May 14, 2026

Thursday - Cloudy and cooler

I woke up after F left this morning, but quite a while before my alarm was due to go off. I came back upstairs and went back to bed and had a snooze. I did get up a bit earlier than yesterday. Yay. 

I went downstairs after dressing and checked the mail. After that, I measured out my yogurt and brought it upstairs. I had breakfast and while I was watching YouTube I got a reminder that there was a book club meeting online later in the afternoon. Ooh. I’d forgotten!

I was expecting a delivery today and I kept hearing the van outside. It was never there!

I joined my Book Club and it was nice. There weren’t too many people there, so it was a nice size. I talked about what I am reading now, what I just finished and got a talking to by the lead for putting myself down for reading a couple of romances! I know she’s right, but I still feel that I’m wasting my degree by not reading classics and good stuff.  However, to be fair to myself, I have read 1984 this year and I’m also reading an Ondaatje when I go to the doctor’s office. And, if the books I read annoy me too much, I stop reading them! 

I had to leave Book Club a bit early as I needed to eat lunch! I went downstairs and made my lunch, then brought it back to the room to eat. I watched an episode of Matlock and enjoyed that too. 

During my lunch time the delivery did arrive so I made a mad dash downstairs and actually received my box. Yay. I brought it upstairs and continued with my lunch!

F called after 5 and said he was on his way back. I went downstairs a bit later but he was here before I got started on the dishes! The thing was, during washing the dishes, I realized that there was no more hot water. I texted him and asked if he’d refilled the tank’s kerosene in a while. He hadn’t. He came back downstairs and filled up the tank for me. Yay. 

Tonight I made chicken drumsticks in the air fryer, cucumber pickle stuff and I also made some mushroom fried rice. That meant that dinner was rather late tonight. Oh dear. F came downstairs before I called him, probably wondering what was wrong. I asked him to take the plates out to the table and he didn’t understand me. Did he really not understand or was he trying to get out of doing anything to help? I haven’t figured it out yet.

We also had regular rice and some salad. Dinner was quite good and we all ate quite a bit.

I did the dishes afterwards. There were quite a lot so it took me ages tonight. I finally got it done and it was around 9 pm.  I talked to F and told him that I thought we would have to go to MaxValu as I wouldn’t be able to go to Mina in time to do a proper shop. He didn’t understand at first. I think he wasn’t really listening. He also wasn’t feeling that great.

I got changed and then F had to run upstairs and get his wallet! We finally left for MaxValu and I went inside and did the shopping. F stayed in the car, as I said, he didn’t feel that well tonight. Poor thing.

We came back to the house when I finished and I put away the groceries. I headed upstairs and at 11pm I watched The Rainmaker. I quite like this show. I think it might be ending next week though. Or soon. 

That’s about it for me for today. Tomorrow I’ll be doing some laundry and we’ll see what else I can get up to. 

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

February 22, 2026

Sunday - Cloudy but warm

I woke up early this morning, F was still in bed! I went downstairs and then came back upstairs and went back to bed. I slept a bit longer, got up and dressed. 

F came upstairs and we talked about where to go for lunch. He wanted to go to Arpeggio and so we went there. We had to wait outside for ten minutes but were able to go in after that. We had a lovely meal but it took ages to arrive. We waited more than 40 minutes which I think is quite a long time to wait. It was today’s theme though! I worked on my book while we waited so it wasn’t too bad. I finally got 1984 finished. It wasn’t my favourite book ever, but I’m glad that I read it. Mostly. 

After lunch we hit up a grocery store for K’s dinner and some snacks, then we went back to the house. F stayed downstairs to clean up and I went upstairs to relax.

At 5 pm K’s Care Manager came and we had our meeting. It went okay I think. I don’t always understand what is being said. Her next appointment with us is on a public holiday in March. I’m not impressed! I don’t even want to go to these meetings, and we have to waste a national holiday talking about a nasty old lady who doesn’t like me! F may not see it that way.

F gave his mother her bento for dinner after the Care Manager left. We headed out to go to the festival. We drove to the place where we were supposed to be able to catch the bus to the top of the mountain and…there was no bus! It was dark there. F checked his phone and I checked my online-source and I noticed something odd. The blurb said that the Lantern Festival was on Sunday February 23rd. Great, except that today was Sunday February 22nd! F’s source said the 23rd as well, so….we were a whole day early! Oh no!  We drove up to the temple area to see the lanterns. The lanterns were built and there was a design made out of snow, but nothing was lit up and there were no people at all. I think we’ll try again tomorrow night, probably.

We talked about where to go for our dinner. F was on a ramen kick again and I told him he could go if he dropped me off somewhere else. He then suggested soba, which I was NOT in the mood for either. We made a quick stop by the house to change out of our boots and then ended up going to To-en, the Chinese restaurant on the other side of the park. We were able to be seated right away, but it took about 45 minutes before we got any food. We had ordered by phone so I was wondering if maybe it hadn’t gone through, but F swore it was okay. Sure enough, my dish showed up next. We ordered 3 dishes to share. I ordered Mapo-dofu on rice, F ordered yakisoba with 5 things and we shared an order of kara-age again. I hated his yakisoba and when he gave me some, he gave me too much. It’s so bland I can’t taste it, but he loves that stuff. Anyway, it was fine. We both ate enough and it was good, for the most part.

After dinner, we hit up the grocery store again just to get something for K’s breakfast, and also for mine. If we go to the early movie tomorrow afternoon, I’ll probably need a quick snack/meal. 

We came back to the house. Upstairs, I decided to watch the episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale that I had recorded last week. They were fine. F went to bed and fell asleep. On Facebook I noticed that people were watching the Canada vs. USA men’s hockey game. I decided to look and see if it was on Japanese TV. Big surprise…it was! So, I watched the second and third period of the game, and then that sad overtime period. Canada lost, but it was a good game and the teams were really well matched. There was a nasty penalty that Canada got in the third period (I think) and it really was nasty. When I saw the replay it made sense. 

And that’s it. Today was a mostly good day. I’m glad that I got through 1984 finally. It was quite the slog in places, other parts were fine. 

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

February 21, 2026

Saturday - Sunny and warm

I woke up when my alarm went off this morning. F and K were just in the process of leaving. I went downstairs, used the loo and then came back upstairs. I went back to bed for a bit. I got out of bed around 11 am and went downstairs with my towel to take a shower. 

It was a rare treat to be able to take a daytime shower. Japanese people rarely shower in the daytime…I prefer it, but I wouldn’t be sure of privacy when K is around, so…

After my shower I went in to talk to F and we talked about lunch. He wanted Arpeggio which is a nice place, but I suggested the place we like in Fujishima-machi. He liked that idea, so he called the restaurant and made a reservation. They get busy sometimes, so it is often necessary. 

We left the house a few minutes later and drove out to Fujishima-machi. We parked and went in. We both had the same lunch, a ginger pork lunch set. It’s reasonable and very good. 

Lunch was great. On the way back to Tsuruoka we stopped at the post office so I could mail some postcards. Just two this time, I’ve been busy this week!

We went over to Komeda coffee and after a couple of minutes of waiting, we got a table and had coffee. I had decaf, F had regular. 

We came back to the house as F said he was tired. I headed upstairs, he stayed downstairs. I spent a lot of time on my computer so I relaxed and enjoyed that. K got back at her usual time and F and her spent the rest of the afternoon together watching the Olympics. I also worked on finishing up the hat that I loom-knit. I like it!

After 7:30 F and I talked about where to have dinner. I gave him a lot of ideas but we ended up going to Misono. I didn’t mind as we haven’t been there in a while and I like the food. At Misono we both had chicken dishes, I had kara-age and F had the chicken cutlet. He liked mine more than his! I thought they were both nice. I didn’t have a pork dish as we’d had pork at lunch. 

Following our meal at Misono we headed over to McDonalds. I had noticed on an ad that they had a new dish, Creme Brulé Hot Donuts. I mentioned them to F and we went over to McDonald to try them. They were okay. Not my favourite, but fine. We had to order on their stand at the door which was a pain in the butt and neither of us knew what we were doing! We had a drink and our hot donuts, and as usual, I had to drag F out of the place. He starts playing games or watching videos on his phone and he doesn’t want to go. 

Looks like a chocolate egg. It isn't!

We went to a drugstore next. I bought a few things for myself and the house. They have reasonable prices for pasta sauces so I got one type, then F picked up an adult beverage for himself. We paid and then came back to the house. 

F set up the rice cooker for himself and K, I headed upstairs. I started the heater and relaxed. It was a pretty nice day so far.

I watched The Hunting Party at 11 pm. It was fine, not anything wonderful yet. I’m not sure if the show will move beyond catching murderers who escaped the prison that blew up. I think they are trying to do that, but I don’t like “big conspiracy” dramas really. Oh well.

F went to bed around midnight, I’m still up. I’ll be going to bed fairly soon I think. I had a good day. I got a lot of my book —1984— read. There’s a big bit in the middle that is so incredibly boring and political, but then when I slowed down and think about what he was writing I did get most of it. I’m around 84% in so not too much more to go. 

Tomorrow we have a couple of ideas of how to spend the day. We also have a meeting with K’s Care Manager tomorrow afternoon. I’m not really looking forward to that. Sigh. 

So, that’s it for me. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

February 12, 2026

Thursday - Cooler with hail

I woke up this morning, went downstairs and then came back up to the room. I went back to bed and had a nice and long snooze. I overslept a bit, but got up and dressed. 

I went downstairs and checked the mail. I got a postcard and a card for Valentine’s Day. It was nice to get real mail! I grabbed my breakfast and came back upstairs to eat. 

I had a good afternoon. I attended a meeting of a book club. I feel a little sad in a way, I’m not reading any of the book club books…I can’t get hold of them around here and I probably couldn’t afford them anyway. I did talk about the books that I am reading now…1984, The Cat’s Table and After Strike. I tried to read 1984 before when we moved to this house, but I’ve got a digital copy of it now and I’m a bit further than I was before.

I left the meeting at 3:30 and went downstairs to get my lunch. I brought it upstairs and watched the news while I ate. F called around 5:30 and a few minutes later I went downstairs to the kitchen.

Tonight I did pork chops in the air fryer and then some steamed veggies, salad and some kimchi. F had made rice so there was enough food. Oh, K and F also had some niku-man. I couldn’t have them as they had tomato sauce in them. 

I did the dishes afterwards and then came upstairs. Tonight I had a TV night. I watched the first episode of the last season of The Handmaid’s Tale and an episode of The Good Fight. It was good, Diane is fighting back against people trying to get her to leave the firm. 

F didn’t go to bed until quite late, but he’s asleep now. 

Tomorrow I’m planning to go out and see a movie in my favourite cinema. I might go and have lunch first as well. It has been a while since I did that and I miss it. 

Come back later if you like and see if I actually get out of here! Until tomorrow…. 

January 15, 2025

Thursday - Warmish, rainy at night

I woke up this morning at 7:05am. How did I know that? That’s when F’s alarm went off. Where was F? Not in the room! I got up and went downstairs, but F came back to the room before I did. He did have the grace to apologize for not turning off his alarm!

I waited until F left before I went back to bed. I turned off my early alarms and watched a few videos before just falling asleep. I woke up fairly late, but no worries. I got dressed and then went downstairs. I did notice that F’s sister was in the house. Okay then. I used the ‘loo and then went upstairs again. I waited a while and then went downstairs and made my breakfast. I ate upstairs and then got ready to join a video meeting.

I joined a Book Club meeting and it was interesting. I hadn’t read the featured books but we talked about some of the books other people are reading and the one I’m trying again. I’ve got two on the go at the moment, one’s a modern romance (I think, I just started it) and 1984. I tried to read it a few years ago on my computer but I couldn’t get into it and I didn’t really like reading on my computer. My phone, I can get behind that! I do have a paperback version of the novel, but I always have my phone around so….

I left the meeting around 3:30. It was supposed to go until then, I needed to have my lunch and I needed the washroom.  I went downstairs and made my lunch, brought it back up to the room. Oh, yeah, when I was making my lunch, I saw K so I offered to heat up her lunch for her. She said yes and I think she ate it all. That’s good. 

It was after 4 when I came back to the room so I just watched the news, as much as I could handle of it. I ate and then worked on my favourite game site. F called me after 5:15 and said he was on the way back to the house. 

I went downstairs around 6 pm and got busy in the kitchen. Today I made hamburgers from scratch, air-fried some French Fries, steamed some veggies and served it all with a salad. Dinner was good and almost everything disappeared. After dinner, I cleared the table and washed the dishes. 

I finished around 9pm and let F know I was heading upstairs. He finished in the living room too and came up a couple of minutes later. We had a quiet time in the room. We were both watching videos on our devices! After 10pm I put on the next episode of Pluribus and it was quite good. After that, I watched an episode of The Studio which I enjoyed a bit. I know it’s a popular show, but sometimes I just don’t feel I’m in on the joke of that show. 

That’s about it for me. F was a bit late going to bed but I think he’s sleeping finally. I’m tired so I’m going to try and get to bed soon. 

Tomorrow I think I’ll try and do a load or two of laundry and then we’ll see what else I can get up to! Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

January 7, 2026

Wednesday - Warm and Sunny, thunder at night

I managed to get to bed fairly early (for me) last night and finished my book before I went to sleep. It was terrible! There were mistakes in grammar and spelling all through the story and the main character had a condition that the author mentioned on every other page or so. It was monotonous. I also don’t like novels that describe everything in overly complicated ways…this one did. Urgh. Glad I’m done. I was going to read the next in the series, but I’m not going to do that now. I need a book that I enjoy! 

This morning, my alarm woke me up. I got up and went downstairs and then did my usual going back to bed afterwards. It wasn’t terrible and I got up about the same time as yesterday. 

I went downstairs and got my breakfast, I brought it up to the room and ate. While I ate, I watched last night’s episode of Project Runway. Heidi is back which is nice, but they really don’t spend a lot of time on the designers. I liked it when they introduced the designers before the actual competition started. Oh well.

Before lunch, I went downstairs and went out to see the snow situation. Most of the snow had melted from the walkway, but it kept falling off the roof. I swept up a bit of snow there and then some of the edges of the yard. I decided to go back inside, and then closed the door. Then, a bunch more snow fell off the roof! I went out and cleared it away.

Next up, I made my lunch and took it upstairs. Today I watched another episode of The Good Fight. Things have changed! This episode was about 9 months after the last one and one character is now a judge, and the firm has joined with another bigger firm. Hmm. 

I watched part of the news and shake my head at most of it. After a while I just stopped watching. 

F called around 5:30 and said he was on his way. I went downstairs a little later and got set up for making dinner. Tonight I made the stir-fry that has seaweed in it. It’s pretty popular in my house! I added some cabbage and chikuwa too to stretch it out. We had some spiced cabbage as well, and finished the tuna and macaroni salad for this week. We also had some salad, and rice. Dinner was good. Everything disappeared basically! I couldn’t save too much for my lunch tomorrow, that was sad. I made lunch for K of course…but she hasn’t been eating the lunches I leave for her. It’s rather annoying as I hate wasting food. 

After dinner I did the dishes and then did up the burnable garbage too. F did help a little bit so that was good. I went upstairs after that and relaxed for a bit. I went downstairs later to take a shower. It started to thunder when I was about to go in the shower room. I was scared, but did it anyway.

Tonight I watched Wild Cards again and it was fun. It was about a spy who wanted to get married. It isn’t the most intelligent of shows, but sometimes it is fun to look at pretty people!

F was a bit clingy tonight. He actually talked to me for a bit. It was nice, but I couldn’t help wondering what was up with him!

Anyway, that’s about it for me. No idea what I’ll get up to tomorrow. Come back later if you like and find out. Until tomorrow….