January 29, 2015

Thursday - Snowy and colder

An okay day.

I got up on time this morning and went through to the living room.  I started the heater and had a bit of tea.  I relaxed, read my blog, the usual.  I had a nice morning really.  I got a delivery from the post office too.  My best friend had sent me a present.  Yay!  I didn’t open it yet.

I didn’t take my shower as I was a bit late, and I had already thrown on some clothes when the Postie came earlier.  I made the bed, F came home for a very quick lunch.  I’m not honestly sure why he comes home for lunch when he only stays 10 minutes and then leaves to go back again! 

I watched a bit of TV and waited for another delivery.  We’d ordered some new flour and it was supposed to arrive this afternoon, between 12 and 2.  Well, technically it was after two, but only by a hair, so I don’t think I get a free pizza!  

I took my shower in the afternoon and then had lunch.  After 6 F called me to say he was still working and would be late.  He called back a while later to say his phone was about to die, and then called again to say that he was coming home.  He wasn’t feeling very well either.  Oh no!

When he finally arrived, I was sitting on the couch starting a new crochet project.  It’s a small one, but I think it’ll be fun!  If I have enough yarn to do it, and I think I do.  Maybe.  

We went out for a quick Gusto dinner and I enjoyed mine.  I had a hamburger with wasabi sauce and it was nice.  F had a noodle dish that he said was okay.  He wasn’t having a good time.  We came home after dinner. 

I watched a bit more TV, F took a bath and then took himself off to work.  He’s taken the day off tomorrow.  He has a big party that he wants to go to tomorrow night with some friends, so he hopes a day at home will help him feel better.  I’m not completely convinced, or happy about it to be honest.  

Anyway, that’s about it for me.  Now that my day tomorrow may have been crashed by my husband I’m a little anxious about what is going to happen.  Come back tomorrow night and see what happens!  Until tomorrow….

January 28, 2015

Wednesday - Snowy

A good day.

I got up a few minutes early this morning. I filled up the kerosene tank in our heater and then went on line to check out the world.  

I ended up on the couch for some computer and then reading time.  After my shows I tried to go back to my computer but I fell asleep!  Oh no!  

F called to say he was bringing a bento home and then I got dressed.  I got dressed and said hello to him as he came in.  I was actually a bit busy today as I did some laundry and had to hang that up.  

In the afternoon I struggled to stay awake, but after a while I hit my stride.  I watched some TV and then after 4 pm I went out to the lobby of our apartment building and did a little sweeping.  When I came back in our apartment I vacuumed for a few minutes.  Yay me.  After that, I did the dishes from lunch and then took a break.  F called to say he was coming home, except he didn’t really.  Not for a while anyway.  

F was really tired when he came home, but it was his night to cook.  I suggested he rest for a bit, and he did.  He went into the kitchen and prepared the nabe.  

It was quite good, except for my usual complaints!  It wasn’t hot enough (he’d turned off the nabe when it was done so it cooled off) and the broth was pretty tasteless.  Still, I wasn’t feeling in a fussy mood tonight, so I liked it.  

After dinner, I did the dishes and tidied up the kitchen and did up the garbage for F to take out in the morning.  I watched a bit of TV too.  At 11 I joined F on the couch for a bit of crochet.  F wasn’t doing crochet, just me!  I’m back on one of my earlier projects.  It’s going well. I’ve made a few decisions with it, so I’m quite happy about it.

And really, that’s about all I have for you today.  Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’ll get up to.  I hope more laundry and I hope more reading and crochet.  Come back and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

January 27, 2015

Tuesday - Rainy then clear

A good day mostly.

I got up this morning in time to watch Grey’s Anatomy.  I discovered that they aren’t showing it from the very beginning, which disappoints me a bit, but really I don’t care that much!  

I had my usual morning of reading, breakfast, etc, except I got a delivery today.  The person who received the thing I sent last week sent me a box of chocolates to say thank you. Very nice of her, but unnecessary!  But nice!

I did receive some bad news about a member of my family today. It is about a person that I hadn’t met, but is very sad.  I don’t want to go into it because it isn’t my story to tell. 

During the afternoon I watched Exile and thought it was good.  British storytelling is so well done, and with great acting.  Jim Broadbent was amazing. 

In the afternoon I also got my cards ready to go out.  I scanned them and uploaded the pictures to Postcrossing.  In the end, I didn’t take them to the post office, but never fear, they did get sent out today.

F was a bit late tonight.  After his work, he had to visit his mother again.  He came home and we decided to go out for dinner.  Tonight he chose Hana, a local fish restaurant.  I didn’t like it very much to be honest, but F was happy and I didn’t care that much either way! I didn’t think my food was cooked all that well.

After dinner, we visited the drugstore and then the grocery store.  We’re going to make a nabe for dinner tomorrow night. 

We came home and watched a little TV.  I went over to the couch and sewed in a few more ends on my scarf (that mysteriously appeared today) and then did a bit of crochet edging on another project.  

I’m trying to get to bed a little earlier tonight, which is why I’m writing this now, rather than later.  I think it’s a good thing.  

Tomorrow I don’t really have any plans.  I hope that I’ll be able to get out of the apartment, or do some of the lobby sweeping that I have shamefully avoided so far this month.  In any case, come back tomorrow and see what I get up to!  Until tomorrow….

January 26, 2015

Monday - Clear and warm

A good day.  

I overslept again today.  I missed the first episode of Grey’s Anatomy, but then again, I missed it the first time it was on too.  What’s new?

I got up, did a little bit of reading and then got on with my day.  I was really surprised today that F didn’t come home for lunch.  Surprised in a good way!  I honestly don’t know why he doesn’t go back to his office to eat lunch, but that’s him.  

I did some laundry and was about to get stuck into doing some housework when F called to say he was coming home for a few minutes then would take his mother to the doctor again.  Honestly, I really wish the doctor would do more than give her painkillers.  This isn’t fair to her.  She’s quite an active old lady, she shouldn’t be in so much pain.

I had a fairly quiet afternoon after lunch.  I did the dishes and got the table cleared off so that I wouldn’t have to do that at dinner time.  

When F came home he was ready to go to bed!  He’s been feeling a bit odd these days, hope he’s okay.  I think it might be a slight cold or something.  I sprang into cooking mode and did some vegetables for us along with the chicken we bought yesterday.  We had basil chicken,  green onions, sriracha green beans, and salad.  It was nice actually.  I quite impressed myself at how fast I was making it all!

I tried to give F the night off dishes duty so he could go to bed, but he said he’s stay up a bit longer.  He didn’t go to bed until midnight, so it’s probably a good thing!

I had a fairly relaxing evening.  I did up a few postcards, finished my scarf (finally!) and darned in a few ends on the blanket I’m making too.  My scarf is great.  It may not look brand new and perfect, but it is very soft and cozy.  I sewed it into a loop, and I can wear it looped twice around my neck for looks or three times for warmth.  

My little scarf made from Combination Yarn and done in a 2x2 Rib.

Anyway, that’s about it for now.  I’m going to try and get to bed fairly soon, so I’ll end this.  It was a decent day.  Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be rainy which is sad as I had thought about going out.  Still, I should run to the post office in the evening.  That’s it for me.  Night!

January 25, 2015

Sunday - Clear, warm and sunny!

Happy Robert Burns Day!

I got up this morning a little before 11.  F had already been over to his mother’s and then came home again.  He was watching TV and using his computer.  He was a dear and made me some tea and gave me some of his yummy bread that he made overnight.  

We decided to go out for lunch and chose the Grand El Sun.  When we got there, it was busy.  From the signs we noticed that they had a bridal fair on.  Cool!  We went to the restaurant and had our lunch.  I had pork, F fish.  It was nice. Today they also had a salad bar set up, so that was a yummy change.  Over lunch I confided to F that I always felt a bit left out because I never got to go to a Bridal Fair!  When we were preparing for our wedding, I lived in Hokkaido so F had to do all of the prep work for our wedding! 

After lunch, we decided to see if we could take a quick peek at the Bridal stuff.  However, we ended up being shown around by the lady that worked on our wedding!  It was kind of cool.  I did feel a bit guilty about it, but it was later in the afternoon and it wasn’t terribly busy, so it’s not like she was avoiding real prospective couples.  The wedding hall has been completely redone since we were there, so it was fun to see all the interesting new parts of it. The new chapel is gorgeous…the one that I got married in is now the Japanese ceremony room.  

After our time at the Grand El Sun, we went to Yamaya and bought a few things.  They seem to be having less and less that I want there, it’s quite sad.  Still, we got a few things and I’m glad about that.

We came home after that.  Well, I did.  F dropped me off and went over to his mother’s to walk his dog and check on her.  She seemed to be fine, so F came home fairly soon.  

We decided what to do for dinner.  I suggested that we go to Coco Ichibanya and then over to the Internet Cafe for a bit.  F liked that idea, so we went off in the car.  Halfway to Coco Ichibanya F suggested going to some place in Fujishima.  I wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but didn’t want to upset him, so said it was okay.  It turned out to be a kind of truck-stop/drive-in.  We went in and actually had an okay meal.  I had oyako-don, chicken and egg on rice, F had a stew type dish.  We drove back into Tsuruoka and went to the Internet Cafe.  It wasn’t too busy and we were both able to get massaging chairs right away.  We spent the next three hours getting massaged. It was lovely!  I watched Fox TV, and specifically an episode of American Idol.  It was an audition show, and one with Adam Lambert as a judge so it was quite cool. I did a little crochet while I was there too.  I started back up with one of my older projects. It felt good to do a little more on it.  

When our time was up, we bought a few groceries, then got gas for the car and came home.  We spent a quiet evening at home and that’s where my story ends!  

Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’ll get up to.  I hope to do a bit of laundry and maybe some cleaning!  We’ll have to see about that one though.  That’s it for me.  Night!

January 24, 2015

Saturday - Clear and warm

A good day.

I got up this morning when my alarms went off.  F had gone out with his mother and was taking her to an onsen.  I decided to go back to sleep for a while, and did so.  I needed it.  I woke up a little before 11 and felt quite refreshed.  

F came home a little after 11 and we talked about our plans.  We decided to have lunch out today and then dinner at home.  We almost never do that on weekends, so it was a fun thing.  

We had a very delicious lunch out at Fireball.  I had smoked salmon and mushroom pasta in a vodka sauce, and F had pork and tomato pasta.  They were both nice, with mine just edging into our favourite!  We shared pastas and they came with soup, salad and a drink today.  

After lunch, we spent a few minutes in my local craft shop.  I didn’t buy anything today, but I wanted to!  Actually I decided that I’d just as soon not buy anything.  Ha!  We went to the grocery shop to get some coleslaw.  They didn’t have any of course, so we bought some shredded cabbage and some mustard.  While I was in the shop, a woman came up to me and asked me if I remembered her.  She had on a face mask and glasses….I had no idea!  I asked her who she was and as soon as I heard her voice I remembered her.  She was one of my private students when I worked at L’Eikaiwa.  She was a lovely lady, but I haven’t seen her for about 7 years and I haven’t been her teacher in more than 10 years.  F and I talked about it later and think that she must have forgotten that she was wearing a mask! 

We came home and I took the leftover bread dough out of the fridge.  I let it warm and rise a little and then I baked it as buns.  We only got 5 buns tonight, but they smelt incredible when I took them out of the oven.  F had to go and walk his dog, so we wrapped up a bun for him to take to his mum and I packed up a bit of the leftover chicken for her too.  I am not sure if she’ll like it so I didn’t give her a lot of it, but when you aren’t feeling too well, it is nice not to have to cook a lot on top of everything else.  

While he was gone, I got the table set and waited for him to come home.  I microwaved the food when he came home and we ate our leftovers.  We still have quite a bit of chicken left, but all the spinach and egg dish is done.  The buns were really nice, but they’re done now too.  F is talking about making more!

After dinner, F did the dishes and then we headed out to Mikawa Mall.  I nearly fell asleep on the way.  We got there and parked the car of course.  We walked over to Aeon/Jusco and I checked out the craft corner.  I saw some balls of yarn that were on for quite cheap so I got some.  I’ll make something fun with them I think.

We looked at baking goods, but didn’t buy anything there.  We walked back to the theatre and went to see the new Annie.  We both really enjoyed it.  

We came home and had some crab. Yes, more food!  Ay ya yai! F had bought it yesterday, but we had too much then.  Tonight it was nice.  After that, he whipped some cream, and we had the strawberries we didn’t have last night.  That was nice, but I sort of feel like I don’t need to eat for a few days!

Today turned out much better than I thought it would.  I’m not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow.  F has to go to his mum’s in the morning, and then in the later afternoon too.  I’m not sure if we’ll go shopping or stay close to home.  Come back tomorrow and find out.  Night!

January 23, 2015

Friday - Cloudy, rainy and I didn’t go out.

Busy weird day!

I woke up this morning and then F told me that his mother had called him this morning to say she couldn’t walk and he had had to go to her house and take care of her.  He was going to take her back to the doctor when the clinic opened. He had also taken the day off work.  I said a sleepy goodbye and nodded back off.  

I got up and watched X-Files, did my reading and then watched America’s Next Top Model. It was the finale so it was nice to see it.  I think they picked the right woman.  I had breakfast too, and that was yogurt and oatmeal this morning. 

After 11:30 I got started on dinner.  I washed all the dishes that needed doing, got my slow cooker out and washed that too.  I took the skin off the chicken and then dumped the chicken into the slow cooker and made up the cooking liquid.  I put it on the floor of my bedroom as there was an available plug-in there and I needed the ones in the kitchen.  One thing done!

I got a bit started on another dish I was making for dinner and F came home for a while.  I had a quick lunch as he’d already eaten, and then I suggested that he make up some bread dough.  I wanted to have some buns with dinner and I was going to make them, but I thought it would be better if he did it!  

I did take a break for a bit while he was in the kitchen, but soon enough, I had to go back and get things ready.  For the bread, I didn’t have a baking sheet, so  I used the ceramic plate in the microwave.  I covered it with some baking paper that I have and then pulled some of the dough out and made buns.  I set them aside to rise.  F was pointing out that the directions said that they should be set somewhere that the temperature was 30 - 35 degrees Celsius, but I pointed out that there was no freaking place like that this time of year!  I covered them with more of my baking paper and was told that it should be a fukin.  Whatever that is!  The baking paper was just fine, believe me.  My mum always used a tea-towel, but I haven’t any linen type ones.  

Anyway, I went on with other prep and when the rising time was nearly up, preheated the oven.  I baked the buns and when they came out, they were gorgeous!  

F went back to his mother’s to walk the dog and check on his mum.  I kicked dinner prep higher into gear and worked on the other dish I was making, baked eggs in spinach and mushrooms.  It came together fairly well, and when F came home, things were nearly ready to eat.

We had pulled chicken on homemade buns, baked eggs in spinach and also F had brought us some chopped cabbage, so we made sort of a coleslaw for the top of the sandwiches.  It was quite nice, but honestly, not nice enough for all the work involved!  I cleared the table afterwards and F said he’d do the dishes, but went off to take a nap.  That was around 8 pm and it’s 2:30 am now.  Luckily I did the dishes or they’d have been caked on and yucky!  

I’ve spent this evening watching TV quite peaceably and trying to relax.  We had strawberries and cream for dessert, but they are both in the fridge.  Sigh. 

I’m not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow.  F’s Mum is going to need a bit of care as she isn’t able to walk much.  F is taking care of her so he’ll have to go over a couple of times tomorrow at least.  I’m not sure what kind of things we’ll get up this weekend.  I’d like to go and see a movie, but not sure if we’ll swing it tomorrow or not.

That’s it for me for now.  Until tomorrow!