OK, I will admit it. I am green with envy this St. Patrick’s Day, because Dear Husband is in London and I am not. Granted, he is there on business–the last international trip before he retires. The conference doesn’t start until tomorrow, so today he wandered over to Trafalgar Square, where he discovered that many people in England were wearing green and celebrating. Then he found a floating pub on the Thames and snapped photos of the London Eye and Big Ben while he sipped on a Guinness.

OK, and I am also feeling sorry for myself, because I could have been there with him. He has been to England on numerous occasions, and even took me along in August 2010. (I loved it.) I wanted to go with him again, and I even started making reservations for afternoon tea and for excursions to Stonehenge and to Cambridge. I even booked an airbnb in Wales for us for next week.

Then I cancelled everything, absolutely everything, since the trip status became tentative and stayed that way until last week. I didn’t want to risk losing the money spent on deposits and airfare. And then we decided that someone needed to stay home to babysit the tarp on the roof (see previous blog entry).

This St. Patrick’s Day is even more special to me, since now I have fond memories of last year’s vacation in Ireland. In fact, the last time I had an Irish coffee (prior to today) was at the airport right before we left Dublin.

So I needed a drink today. Stonehenge, Cambridge, and Wales are now on the retirement bucket list. I have high hopes of getting there in the next few years. And since Dear Husband won’t be working, we can take the time, even, for a nice train ride to Scotland, since I hear they know a little something about distilling…

To 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee, add 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 1/2 ounces Irish whiskey (I chose Jameson’s since we toured their facility in Dublin, and because the Red Breast bottle isn’t yet open). Stir well. Add whipped cream on top, if you prefer, but if you are avoiding lactose and calories (like me), you may froth some almond milk in a separate glass and gently place several tablespoons of foam on top of the coffee.

Slainte! Special thanks to my son for the gift of the “potato fairy” doll.

Late last Sunday morning, as we were sitting at the kitchen table in our pajamas, and chewing on homemade waffles and slurping down caffeinated hot beverages (curse you, daylight savings time!), we heard a crack and then a “kaboom!”, which made the entire house shake. I think we both jumped up and shouted “Tree! F***!” at the same time. We ran toward the back bedrooms, because we were convinced there was now a gaping hole where a wall used to be. Amazingly, everything looked fine, so we ran outside and saw a 60, maybe 70 foot tall white pine, which had toppled from the edge of the property, sprawled across the entire roof of our ranch house.

Fast forward to Monday morning. A tree company we had used years ago put us at top priority, and by 8:15 am, a crane (!!!) and an industrial-sized chipper/shredder were parked at the end of our driveway and the crew got to work. Once the tree was lifted, the damage was revealed. Yes, the roof was punctured in ten places, but no other structural damage was found. Our savior was the maple tree in front of the house, which broke the fall, so to speak, of the pine. The maple sacrificed a few major limbs, true, but it’s proven to be resilient. In fact, back in May 2000 when a microburst hit the property, the very same maple was “decapitated” and its limbs blew out windows in our mini-van, yet the tree lived on. Its shape isn’t pretty, but this maple is now my favorite tree on the entire property.

And now for some advice. Always have a rainy day (or in this case, rainy day followed by gusts-of-high-winds day) fund, if you can. Keep the money in a checking account that also works with PayPal or Venmo or the like. So when an emergency happens on a weekend, and/or if the company helping you prefers a check, and/or if the insurance company is swamped with claims and can’t get to you for a day and a half, at least you can proceed with the first steps to take care of the situation. Once we retire and the paycheck income gets replaced by pension income and/or Social Security funds, I think having a generous rainy day fund will be absolutely necessary for my own peace of mind.

Meanwhile, the blue tarp is keeping the water out of the attic, the insurance company has been very cooperative, and we’ve signed a contract for installation of new gutters and an entire new roof with a 25-year warranty, which will definitely outlast our stay in this house. Silver lining, I suppose. And this is still less–even adjusted for inflation!–damage than we sustained during the previously-mentioned microburst, but that’s an even longer story. Most importantly, we are physically unharmed, thank goodness, but maybe still a little shaky.

This drink is also called “Maple Leaf Cocktail”. In a shaker with ice, combine 2 ounces bourbon, 1/2 ounce pure maple syrup, and 1/2 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice. Shake well and strain into a glass with a cinnamon stick. Stir well, to get more cinnamon flavor.