November 3, 2026

Tuesday - Warm and Sunny

Culture Day!

I woke up the first time before 8:30, made a trip downstairs. A few minutes later, I went back to bed. F however, got up and then went downstairs to make breakfast for his mother.

I snoozed on for a while. F came up around 10:45 and wanted to go for lunch right away. I wasn’t too impressed by that as I was snoozing. He threatened to go without me. I did consider letting him go, but did rouse myself and get dressed. He was really grumpy for a while. 

We got in the car and drove to Sakata. In Sakata F went straight to the port area, which honestly didn’t impress me. He didn’t even ask me what I’d like to eat. I guess he didn’t care! He didn’t go to the food court, he went to a little restaurant in the ferry building. We had to wait for quite a while before we got in, but it was okay. We both had raw fish for lunch. He had the special which was a marinated tuna on rice, I had a sushi assortment with miso soup. F also ordered some small shrimp kara-age which was okay but a bit greasy. 

Today in Sakata there were a ton of foreigners everywhere. It turns out that there was a cruise ship in town and a bunch of people were exploring Sakata. It was kind of fun not to be the only foreigner around though!

After our lunch, we went over to the nearby drugstore to use the washroom. F had no problem, but the ladies washroom needed servicing. Someone had probably tried to flush a diaper and it got stuck?  F reported it to the staff and when we left the store, there were at least 3 staff members in the washroom working on it. Sorry people!

I still needed a washroom, so we did a quick detour into a grocery store. They had a gorgeous, super clean one so that was nice! They had an accessible washroom and also a nursing room! In a grocery store?! 

Back in the car, F did some driving around. He needed to find good routes for his driving at work. Finally he was happy and we headed back towards Tsuruoka. I saw my friend and her daughter in her car, but it took me a minute to recognize that it was her!  She didn’t see me, sad to say.

Back in Tsuruoka, F just wanted to come back to the house. Sigh. I wasn’t happy, but whatever.  I came upstairs, made myself some tea and relaxed with YouTube.

Later, F made dinner for his mother and then we went out. We were going to go to my favourite Chinese place, but it was busy, so we ended up at Misono. I had the chicken cutlet without rice and soup. F had katsudon with miso soup. We were the only customers for a minute or two when the door opened and 8 men came in. They were company workers and sat on one side and were fine. Unfortunately, F was not. Some of his food went down the wrong tube and he started coughing. He couldn’t stop. He put his mask back on, but some of the food that came up got caught in his mask and then smeared all over his face. My poor guy. I grabbed him some tissues and then I sneezed food all over my arm! We’re quite the pair!

After we finished eating and enjoyed ourselves, we went grocery shopping. I did the shopping today, I did go over budget, but these days it is hard not to. At least F paid me back today!

We came back to the house and I put the groceries away. I came upstairs and watched some YouTube and then at 11pm I watched Law & Order. It was okay. I still don’t get the fuss about the show. Am I missing something? I thought it was supposed to be a very top show but it still is highly missable to me!

And that’s about it for me. I had a reasonably good day. I would have liked to spend more time out of the house but that isn’t fair to F who doesn’t get to spend that much time IN the house. 

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

November 2, 2026

Monday - Rainy and cooler

I got up this morning on my second alarm and went downstairs. I came back upstairs, sorted my laundry and then went back to bed. I tried to watch a video but fell asleep on it a couple of times, so gave up on it!

I finally dragged myself out of bed, dressed and then went downstairs with my laundry. I started a load of laundry then grabbed my yogurt out of the fridge and went upstairs to eat breakfast. 

I did a couple of loads of laundry today and then I hung them up in my room. I think I got the machine to work properly today. Yay!

I had a quiet afternoon, I watched some YouTube, ate breakfast and then a little late went downstairs to get my lunch. F’s sister was there, she took K to the doctor today. For some reason she was in our kitchen. I’m not allowed to say anything about that. 

When I was eating my lunch today I watched an episode of Modern Love. It was the first one of the second season, with Minnie Driver. It was a happy/sad episode and I was crying my eyes out at it in the end. It was a touching episode. 

F called me around 5:30 to say he was on his way back. I went downstairs around 6pm and F was back just after that. He went and visited with his mother for a while before coming into the kitchen with me. 

Tonight’s dinner was all stuff that I bought yesterday at the grocery store in the mall. I had got some chicken steaks which I decided to air-fry. Putting them in the air fryer, I discovered that the steaks were folded over so they were much bigger than expected. Happily I was able to get all three in the air fryer so I set the machine and hoped for the best!  We had chicken steaks, rice, salad, meatballs, and mixed vegetables. Everything was nice and turned out well. 

We even had some dessert, there were some puddings in the top of the fridge that were slightly expired so we had them!

I did the dishes and then went upstairs afterwards. I relaxed with some YouTube before going back downstairs to take a shower.

When I came back to the room I watched an episode of Cardinal. It finished the second season of the show and it ended really sadly. I’ll have to start the third season soon.

That’s it for today basically. Tomorrow is a national holiday so F is off work. He talked about going to Sakata again to check routes for his job. I’m game as long as it isn’t too early! 

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

November 1, 2026

Sunday - Cloudy but warmish 

Today was an okay day. 

I slept in this morning for the first time in a couple of days and it was lovely! F got up early and cooked breakfast for his mother. It was horribly stinky too, some kind of fish. Urgh. 

I got up around noon I think, then got dressed. F and I talked about going out, but didn’t for a while. Then, he picked a restaurant and we went over there. It’s one I’m not a huge fan of, they serve ramen and curry. I don’t like their curry much and F doesn’t like their ramen but we can both eat something at least. 

We left the restaurant around 3 pm, their closing time. I asked F if we could go over to the Oyama Nature Center as I just really felt like being out of the city and in a natural place. F was okay with that and we drove there through all the country roads. We saw a lot of swans in the fields and finally arrived at the nature center. 

We parked and went for a walk. It was not warm, but it wasn’t cold either. There were a lot of people around, walking dogs or children, and for a change, a lot of birds. I’ve brought a friend there once and there were NO birds at all. She thought that I was making up the bird sanctuary bit!

Oyama Nature Center...with birds today!

F and I walked back to the car, the long way around. It was nice to be out and about and in nature!

We drove back to Tsuruoka proper. On the way, I asked F to drive through some rice fields so I could get pictures of all the swans in the fields.  We found a good place and took some pictures. 

Siberian Swans come to Japan to spend the winter. They love the rice fields!

We ended up at Doutor in S-Mall. We had a drink and spent some quiet time there. Over our drinks, F proposed that we get bentos for dinner. I wasn’t too pleased but whatever. I didn’t get a bento. I got some kara-age and a salad for myself, F got a bento for himself and K too. 

We came back to the house and relaxed for an hour and a half. The original plan was to eat at 7pm, we waited until 7:30!

We went downstairs and I heated up the bentos and my food. We ate and then yes, I got to do the clean up afterwards. I guess it didn’t matter that much. I didn’t have to cook either. 

I headed upstairs and watched a bit of YouTube. I then decided that I wanted to watch a movie, so I chose Death Race, the Jason Statham movie. F and I saw it in Mikawa years ago, it was silly but fun. The volume kept going up and down which was bad. The racing was loud, the conversations were really low. 

And that’s about it. Tomorrow I’m cooking dinner, but I’m not really sure how that will go! Hopefully well! F is back to work for one day as Tuesday is a national holiday. 

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

 

October 31, 2026

 Saturday - Sunny in the morning, cloudy and rainy later on

Happy Halloween!

I woke up after 9 am when my alarm went off. I got up and went downstairs. I came back upstairs but didn’t go back to bed! I got dressed, checked the internet a bit, relaxed a little and then at 10 am went downstairs. F was just about ready and we left the house a few minutes later.

We drove over to Sakata so he could check routes for work on Monday.  After he finished, we were going to have lunch. Unfortunately, the place we picked didn’t open until 11:30 and it was barely 11am. We drove around a bit, we found a drugstore and got ourselves drinks, then went back to the restaurant. 

F had a filet pork dish in tomato sauce, I had a beef hamburger that was really nice. Both our dishes came with soup, salad and rice and then coffee. It was quite nice.

We drove out of Sakata and went to Don Quihote on the way back to Tsuruoka. I got myself some cereal and F picked up some snacks and some ramen! They always have his favourite brand of instant ramen by the door.

We came back to Tsuruoka and went to a grocery store so F could get something for K’s dinner. 

We were back to the house around 2:30. I was rather sad if I’m honest! I came upstairs, had some tea and relaxed for a bit. I watched some YouTube and Reels on FB, then F came upstairs around 7pm. 

He’d fed K and he told me that she was complaining about me again. I thought she hadn’t done that in a while. I asked him what she said but he wouldn’t tell me. Sigh. He’s putting it down to her dementia, but the sad fact is that she’s never liked me.

We went out for our dinner and I requested Cocos. But first, we had to go to the main post office to mail a birthday card to my sister. We had forgotten to mail it earlier in the day when we were out.

Cocos have a special dessert for Halloween and I felt like having it since we don’t do anything else for Halloween. F ordered a Japanese set meal which he didn’t like (same as usual), I ordered a chicken with mushroom sauce and veggies which I did like. We both had drink bar and shared a small order of fries that I got for free with my app. We stayed for a while, we both had three drinks which were enjoyable. 

O-Ba-Ke (Ghost) Dessert

We came back to the house and F stayed downstairs with his mother for a while. I watched some YouTube and then at 11pm I watched The Hunting Party again. It was fine. 

So, today was a bit of a mixed bag. One good thing was I took my iPod with us in the car and we got to have my car Karaoke! I was singing along with Gowan’s A Criminal Mind when F asked if I could find him the words for the song so he could try to understand it. Of course, I was only too happy to oblige later in the day. I love Gowan and enjoy his music so I want to spread the love!

Tomorrow we’ll have to get groceries and maybe kerosene for the coming week. Tuesday is a holiday so maybe it’ll work out that some things will be done then too. I’m hoping we might visit the Chido Museum too as we haven’t seen their exhibit yet and I have a membership. 

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

October 30, 2026

Friday - Warm and sunny, then cloudy later on.

Today was pretty good. I wasn’t sure that it would go well, but it did. 

I woke up for the first time around 6:30. F was awake, but was quietly lying in bed playing with his phone. I went downstairs and then came back upstairs a bit later and went back to bed. I fell asleep again but happily woke up when my alarm went off.

I got up around 8:30 and got dressed. I had my quick breakfast, checked my email and FB…and found that Sir Patrick Stewart had died. Oh my goodness. I was a huge fan of him on Star Trek: Next Generation and then of course in the X-Men Movies. He just seemed like a cool guy. My best friend is a huge Trek fan so it was her post on FB that told me. 

I had to move on. I grabbed my stuff, went downstairs and then left the house. I walked to the bus stop where I had to wait for about 10 minutes before the bus came (late of course). It was also quite busy so I had to sit in the back row of the bus. Sadly, many of the people on the bus either had bags on the seat next to them, or they were sitting in the aisle seat and wouldn’t move over!

I got off at my stop, which was the Main Post Office one. I mailed off a letter to my bestie and then went in and used the ATM. Then, I went down the road and went to the big drugstore. I spent some time there looking at goods and buying a few. I got myself some snacks and an onigiri for my second breakfast! I paid and then walked to Machi-ne Kinema. I sat in the lobby outside the cinema for a few minutes and ate my onigiri, then I went in and paid to see The Breakfast Club. 

It’s been a few years since I saw it and a long time since I saw it on a large screen, so honestly, I had such a good time watching the movie. Most of it held up pretty well, but there were a few things that wouldn’t work if the movie was made now. The music, particularly the Simple Minds song holds up well. 

After the movie I checked my phone and found out that I could catch a bus from where I got off in about five minutes. I had to hustle a little, and then the bus was late of course!

At the mall, I got off the bus and went in. The Hotel’s lunch had tomato in the sauce again, so I didn’t go there. I did a little shopping and I bumped into a student from my L’Eikaiwa days. We chatted for a bit and caught up on our lives. I’m so glad she stopped me as the last time we met things didn’t go well. I was arguing with F and was in no mood to talk to the ex-student. I checked that she has my number and suggested getting together for a coffee or tea sometime. Don’t know if it’ll happen, but it would be nice.

I bought myself lunch at Pizza Hut Express then. I had my usual 4 cheese pizza with honey, fries and two chicken nuggets. It’s quite nice really. 

After lunch, I went upstairs and checked out Daiso. I got myself one thing in Daiso, a new container for my baking soda that I use for washing burnt on things. 

I decided that since I’d have about 40 minutes before my bus was due to leave, I’d visit Baskin-Robbins for a Halloween treat. I got a small double of a couple of their special ice creams. They were very nice. 

I went back to the bus station and caught my bus. It wasn’t too busy and I managed to get a seat near the front. I put my backpack on my lap, keeping the seat beside me free if anyone needed it. Strangely, one lady got off the bus and said something to me about my backpack. I didn’t understand what she said, I don’t know if she was telling me off for keeping it on my lap, or suggesting I put it on the seat next to me. Bit odd that.

I got off the bus at my stopped and walked back to the house. I came in and went upstairs. First on my list was making myself a cup of tea, which I did! I also watched the news and visited my favourite time wasting site. 

F called after 5 and a bit later, I went downstairs and started getting ready for dinner. Tonight we had spaghetti with a Japanese sauce with mushrooms and seaweed, salad, bacon and mini-tomatoes for the others. It turned out well. 

We got a delivery before dinner of something F ordered and then a few minutes later we ate. I told F about my day when I could drag his attention away from his home!

After dinner I did the dishes and listened to my movie podcasts. When I finished I went upstairs and relaxed and rested for a while. I went downstairs and took a shower around 10:30 and then came back upstairs. I watched an episode of Ted Lasso which I enjoyed, but wasn’t really funny.

And that’s about it. F wants to go driving tomorrow morning after he takes his mother to the Day Service which is why I took a shower tonight. I hope we’ll have a good day together. I’m also hoping we do something Halloweenie too!

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

October 29, 2026

Thursday - Sunny and warmer

I woke up before my alarm this morning, probably a little after F left for work. I went downstairs and then came back upstairs and went back to bed. I was tired! I did watch a few videos on my phone before I turned it off and went back to sleep.

I dragged myself out of bed much later and dressed. I went downstairs and grabbed my yogurt, then came back upstairs to eat. I relaxed with some videos and basically just had a quiet day. 

I went downstairs early to get my lunch and brought it back up to the room. I watched an episode of Elsbeth today and it was all about wigs! I followed that with the news and then I worked on finishing my letter that I started a couple of days earlier. I got it done and then F called me to say he was on his way back.

I went downstairs before 6pm and F arrived just after that. I was a bit busy tonight, after a while. I did premade burgers from the store, plus a choleggi salad, steamed broccoli and some cheese and bacon macaroni and cheese in a cup. It was quite nice I thought. Oh, and fries. We had fries too. 

After dinner I did the dishes and then let F know that I was done. I went upstairs to change and then we went over to the grocery store. I got a few things and F came in as well. Sigh. He needed his adult beverage and picked up a few things that I would never get like bananas. (I hate bananas.)

We came back to the house and put the groceries away. We both headed upstairs. I made some tea for myself and then at 11pm I watched today’s episodes of DOC. It was quite good in my opinion.

And that’s about it. I want to get myself off to bed soon as I have plans to go out and see a movie in the morning. The problem is that I have to catch a bus at 9:30 so that could be a bit of a problem if I can’t wake up!

Come back later if you like and find out if I do get up and see the movie or not! Until tomorrow….