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….