August 25, 2026

Tuesday - Hot, humid and muggy

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I got up a few minutes later and went downstairs. When I came back to the room I sorted my laundry and then went back to bed for a snooze and some videos. I got up a while later, dressed and went downstairs. 

I started my laundry, checked the mail, got two postcards and only one was from Postcrossing! I started marinating the meat for dinner and then I went back upstairs with my yogurt serving.

I did two loads of laundry today and hung them up in the room. I watched a few videos on FB and then decided that I would work on my column. I think I finished it. I listened to my computer reading it and I got a surprise. For some reason, the computer used my voice! I had recorded some sentences when I first got my computer and today the computer spoke to me in my voice. It was a bit freaky, and a bit emotionless, but cool.

I haven’t sent in my column but I think I’m okay with that. I have until next week, but I’ll probably send it in the next couple of days.

F texted me later in the day to say that he is having problems with his phone. I suggested looking at it when he came back to the house, but we never got around to it!

I went downstairs to get my lunch and brought it upstairs as usually. I ended up being late to start a show so I finished up the weird English/Scandinavian detective show I was watching. Glad it’s over!

F called around 5:30 and said he was on his way back. I got changed, grabbed my dishes and went downstairs to start in the kitchen. Today I had suggested to K that she use the AC twice, but she refused. I was going to use the AC for me while cooking in the kitchen. 

F came back a few minutes after I started. He told me that his Fish Tank is going to arrive tomorrow. Okay? I guess that I’m supposed to bring it into the house if I hear the delivery man…but I rarely hear them while I’m upstairs. 

Today I did quite a lot of cooking from scratch! Well, sort of cooking! We had coro-coro steak, tuna and corn salad, pickled cucumbers, mini-tomatoes and a cholegi style salad. And rice of course. Dinner was nice!

After dinner I did the dishes and put everything away. When I finished I told F I was going to get ready and went upstairs to change. A few minutes I was ready to leave, but F wasn’t!

Finally, we went to the grocery store and F let me go in by myself. I’m so glad! I got quite a few things that we needed and nothing that we didn’t!

We made a quick trip to the drugstore. We needed something to kill the flies in our garbage can, so we got that there. F also got himself some adult beverages too. 

Back at the house, I put the food away and then headed upstairs. At 11pm I watched Law & Order and it was actually a good one for a change! It had a real conundrum at the core. 

And that’s about it for now. I’ve been doing my end of day things and I’m about ready to shut down my computer and get to bed. 

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

August 24, 2026

Monday - Hot and Sunny, muggy

I woke up before my alarm this morning. The bedroom door was open, which is what F does when he thinks the hallway is cooler than the room itself. He might be right when he leaves…but later it isn’t.

I slept on until my alarm went and then I got up and went downstairs. I came back to the room and basically went back to bed for my usual snoozing and videos. I dragged myself out of bed a little earlier than usual and got dressed. I went downstairs to get my breakfast and check the mail. 

I came back to the room and had my breakfast. I watched a bit too much YouTube today, but finally did take a break and I worked on my column. I did some editing and then I wrote about the movie that I watched on Friday evening. I’m nearly done! My subject has been very prolific so there is a lot of movies to write about!

I went downstairs near 3pm to get my lunch. I brought it up to the room and today decided to watch an episode of Lie To Me. I was very surprised that one of the actors in the episode was Chadwick Boseman. He was really good in it but the episode was a little icky. 

F texted me around 5pm to say that he wanted to go to the big hardware store to buy a new fish tank. He’d had to move his tank so the workers could install the new Air Conditioner. Unfortunately, when he tried to move the tank back and refill it, he noticed that the bottom was completely smashed. We don’t know what happened. I told him it was fine, but I was worried he would have to pay too much.

I went downstairs around 6pm and started in the kitchen by recycling some bottles. I washed dishes and a few minutes later F came back. He didn’t buy anything, he’s thinking to order it online. I’m a bit worried about it getting smashed on the way here but that’s up to him. Honestly, I don’t like tropical fish and F got fish the last time I went to Canada so they were a done deal when I came back. I don’t do anything with them at all. 

I was busy in the kitchen tonight. We had teriyaki chicken and some cucumber pickle, mini-tomatoes, steamed spicy cabbage and a salad. It was nice. We also had rice of course.

After dinner I did the dishes and listened to my movie podcast. It was good as usual. When I finished, I went upstairs and relaxed on my computer for a while. After 10 I went downstairs and took a shower, then came back upstairs to the room. I watched an episode of Ride or Die and it was good, if a bit sad. I have one episode left. 

Since midnight I’ve been working on my end of day stuff and getting ready to go to bed. It was an okay day. Tomorrow I have an exciting day of laundry, cooking dinner, buying groceries and maybe, just maybe finishing my column! 

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

August 23, 2026

 Sunday - Hot and Sunny, muggy

I woke up a bit late this morning and went downstairs. F was in the kitchen getting things ready for K’s brunch. I went back upstairs and went to bed for a bit longer. 

Around 11:15 or so, F came upstairs and asked if I wanted to go for lunch. Since we had to be back around 1pm we needed something fast so I suggested a gyudon place. F was okay with that but wanted to go to Yoshinoya which is across the city! Eye roll. I got up and dressed quickly, then we were on our way. 

While we were driving, F got a call from the installers. They said that they could come now but F told them that 1:00 would be better for us. I was surprised he said that! 

At Yoshinoya we found a table and ordered. F had a simple gyudon, I had kara-age on rice with a salad and miso soup. It was fine, I didn’t mind it. Then we headed back to the house with a quick stop at a drugstore to get some drinks for the installers.

Back at the house I gave F a hand with doing some of the last minute cleaning in the kitchen and living room. I was wearing black pants and ended up knocking down some cobwebs. That wasn’t brilliant! We had to move stuff out of the way as they were going to install a new plug for the air conditioner and do something with the fuse box in the kitchen, so the way had to be clear. 

When they arrived I told F that I was going to go upstairs. It was so hot downstairs and I couldn’t help with anything anyway, so I would rather stay cool and out of the way!

They were done before 3 I think and I went downstairs and put a few things away. F and I sat in the living room for a few minutes and enjoyed the cool air. 

I went back upstairs, F came a bit later and went to bed. He had a nap. I spent time on my computer and then decided that I too would take a nap. F got up around 6 I think to make something for his mother’s dinner, I got up a few minutes later I think. 

When F came back I asked about our dinner and I said a little sheepishly that I didn’t want to have any rice. I would be okay with going to either a family restaurant or a place that had udon. Since I wanted to go to a certain store afterwards, we decided to go to Nagomi. 

We were able to get a table and I had the meat soup with cold udon, F had the tempura-don and udon set. We both were happy with our meals. It was a bit sad for him as he’d left his phone at the house. 

After dinner we drove to PAL. I went to Daiso to look for something I’d seen last week. I wanted to get an oil sprayer. They had a thing that held oil and you could either pour it out, or spray it. It was perfect for my air fryer. Unfortunately I didn’t buy it the first time I saw it and this week it was gone. I guess it didn’t sell as their goods in that section were all moved and changed. F even asked a store clerk but they didn’t have them now. Boo!

I bought a few things and then went out to the car. F drove us over to the grocery store and I went in. I bought a lot of stuff that we needed for meals for the next two days. Hopefully things I bought will be good enough. 

We had to gas up the car after the shopping. F had let it get down to 13km left to drive. He’s supremely silly in my opinion, but I didn’t nag him this time.

We came back to the house and I put away the groceries and then came upstairs again. I decided to watch a movie that I had recorded recently and watched A Big Bold Beautiful Journey with Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie. I liked it, but I’m not sure everyone would. It was a little slow but a beautiful looking film. 

I turned off the TV when the movie was over and F went to bed around that time. He’s really tired tonight and does seem to be sleeping now. 

Tomorrow I hope to work on my column and maybe get it close to finishing. It is due September 1st and I’d like it to be done by the coming weekend. 

Come back later if you like and hear about my day. Will I manage not to knock the power out when I cook dinner tomorrow night? Fingers crossed!

Until tomorrow….

August 22, 2026

 Saturday - Hot and Sunny

Today was an interesting day! I woke up at 7:30 this morning. F was still asleep. I got up and went downstairs, then came back to the room. I made a bit of noise coming back upstairs to try to wake F up. I wasn’t sure when he had to get up to get his mother ready to go to her day service. 

He did wake up and he got up to go downstairs. I went back to bed and slept for another couple of hours. When I got up later, I took a shower and then got dressed. F had an idea for our lunch and it was fine. 

We drove over to Tai, the ramen/curry place and both of us had curry. It was a tad expensive but I liked my curry. Over lunch we discussed what we’d like to do and decided that we’d try and go off to get some nashi again. We started off towards Sakata and the area that the fruit is grown and sold. We got there and….it was all sold out! We were just a few minutes too late! Oh dear.

I asked F if we could go into Sakata and go to the Foreign import store. Dear that he is, he said yet. We arrived there and parked. We went in and I looked for my favourite tea. I found it and….it was on sale! Yay! I had planned to buy two boxes, but I got three instead. We also picked up some more gnocchi sauce (they have a cheese one that is nice) and F tried to buy something but I wouldn’t let him. He’d bought it a couple of years ago and never used it! He can try the old bottle to see if he’ll use it.

We also bought a few things at the Muji store. I mostly bought nuts, F got some things for adding to rice to make it taste good, and we also got some cakes for later on tonight. 

We drove back to Tsuruoka and did a quick stop at a bank machine for F, then headed to the house. We worked on the living room for a few minutes. I washed one of the glasses for later and one of my litre jugs for tea. Then, I went upstairs to relax and cool down for a bit. 

K’s Care Manager was supposed to come at 5pm but for some reason she came at 4:45. Not sure why!  I served us some iced Assam Tea and some of the cake we bought earlier. We chatted for a few minutes but there haven’t been any changes so she left after planning next month’s visit. Honestly, it annoys me a lot! She keeps trying to come on Sunday. We already have to waste our Saturdays being back in time for K to get back from Day Service, why not come on Saturdays? But she can’t. Or won’t. She can come on a weekday but F is at work and I’m not having a meeting with her by myself. She’s nice enough, but we don’t speak the same language. 

Anyway, I cleaned up most of the glasses and then went upstairs again to have some tea and cool down more. F came up a bit later and took a nap. He was out!

I actually woke F up after 7 pm and suggested that he make his mother some dinner. She usually eats before or around 7 pm so it was already late for her. He went downstairs and made her something.

He came upstairs to the room after 8 pm and I asked about our dinner. F wanted ideas of where to go, so I suggested China House. F liked that idea. We drove off and for some reason F picked the long way to get there. When we arrived at the restaurant, the guy was bringing in the flags and they’d already turned the sign over. However, F said the guy signalled to him that it was okay for us to go in. Yay.

We went in and ordered. I had the mapo-dofu set meal again and F had chahan or fried rice. Mine was excellent.

When we finished our meal we paid and left. We didn’t dawdle as they had done us a favour by letting us in. We drove to MaxValu and did a bit of shopping. I got some bready stuff and F picked up some fish for K’s breakfast. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to go out tomorrow as the new Air Conditioner will be installed tomorrow. They’ve given us a window between 1pm and 3pm so we don’t know if we’ll have time for lunch before or not!

We came back to the house and put way the groceries then came upstairs. I watched some YouTube and then FBI at 11pm. After it finished I’ve been working on my end of day things again. 

I’ll be back tomorrow night if all goes well, and it should! Come back later if you like and hear all about my Sunday. Until tomorrow….

August 21, 2026

Friday - Hot and sunny, muggy

I woke up when F was getting ready for work this morning but I closed my eyes and pretended I was still asleep…and then I was! I woke up for real when my alarm went off. I went downstairs and then came back up to the room. 

I sorted my laundry and then went back to bed for a couple of hours. I watched some videos and fell asleep on them too. I did drag myself out of bed quite a bit before I headed downstairs again. I took my laundry and started the first load. After that I went into the kitchen and grabbed my yogurt for breakfast too. I brought it upstairs to eat.

I did two loads of laundry today and they are hanging up in our room to benefit from the air conditioner! I watched a few videos on Facebook and then read a little more of my book. I’m enjoying it. 

I went downstairs before 3pm to make my lunch. I did my usual open face sandwiches and salad. I brought everything upstairs and decided to watch Matlock today. It was fine. I’m still not a fan of the crossing and double-crossing that seems to be going on. 

F called me after 5:30 to say he was on his way. I got dressed to go downstairs and then closer to 6pm I went downstairs.

Today I did the dishes and to be honest, I didn’t boost the water temperature quite as high as I usually do. It helped me a bit, but it was still so hot in the kitchen. I’m hoping that this will be the last time for me to be so hot in the kitchen.

Tonight I made gnocchi with a bought cheese sauce. I fried half of the gnocchi after I cooked it for a different taste. Last time F liked it better, today he didn’t notice much difference! So, we had gnocchi with cheese sauce, salad and bacon that I had sautéd. It was all very nice I thought.

Today F and I made dessert. We had kaki-gori at the house and it was very nice! I had a Blue Hawaii one, F had lemon and K also had Blue Hawaii. 

I had to do the dishes after dinner. I was soaked by the time I finished. I came upstairs and changed almost all of my clothes. I watched a few videos and then I decided that I’d watch a movie for my column.

Tonight I decided to watch Fighting with My Family. It’s another Florence Pugh film and she plays a wrestler from England who goes to the US and becomes a champion in the WWE. It was quite a good movie and as usual, Pugh is great in it!

F came upstairs at the very end of the film and basically went to bed soon afterwards. I watched a few videos and got started on my end of day stuff. I’ll be able to get myself to bed soon.

This is going to be an interesting weekend. Tomorrow K is off to her Day Service place and then at 5 pm we are supposed to have a meeting with her Care Manager. Then, on Sunday, we are supposed to be getting a new air conditioner for the living room. Of course we have no idea what time they will come for our installation so it is hard to make plans for the day. I hope it is sometime when F is around!

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

August 20, 2026

Thursday - Muggy, hot and then rainy at night

I woke up this morning a few minutes before my alarm went off. I got up a little later and then went downstairs. I came back to the room and then did my usual snooze and video watch thing. I did get up a little earlier than usual, but I didn’t go downstairs for a while. 

When I was downstairs I got my yogurt out of the fridge, grabbed the scales and made for the stairs. However, K was suddenly in the kitchen. She garbled something at me that I didn’t understand. She was pointing at the carton of yogurt. Later I assumed that she thought I was being greedy and taking a whole carton of yogurt with me. The carton holds 400 grammes of yogurt and I had 100 grammes every day this week so far. Today, was the last bit of the yogurt and I eat it and the cereal out of the carton. I mean, why not?

I went upstairs to eat and watch some YouTube. I did actually find time to go back and fill in some info in the part of the column I wrote yesterday. I corrected spellings and put in dates and such. 

I went downstairs later, around 2:45 to get my lunch. When I got back to the room I decided to watch the last episode of Evil. However, later on I discovered that there is one more season of Evil, but my channel doesn’t have it. Oh dear. I hope the channel will stream it sometime. 

After lunch I watched the news and then changed my clothes fairly early. F called but I wasn’t able to talk to him for some reason. I might have hit the hang up button by mistake?  

I went downstairs a little early today and started on dinner. As usual it was hot in the kitchen so I started sweating and basically didn’t stop. Today I made chicken drumsticks, cucumber pickle, steamed okra, and served them with a salad and some macaroni salad. It turned out well. I forgot to give K and F their mini tomatoes until after the meal. Dinner was good!

I did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. I was soaking wet when I finished. I let F know that I was going to go upstairs to change and then he came upstairs too. I waited until he went back downstairs and then I changed everything!

We drove to the Mina shopping area and went in. Yes, F came in again. I shopped for practical things, more or less, F got a bunch of snack things. I did pick up a cylinder of salt & vinegar Chip Star chips. I haven’t tried them yet, I hope they are good. Japan does try to do sour flavours, but usually their vinegar isn’t strong enough. 

We came back to the house and put away the groceries. We came upstairs after that. I opened the parcel I received today and even started one of the books. Another foreign wife in my group was rehoming some books and I asked for a few. One was Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, which is a book I loved as a kid. I’ve already read a couple of chapters tonight. 

I watched tonight’s episode of The Rookie. It felt like one that was the end of a season, but it is on next week so I was wrong. 

F went to bed and appears to be sleeping. I’m glad as lately he hasn’t slept well. He didn’t wake up when I came to bed last night, which I’m happy about. He often wakes up and then can’t get back to sleep. 

Anyway, that’s about it for my day. Tomorrow I have an exciting day of laundry and cooking planned. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….