saw them there as I drove by and yesterday I walked over and mama was definitely sitting on the nest and adding materials to the nest. I sure hope they will be close enough for me to see again this year. But the nest prep is a good sign so in another month we'll see some cygnets. There are few things better than seeing those babies grow all summer.

These clusters of Siberian Elm are so pretty.

The top two joints of the middle finger of my hand are swollen and painful. It is supposed to be cool (50s for highs) and damp all week, so that will give my hands time to heal.

When I heard about the correspondents dinner, I had a lot of questions and skepticism. And many, much smarter than I, had the same questions. ​I'm convinced it was a set up in order to boost approval ratings. And especially since So. Many. People. afterward said 'see, this is why we need the ballroom built' instead of expressing concern about political violence. Well...if ya hadn't torn down the east wing and torn apart the area where events were previously held, you'da have the safe space on the grounds that you're now demanding be built. When you throw out the food, you don't get to complain about being hungry.​ But hey, a golden ballroom is much more important than protecting children from school shootings. It is so laughable how they complain about having to hide under tables when our young children have active shooting drills on a regular basis.