December 30, 2025

Tuesday - Rainy I think. I didn’t go out.

I slept in this morning, it was nice. I got up and went downstairs. F had just come back from getting his hair cut and I didn’t notice. Oh dear. He was all about making lunch for his mother and went to the grocery store to buy ingredients. I asked him to get a few things for me and dinner tonight. He didn’t ask me to go which did surprise me.

He came back to the house and hadn’t brought one of the things I asked for. He said he’d go out later and get it (he did). He didn’t ask me if I’d like to go out with him then either.

He made his mother lunch and must have eaten some too. I wouldn’t have wanted to eat whatever he made anyway. 

I made my lunch around 3 o’clock and today I used real cheese on my toasties. Yum. I came upstairs with lunch and watched an episode of Bones. It was an early one and it was a Christmas episode so that was kind of cool. 

I went downstairs to the kitchen around 5:45 or so and heated up the curry. I washed my dishes from the day and got the rest of the dinner ready. Today we had the rest of the curry, plus tonkatsu that F bought at the store and a salad. It was all very nice. The curry was good and we finished it all. Sigh.

After dinner I did the dishes and put them away. I went upstairs when I finished and then relaxed with some YouTube. After 11 I decided that I’d go downstairs and make some popcorn. I made the popcorn and then came upstairs and watched Episode 6 of Lazarus. It was really good and ended on a scary note. There were some horrible things that happened in the episode too. I’m wondering if it is a one season and done or if there’ll be a second season. 

I turned off the TV and watched some YouTube while I did my end of day things. I’m about ready to go to bed and start the last day of the year. 

Oh, a note. I think I’m going to take tomorrow night off, unless something really worthy of blogging happens, so I’ll wish you all a very Happy New Year and I hope that you have a lovely start to 2026!

Until next year! 

December 29, 2025

Monday - Clear and warmish, rainy at night

I got up first around 8:30, made a trip downstairs and then came back upstairs and went back to bed. F got up to make his mother breakfast, I slept on. 

When I got up later F wanted to go for lunch but I said that I wanted to have my breakfast. I prepared my cereal and yogurt and started the laundry machine. I did two loads today. They are hanging in my room to dry!

A couple of hours after I ate and when my laundry was finally finished and hanging, I agreed to go out with F for lunch. We ended up going to Gusto. They’d obviously been busy earlier as many of the tables weren’t cleared off yet. 

We had a nice lunch. I had my favourite mushroom pasta dish with a small side salad and the drink bar, F had a nabé and it was quite good. He had the drink bar too. 

We left the restaurant around 4pm and came back to the house. I went upstairs to relax for a little while. I changed my clothes and had a cup of tea as well. I went downstairs to start dinner around 5:15 pm.

I had a lot of veggies to prepare today. I sliced or cut up 5 onions, 4 potatoes and a carrot. I added in some mushrooms as well.

Over the next hour and a half or so, I made Japanese curry. My husband has been bugging me for a few weeks to make it again and I decided I’d do it on Monday so we’d have dinner for a couple of days. I had thought that F had to work today so it would be fair if I did the curry. He didn’t have to work. 

Still, I cooked, sautéd and simmered and got the curry done just around 7 pm which was my goal. I got F to put rice in the bowls and I ladled out the curry. We had curry and rice, and some salad. F had bought some pickles and he put them out. 

I finished eating around 7:40 and went into the kitchen to do a quick clean up. I put away the rest of the curry, washed the pan, washed the cutlery I used in the making and put all the dishes away. I didn’t do the bowls from the table. I asked F to wash the dishes tonight. He said that he would. I didn’t ask him at the last minute or anything, I asked him a couple of days ago. 

I went upstairs and went online just before 8pm. I joined a meeting online to watch a movie, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. It was great. I really enjoyed it. Emma Thompson was amazing as ever and Daryl McCormack was great too. As we don’t have Netflix and won’t get it, this was my only chance to see it. It was very good in my opinion.

After the movie, I went downstairs to see how F was doing (and if he’d done the dishes!) Well, he was sitting in the living room and yes, he’d done the dishes and put everything away too. Yay for him. I shared a sweet treat with him that I got from my friends on Friday…that was lovely too.

I went upstairs again and a few minutes later came downstairs again to take a shower. I did that and then made a video. I noticed a drip in the bathroom, on the washing machine’s tap. I knew it would be hard to explain it to F, so I recorded it on my phone for him. I went upstairs and showed F the video. 

Poor thing had to go downstairs and spend around half an hour fixing the problem. He thinks it was an old washer and the last time I was in the bathroom it wasn’t dripping anymore so he fixed it. Hurray!

Then, F decided to take a shower…late at night. After that, he did laundry. He’s a little crazy in my opinion, but whatever!

So, that’s about it for me. It was an okay day today and I mostly enjoyed it. Tomorrow we’ll have curry for dinner again, probably with something on the side and hopefully another salad too. That means we’ll have to go to the grocery store as well. Sigh. It’ll be crazy busy I think. 

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

December 28, 2025

Sunday - Sunny with snow!

I woke up around 10:30 this morning. I went downstairs and saw F while I was there. He was planning to go out and get kerosene. I told him I was going back to bed! I came upstairs but I heard the snowplough going by outside. Oh dear.  I had no idea how much snow was outside so I decided I should get dressed and shovel some for him. 

I got dressed and went downstairs. What did I see in the genkan? Four bright red kerosene tanks. I sent F a text and asked him how he’d get kerosene without the tanks! A couple of minutes later he texted me that he would come back!

I went outside and moved a little snow. There wasn’t too much really, but the snowplough had left a few big clumps in our driveway. I moved them, and cleared the snow closer to my side of the car. I was still outside when F came back. He loaded the tanks into the trunk and left again!

I went upstairs and didn’t go back to bed! I spent time on my computer and relaxed. When F came back we talked about lunch. I suggested that we try the Taiwan restaurant again. F liked that idea, so off we went. 

At the restaurant, I had their lunch special…I had the yurinchi chicken, it was very nice. F had ramen and fried rice. He didn’t like the ramen and the rice didn’t impress him either. I don’t know why he orders ramen at non ramen shops, he’s never happy!

F was really tired after our meal and wanted a nap. We went back to the house and both went to bed for an hour. Now, I had asked F if we could go to the movie in the afternoon. I told him the time was 3:30. My alarm went off at 3 pm, but F was worried about his mother’s lunch. He went out to the store to get some. He came back to the house at 3:24. I was really annoyed. He said we could make it so I got in the car and we drove over to the cinema.

We were a little late really, and if I hadn’t told him the wrong time we wouldn’t have made it. We went to see A House of Dynamite. I really liked it. The acting was good and the situation was quite scary.

After the movie we went shopping for groceries. I suggested that we get bentos for dinner, but the store didn’t have any good ones. I bought ingredients to make curry for dinner tomorrow night. F bought a lot of unnecessary things in my opinion so I was a bit ticked off at him. He keeps buying things like pickles for curry….I don’t eat that crap, why spend money on it. Oh, for him? Yuck. 

We went back to the house and I put the groceries away that were mine. I hid some of the ingredients because if K sees them, she might try and make the curry and that would not be good! I would be very annoyed if she does try it.

F and I talked about dinner and he suggested going out, but as usual didn’t have an idea where. I looked up some places on Google Maps and suggested a couple of places. We ended up going to Nagomi, the udon/soba place.

We drove over and were the only customers. That was a little sad for them, but good for us. We both had the same thing, the nabé-yakiudon. It was very good. It was a big nabé full of udon, veggies and mochi. 

After our dinner we came back to the house. We headed upstairs. I had planned to just watch something on the fire disk, but I checked WOWOW’s schedule. Tonight they were running the Bridget Jones movie series. At 9 pm they were going to play the one I hadn’t seen yet, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. I decided I’d watch that. I caught the end of the one before it and then  Mad About the Boy. It wasn’t the best movie ever, but it was surprisingly emotional and I cried a couple of times. I really enjoyed it. 

After the movie I turned off the TV and F ended up going to bed. I’m still up but really need to go to bed soon. 

I’m not sure what I’m going to get up to tomorrow, so I’ll invite you to come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow…. 

December 27, 2025

 Saturday - Snowy and cold

I went to bed very late last night and I slept very well. I did wake up when my alarm went off, but not at all before. I’ve just changed my earplugs and they are much better at blocking noises than the last ones I had. 

I went downstairs for a few minutes and then came back to bed. I fell asleep again until F came in the room. He got back into bed and we had a bit of a snuggle for a couple of hours. Finally he suggested going for lunch in Sakata which was fine with me. 

I got up and dressed, we drove to Sakata. Today’s lunch was at the little Thai restaurant there. I had gapao rice and it was good, F had a version of fried rice. We made a couple of pitstops, one at City Hall for F, one at a drugstore for me. We also did a little shopping there too.

We came back to the house and F stayed downstairs and I went upstairs. I watched a few videos and then after 5 F came upstairs and asked about dinner. He wanted to get bentos or something simple like that, except he wanted to make rice. If he makes rice, it means that it is actually harder to find things to eat at the store, so I suggested that he not make rice yet. He’d already started washing it though so I think he’s going to make it for K’s breakfast tomorrow or something.

We drove over to Izmo near our old apartment and did some shopping. F was in charge as he’s planning on making….something…sometime. There is no rhyme or reason to his shopping. We did get some bentos and since they looked small, we picked up a couple of additional side dishes. I got some bread for myself in case I have to make my own lunches over the next few days. No worries if I do, I just want to have the ingredients. Finally we came back to the house.

It was about 6:30 so I went upstairs to relax for a while. I didn’t hear anything from F so I went downstairs around 7pm. I asked for a clean glass from the cupboard and told F that I didn’t care if him and his mother had to use their dirty glasses from last night. I’m in the kitchen washing dishes every weeknight and neither of them EVER bring their empty glasses to the kitchen for me to wash. I get really tired of that nonsense. F stormed off. Sigh.

I ended up heating up K’s bento and mine too. We had one of the side dishes too. We ate our bentos, but F didn’t come down. After we finished, I went back to the kitchen and washed my glass again, plus the bento boxes. 

While I was doing that, F came down again and heated up his bento. He didn’t seem mad anymore. 

I went upstairs and relaxed for a bit. After 10:30 I went downstairs and took a shower. When I finished, I texted F and asked if he’d like the yakitori we bought. He said yes. About the same time, he came downstairs with the kerosene tank from our heater as it was empty. He filled that up and I did the yakitori. 

I brought the food upstairs and F and I had a late snack. It was quite nice. I decided to watch an episode of The Great British Sewing Bee on TV and enjoyed that. I turned off the TV and got stuck into my internet stuff. 

And that’s about it. F seems to be a bit less grumpy now. He’s sleeping away. I’m not sure what we’ll get up to tomorrow. I’m hoping that we might go to a movie, but I’m okay if he doesn’t want to go too. It’s a film I’d like to see.

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

December 26, 2025

Friday - Cold, wet and snowy

I went to bed a little early last night. I knew I’d have an early morning today, and I did. Well, early for me! I woke up before 8 am, went downstairs and then came back upstairs to the room and got dressed. I had a quick breakfast and then I headed out to the bus stop around 9:20. I got there on time, but the bus didn’t!

It came a few minutes late and I got on. It was quite busy today. I got off the bus at City Hall and walked back to the Museum. I waited there for my friends. It turns out that they were on the same bus line, but rode the other loop. If I had taken the later bus I would have been on the same minibus!

We met up and toured through the museum. I think they enjoyed it and we saw most of the exhibits. I took them to the back of the buildings to see the garden and there was a heron there today! Too cool!

We finished the museum a bit early and had an hour before our lunch reservations. They called the restaurant and asked if we could go in early and they said we could, but weren’t sure if we’d be served in a timely fashion! We took a taxi over to S-Mall and from there walked to the restaurant. 

We had a lovely meal at the restaurant. They do Japanese/French fusion food and the meal was delicious. We had Yamabushi Pork which came with fried potatoes, bread and a salad. The first course was a pickle flight that was delicious. We got a drink and dessert afterwards too. 

I walked my friends back to the station area. They were deciding between a shuttle bus to their hotel or a city bus. The weather was horrible at that time. We all went into a souvenir shop and they picked up a few things. I walked them over to the station and then left them.

As I was walking back to the mall I went around one side of the big hotel building there. The wind was crazy and it blew my hat off. The lovely new hat that I spent two weeks knitting. It went into the road. Luckily no one was coming, but as I got closer to it, the wind caught it again. The wind blew the hat back all the way to the Koban, so about half a block! Ack. I did get it and it was none the worse for wear happily. I was glad no cars came by and ran it over. 

I made it to the mall and went to Doutor. I had a decaf latte and it was very nice. Then, I decided I’d just take the next bus back to the house. It turned out to be one going the long way round. I got on it at 3:05 and I was back to the house within about half an hour.

At the house, K hadn’t been up. She hadn’t had anything to eat, she had two plates of food for her in the fridge. Didn’t touch them at all. 

I went upstairs, turned on the heater and made myself some cocoa and then some tea. Yay. 

F texted me about the bears….maybe more attacks and the Yamagata is going to change the bear warning status or something. I told him I was at the house.

He called around 5:30 and I went downstairs to get a start on dinner. Tonight I did my usual Friday night pasta and then put out some of the leftovers from last night. They needed to be eaten so better sooner than later!

We had a good meal I think and we finished off the cake too. I used both china plates and paper plates so I did have dishes to do afterwards, but not so many. I’m okay with that!

After dinner I came upstairs and F followed a little later. We spent a few minutes together chatting and then I went over to my computer. I ended up falling asleep and F came over to wake me up!

I decided to start watching Plur1bus on Apple TV. I watched the first episode and I’m not sure what I think. I may need another episode or two to decide if I’ll continue. 

It’s late now and I’ve been blogging and watching YouTube for the last few hours. I should go. I have no idea what F and I will get up to tomorrow. Come back later and find out. Until tomorrow! 

December 25, 2025

Thursday - Cloudy and a bit damp

F went to bed last night just after midnight. I was surprised as we usually open our presents then. I asked him if he’d like to do it then and he said yes. He got up and we exchanged presents. I knew what I was getting since he bought me stuff at Tendo Mall, but he didn’t know what I gave him. Happily, both things I got him (pyjama bottoms and a sweatshirt) fit. I made a bag for him full of snacks and his favourite ramen and some chocolate coins. He was quite touched and had to have some ramen right away!

Last night I used a new set of earplugs when I went to bed and I couldn’t hear anything. It was rather nice! I’m surprised I woke up when my alarm went off to be honest. I did my usual thing of going downstairs and then coming back to the room and going to bed again. I did fall asleep and then overslept a bit, but I really didn’t mind too much. It’s Christmas. It was my gift to myself!

I woke up later, dressed and went downstairs to get breakfast. I brought it upstairs to eat. I had a quiet time but I did get four or five more nengajo written so I was happy about that. I’ve written one to everyone on my list so yay.

I grabbed my lunch a bit late and watched an episode of Matlock today. It was good, but I didn’t pay as much attention to it as I should have. Oh well.

I went downstairs to start dinner prep a little bit after 5 pm. I didn’t even hear F call me! I had to make two trips downstairs as I had too much to carry and it wasn’t safe. 

Today I did my usual “Nibbles Buffet” and it was very nice. I did some veggies and a dip, some cold meats, lots of crackers, some cheese, some oysters and a few canapés. I had a Christmas tablecloth and some napkins. I used paper plates today because I really didn’t want to spend my time in the kitchen washing dishes after dinner. It was a good call! We drank some sparkling grape juice which was nice as well. I said to F that his mother probably thought it was wine but he didn’t think so. However, at the end of our meal, when I offered her more, she said she didn’t want anymore alcohol. F had to try to tell her it wasn’t wine, it was juice!

Nibbles buffet

After we had our fill of the main course, F brought out his cake. He’d gone to a nice bakery and it was a nice cake. I’d still rather have a fruit cake, but it was good! He cut it and was such an old lady about the whole thing. He likes to try and make sure that each piece is perfect and measures things out. Oh well. It was his cake and it was expensive! We got a chocolate one this year and it was fine. 

F's Christmas Cake

We ate our cake and then I cleared the table again. I washed the few dishes that there were, mostly cutlery and sharp knives. When I finished, I asked F if he’d run me to the post office to mail my nengajo. He obliged me. I didn’t bother getting changed.

When we got to the post office it was closed, so I had to put them in the post box outside. They had one side marked off for nengajo so I put them in there. Yay. Done. 

We just came back to the house. I came upstairs and relaxed for a bit before going downstairs to take a shower. 

After that, I came back upstairs and spent some time on my computer. 

I have to get myself to bed because I have an early morning tomorrow. I’m meeting friends at the Chido museum tomorrow, early! We’re going to have lunch a bit later downtown so I’m not sure how we’ll get from the museum to downtown, but we’ll work it out. 

I hope you had a Merry Christmas today and that you have a lovely day if Christmas isn’t something you celebrate. Happy holidays!

Until tomorrow….