November 28, 2025

Friday - Sunny then rainy

I went to bed a little late last night and then woke up around 5:30. Why? I’m not sure, but when I opened my eyes, F was using his computer in bed. I think it had a lot to do with the light from his computer. I wear an eye mask, but it shifts around at night and I am quite light sensitive when I sleep. 

I had to go downstairs and did so, then I came back to bed. I was quite annoyed at my husband for a while, but he did close his computer and snuggle me for a bit. I fell asleep, I’m not sure if he did. When I woke up later, he was gone. I didn’t get up at my early alarms, I ended up waking up around 10:30. I got up and dressed, then went downstairs. 

I was supposed to do laundry today, but I was tired and K’s cold finally found me. I basically had a veggie day!  I did get my first Christmas card today, from my bestie in Canada! Yay for that!

Lunch was good today. I had my usual open sandwiches and a salad. I watched MobLand today and it was quite good. I like the cast, Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren…pretty good actors! I hate the director though, but the first episode was good.

I mostly watched the news, but zoned some of it out after a bit. F called me after 5:15 and said he was on his way back to the house, but would stop in at a store on the way back. 

I went downstairs to start dinner and do the dishes. Tonight I brought down some bottles to put in the recycling so I took care of that first. After that, I waited until F came back before I started. 

Tonight we had pasta with pepperoncini sauce and it was great. We had salad and sliced ham with it too. Dinner was great and almost everything disappeared. We finished early so I got into the kitchen and did the dishes. I was finished just after 8 pm so I went upstairs and chilled out at my computer. 

F came upstairs later and we started to do the forms for our vaccines. Tomorrow we’re getting our Covid boosters and our flu shots, or we are supposed to get them. I’m a little afraid the doctor won’t give me mine because of my cold. 

I never got around to watching any of my shows tonight. I had hoped to watch something, but didn’t. 

Anyway, that’s it for today. I’m tired and I have to get up early tomorrow. I’ve also got this stinking cold so I hope that I can sleep!

IF I’m feeling okay tomorrow night I’ll post about my day, if I’m not, I may just go to bed! Come back later and figure out if I’m okay or not. Until next time….

November 27, 2025

 Thursday - Sunny and warmish

I had my usual sort of morning again. I woke up before my alarm, went downstairs, came back upstairs and went back to bed. Overslept. 

I got up finally and made my breakfast for myself and brought it back upstairs. I ate while I watched a bit of YouTube. I had a very quiet morning and afternoon. 

When I went downstairs and grabbed my lunch, I came back to the room to eat. I watched an episode of The Good Fight and really enjoyed it. It was one with Alan Alda so it was quite cool. 

I watched the news and then worked on my column. I basically finished it, but I think I’m going to have to cut quite a bit as I’m probably over the space limit. Tomorrow I’ll read over it and edit it a bit. I will try and send it in so that I don’t have to worry about it over the weekend.

I didn’t hear from F before I went downstairs today. I knew that he had to drive to Yamagata city today so I thought he might be late. He was. I went downstairs and got myself sorted for dinner. I got a call from F around twenty to 7. He said he’d still be a while, but actually returned before I had cooked anything!

I got dinner on the table about twenty minutes after F got back so that was good. Dinner tonight was sort of simple. We had premade burgers, fries, salad, broccoli and pickles. Dinner was quite good I thought. 

I did the dishes after we finished dinner. No one paid attention to anyone else today and since we were late I didn’t get to watch the news in English so I was bored with the TV, the one F was obsessed with. 

K is still sick and is coughing all over the place. She doesn’t seem to understand that she should cover her mouth so I’m sure both F and I will get sick too. 

I went upstairs when I finished in the kitchen. I was really tired. I heated up my water pot and then I had a cup of the nice cocoa too. I went downstairs around 10:30 to take a shower.

I finished and came back upstairs and watched The Rookie. I had to watch it off the DVR as I was late getting back. It was a fun episode again. I’m glad that it isn’t so serious all of the time.  

And that’s about it for my day. I might do some laundry tomorrow. I was thinking to go out and see The Sound of Music, but I think I’ll wait until next week when my column is sent in. 

Anyway, that’s it for me. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

November 26, 2025

 Wednesday - Sunny and warmish, rainy at night

Last night when I went to bed there was a big thunderstorm going on. It was quite loud and lasted for quite a while. I think I fell asleep on it.

I woke up before my alarms this morning. I went downstairs and then came back upstairs to the room. I started my water pot and then I went back to bed and fell asleep after a while.

I woke up a bit late, but no big deal. I got up and dressed myself, then I went downstairs to make my breakfast. I brought it back to the room and ate.

I decided to start getting the room ready for my meeting so I set up my computer table. I had already made my computer charge itself up, so it was fully charged. When the time of my meeting got closer I set up my computer in the other room on my table and got my drink ready to go. I made a quick restroom trip and then made my drink. 

I went on line and started the meeting. No one joined for the first couple of minutes so I was a little worried, but in a few minutes another person joined me. We chatted for a while and then another person joined us. After 2 pm yet another person joined so the meeting actually went quite well. One person had to leave a little early and I had to make a trip downstairs, but it was lovely to see my friends and just be with other women who have a lot in common with me. We ended the meeting a few minutes after 3pm and that was fine.

I went downstairs and grabbed my lunch, then came back to the room and ate. It was too late to watch anything so I just put on a bit of YouTube and then watched the news. 

F phoned me around 4 to say that he was still in Sakata for work and might be late tonight. I appreciated the call.

I went downstairs around 6pm and got started on dinner. I washed my dishes first and then peeled some potatoes. F got back around this time and we had a nice reunion. 

Dinner tonight was Herb-baked chicken, roasted potatoes and salad. I didn’t do any side dishes. Oh, K and F had rice too, but I didn’t want any rice with my lovely roasted potatoes!

I did the dishes after dinner and listened to my podcasts. Then, I did the garbage in the kitchen, the bathroom and got F to help me with his mother’s garbage. Oh, today she went to the doctor with his sister. She’s got a ton of medicine and went to bed even earlier than usual!

I went upstairs and changed my clothes in the room. I also prepared my garbage bag so that F could put his stuff in it and then take it out!

I went downstairs and we got ready to leave. We got in the car and drove to Mina. I went in and did the shopping. I forgot to get mayo, but other than that I think I did okay. I’m going a bit lazy tomorrow night. With K not feeling well and me worrying that I’m going to catch her cold I don’t feel like overdoing it.

I paid and then we came back to the house. I put away the groceries while F ran off upstairs! 

When I went upstairs, I changed into my pyjamas and decided I had enough time to watch a half hour programme from the Fire Disk. Tonight I watched The Big Door Prize. I really like the show as I’m never sure which way it’s going to go. 

At 11 pm I watched tonight’s episode of Wild Cards and it was fun. She had to pretend to be a medium and they had to solve a murder. It’s not a serious show, but it is Canadian. 

And that’s about it for me. Since midnight I’ve been blogging and watching YouTube. 

I did work on my column today, I’ve almost finished it in fact. I should be able to finish it tomorrow. Hopefully anyway!

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

November 25, 2025

Tuesday - Sunny and warmish

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off, but I couldn’t get up then. I ended up snoozing for a while and then got up. I went downstairs and then came back to the room. I sorted my laundry and then I went back to bed!

I overslept a bit and then dragged myself out of bed and downstairs. I took my laundry basket with me and started the washing machine. Then, I made my breakfast and took it back upstairs. I ate and when I was finished my laundry was just about ready. I did two loads today and they are now hung up in my room to dry.

I was a tad late going downstairs to get my lunch today, but it didn’t matter. When I came back to the room I watched an episode of The Great British Sewing Bee and it was quite good. I enjoyed it. I managed to miss most of the news and I just didn’t mind that.

F called me after 5 and said he was on his way back to the house. I went downstairs a bit later to get dinner ready. Tonight we had ginger pork, steamed vegetables, salad, gyoza and some tuna salad that I made when I was afraid we didn’t have enough food. It was good!

After dinner I did the dishes and put things away. Poor K seems to have a cold, she must have picked it up at her Day Service on Saturday. Her daughter will take her to the doctor tomorrow.

When I finished, I let F know that I was going upstairs and I did. I relaxed for a bit and did some of my usual internet stuff. Tomorrow, I’m hosting a Zoom Meet Up so I won’t have as much “free” time as usual. 

In the evening I chilled out and then at 11 I watched FBI: Most Wanted. It was set at a university and some of the students were making and selling drugs. It was interesting, and a bit gruesome. 

After midnight I turned off the TV and then got started with my blog and other things. 

Tomorrow I have my meeting in the early afternoon. We could go on for a while or it could be over in ten minutes! 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

November 24, 2025

Monday - Cloudy and warm, rainy at night

I went downstairs around 8 this morning. I came back upstairs and went back to sleep for a while. F got up soon after and made his mother something for breakfast.

I woke up again later. I started to get dressed and then F came in the room. He suggested going to karaoke again. I checked if he really wanted to do that. I reminded him that it is more my thing than his! He said it was okay and as long as we’re together he’d enjoy it. Okay then. I did suggest that he phone the box and see if we could get a reservation. He agreed and they said if we were there before 12:30 we could get a room. 

I finished dressing and went downstairs. I checked the fridge to get an idea of what we need for the house. Then, we were off. 

We arrived at the karaoke box, I handed over my membership card and F and I picked what we’d like to have for lunch. F had a kind of ramen and I picked a salmon salad poké bowl. We went to our room. I took my glass of oolong tea, F took his coke and big cup of soft ice cream. 

We went into the room and started singing and such right away. Our lunch didn’t take that long to arrive. Mine came first and looked mostly good. The salmon looked a little mushy but tasted okay. It was a salad with raw salmon, avocado cubes, lettuce and dressing on top of rice. However, F started complaining about his ramen. He said that it was sweet and of course, didn’t like it. After he ate his ramen, he started to feel a bit sick. He had a sugar overload. I wasn’t too sympathetic at first. After all, he chose to grab a soda and a huge bowl of ice cream. I chose not to do that. However, he really didn’t feel well. I suggested that he order something to eat that was protein based to balance his blood sugar. He stopped drinking the cola and got himself some tea to drink and we did order a couple of other dishes. After a while he started to feel better, but he didn’t feel like singing anymore. I did offer to leave with him but he said it was okay. He was wondering if he has diabetes but I just think he was overloaded with sugar. He probably should get it checked out though.

I mostly enjoyed our three hours at karaoke. I sang a lot of songs, a lot of old favourites, so it was fun for me. We left on time and F was feeling quite a lot better before we left, so that was good. 

We bought went to Yamaya to pick up a few things and then went to the gas station to get some kerosene for the house. We came back to the house for a while and relaxed. F was downstairs for a long time and then came upstairs and had a rest. 

A bit before 7 I suggested that he make his mother some dinner, so he went downstairs and did that. Then, it was our turn. F had no ideas tonight about where to go so I suggested Gusto. It’s an okay place and they’ve just added a few things to the menu that looked good. 

We drove over to Gusto and went in. We got a table and ordered. F had the spicy chicken and I had mushroom pasta with a salad. I really liked mine. We spent a little too long in Gusto and wouldn’t have time to go over to our usual grocery store. I suggested going to MaxValu next door. We drove over to the store and then F gave me some money. 

I went into the store and did the shopping. I’m not a huge fan of MaxValu as it is so big and some of the store doesn’t make sense! I’m not sure why they have the frozen veggies by the entrance. We have to go through the whole store to check out and the veggies might be thawed by the time we’re done!

I checked out and the bill came to 4949! I gave F his 51 yen back but he told me I could keep the change. He’s so generous. 

We came back to the house and I put away the groceries. F set up the rice cooker for tomorrow and I think he cleaned the fish grill in the kitchen. He’s the one who uses it, so that’s good too.

I decided to take a shower so grabbed my towels and changed into my pyjamas. I went downstairs and did the shower thing. I came back up to the room and watched an episode of Dick Turpin on Apple TV. Usually I love the Apple TV comedies, but I haven’t really fallen for this one. I think it’s Noel Fielding. There’s only one season of it anyway, so I don’t have that much more to see. 

And that’s about it. F didn’t go to bed until a bit late. I should get to bed soon now too. He’s back to work tomorrow and so am I! 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my Tuesday. Until tomorrow…. 

November 23, 2025

Sunday - Warm and Sunny

I woke up this morning around 9 am I think and went downstairs. F went downstairs just after me and then he stayed to make breakfast for K. I went back up to the room and back to bed.

I got up a couple of hours later and got myself dressed. I noticed that F’s bottle of soy sauce had fallen over and was leaking on the precious tatami in the room. Luckily, there was a medicine envelope underneath the bottle that took most of the soy sauce. I took the tube that was in the envelope out and put the envelope in the garbage and then cleaned up the soy sauce. 

I went downstairs with the kerosene tank as it was empty. I tried to fill it up, but the pump started working before I put it in my tank. Yikes. I swore a bit! I filled up the tank and let F know after that we had a situation with the kerosene. He fixed it for me and then carried the full tank upstairs. Yay.

We talked about lunch and he suggested going to karaoke. I was a bit surprised but said it was okay. The karaoke box has a lunch special so we thought we’d take advantage of that. 

We arrived at the karaoke box and the parking lot was busy. The clerk inside said that we could come back at 1:30 and we decided not to do that. I knew that F isn’t that into karaoke and it was his birthday.  

We ended up having lunch at his favourite fish restaurant. We were able to get in right away. They didn’t have a lunch special today, but F had a tekka-don and I had a gindara set meal. We were both quite pleased with our meals.

After lunch we went to the Art Forum. They had a free display of school children’s art related to books that they had read. I didn’t mind some of the art, especially the older kids stuff. We decided to have a drink and dessert at the coffee corner place at the Forum. F had apple pie and coffee, I had a strawberry and blueberry cake and tea. F accidentally hit the table and spilled some of my tea, but it wasn’t a bad thing. 

After our drinks and cakestuff, F booked a nice bento for K. We went over to the shop and picked it up. We came back to the house and F gave the bento to her, I went upstairs and charged my phone.

Later on, F came upstairs and we talked about our dinner. He wanted to go to Fujishima to see the lights first, but I suggested finding a good dinner place before that. I suggested a couple of places, F suggested one as well. I liked his idea, but when he called to see if we could get in tonight, we couldn’t. Aww! I suggested Iskiya, the place that F took me for my birthday and F called them. They said they were busy, but we could come and wait outside and maybe get in if someone left. 

We drove over to the restaurant, F went in to say that we were waiting outside. He came right back outside and called me in. They had a table for us!

We chose to have a set meal and it was great. We told them that I can’t have tomatoes and they were very accommodating for me. Yay. We had some prosciutto and mozzarella, some butternut squash soup, bruschetta with red and yellow peppers instead of tomatoes for both of us. Then, we had some pizza. It was half Genovase (pesto) sauce with Italian sausage, half quatro-fromage (4 cheeses). That part came with some honey. The pizza was excellent and we both enjoyed it. Our last dish was pasta and they used a pesto sauce again. It was good, but not as good as the pizza! Finally, we had dessert and a drink. I had rooibos tea and F had coffee. We had a very nice angel food cake with ice cream and fresh fruit. Everything was very nice and it was worth the price. 

When we paid up, we told the staff that last time  we were there it was my birthday and this time it was F’s. They gave us each a brownie to take with us! Nice!

F asked that we go out to Fujishima to see the lights. I was afraid that it would end before we got there, but we got there quickly. We had about half an hour before the lights were going to be turned off. We walked around and took a few pictures. It was lovely. It was nice because when we come around Christmas it is very slippery and cold, but tonight was great. No snow yet and not cold. What a win!

Fujishima means Wisteria Island and these lights look like Wisteria. Beautiful!

This felt very Star Trekkie!

The Birthday Guy with me!

We came back to Tsuruoka before the lights were turned off in the park. F wanted to get some meat for K’s breakfast tomorrow so we made a quick stop at the grocery store.

Back at the house we came upstairs. I decided to watch a movie and since I couldn’t pick something contemporary, decided to go to one of the free apps on my Fire Disk and watch The Scarlet Pimpernel from 1982 or so. It had Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour and an incredibly young looking Ian McKellen. It was great. I’d seen it on regular TV when I was much younger and it was a fun movie. Anthony Andrews was fantastic and Jane Seymour was so beautiful. 

And that’s about it. Tomorrow is a national holiday so F is off work again. We’ll have to do the shopping as usual and hopefully will build in a few fun things to the day too.

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….