November 2, 2025

Sunday - Cloudy and rainy

I slept in today and it was lovely! I went downstairs after my alarm went off and then came back upstairs. I went back to bed for a couple of hours. When I got up this time I dressed and went downstairs. F was in the living room watching the baseball game. It was game seven of the World Series, LA Dodgers vs. Toronto Blue Jays. Of course, F was supporting LA because of Shohei Otani (Japanese baseball player) and I was supporting the Blue Jays because Canada! Actually though, F was supporting both of them and I didn’t really care because I hate baseball! (PS…for posterity because I won’t remember next year, LA won by one point in extra innings.)

After a bit, F asked if I’d like to go for lunch and I said sure. The game was still on, but it was getting late. He suggested a place near Ginza Dori and I said sure. We haven’t gone in ages. 

F got changed and soon enough we headed out. We went to the restaurant F suggested but it looked closed. It might have been open earlier, but really we couldn’t tell. Instead, we decided to go to Arpeggio. We drove over there but on the way another car came down the wrong way on a one way road. Luckily it was wide enough for us to pass. F signalled the driver he was going the wrong way. Then, at the main road, F turned instead of going straight. Ack. Oh well. We got to the parking place anyway and there was space for us. I decided to take my umbrella with me just on a whim. 

We got to the restaurant and got a table. we both had the same thing, sasame cutlet fry. Basically chicken breast fingers deep fried. It’s very good. We both enjoyed our meal. 

After our meal it was pouring outside. We stayed as long as we could in the restaurant, but she was closing so we had to leave. The rain did calm down a bit. F had on a water-resistant jacket so he high-tailed it to the car and I used my umbrella. 

We came back to the house and just relaxed. I came upstairs and had a quiet time on my computer, F was downstairs for a bit, but did take a nap for a while. He woke up around 6:30 and I asked if he’d feed his mother. He did, by giving her the food I made during the week that she wouldn’t eat! He gave her some other stuff too. 

We left a bit after 7 for our dinner. I’d asked to go to Cocos as this was the last day for their Halloween dessert special. On the way there, F said he might ask for his birthday dessert! That was a surprise, but it made sense. When we got there we put in our orders. I had pasta with spinach and bacon in a butter-soy sauce, F had a burger with mushrooms on saffron rice. His looked nice. I got a free mini-fries that we shared, we had the drink bar and then our desserts. It was all good. 

I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to go to the movie too, but we managed it. We squeaked in just in time. We went to Machinaka Kinema and saw a film called Bad Genius. It’s a remake of a Thai film of a few years ago. I really liked it. It was about really smart kids helping their classmates to cheat on major school exams. It was amazing how suspenseful it was, and how I was rooting for the kids to get away with it, even though they were the baddies!

After the movie, F said that he wanted to go grocery shopping so we headed over to MaxValu. I went in with F. He picked up food for K’s breakfast. I got something for my lunches during the week and a big bread thing from the bakery. It was a cheese bread thing. It was good. Yes, I ate it tonight, even though I was stuffed!

And that’s about it. I’ve been chilling out with some YouTube while I did my favourite internet things. Tomorrow I have to get some groceries in, and I’m not sure what else. We’ll have to get ready for the week ahead. Wish us luck with that!

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

November 1, 2025

Saturday - Cloudy and rainy

Today actually was a pretty good day, I’m glad to say. I woke up just before 9 am. I was going to go downstairs, but F and K were still bopping around and hadn’t left yet. They left just after 9 and then i went downstairs. 

I came back to the room and went back to bed for a bit! I finally dragged myself out of bed a while later and dressed. We’d decided to go to a restaurant we like for lunch so I wanted to be ready to go. I went downstairs to go to the washroom and…F had washed the floor of the toilet room. Yay him? Not really. The floor is made of tiles and it doesn’t dry quickly at all. There were puddles of water on the floor. Combine that with my pants that were just a touch too long and I was a bit annoyed. The hem of my pants got wet and since we were planning to go to a restaurant where we might have to sit on the floor I decided to change. I went upstairs and changed my pants. 

We left a few minutes later and drove out to Naa. Unfortunately, it was closed today. I had suggested to F that he call and make a reservation earlier but he wouldn’t, and later on in the day I found a post on Facebook that said they are closed unexpectedly for a week!

We came back into Tsuruoka and went to Nikuya Shokudo. It’s a restaurant run by a butcher’s company. They’ve just done a major renovation so we haven’t seen it since they finished. We went in and as always, it was lined up. We had to wait and preorder at the door, and pay there too. It took us a while to get a seat, but when we did it was nice. They’ve given us more space between tables, but it still isn’t a place where you want to linger. The food was good, but not great. I had chicken namban and F had tonkatsu. He liked his, but thought it wasn’t thick enough. 

We left and F suggested going for a drive. First up though, we stopped into Musashi. He needed a thermometer for his fish tank, I wanted to check the quantities available for hand soap. I use a liquid soap that I bought at Costco, but I will have to buy it elsewhere soon.

We bought ourselves drinks at a vending machine and then headed off to the coast. I’d asked to drive along the sea. We drove for a bit and then came back to Tsuruoka. 

F suggested going for fruit tart and a drink so we went to Aomoriya. They were busy as always, but we eventually got seated. Luckily they brought our food and drink soon because we were running out of time to get back to the house before K came back. We ate our tarts and drank our drinks and then went back to the house. We made it, but not by a lot!

I headed upstairs and spent the next couple of hours upstairs. I watched a bit of a Jason Statham movie that was quite good and did some of my favourite internet stuff. 

F came upstairs and asked me to think of a place for dinner while he made dinner for K. I said I would and did a little internet searching for menus. I finally struck upon Coco Ichibanya. They had soup curry on and I haven’t had it for ages. 

F was okay with my idea so we drove over to the restaurant. We got a good table right away and ordered. I had soup curry with roast chicken and a lassi. F had a pork cutlet curry with a lassi too. We both enjoyed our meals. F paid at the end and we left. He wanted to go to a grocery store and most of them closed at 10pm. 

We went to Izmo, our old grocery store and F picked up a few things. I surprised myself by getting some things too.  

We came back to the house and I came upstairs. I went down again a bit later to take a shower. I got back to the room just in time to see FBI. It was the last episode of the season and ended with a cliff hanger. It was quite good anyway.

While I watched the show, I did some knitting. I did move my knitting over to the bigger needles and that went smoothly. Yay. I got three or four rounds done I think.

And that was about it. I’ve spent a bit too much time on YouTube, but I got to watch some of my favourite vloggers. I have a wack of videos still to watch, but I think I’ll wait on them until tomorrow. 

Not sure what we’ll get up to on the morrow. Come back later and find out! Until tomorrow….

October 31, 2025

Friday - Cloudy and cool, rainy at night

Happy Halloween!

I had a good day today, it was quite interesting if I’m honest. 

I got up between F leaving the house and my alarm. I went downstairs and then came back to bed. I set my alarms for later and decided to go back to bed for a snooze. I woke up a bit later. Honestly, I slept a little too long today, but dragged myself out of bed eventually. 

I went downstairs and made myself breakfast and brought it up to the room to eat. I checked out the internet and got a little too into some videos. I looked at the clock and realized I needed to leave NOW!

I finished dressing and then went downstairs. I used the ‘loo and then put on my shoes and did a fast walk to the bus stop. I found out when I was there that the bus was 4 minutes late so I didn’t need to be so stressed!

I rode the bus to the closest stop to Machinaka-Kinema. From there I did a fast walk to the cinema, paid and went in. Today I went to see Megalopolis, the Francis Ford Coppola film. I had to fight off sleep. It was a beautiful looking film but it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. The actors did their best…I can’t help wondering if there’ll be an extended version in a year or two. It might make more sense.

After the movie let out I realized that I had about 22 minutes before my bus so of course I went to the nearby drugstore that was in the opposite direction to the bus stop. I did a quick run through of the store, picked up a few things that I wanted, paid and then did a very quick walk back to the bus stop. 

I was nearing the bus stop and getting more panicked when I checked the time. The bus hadn’t even left the bus station yet, so I could slow down. I ended up being about 5 minutes too early for the bus anyway. Oh well. When it did come, I got on the bus and rode it all the way to my stop. Getting off the bus I lost my drink from the movie. It fell out of my pocket on the bus. Sigh. I didn’t notice until I was halfway down the road!

I came back to the house and went in. I grabbed my lunch from the fridge and an onigiri that I had bought, microwaved them, and then went upstairs. I changed my clothes and ate my late lunch! A few minutes later F phoned me to say he was on the way back.

After I ate, I went downstairs and started getting ready for dinner. I washed the few dishes I had and then F came back to the house. We had a nice reunion and then he went off to relax.

I got dinner ready and called F to come downstairs. Tonight we had pasta with garlic mayo sauce, sliced duck and salad. It was nice and almost all of it disappeared. I did the dishes afterwards and then went upstairs. 

At 9:00pm I turned on the TV and watched Late Night with the Devil. It’s Halloween and I thought a scary movie would be good. It was a good movie, scary, but not too scary! Apparently they used some AI in parts of the film so it is a little controversial, but I didn’t know that. I liked it a lot. I did quite a few rows of knitting during the movie. Next time I do some knitting I can change the knitting needles. Woot. 

I had a quiet evening after the movie. F came up to the room after the end of the movie and we had a bit of chat here and there. 

And that’s about it for my day. It was quite good. I was glad that I was able to get out of the house under my own power. 

Tomorrow F and I are thinking to have lunch in a good restaurant and then I’m not sure. It’s a long weekend here, so we’ll be under each other’s feet for three days! There is another movie at the local cinema so we might go and see that. I’m not sure really.

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

October 30, 2025

Thursday - Sunny but cool

I woke up this morning around the same time I did yesterday…after F left and before my alarm went off. I went downstairs, came back to the room and went back to bed. I watched a few videos before I fell asleep on them again! I managed to get up around the same time as yesterday as well, so that was good. 

I dressed and did the breakfast thing again. I brought it up to the room to eat. I tried the new cereal I bought last night and it was fine. It was quite nice. It was a Hawaiian style granola. 

I had a very quiet afternoon. I actually got really sleepy and went back to bed for a 40 minutes or so. I dragged myself out of bed before I had to have lunch. Unfortunately, I ended up sitting at my computer and spaced on my lunchtime. I was late going downstairs for it.

I brought my lunch up to the room and ate. Once again, I watched an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. It was fine. When it finished I put on the news and watched that with one eye and ear. I have to try and let most of the US news drift over my brain. 

F called me after 5:15 to say that he was on his way back here.  I made my way downstairs and got started on the dishes just as he arrived back. 

Tonight’s dinner was premade burgers, French fries, salad and pickles, plus some broccoli. I even made dessert, a sort of lemon pudding that I mixed up before dinner. It was a very easy sort of thing, but turned out to be quite delicious. 

After dinner I cleared the table and did the dishes. I listened to a couple of my podcasts and then when I finished I said good night to K and told F I was going upstairs.

I watched a bit of YouTube upstairs and then I went downstairs and took a shower. I came back upstairs and watched tonight’s episode of The Rookie. I did about 4 rounds of my knitted hat as well. I think I’ll be able to switch my needles soon. 

That’s about it for my day. It was quite a nice day, quiet and restful. Tomorrow I might go out and see a movie in the afternoon. It’s received bad reviews, so I thought it might be worth a look…I can put it on my bad list if applicable!

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

October 29, 2025

Wednesday - Sunny but cool

I woke up this morning before my alarm, but after F had left for work. That was nice. I went downstairs, came back to the room and went back to bed. I watched videos for a while, but woke up a bit later. I got up, much earlier than I have in ages! I dressed and then went downstairs with our kerosene tank. I filled up our tank and also K’s in the living room. I wanted her to be warm if she got up during the day. I took the full tank upstairs and then went downstairs again. I made and brought my breakfast up to the room and then ate it.

I had a quiet morning and afternoon. I watched some YouTube videos and relaxed a bit. It was nice.

I made my lunch at my usual time and then watched another episode of NCIS: Los Angeles. It was quite good. I followed that up with the news.

F called around 5:30 so I went downstairs to get started on dinner. Tonight I did a pork stir-fry with a mix from the store. It had konbu and carrots in it, I added some chikuwa and cabbage too. It got rave reviews. We had that with rice and potato salad and salad. Yum.

After dinner I washed the dishes and then did the garbage up in the kitchen. I added on garbage from the living room and K even brought hers out. I sealed the bag and put it in the genkan for F to take out later.

I told F I was done and that I would go and change my clothes so we could go out. A few minutes later we drove over to Mina and I went in and did the shopping. I got most of the things on my list and then went through the cashier’s line. 

F and I came back to the house and put away the groceries. We had planned to get some kerosene tonight, but didn’t. 

We had a quiet night in. I watched Wildcards tonight and it was set on a ranch. The ranch owner was played by Ally Sheedy…from The Breakfast Club! That was kind of cool. She looked quite different than she did in the 80’s!

After midnight I wrote some email, one to my sister, one to my bestie. I’ve owed her for a few days now. Unfortunately, writing two emails has made me quite late to get to bed. 

Well, that’s about it for me. Not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow. Come back later if you like and see. Until tomorrow…. 

October 28, 2025

Tuesday - Rainy and cold

I went to bed a bit late last night but for some reason I woke up before 6 am. I had to make a quick trip downstairs but came back to bed and fell asleep again. F didn’t sleep well at all and was awake when I came back to the room again. I think he got up around then. 

I woke up later after my alarms went off. I got up, went downstairs, came back to the room and gave myself a bit of a pedicure. I also sorted my laundry before I went back to bed again. I slept a bit late today!

I got up and dressed, then went downstairs with my laundry. I started my first load. I went and got my breakfast and then took it upstairs to eat. 

I watched some YouTube and over the next couple of hours did two loads of laundry which I hung up in the room. 

I had lunch a bit later and went downstairs to make it. I brought it upstairs and ate it. I watched another episode of NCIS: Los Angeles today too. F called after 5 and then I went downstairs and got a start on dinner. 

F came back soon afterwards and we had a nice reunion. I got busy soon afterwards. Today we had toaster oven chicken, mixed vegetables, potato salad and salad. F hadn’t made more rice last night, which surprised me. Still there was enough for F and K so that was good. 

After dinner I did the dishes and put them away. I went into the living room to tell F that I was done and he said he had to go to a drugstore. He asked if I wanted to go too and I said sure. I changed my clothes and a few minutes later we went out.

We went over to the Tsuruha on the other side of the park. It was still open. F got his stuff and I got a packet of laundry detergent. We picked up a few snacks for ourselves and then we paid and left.

We came back to the house and went in. I went upstairs and changed into my PJs. I wanted to relax. F came upstairs a few minutes later and then he relaxed too.

A few minutes before my 11pm show, I went downstairs and made some popcorn for myself. I dowsed it with some butter and Worchestershire sauce. It’s yum!

I came upstairs and watched FBI: Most Wanted which was a bit dumb today. Oh well. 

So, that’s about it for my day. It was quiet so that was good! I even got out of the house today, so that was bonus too. 

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

October 27, 2025

 Monday - Rainy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon

Today was an odd day. It did not go the way I thought it would!

I woke up before 8 am. I wasn’t sure why. I got up and then noticed that I’d had a call from my husband. I tried to call him back, couldn’t. He called me back a few seconds later. He said that he was taking the day off as he had to go to City Hall. Okay then. Why did he have to wake me up to tell me that? I went back to bed and slept quite a long time.

When I woke up later, F had gone out to do something. He did some of his City Hall stuff too. He came back with some bakery goods as well. I got up, dressed and went downstairs. I made my breakfast for myself and was a bit surprised to see that someone may have been in my cereal as it wasn’t sealed properly. I know that I sealed it correctly last week. 

I took my food upstairs and ate, then I had one of F’s baked things. I had a croissant with some coffee. I was pretty grumpy this morning! Then, F announced that he wanted me to go to City Hall with him. I told him I didn’t need to. Then he remembered that he could get the papers cheaper at the convenience store, but I had to go with him. I really didn’t want to so I was less than gracious. 

Finally, I decided that I wouldn’t get any peace until I did what he wanted, so I got dressed and said I’d go. I went outside for a few minutes before F was quite ready and it was glorious. The weather was slightly cold, the wind was nice, clearing away the cobwebs in my brain, so when F came outside to the car, I was in a much better mood!

We went to the Conbini and did our stuff. F was quite happy. We talked about what to do next, I suggested coffee and F said that he’d like to go to Maruike-Sama pond north of Sakata. We did both!

We went to Doutor in S-Mall and both had some decaf coffee. We enjoyed ourselves there. I checked on when the sun was going to set and it was around 4:45 today, so I suggested that if we were still going to go, we should go soon. 

We drove out to Maruike-sama pond. I’m afraid that I fell asleep a couple of times on the way out there.  We arrived at the salmon fishing area, parked and got out of the car. We tried to see some salmon. There were a few, but they were tiny, not the big monsters we’ve seen before. We started walking over to the pond and followed the trail. We saw the pond, saw the little shrine just beyond our first stopping point. F wanted to walk a little more, but I pointed out that it was 4:15 and the sun was already going down…It was quite dark in the trees and well, there are bears around so I’d rather not be walking in a forest after dark. He agreed and we headed back to the car. 

Maruike-sama- beautiful and supposedly a power spot

Shrine on the side of the pond

We drove back to the main road through some tiny little roads that were scary. On the main road finally, F asked if I’d like to stop at a road stop and I said yes. We made a pit stop and then we went into the bakery there and bought a few things.

We drove back towards Tsuruoka and on the way I asked F what we should do for dinner. I originally had planned to cook, but didn’t want to anymore! We decided to get bentos, and then I mentioned that F had made rice last night for tonight’s dinner. We decided that we’d get some food from the grocery store and have that. 

We went to a store and picked up some stuff. We got some yakitori for F and I, and some fish for K. I got her something for her lunch tomorrow as well. We paid and left.

Next up was the gas station. F needed gas in the car. It said he could still drive 46km, but that isn’t very much. He doesn’t understand how important it is to keep the car gassed up. I try to explain how in Canada in winter, a full tank of gas could save your life, but he doesn’t take it to heart.

We came back to the house and discovered that F hadn’t made rice last night after all. He decided to make some right away, but it would take an hour. We whiled away the hour by being on our phones and watching the news. I heated up the food when the rice cooker was nearly ready and we got K up. 

We had a nice little feast. K as usual gave F half of her fish as it was “too much” but he gave her one of his sticks of yakitori so I guess it balanced. We had a bun from the bakery north of Sakata as our dessert. Well, K and I did. F kept his.

I got gifted with the dishes so I did them and then said goodnight to the others and went upstairs. I did my usual internet stuff and then went downstairs to take a shower. F had just come into our room at that point. 

I watched an episode of The Studio when I came back to the room and enjoyed it a bit. I’m still not sure if I like the show or not. 

And that’s about it for my day. F should be going back to work tomorrow and I’ll maybe get some of my personal stuff done that needs doing. I also want to start on some of my Christmas cards. I can’t send any to Canada yet as there’s a mail strike again, but I’d like to write some cards to people in other countries. I’d get a head start for a change. 

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