We have a new roof! It’s been almost a month of waiting for estimates, for insurance authorization, for a slot on the preferred roofers’ calendar, and for a non-rainy day. At 7 am this morning, the weather forecast looked promising, so the crew arrived. I chose to stay in the house, but maybe I shouldn’t have–those men worked for hours as they stripped the old roof, repaired the numerous holes left by the fallen tree, and added brand-new shingles. A cloudburst at about 2 pm did not slow them down, thankfully, although I fretted about their safety up there. (The gutter crew comes tomorrow, weather permitting.) Needless to say, there was consistent hammering, heavy footfalls of the six guys up there, and the occasional THWUMP as a crew member moved a stack of shingles to another location. Noise, there was so much noise! I didn’t like it! And there were so many vibrations, which even caused pictures on the wall to tilt and glasses in the cabinet to clink together. It was a long, long day, but now, as I write, I hear a thunderstorm approaching, so I am grateful the roofers worked so quickly! I promised myself a drink at the end of it all to soothe my nerves.

Of course, Dear Husband had to go out of town on business, so I am drinking alone. He hopes this is his very last overnight business trip before his retirement, and I don’t blame him. I don’t blame him one bit! He was scheduled to arrive at his final destination at 1:30 pm yesterday, but Mother Nature had other plans which resulted in major flight delays and re-routings, so he arrived at his hotel room at 1:30 am. Yup, a twelve hour delay. It was a long, long day, indeed.

Last week I made candied grapefruit slices, since I had purchased too many grapefruits that I stopped eating when I realized they did not sit well with my allergy medications. I was left with a small jar of grapefruit simple syrup, so I put it to use today.

Husband is not home, as I said, so this drink (loaded with fruit, right?) serves as my “salad” for today. I think my supper is going to be Easter leftovers. Truly, the only good part about being home alone is that I don’t cook at all.

In a lowball glass, stir together 2 ounces of vodka with 2 ounces of grapefruit simple syrup. Add fruit, ice, and maybe a Luxardo cherry. Stir and enjoy.