September 1, 2026

Tuesday - Mostly hot and sunny

I didn’t hear F leave for work in the morning, I slept on until my alarm went off. I got up then and made a trip downstairs. When I came back to the room I sorted out my laundry and put it aside for later. Then, I had some video and snoozing time. 

I woke up a bit late and took my laundry downstairs to start. Unfortunately, F had forgotten to take his stuff out of the laundry. I’m rather mean in those circumstances, I turfed his laundry into the laundry basket in the room and then put my first load in! I didn’t throw it on the floor so I feel I was rather restrained!

I got a Postcrossing card in the mail today from the US. I’m receiving quite a few from the US these days. 

When I came back up to the room with my breakfast it was nearly time to get my first load out. I changed the laundry and then came back upstairs. I hung up my stuff and then ate my very late breakfast!

After the laundry was done, I watched a bit of YouTube and finally it was lunch time! I went downstairs to make my lunch and brought it upstairs to eat. Today I watched an episode of Elsbeth as I didn’t want anything too taxing on my brain. When it was over I watched the news and also started a letter to my bestie. I haven’t written in ages as I usually don’t when I have a column to write.

F called around 5:30 to say he was on his way back and so I changed my clothes and went downstairs a little later. 

I did the dishes downstairs, and made dinner too of course. Tonight we had chicken drumsticks in the air fryer and German potato salad, salad, cucumber pickle and then rice. It was quite good, even if I say so myself. And I do!

I did the dishes afterwards and then went upstairs to change. I got ready, grabbed a mask and then had to wait a little for F. We got in the car and drove over to Mina. 

Of course, F had to come in with me again. He wanted adult beverages. I did most of the shopping while he did whatever he usually does. I was looking for cucumbers and didn’t want to get the ones in the open box. They were from another prefecture and everyone and their uncle had been breathing on them and grabbing them all day. My husband included. I went over to the local produce area and they had nice looking cucumbers in a plastic bag. They were dated today and were from this area. I put them in the basket. F decided they weren’t fresh enough and went back to the other open box and brought back three cucumbers. He made the mistake of asking me how many I wanted. I told him none. He took them back and of course was angry with me. Well, I was angry with him. I would rather buy local and support farmers/growers here and there was nothing wrong with the cucumbers I picked, they just didn’t have the prickles on them. So, no cucumbers for the next couple of days. I can’t say I’m upset about that!

We paid and drove back to the house in silence. F did his usual unhelpful thing of taking things out of the shopping bag and putting them on the table. I unpacked most of the stuff and then told him that the rest of the stuff was his and he could do what he wanted with it. 

I forgot to ask him to make rice earlier and he didn’t do it. We’ll either have to do without (fine with ME) or he’ll have to eat the bachelor pack stuff. 

Upstairs we didn’t talk. He went to take a shower, I watched Law & Order. I’m still meh about the show. I like the actors, but I don’t get excited about the show. Maybe I should use Tuesday as a watching streaming night too. 

After my show I went downstairs and asked F about the bottle of water that he’d carried upstairs for me earlier. He’d hidden it in plain sight, I thanked him for bringing it up but I don’t know why he can’t just put it where it belongs!

Anyway, that’s about it for today. I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow. I have to finish my letter to my friend and maybe, just maybe I’ll write a Postcrossing postcard or two. Come back later if you like and find out what happens. Until tomorrow….

August 31, 2026

Monday - Hot and Sunny, cloudy later

Today was a good day, even though not everything went as I planned!

I did my usual getting up and then went back to bed for a few minutes. Then, I got up and dressed around 10am.  I packed my backpack and then I went downstairs and left the house. I checked the time as I left the house and it was the bus time. Sure enough, as I got to the end of the road, I saw the bus coming towards me. I missed it. Darn! Well, the good thing is that it was actually a much earlier bus than I had to take, I just thought I’d spent time in the mall shopping or eating. Oh well. I came back into the house and went back upstairs. I spent about 40 or 50 minutes in my room and then tried again! This time, I caught the bus. I didn’t have to wait too long either. Hurray. 

I rode the bus to S-Mall and went in. I first checked out Pizza Hut Express but it looked like they didn’t have the lunch I liked anymore, so I went to the grocery store instead. I bought a few things at the store, including a drink for the movie. I paid and then went to the bakery. I picked up a couple of bread things and a drink, then paid and sat in their eating area. I enjoyed my lunch, got to use decent wifi and that was nice. 

I walked back to the bus station and caught my bus back to the cinema. Yay. It was waiting at the gate and I wasn’t sure at first if it was the right one, but of course it was. 

I got off at my bus stop and walked over to the cinema. I bought my ticket and filled up my stamp card. Yay. I get a free film next time. I waited a few minutes later and I went in to see Eleanor the Great. It was a movie starring June Squibb about woman who accidentally goes to a meeting of Holocaust survivors and tells them a story about her experiences. However, she was American and didn’t have any personal Holocaust experiences. The film is Scarlett Johansson’s first directing attempt. I liked it quite a lot. 

After the film I left the cinema and sat in the hall for a few minutes then walked back to the bus stop. I caught the bus back to my area a couple of minutes later and then got off. I walked back to the house. 

I went upstairs and relaxed and had some tea. I watched the news and then a little after 5, F called. I changed into my cooking clothes and then went downstairs and got busy.

Today I made ginger pork, cucumber pickles, steamed spicy cabbage, and a bean bowl that I bought ages ago for myself. We had rice too and F had bought us some dessert. Dinner was good.

I cleared the table and started washing the dishes. I listened to one of my movie podcasts and then when I finished the dishes I prepared the plastic garbage to go out. I put it in the genkan for later.

I told F that I was finished and went upstairs. I watched a bit of YouTube and then went downstairs again to take a shower.

After my shower, I went back upstairs. I decided to watch an episode of Sugar. It was good, but a little dark. 

F went to bed before midnight, and fell asleep. However, he was moving his feet and hitting his bag of cans every five seconds. It was driving me nuts and I’m across the room with headphones on! I went over to him and moved the bag! He woke up, but did say thank you. I don’t know how the noise didn’t bother him. 

And that’s about it. Tomorrow I have an exciting day planned of laundry and letter writing! Let’s hope that I get time to do everything I want to. 

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

August 30, 2026

 Sunday - Rainy and cool, clearing at night

I woke up a bit late for me this morning. I got up, went downstairs and then spent a few minutes on my computer before going back to bed. I was looking at stuff on my phone when F came back upstairs. He got back into bed and we snuggled for a while before napping.

It was the afternoon when we got up and I got dressed. We talked about lunch and he suggested going to a soba restaurant with a pickled veggie buffet. I’ve been a couple of times and it is okay. Not my favourite, but an okay place. We ran out to the car and drove off. We passed the place that F wanted to go to yesterday but it was closed today too. We finally got to the soba restaurant and went in. We got a seat right away and ordered soon afterwards. I had hot soba with mountain vegetables and F had hot soba with tempura vegetables. He thought mine looked better, but I thought mine was okay. Honestly, it wasn’t the best soba I’ve ever had. 

After our lunch, we drove back to Tsuruoka and went to Gyumu Supa. I needed a few staples for myself and the pantry. We got some potato salad, some cereal for me, and some baby cheeses. F got some ramen packages for himself. We checked out and came back to the house. 

I put the food away and then went upstairs for some quiet time. F came up for a while and later on made dinner for his mother. I asked him to start thinking about making a dinner that has enough leftovers for his mother’s lunch the next day. I am buying her Monday’s lunch right now and I think it is a waste of money. She doesn’t always eat things and maybe she’ll eat something if she knows her darling son made it for her!

When F came back to the room, it was our turn. I suggested going to Gusto and then doing our grocery shopping. We went out just after 7pm. We went to the Gusto near MaxValu. It wasn’t too busy so we missed the supper rush. Yay.

F decided he wasn’t hungry as his stomach didn’t feel too good, so he just had drink bar and ice cream…that’ll fix it. I had their smash burger and fries which was very nice. I had drink bar too. I enjoyed my burger a lot, I wish I’d ordered something else too though. I was a bit hungry afterwards. 

We paid and left. I used some of my points to make the bill a little lower, no big deal.

We drove over to Mina and went in. F came in with me but I tried to get most of my shopping done before he caught up with me. He used their washroom first! I did quite well. I’m going to be making ginger pork tomorrow and chicken drumsticks on Tuesday, probably!

We paid and then came back to the house. I asked F to make rice for tomorrow and he did. I went upstairs after putting things away, I went downstairs again when I remembered I hadn’t brought up some water for my water pot. I watched the last hour and a bit of the latest Wuthering Heights. It wasn’t good. I missed the beginning, I have to say, but Catherine wearing jewels everyday and shiny fabrics that I doubt were available in those times? Not buying it. Now, as I found out last night, Jacob Elordi is hot and I really like Margot Robbie, but the film didn’t do much for me. I really should watch the first part I think, but I’m not sure if I will or not!

When the movie finished, I watched last night’s episode of FBI. It was good…but it was also the last episode of the season, so there won’t be more for a while. Oh well. 

And that’s about it for today. Tomorrow I might go out in the morning. There’s a movie at Machi-ne Kinema that I’d like to see and if the weather is okay it would be good to get out of the house. 

It was so cold tonight that I shut the window because I’m afraid we’re going to be too cold otherwise. We don’t have blankets on our bed right now. F of course went to bed in his winter weight pyjamas so he’ll be fine, but I might not be. I’ll have to find a t-shirt or something to wear to stay warm. 

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

August 29, 2026

Saturday - Rainy and cooler, clear at night

Well, today was a nice day! I woke up before my alarm this morning and made a trip downstairs. I decided that F and K wouldn’t be leaving for 20 minutes so I could risk a trip down. I came back upstairs and checked something on my computer and then went back to bed. I snoozed for a while and finally F came upstairs around 10:30, just about the time I was planning to get up!

I went downstairs after 11am and took a shower. I so prefer showering in the daytime. When I came upstairs to get dressed, F asked if I’d like to go to a place in Kushibiki that we went to years ago. I said sure and a few minutes later we went off. However, when we got to the place…it wasn’t open. Sigh. I did suggest that he phone the place from the house but, hubby doesn’t like to do that. Instead, he ended up driving into the mountains and we went to a roadside restaurant. We’ve been there before and the food is actually quite decent. 

It was busy when we arrived and it was hard to find a parking spot. We went in and looked at the menuboard and then ordered. F found us a seat near the window and we waited for our food. It was very nice to be honest. We really liked it. I had Shonai Pork tonkatsu and F had a tempura donburi. The food was pretty good.

We drove back to Tsuruoka and went to Komeda Coffee. We had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated, not bad really. We both had decaf iced coffee and a piece of cake, but F had planned to have regular iced coffee, he just ordered it wrong!

After our lovely coffee break, we did a little shopping. First up was a trip to Yamaya for me to buy some more tea. That branch sells big boxes of rooibos tea, which is what I drink during the day mostly. After that, we drove over to MaxValu and went in. We bought some bentos for dinner for all of us. We all got a chicken bento and I picked up some chicken tenders with ume and then some juice for K. 

We came back to the house and then relaxed for a bit. F came upstairs around the same time that his mother came back, I wasn’t sure why. Of course he was trying to relax when she arrived. I spent time on my computer and enjoyed myself. 

F wanted to heat up the bentos around 5:30, but I told him it was too early. During the week we eat at 7:00pm, but on the weekend he wants his mother to eat really early. If we had to leave early I would understand, but we didn’t. We went downstairs around 6pm and I heated up the bentos. We ate while F watched women’s volleyball on TV. I do not like volleyball. I have flashbacks to how terrible I was at volleyball in gym class. Urgh. I am too short and my fingers kept getting sprained from trying to set the ball. 

I washed the bento boxes and our glasses after dinner, then went upstairs to relax for a bit. I changed my clothes and a few minutes later F came up and said it was time to go. 

We drove over to Mikawa and bought our tickets. We also found out that our cards had expired, so we renewed them. We had a few minutes before our film so we went downstairs and went to Seria, the hundred yen shop. F got himself a saké cup and I got a couple of types of letter sets. They are nice!

Then, we went back up to the cinema and bought our drinks and popcorn for the movie. We went into the cinema and then I noticed that we forgot to get oshibori (wet wipes) for our fingers as the popcorn is very greasy. F went out to the lobby to get some and came back with a huge handful. I laughed at him and asked him how many he brought. He thought 4…I counted and there were at least 15! I just thought it was funny!

We saw The Dog Stars (in Japan it was Lone Survivor) with Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin. It was okay, but I didn’t love it. I do have to say that Jacob Elordi is rather attractive! One of his movies, Wuthering Heights is on WOWOW tomorrow night and I will be recording it! 

After the movie we drove back to Tsuruoka and went to a drugstore! There are a few that stay open until midnight. F wanted a couple of things and I ended up buying some cereal (the drugstore actually sells All-Bran but my grocery store doesn’t!). We paid and then came back to the house.

F did a few things downstairs and then went upstairs, I went up a couple of minutes later. I went on my computer and watched a few videos. I also logged my movie on Letterbox’d and got started on my other end of day things. 

So, that’s about it for today. It was a really nice day and we drove out of town, had some good food and didn’t drive each other crazy, so that was great. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

August 28, 2026

Friday - Cooler and sunny, humid

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I got up, went downstairs and then came back to the room. I spent a few minutes on my computer then I sorted my laundry for later. I did go back to bed and slept more than watched videos today. 

I dragged myself up later on and got up. I dressed and went downstairs with my laundry basket. I started the laundry and then grabbed my breakfast and took it upstairs. 

I ate and then it was time to go downstairs again for my clean laundry. I started the second load and brought the first up to hang to dry. Repeat about 40 minutes later with the second load.

I had a quiet afternoon. I went downstairs a little before 3 to get my lunch. Today I had a bagel instead of bread and it was a nice change of pace. I came up to the room again and watched a show called Ponies on WOWOW. The bad thing about that is that some of the show is in Russian, subtitled in Japanese! I got a few of the words, but it was difficult. I enjoyed the show, but something was a bit odd. The major stars were British, but it was supposedly about Americans in Russia. Hmmm. 

After lunch I watched the news and then F called a little later. He said he was on his way back. I went downstairs to get ready for making dinner. 

Tonight it was pasta with sliced chicken and salad. F brought back some pickles and we had them too. It was fine.  After dinner, I cleared the table and then used the washroom. I came back to F doing the dishes. Now, I know that he was trying to be nice, but we have such different ways of doing the dishes and tonight I really wanted to listen to my podcast so I was a tad annoyed.  I dried some of his dishes and then after he stormed off, I rewashed a bunch of the dishes my way and put them away. 

I just went upstairs when I was finished. I didn’t say goodnight to anyone. I watched some videos on my computer and finished the novel I was reading, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.  F came upstairs while I was reading. We did talk a little so things were okay! I decided to watch the last episode of Ride or Die and it was good. I enjoyed that series. After that, I watched the last episode of season 3 of Ted Lasso. I can finally start the new season. Yay!

And that’s about it. I turned off the TV and spent some time doing my end of day things. 

I’m not exactly sure what we’ll get up to tomorrow. I’ve requested that we go to a movie tomorrow but if we don’t it’ll be okay. Maybe. 

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

August 27, 2026

Thursday - Cooler, rainy and muggy

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I got up a few minutes later. It was nice…the room was coolish. F had left the door open so the air was coming in and it wasn’t hot. 

I went downstairs, came back to the room and checked my email and also did something on my computer. I went back to bed for mostly snoozing and a little bit of video watching!

I dragged myself out of bed a bit late today and went downstairs for my breakfast. I brought it back up to the room and ate. I watched some videos and then decided I really should finish my column today. 

I reviewed it, changed it a bit and then I gathered some pictures for it as well. It was a bit late so I had to go downstairs and get my lunch. Today I ended up watching an episode of a show called Modern Love. It was about a woman whose doorman would approve or disapprove each of her dates. It was cute. I’ll probably watch more. It’s a group of short episodes.

I watched the news and then a bit after that I sent off my column. As always I’m wondering if it is good enough or if I will get blowback from something I’ve written, but hopefully not!

F called to say he was on his way back to the house. I went downstairs and started washing dishes. F came back a few minutes after I finished that. We had a nice reunion!

He went upstairs and I got on with dinner. Tonight we had premade burgers with French fries, salad, mini-tomatoes, and steamed okra. It was nice I think. All of the food disappeared tonight so there were no leftovers for my lunch tomorrow. That’s a bit sad. 

I called F down a little after 7 and we all ate. Dinner was good, but not great. 

I did the dishes afterwards except I didn’t wash my air fryer. I used a liner and it is still pretty clean inside. 

I went upstairs and changed my clothes to go to the grocery store. F took his sweet time but we still had lots of time. When we arrived at the grocery store I thought he was going to stay in the car, but he came in. He wasn’t as annoying today as he usually is, but he keeps putting crap that I wouldn’t buy in the basket, like chips and ramen. We got our stuff and then checked out. 

We came straight back to the house and F was already trying to unpack the groceries before I got in the room.  He really annoys me when he does that. I want to grab all the veggie stuff to put in the veggie crisper, not something for the freezer and the veggie crisper at the same time. He has made such a mess of unpacking that I’d rather he just leave it for me. Weaponized Incompetence basically. I’m not really as grumpy as I sound, I just get annoyed when he doesn’t do things my way…plus he puts things where I can’t find them so that isn’t helpful!

I came upstairs and watched a bit of YouTube before F came upstairs. I added my earphones when he came. At 11pm I watched The Rookie which was okay, but not a great one. 

And that’s about it for my day. I only used the air conditioner for a couple of hours today as it was so much cooler than usual. It was humid, so that’s why I used it. 

Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’ll get up to. I’ll probably do some laundry and hopefully try to make a hair appointment for next week. Come back later if you like and read all about my day. Until tomorrow….