October 12, 2026

Monday - Warm and Sunny

Today was another lovely day. I woke up around 10 this morning, made a trip downstairs and then came back to bed for a bit of video and snoozing. F came back upstairs and said that he’d like to leave soon to do his driving and checking. I was okay with that. 

I got up and dressed and a few minutes later we left the house. We drove off towards F’s first place. I had asked that we stop and get drinks somewhere but it took ages before we did. We talked about lunch and F came up with an idea and I did too. They were different, but that’s okay. F’s place was closed today, and on the way to wherever we were going we passed another restaurant that F suggested going to. I was fine with that.

We went in and had a really nice meal in Amarume. We both had the same thing but had different sauces with it. We had pork sauté and it came with potato salad, salad, soup and rice. I had gravy with mine, F had wafu sauce. We paid and left, I think we were the last customers there at lunch. Oops.

We drove around and found most of F’s places. There was one place that he wasn’t sure about. We stopped at a Michi-no-Eki and got ice cream. We came back to Tsuruoka and visited a new Farmer’s market place. I got some mini-tomatoes for K and F, then we went to the grocery store.

I bought groceries for the next couple of days and I think I got enough stuff. I came in under budget which pleased me too.

We came back to the house. I put things away and then came upstairs. F and I had talked about taking his mother out for dinner tonight. She’d been alone at the house for the last couple of days and I thought she might like to get out of the house again. F however, didn’t tell her that!

We went out around 7pm and drove to the Gusto near MaxValu. We were able to get seated right away and ordered. I had pasta, F had a Japanese style meal of pork steak on rice and K had a kara-age meal. I ordered a plate of fries for the three of us to share and mayonnaise all around. The waitress even came out to check that we actually did want three containers of mayo, but yes, yes we did! K double dips, so we don’t want to share with her, F probably didn’t need one, but I finished mine too!

After we finished eating we came back to the house and I came upstairs. A little after 10pm I went downstairs and took a shower. When I came back upstairs to the room I watched an episode of Carnival Row. It’s been ages since I watched it and I decided that I really should try to finish it. 

And that’s it. I had a very good weekend which really surprises me. After September when we were all sick and tired of being together, it was actually nice to be together and going out and doing things in such nice weather. 

Tomorrow I’m back to my normal life. I’ll probably do some laundry and I’m cooking dinner again too. I have to start getting ready for my trip too. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

 

October 11, 2026

Sunday - Warm & Sunny

I woke up quite early again this morning. I went downstairs before 7 am, but came back upstairs and went back to bed. I fell asleep again and didn’t wake up until my alarm went off around 10 am. I turned off my other alarms and tried snoozing. F came back to bed after making K’s breakfast and we had a little snuggle and snooze time. 

Finally, we got up. He wanted to go fishing today. I wasn’t too excited because I have to be careful about the sun. I get sunburnt really easily. I do have sunscreen, but I hate wearing it.

First up we had to have lunch. F suggested the new Chinese (Taiwanese?) restaurant in the city and I was okay with that. I put on some clothes that I was okay going fishing in and then we went over to the restaurant. We were able to go in and decided that we wouldn’t order set menus, but three different dishes and share them. So, we had some kara-age (fried chicken), gyoza and fried rice. It was all quite nice. F kept us there until quite late. He was playing on his phone and just spent some time there. 

We went over to the drugstore at PAL across the road and used the washroom and then bought a few things. I got some more tea for the trip, some detergent for laundry and we picked up another pack of tissues for K. F did that weird thing in the store where he looked at me, but didn’t actually see me. He was looking for me, and was halfway down the store before he turned around and noticed me waving at him! It happens often. I’m a short, fat, grey old lady…why can’t he see me? I stick out a lot!

We set out towards Kamo. We stopped for F to get us some bait and then drove out. We ended up parking near a restaurant we’ve gone to a few times and then going over to the edge of the port. F prepared my fishing rod for me and I dropped it in. A few minutes later I actually caught a fish, an aji or horse mackerel. F took it off the hook for me and put it in the cooler. I caught a little fugu (pufferfish) but I snagged it more than it biting my hook. I took it off the hook and threw it back in the water. 

F did a silly thing and dropped his rod into the water. He rescued it after a bit of hard work on his part. He didn’t say much, but he caught quite a few fish too. I caught a saba or blue mackerel too, and about 3 more aji. However, the last one I caught, I brought over to F to take it off my hook and he left his fishing rod unattended. He must have caught a fish as the next thing we knew…his rod was back in the ocean. We weren’t able to rescue it this time. I’m sorry thinking about the fish being tied down with the rod and I also worry about a boat or something getting snagged on it. 

F needed to use a washroom around now and he didn’t have a fishing rod anymore, so we packed it in. He made a pit stop and then we drove back to Tsuruoka. We went to a bento shop and got three bentos, then while they were being made, went to the nearby electric shop to use their loo!

We went back to the house and F spent a bit of time preparing the fish. He made some of it into sashimi and mixed it with miso and negi. We had that with our bentos.

I did the dishes afterwards, then went upstairs to change my clothes again. 

F and I got back in the car and drove over to Mikawa and went to see Disclosure Day at the mall. It was….okay. I liked the actors but I thought the story let them down a bit. 

We drove back into Tsuruoka after the movie but didn’t come back to the house at first. We went to MaxValu to pick up something for K’s breakfast. I got a few things for myself on my own dime as well. I got some snacks and a big bagette sandwich for breakfast or lunch. 

We came back to the house and F went to bed fairly soon and as usual I’m up quite late. I’ll be going off to bed soon as I am tired. 

It was a surprisingly nice day. By the time we got to the fishing place, the sun wasn’t that strong and I wore a big hat so I think I avoided most sun damage. Hurray. It’s just too bad that F lost his fishing rod. I’m thinking it might make a good birthday/Christmas present…I could get him a gift certificate or something so he could pick one he’d like. I’ll think about it!

That’s it for me for today. Tomorrow we’re supposed to go driving to do research for F’s job, so I might have to get up early. Wish me luck!

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

October 10, 2026

Saturday - Warm and sunny

I woke up fairly early this morning, around 7am I think. F was awake in bed already. I went downstairs and used the washroom, then came back upstairs and fell asleep again. I woke up again after 9 when F came back in the room. He had originally planned to go driving this morning so I had set my alarm to get up and go out with him. However, he said that he didn’t want to do that today. He talked about going fishing, but when I asked him, he didn’t mean in the late afternoon, he meant in the middle of the day. Ack. I just can’t be standing out in the sun in the middle of a hot sunny day. Even with sunscreen I’d be burned to a crisp.

F next suggested going for lunch to Atsumi Onsen. I honestly don’t like the restaurant, but I do like the drive to get to the restaurant. Seeing as how it is a long weekend, the Michi-no-eki, or roadside rest area where the restaurant is was packed. We did find parking and were able to get right in to the restaurant. F had the sashimi set and I had their yakiniku set. It was fine. I did think about having fish this time, but didn’t. 

After our meal we walked around a little. I went and looked at the ocean for a few minutes. We had been separated for a few minutes. He was out front and I was out back! We met up and decided to have an ice cream cone. We chose a blueberry mixed with milk cone and it was very nice.

We got back in the car and drove up the coast towards Tsuruoka. Unfortunately, there was a detour at one spot…there’d been a rockfall on the road. When we detoured, F stopped us at Yura and we got out and walked around for a little while. It was a lovely day and the ocean was gorgeous. 

Back in Tsuruoka, F asked if I’d like to go to Gyomu Supa and of course the answer was yes. We did a little shopping. I got some cheese slices and baby cheese, then some cereal and some sunflower seeds. I picked up a packet of tortillas, found out they were made in China which doesn’t sound authentic!

We came back to the house and I put away most of the food. I went upstairs because why not and F stayed downstairs for his mother. We were quite early getting back though. 

F had suggested that he make a nabe for dinner and I was fine with that. However, we hadn’t bought the ingredients, so around 6pm we went over to the grocery store and F picked up his ingredients for the nabe and also for K’s breakfast tomorrow. We came back to the house and I unpacked a lot of the ingredients for him. I asked him if he wanted help and he said no. I went upstairs again!

F called me downstairs and I did help him by getting the glasses out and the tea too. We had to wait a bit as the nabe wasn’t quite finished cooking yet, but when it was ready, it was very nice. F did a good job of the nabe today!

He did the dishes too, so I didn’t have to help there either. Woot. 

F came upstairs around 9 and sometime around 9:45 or 10 pm I decided to go down and make some popcorn. I brought it back up to the room and gave F some. I watched an episode of Shrinking and really enjoyed it. 

At 11pm I watched The Hunting Party and that was okay today. F headed off to bed around 11 but didn’t fall asleep for a while. 

And that’s about it. I had a good day and it was beautiful. With us all being sick last month, we haven’t been able to go out much so it was lovely to be out in the sunshine for a little while. 

I’m not sure what we’ll be doing tomorrow, but please come back later and find out. Until tomorrow….

October 9, 2026

Friday - Sunny and Warm

Last night I thought I’d go to bed after I signed off and posted my blog entry. I hoped that would be all that happened. It was not.

I always make a trip to the washroom before bed, so I put on my robe and went outside the room. I saw lights on downstairs and decided I’d do what I usually do when I see K around, I’d wait until she went to bed. Well, she switched on the stair light from downstairs and then started calling for F. This was at 3 am. F was in bed, asleep. I went downstairs to see what the heck she wanted and I had no idea. I tried to let her know that F was sleeping but she ignored me. She was climbing the stairs on all fours which wasn’t really good for her. I went back up the stairs and closed the door to our room. I had to wake F up…and while I was calling him from the door, K was pushing the door trying to get in. I’m a big person and she was pushing me quite hard on the door. It was difficult to keep the door closed. 

F woke up and got up to talk to his mother. As usual, it didn’t make much sense. She heard him calling and thought he was having a nightmare. Now, I was in the room awake and I didn’t hear him crying out, but she did downstairs, even though she’s very deaf?Strange. 

We all ended up downstairs. F used the washroom, then I did. I went upstairs and F stayed downstairs to yell/communicate with his mother a bit more. 

I got into bed and did some reading. F came back to bed but wasn’t able to go back to sleep. I slept, but woke up around 6 am. I went downstairs. It was dark downstairs, but when I got to the bottom of the stairs, the living room light was back on. K was sitting at the table in the living room. Hmm. 

After a minute or two I went back upstairs. I told F that his mother was up in the living room, then I went back to sleep. When I woke up again later, F was gone. He didn’t get much sleep at all.

I did get up when my alarm went up and then did a bit of snoozing and watching of videos. I slept a bit late though. I got dressed and took my basket of clothes downstairs to wash. I did a couple of loads of laundry today. One was personal stuff, the other was my towelket and a couple of towels.

I had my breakfast.  I also finished cleaning up around the heater, and even got the vacuum out and vacuumed it and part of my room. It was a hot day so I was sweating for a while! While I ate my lunch I watched the British drama Under Salt Marsh. It was quite good today and they found the body of a missing child. It was sad, but probably good. I followed that up with the news.

F called after 5 and said he was tired. I thought he’d visit the grocery store, but when he got back, he hadn’t. He said that the roads were busy. 

While I was waiting for F to come back, K kept opening the front door and looking out for him. She did it about 3 times which is quite unusual. She even went outside which was odd as she was in her light pyjamas. I didn’t say anything to her as I just didn’t care!

F finally came back and I kicked dinner into a higher gear. I was making my usual pasta dinner for Friday and I let F pick the sauce. No, I don’t make my own! We can’t have tomato sauce as I’m allergic, so we get quite a variation of sauces. Tonight was a lemony one from the area of Japan famous for lemons. It was nice.

We had salad, sliced chicken breast and the lemon pasta. Dinner was very nice and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I think while I was preparing the food, F had a little lecture at K that she should not come upstairs and that she can’t hear, so didn’t hear F. 

He wrote her a message on her message board, I hope she remembers it. Since she had the flu last month, I worry that she’s lost a bit of ground with her dementia. She’s so difficult for me to understand that I don’t even want to try most of the time. 

After I did the dishes, I went upstairs. I relaxed with some YouTube and a little after 10pm I went downstairs to take a shower. F was still in the living room, but went up to our room soon afterward. 

He went to bed around 11 or so and is sleeping well I think. I watched another episode of Cardinal and liked it, but it was a bit sad and scary. I have to finish Cardinal before the end of December as my streaming service will let it go then. Sigh. 

Anyway, I’ve just been watching YouTube and doing my end of day things. I’m hoping to go to bed soon. F wants to do some driving tomorrow morning so I’ll have to get up and go with him. Let’s hope that my dear MIL doesn’t have any more weird turns for the next couple of weeks. 

That’s it for me for today, come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

October 8, 2026

Thursday - Warm & Sunny

F woke me up again, but I didn’t get up. I did get up a bit after he left and then came back to bed. I slept for a bit, but dragged myself out of bed earlier than usual. I got dressed and went downstairs.  I got my yogurt ready to take upstairs and then I prepped the meat for tonight. I made a garlic-soy sauce marinade and put it on the pork. I stuck it back into the fridge.

I went upstairs and had my breakfast and then watched a bit of YouTube or Facebook Reels for a while. After a bit, I decided that I’d get stuck in cleaning up around the heater. It’s getting colder at night and we’ll have to start using the kerosene heater again. I did a lot of tossing out of stuff and a little bit of finding things thought lost, so that was good. I still have to vacuum the heater and the area around it, but that’ll wait until tomorrow.

I grabbed my lunch around 3 and brought it upstairs. Today I watched another episode of The Great British Bake-Off. It was quite good and the right person got sent off I think. I followed that up with the news and then some more YouTube.

F called after he finished work and said he was on his way back. I changed clothes and went downstairs. 

Tonight I made a cucumber and tuna salad, sautéd mushrooms, steamed kabocha and fried garlic pork.  We also had some cabbage salad with a few leftover leaves from yesterday’s salad. I even did dessert. It was just a simple thing from the store, adding milk to some fruit juice and it made a grape pudding kind of thing. Dinner was nice.

Doing dishes tonight took a while but I did get it done. I went upstairs to change clothes, but F took a bit longer to change. We ended up at the grocery store quite a bit after 9pm. F did a bit of shopping. He bought more rice and some adult beverage for himself. I got food for tomorrow’s dinner, K’s breakfast and a few other things of course. F paid and then we came back to the house. 

I put the groceries away and came upstairs to the room. We had a quiet evening in. I watched DOC and enjoyed that. It’s quite a different show from Grey’s Anatomy!

Since midnight I’ve been doing my end of day things and watching some YouTube. I’m not completely sure what I’ll be doing tomorrow, but I think laundry will be done, and dinner will be cooked again. We’re coming up on a long weekend here, it’s Thanksgiving here and in Canada. We won’t be doing anything for it as far as I know. 

Anyway, I’m off. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

October 7, 2026

Wednesday - Warm & Sunny

I did hear F this morning, but I managed to stay mostly asleep. I did get up again before my alarm, and went downstairs. When I came back to the room I did have a snooze but I set my alarms for earlier than usual. I managed to drag myself out of bed at a decent time. I dressed and had a breakfast sandwich. I packed my backpack and stuffed my pockets with stuff before I headed downstairs. 

I left the house a few minutes early so I did have to wait at the bus stop for a few minutes. It was a nice day, so it wasn’t too bad at all. I rode the bus to the Tsuruoka Station stop and got off there. I walked through Foodever to see if I wanted to eat there. The Indonesian place was open, so I did think about that. I walked through the building and then crossed the street.

I went to the post office near the station and went in. I filled out my forms. First I made a deposit of some of my coins and then I made a payment at the ATM. I just renewed my membership for my women’s group. From there, I walked over to S-Mall. 

I had decided that I’d try the new pizza place near S-Mall for lunch. However, when I got there, it was closed. Oh dear!

I went into the mall and tried out Pizza Hut. I like pizza, but I’m allergic to tomatoes which makes eating it difficult these days. I noticed on their lunch boxes that they had a 4 cheese pizza, and I know that usually they don’t have tomato sauce. I ordered it and the guy said it would be 20 minutes. I used that time to go to the grocery store and buy a drink for myself. While I was there, I noticed some of the fancy hot drinks I like were on sale in the bargain bin, so I picked up a couple of boxes of them too. Yay me.

My pizza was great when it arrived. It had big chunks of camembert on top and came with a honey-maple syrup topping to add. There were some fries and a couple of chicken nuggets too. I was quite pleased with it. 

After lunch, I had to wash my hands as they were covered in that sticky syrup. I took care of that, then went into the bus station. I bought my bus ticket for later this month. 

I went upstairs and checked out the hundred yen shop. I bought a few things there, some snacks and some craft things, as well as some plastic bags for garbage. 

I had some time before my bus back to the house so I went to Doutor and had an iced decaf latte and a chocolate chip cookie. I got to enjoy myself and read a little of one of the books I’m reading. 

I caught the bus and I was surprised how many people got on the bus at the first stop. More got on at the station and the bus was surprisingly full. At the Mihara-Machi stop, which is near the 7-11, more than half of the people on the bus got off! That was unusual. I got off at my stop and walked back to the house.

I came in the house and went upstairs. I realized that it was my normal lunch time, but I didn’t watch anything on TV. When 4pm rolled around, I watched the news with one eye. 

F called me after 5:15 and checked where I was. I had told him if I stayed at the mall I would ask him to pick me up. The mall is really too small to spend extra time there though. 

He came back to the house and I was downstairs about to start getting ready for dinner. Tonight I did a chicken/hijiki (seaweed) dish, plus mini-tomatoes, baby leaf salad, steamed broccoli and cucumber pickle. I was a bit late getting it done, but it was very nice.

After dinner, I did the dishes and then did the garbage up. F had gone upstairs so I didn’t think I’d get all of K’s garbage, but she brought out her own stuff when I was in the washroom! Yay.

I went upstairs and relaxed for a while, but after 10 I went downstairs again and took a quick shower. I came back upstairs in time to watch Grey’s Anatomy. It was an okay episode but the end was a bit sad. They did a little tribute to Eric Dane (McSteamy) at the end of the show as he died earlier this year. It was nice of them to do that. 

And that’s about it. F was supposed to be in bed hours ago, but he’s still up. He may have taken the garbage outside and I know that he set up the rice cooker for our dinner tomorrow night. He’s off to bed now and honestly, I think I’m going to go soon too. I’m quite tired tonight but I got a lot of things done that I needed to do, so yay for that. 

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