December 17, 2015

Thursday - Clear with a bit of rain and maybe snow

A good day.

I got up this morning in time for the last episode of House.  It is the second time I have watched it, but I still don’t quite get it.  Will miss House on my telly though.

Had high plans of exercising, but didn’t.  I fell asleep and couldn’t wake up at all.  I kew that I’d be out later in the day so decided that I would walk it as much as I could.

F came home for lunch and I let him have the kitchen!  I watched 3 episodes of Agents of Shield and then took my shower.  After that I did some of my personal computer stuff and then it was time for the post office.  

I walked there, sent off my package and some cards, and joked with the post office lady about visiting there every day this week.  After I was done, I continued to the closest convenience store to get a quick something.  

I walked back to my apartment and had a very delayed lunch again.  After lunch I got a start on dinner and that’s what I was doing when F came home.

He was tired and in pain again tonight, but seemed happy to see me.  I was quite busy meanwhile.  I made two vegetable dishes, German potatoes and a sautéed eggplant dish.  I roasted some chicken in the toaster oven too, and we had a salad as well.  Everything was rather nice and we both enjoyed our meal.  F was quite complimentary about it.  

Afterwards I “let” F do the dishes.  If he hadn’t left dishes from lunchtime again, I most likely would have done them myself, but he did.  I did do some dishes later on as I found some he didn’t do.  

He went to bed fairly early but I’m still up.  I will be heading off to sleep soon though. We are forecast to have snow tonight so I’m a tad nervous about what the roads will be like tomorrow and if I can go out if I want.  

Come back later and find out what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

February 27, 2015

Friday - Snowy, rainy and cold

A good day.

I got up this morning and watched the new show on D-Life.  It’s okay I guess.  I had a quiet morning and was even able to do a bit of reading on my book.  I tried a new morning cereal today, a muesli.  It was quite nice.  

In the afternoon I took a shower, watched a bit of a movie and generally had a good time.  I even packed a bit of my suitcase. Later on, F called to say he was going to his mother’s then he came home.  

I started dinner after F said he was on the way home.  It was very simple today.  We had boiled brussels sprouts, tofu & chicken burgers, salad and then leftover Swiss chard and chicken from last night.  It was good! 

After dinner I looked for a specific item of clothing.  I finally found it, but decided that it needed some repairs.  I brought it out to the living room and then F and I decided to go out for a “date”. 

We were going to go to Mr. Donut but there was no parking there, so we ended up at Mosburger.  I had a dessert and F had a fish burger.  We chatted for a few minutes and then came home again.  I did my sewing and watched a little TV.  When 11 came along I went over to the couch for Pretty Little Liars, but F went to bed.  I worked on my bobbin knitting for a bit.

At the moment I’m now watching Episodes.  WOWOW has a few episodes on back to back.  I won’t be able to watch them all as I have to get some sleep, but it is a terrific and funny show.

Tomorrow I need to finish getting ready for my trip.  I will also finish up my decluttering.  I haven’t written about it, but so far in February I have been throwing things out that are around my computer desk.  The area is looking much better, although it still isn’t tidy.  I may start with another room next month, I’m not sure yet.  I’m not sure if I’ll be able to update tomorrow night as I’m going to have an early morning on Sunday.  If not, I’ll be back on Monday night! Until tomorrow?

February 26, 2015

Thursday - Clear, then rainy at night

An oddish day.

I got up quite early this morning and came through to the living room for my morning telly.  I made myself a pot of tea and watched TV, surfed the internet and even did some of my reading.  I’m quite enjoying Middlemarch.  

F came home for a bit and acted really strangely.  He was looking for medicine but didn’t have any.  He ended up taking time off work in the morning to go to the doctor.  After that, he came home again.  I wasn’t exactly happy to see him because he was quite prickly.  I had just started vacuuming the apartment when he came in so I quit.  He had a headache so I didn’t want to make it worse.  

He ate lunch and then went back to work.  I finished vacuuming and then did a few things around my computer.  I even did a load of laundry!  

In the evening I looked up some cooking methods for the veggies I was going to do and then F came home.  He barely said hello to me and took off his work clothes and went to bed.  I checked on him and he said he’d have dinner with me, so I got on with cooking.

Tonight I did sauteed swiss chard with parmesan and a herb chicken.  We had a salad to go with it too.  I cooked and it took a bit of prep, but when I asked F if he’d like some dinner he said he wouldn’t.  He went back to sleep and I ate.  The swiss chard was amazing and the chicken was pretty good too.  I ate, cleaned up and washed up too.  

I watched my evening telly and during Once Upon a Time I started a new project.  Or, actually, started something to finish off another project.  One of the little bags I made ages ago needs a long shoulder strap.  The method of making the straps that the pattern uses is long and tedious and I hated it!  Yesterday in the mall, I bought myself a little bobbin knitter thingy and thought I should try and make the strap with that.  I have done a little bit with it.  It’s tricky to get the tension right.  My first attempt was too tight, so I took it back.  I may have to do a couple and twist them, or three and plait them, I’ll have to see how it goes.

F got up after midnight and is still up.  The rain started up too.  He tells me that we are supposed to get 30 cm of snow tomorrow.  I am so not impressed!  I’m off on a big trip on Sunday and I don’t want to take my snowboots!  

Anyway, that is about it for me.  Tomorrow I may start packing my suitcase and deciding what fits me well enough to wear. So many things are too baggy at the moment!  I’ll talk to you tomorrow night.  Until then….

February 25, 2015

Wednesday - Cloudy, then sunny

A good day.  

I got up early this morning.  I did.  I got up, looked around the living room, checked email quickly and got dressed.  I went out a little bit after 9 am.  I went to Machi-kine to see (Don’t hate me) Fifty Shades of Grey(Don’t hate me).  It was beautiful to look at, I mean the gorgeous Vancouver exteriors, and Jamie Dornan isn’t bad either, but overall….I’m so glad I didn’t read the books!  Two hours and it was over!  At the end I was thinking, “Shouldn’t this be wrapping up soon?” and, luckily, it did!  My popcorn and drink were great.  I’m not sure if popcorn will catch on as a breakfast food, but it is a cereal after all! 

After the movie I left the theatre and detoured into the big shrine on the corner near the post office.  As I went in, I realized that it was 30 years since my mother died.  I spent a bit of time at the shrine and felt that my mother would have appreciated the gesture.  It was peaceful in there as I was the only person around and afterwards I felt at peace, and grateful for the time that we had her in our lives.

I biked over to the mall next.  I checked out the restaurant upstairs to see what their specials were. One of them was a pasta I could eat, so I went in and had lunch.  I had chicken and mushroom cream pasta.  It came with a non-alcoholic cocktail, salad, soup, bun and coffee (in my case tea).  It was quite nice.  I really enjoyed the pasta.

After lunch I visited the 100 yen shop and got a few things, then checked out the grocery store downstairs.  I didn’t buy anything there.  I decided to come home afterwards, rather than stop into the coffee shop.  I biked home.

At home I did a bit of bike maintenance and then got caught up on my TV and email.  It was quite relaxing. 

F came home a bit late today and we thought about where to go for dinner.  I suggested a few places, but we finally decided on Bikkuri Donkey!! We went and had an okay meal.  I was miffed because I couldn’t have the meal type I wanted, I had to have the one with rice.  They didn’t have any of the larger sized meat patties.  That didn’t bother us, but I wanted the non-rice dishes.  

We hit up the drug store for a few things, then the grocery store.  I’m going to be cooking for the next couple of nights again.  

When we came home, I watched my Wednesday shows, Once Upon a Time, CSI and Scandal.  Of course, I also caught the re-broadcasts of House and Bones. I did a bit more finishing work on my blanket...still a long way to go.  

I hope to do a bit of tidying up tomorrow and maybe some getting ready for my trip!  Come back soon and see what I get up to!  Until tomorrow….

February 24, 2015

Tuesday - Cloudy

A good day.

I overslept this morning. Oops.  When F got up for work I closed the bedroom door because he was using the light in the living room and it woke me up.  When I realized that my alarms weren’t going off anymore I got up and checked the time…Late!

I watched some of my TV and had breakfast and a cup of orzo.  That was nice.  In the afternoon I took a shower and then did laundry.  I did about 3 loads, but it was needed.  F even came home for a little bit but I was busy and watching my recording of Project Runway.

He left again, I did more laundry and then I had lunch.  Today I had  toast with leftover chicken and broccoli on it.  It was so very nice! 

After lunch I scanned my cards.  I didn’t take them to the post office but I asked F to take them later.  I started to get things ready for dinner.  I washed the dishes and then I chopped up an onion.  

F came home a little later, but I sent him out almost immediately in order to buy kerosene and mail my cards! He left and was back a few minutes later.  

I cooked dinner.  It was a vegetable-pork stir-fry so it came together very quickly.  It was good too.  After our meal, F had a nap because his shoulder was bothering him.  I did the dishes because I’m very nice :-)

We had a quiet evening.  F got up, but went back to bed a bit later.  Then got up again.  I watched some TV, and did a bit of finishing on my blanket.  It was a pretty nice day.  Tomorrow it depends on the weather, but I might go out in the morning, I’m not really sure.  We don’t have much for me to eat for lunch, so I’m thinking I’ll go out in the morning and stay out for lunch.  I hope that works!  Come back and find out what I get up to. Until tomorrow then!

February 23, 2015

Monday - Cloudy then rainy

A good day.

I got up before 9 this morning and went into the couch.  I watched/snoozed through some of the pre-Oscar events on TV, then finally settled in to watch.  It was fun this year.  I had 3 people watching with me in Canada and Japan, so it was nice.  There weren’t to many strange things happening for a change which made it a little boring in a way.  Neil Patrick Harris was a good host, but almost too uncontroversial!

Some of the highlights for me were Lady Gaga singing, Graham Moore’s speech about staying weird, J.K. Simmons entreating kids to call home and not text.  Oh, and surprisingly, Patricia Arquette’s speech about equality for wages.  

The awards went on till quite late, around 2 pm.  When it was over I thanked my friends and then shut down my computer.  I had a huge headache so I decided to go out and have lunch.  I needed to run some errands at the same time so it was a good chance to get out.  

I did a little bit of money swapping between accounts, then had a quick lunch.  I had a tofu burger kind of thing.  It had meat in it I’m sure, but also some tofu. I liked it more than I thought I would.  After lunch I went off to the drugstore then did a quick trip round the craft show.  I didn’t buy anything there.  After that, I just came home.

F was a little late tonight, but not that much.  I asked him to bring home more asparagus, which he did.  I made baked asparagus with parmesan which was a Simply Recipes blog find. F made a Japanese motsu dish that was okay.  Of course we got in each other’s way all the time.  I cooked the chicken, set the table and we had a very nice meal.  The asparagus was amazing and it all disappeared!  

F did the dishes and then we had a quiet evening in.  I watched the Oscars again and tried to get F to watch the good bits, but he wasn’t too interested.  He took a bath and I did some postcrossing this evening too.  I managed to write up quite a few cards.  Yay for that.  

So, basically, today was a good day.  Tomorrow I’ll hopefully do a bit of laundry so I can take some clean clothes with me on my trip!  I’m also cooking dinner tomorrow night.  Wish me luck with that.  I have to go, until tomorrow…. 

February 22, 2015

Sunday - Cloudy and a bit rainy

A good day.

Both F and I stayed up late last night, so he wasn’t able to get up this morning and take his dog for a walk.  His mother managed so that was good.  I got up around 11, checked email and then went back to bed. I was tired and not feeling too great.  Although I set my alarm, I overslept a bit.  

When I got up and got dressed, we talked about where to go for lunch.  F wanted to go to Fujishima to the drive-in restaurant.  We went there and it was fine.  I had a stirfried veggie set meal, F had a ramen set. I think I got the best of the deal.  

After lunch we drove into Amarume and looked for a new restaurant.  We found it right by the station and did a little looking around.  They had a souvenir shop and a little coffee/tea bar.  We had a hot drink and an apple danish that was quite nice.  After that, a quick visit to the train station and then back home.  F had to take his dog out after all.

When F came home, we talked about going out for dinner.  I suggested the Komagi Park buffet with a back up of F’s favourite fish shop.  We got to the buffet, but tonight it was booked up so we couldn’t go there.  We were driving to the restaurant when F asked if I’d rather go to Simon, a French-Japanese fusion place and of course the answer was yes!  

We were able to go in and get seated right away. The meat course had tomato sauce on it, so I decided to have fish tonight and then F followed suit.  We had a lovely meal with trout and flatfish in a brown butter sauce plus salads and soup. It was very nice.  

After dinner, we picked up a few groceries and then headed home.  We watched a bit of TV and then I went over to the couch for Downton Abbey.  While I watched, I did some of the finishing on my blanket.  I switched over to Project Runway Allstars when Downton Abbey finished.  

And basically that was my day.  It was quite nice.  F and I got along well, we had some nice food, and relaxed a bit.  Hurray for that.  Tomorrow though…it is the Academy Awards show and I’ll be glued to my TV for that. I’ll also be Facebooking the show if anyone is interested in following along.  Until tomorrow then….

February 21, 2015

Saturday - Clear and sunny, bit cool

A good day.  

I got up this morning and took a shower.  I waited for F to come home, but I was so hungry I had a bit of breakfast.  Afterwards, he arrived and we decided to go out.  He chose the restaurant from our book of local places and off we went. The book said it was a darts and billiard bar, and it was.  It also served lunches.  We both had pasta, just different types.  I had bacon and asparagus pepperoncino, F had carbonara.  They came with a soft drink, onion rings and a small salad.  It was quite nice.  However, we both decided we probably wouldn’t go there again.  F was bothered by the smoky smell in the place, I was bothered by the lack of tables.  We were perched on bar stools.  However, I might go again if I was ever in the neighbourhood at lunchtime.

We went off to McDonalds for something hot to drink, then to Yamaya for some foreign foods.  We got some soft drinks and a few bits and bobs for the kitchen.  Then we came home.  We relaxed for a while and then F went off to walk his dog.  

When F came back, we decided where to go for dinner.  This time I listed off a few places and we decided to go for curry to the Indian-Nepali place.  We were the only customers there, but had a good meal.  I had sag chicken curry, F had chicken curry.  I didn’t have the rice that came with it, but I didn’t cancel my dessert.  Shocker there!  It was good, but the waitress dropped a few things when she tried to take away our plates.  The staff apologized when we left, but honestly, nothing hit me and it was an accident anyway!

We drove out to Mikawa and went to the theatre right away. We had about 30 minutes before our movie started, so we bought our tickets and then waited for a bit before we got our popcorn.  We went to see American Sniper tonight.  It was a well made film with good performances, but I honestly had a debate with myself a few minutes into it about whether I should walk out or not.  I didn’t, but as I told F afterwards, I don’t need to see it again.  Clint Eastwood is a good director and I think this is a good film, but I didn’t really like it.  

F and I came home via the grocery store.  He wants to do some cooking, and surprise, surprise there was finally GREEK YOGURT in the shop!  Yay!  I’m so glad. I’ve been searching for it for years.  It only comes in tiny little containers though, but it is a start.

We came home and I watched a bit of the Brit Awards, which was actually a repeat from ages ago and then Miss Marple.  It was a pretty cool episode actually.  Amongst the cast was one very good looking young man with an interesting voice.  It turned out to be Richard Armitage, also known these days as Thorin Oakenshield from The Hobbit movies.  

I spent a few minutes trying to find us a glamorous, exciting flight to somewhere in the world, but F wasn’t co-operating.  When I said to name a place he’d like to go, he chose my hometown.  NO! I did find us a flight there for not too much, but probably more than he’d like to pay!  I then tried out for Paris.  We could get a flight from Haneda to Paris….for not too much.  Of course, we’d have to sleep under a bridge somewhere, but at least it would be a Parisian bridge!

That’s about it for me.  I’m not sure what we’ll do tomorrow.  We might see another movie, but I’m rooting for karaoke!  Find out what we do next entry. Until tomorrow….

February 20, 2015

Friday - Clear and sunny. 

A good day.  

I got up on time, had a very nice morning at home too.  I watched some TV and then just as I was getting ready to make the bed, had a call from my hubby to say he was on his way home for lunch.  

After he left, I scanned some cards and got myself ready to go out.  As I was getting ready, the doorbell rang.  F had got a delivery.  I paid for it for him and signed for it too.  

I biked off to the post office.  I was able to do everything fairly easily.  I sent off my old passport so hopefully I’ll be able to get my lovely new passport soon.  Yay.  I came home again and had a spot of lunch.  It was late, but I needed it.  

I got the table ready for dinner and started to prepare dinner.  I made some quick soup with some dried veggies I have and also got the broccoli ready to cook.  When F came home I was able to start dinner fairly quickly.  It all came together fast.  We had vegetable noodle soup, garlic pork, steamed broccoli, lettuce and leftover couscous.  Yum. F gave dinner great reviews and did the dishes afterwards.  

He finally figured out how to “rip” a cd and for a while we were listening to Glenn Gould playing Bach. It was lovely.  F kept apologizing, but since I was writing at the time, I couldn’t have asked for anything better for me!  I worked on my Journal column and have got it almost ready to go.  Another read through or two and it should be good.  

F put on Ender’s Game and I ended up watching it.  I rather liked it.  F went to bed on it though.  He couldn’t stay awake any longer. Poor dear.  I went over to the couch for my silly show (Pretty Little Liars) and finished darning in the ends of my blanket.  I still have a bit of work to do on it, but I’m quite proud of it.  

And that was my day.  I’m not sure what will go on tomorrow, I’m hoping that it’ll be fun and will include a movie, but I can’t say for sure. Until tomorrow then….

February 19, 2015

Thursday - Rainy then clear

A good day.

I got up this morning quite early, snoozed on the couch for a few minutes, but then woke up and watched my show.  Yay.  I didn’t oversleep today.  I had a nice quiet morning.  I read a chapter of my book, read my blog and had breakfast.  The usual.  

In the afternoon I did a couple of loads of laundry finally and debated going out to the post office or not.  I decided not today.  I also did something that I haven’t done in ages, I shredded a bag of my stuff.  Things like envelopes with my name on them, old computer printouts, you get the idea.  It took a while, but was quite satisfying!  

In the later part of the afternoon, I washed the dishes and got the table ready for dinner.  I took out the grill and washed that too. Then I took a break for a bit.

F came home and for a change he prepared for dinner.  When he was ready, we had a lovely meal of yakiniku and vegetables.  Afterwards he said how nice it was to have so many vegetables with the meal and I pointed out that when we go to yakiniku I try to order more vegetables…I get salad sometimes, and usually egg soup, which has a lot of veggies.  We sometimes order more veggies too.  I’m not sure if he believes me or not!

I did the dishes and then settled in at my computer for a couple of TV programmes and a little postcrossing.  F was looking for his wallet and decided to go over to his mother’s to see if he left it there.  He came back a little while later, but hadn’t found it.  Sigh.  Then he misplaced his phone.  I don’t know, what should I do to make him take care of his stuff?  Luckily the phone turned up, but the wallet still hasn’t.

F went to bed rather early, so I sat on the couch and darned in some ends during Once Upon a Time. That was good.  I still have a ways to go as I’m trying to sew some of the squares together with the ends.  I should probably do it separately.

And that was my day.  I did have a couple of long lost postcrossings come through today.  One was a card that I thought was a goner as the person hadn’t been on postcrossing forever…he registered it today.  The other was a little bit sad, the person had quit postcrossing so Postcrossing registered the card for me.  The last one was also a very long ago card.  

Tomorrow I’ll go out to mail my postcards and my passport, and I’m hoping to maybe go and have some tea somewhere, but I still haven’t finished my column, so I might not.  

That’s it for me, until tomorrow….

February 18, 2015

Wednesday - Rainy but warmish

A good day.

I woke up early this morning so I got up and turned on the heater.  Then, I made myself comfortable on the couch.  A little too comfortable since I didn’t wake up again until after 10.  Oh no!  I woke up and then did some of my reading.  I managed to get another chapter of Middlemarch done.

I had a quiet morning and early afternoon.  I did most of my usual things, I did have an early shower before going to watch Agents of Shield.  That show has surprised me a bit.  The first few episodes were okay and then it gradually picked up the pace.  I really enjoyed it. I loved the characters and I can’t wait to see what’ll happen next year.  I hope the next season can keep it going. 

I went off to the post office today to get my money order and to mail some postcards.  I managed to get the money order, but I wasn’t sure how to fill it in, so I didn’t send it today.  I have to send it either tomorrow or Friday.  

I came home and had lunch and watched a bit of TV. I had lunch too, a mix of pasta and leftovers from yesterday. 

When F came home, we decided where to go for dinner and decided on one place.  We drove there, but it was closed.  We ended up going to Junior Paper Moon, the place my friend and I went for my birthday lunch.  We both had pasta, just different sorts.  I had chicken cream pasta, which was nice but a bit small.  I had the Ladies set, which came with salad and a special dessert.  I got a sampler with 7 or 8 different desserts on it.  It was quite interesting.  Some of the cakes were a little dry, not sure if they were old or supposed to be that way.  They were nice though.

We bought a few groceries in the nearby grocery store.  F requested yakiniku for tomorrow night.  He meant to go out for it, but I thought having it at home would be so much cheaper!  On Friday it’ll likely be garlic pork and some veggies.  

We came home and F put the groceries away.  I went over to the couch to finish joining all the squares of my baby blanket.  I still have a few ends to darn in, but it looks so nice!  I hope to do a sort of edging for it and I also want to make some of the joins a little stronger.  I did a join as you go thing and it looks good, but I’m worried about little fingers getting caught in them.  This blanket had been underway for a bit and I just love it!  In fact, I really don’t want to give it away unless it is to the right person who will really appreciate it!

So that’s about it for me.  Tomorrow I might go to the post office, or I might stay home and work on my column.  I’ve started it at least, but it still needs a lot of work.  Wish me luck with that.  Until tomorrow….

February 17, 2015

Tuesday - Sunny and warmish

A good day.

I woke up late this morning and discovered that there had been an earthquake this morning near Iwate.  There was a tsunami warning, but I don’t think anything happened with it. I took my reading time as usual and this time I re-started the chapter.  It was a good move and things made so much more sense.  I was able to read and understand it today.  

I had my usual quiet morning, with the exception of not seeing my husband.  He never did come by today.  I enjoyed myself, got to watch Agents of Shield and a few other things.  Today WOWOW ran Before Sunset so I was able to enjoy that one too.  

F called to say he was coming home a bit later, so I went into the kitchen and got things ready for us.  I set the table and started to prep some veggies.  When F arrived, I got down to the business of cooking.  Today we had miso pork, stir-fried veggies and couscous with salad.  It was rather nice.  

F did the dishes tonight and and watched rather a lot of bad J-TV.  I ignored it as much as I could.  I went over to the couch for Criminal Minds and did some crochet.  Unfortunately, I got to the end and realized that I’d made a big mistake and had to take it all back!  Oh no.  I did finish joining one square at least.  I also wrote a thank you letter tonight. 

And that’s about it for my night.  I got my passport application just about ready to go. I hope to take it to the post office tomorrow.  I’m not sure what else I’ll get up to.  Wish me luck with it all.  Until tomorrow!

February 16, 2015

Monday - Clear and sunny, warm

A good day.

I got up this morning and had a basically quiet time of it.  F popped in for a few minutes to get something, but was on his way again soon.  I tried to read more of Middlemarch, but I wasn’t into it this morning and abandoned it in favour of the newspaper.  I’ll try again tomorrow.  

I took a shower and tried to watch Agents of Shield, but it wasn’t on the TV.  Sigh.  I watched bits and pieces of stuff, from “live” TV and from the DVR.  In the afternoon I prepared a couple of packages to go out.  One was a bookmooch, the other for a lady in my women’s group.  Around 4 I ran them off to the post office.  Or, should I say, I biked them off?  I rode my bicycle this afternoon. I think it was the first time this year.  Yay for me.  

I came home and then washed the dishes.  I got the table set and dinner pre-started.  I took out the pot, filled it with water, that kind of thing.  F came home a bit late tonight.  I didn’t mind too much. I had fortuitously found Before Sunrise on cable, so re-watched it. It was wonderful, and also quite bittersweet, in terms of what I know will happen to the two along the way.  Casablanca came on just as F came home.  When dinner was ready I turned it off.  Sigh.  

We had linguini Alfredo tonight, plus smoked duck breast and a side salad each.  It was quite nice really.  I certainly enjoyed it.  Immediately after dinner, F disappeared to the bedroom and there he stayed for most of the night.  I was a tad perturbed as it was his turn to do the dishes, but decided if he was that tired, I’d probably be better off doing them now, than I would be by waiting for him.  Luckily there wasn’t that much to do so I got them done quickly.

I checked the TV listings and found that Out of Africa was going to be on in a few minutes.  I had never seen it, so decided that since it looked like F was going to be AWOL for the night, I would watch it.  I really enjoyed it.  Meryl Streep was amazing and Redford was pretty okay too!  

The kerosene in the heater ran out about 20 minutes before the movie did, so I just left it!  I didn’t want to miss anything.  After the movie, I filled it up again, and surprise, surprise, F made a brief appearance.  He’s back in bed asleep now.  

I had a good evening.  I wrote two postcards, watched a movie I’ve never seen before and washed the dishes.  Hurray for me.  Not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  Come on back and find out.  Until tomorrow night….

February 15, 2015

Sunday -Snowy and a bit cold

A good day.  

I slept in again today, but this time it was on purpose.  F and I had gone to bed very, very late last night.  F didn’t sleep, he got up within an hour and when I made a trip down the hall he was sitting on the couch playing with his computer.  I felt quite bad for him.  

I got up to an empty apartment and checked email and such.  I was still relaxing when F came home.  He had taken his mother over to see her brother’s family and her mother.  Things are not looking so great there, sad to say.

We went out for lunch to a place near the shopping centre Voice.  It had ramen and curry on its lunch menu. F had ramen and I had vegetable curry.  It was quite interesting.  There were all kinds of stir-fried vegetables on my curry, including some French fries.  I really enjoyed the curry, and the drink bar.  They had real Twinings tea there, so I enjoyed a nice cuppa after my meal.  

We came home to have a bit of a nap after our meal.  F was tired and fell asleep on the couch.  I was tired too, changed back into my pyjamas and went to bed.  A couple of hours later, F left to take care of his dog again, and I slept more.  I didn’t wake up until after 7 pm.  That was a bit much, even for me!  I got up.

For dinner, we decided to go to a local restaurant, Aki, for okonomiyaki.  It was nice, and we hadn’t been there in ages.  We had one with tomato and udon, and one with cheese and yakisoba. 

After dinner we went over to the grocery shop and we bought food for the next couple of nights.  Tomorrow night will be pasta, Tuesday, miso pork.  I think things should be rather nice really.

Tonight we watched a bit of TV and then at 11 I went over to the couch for some crochet.  I have now joined 6 of the 9 blocks of my blanket and it looks lovely.  Only 3 more to join and then I’ll have to edge it.  Hurray for me!

Tomorrow F is back at work and I’m back to my usual routine I think.  I hope!  I do have to go to the post office to mail some things off tomorrow.  Wish me luck with that!

That’s it for me today.  Until tomorrow….

February 14, 2015

Saturday - Snowy and cool

A good day!

I woke up this morning with a start.  I had overslept my alarms and felt a presence in the apartment.  It was F, sitting on the couch in the living room.  Yikes!  I didn’t think he’d be back yet.  I got up and then chatted with my hubby for a while.  He left to take his mother out for lunch and I took a shower and then dried my hair afterwards.

When F came back we went out for dinner.  We were going to try one restaurant that we went to recently, but it was booked for the afternoon.  Instead, we tried a coffee shop that was in the restaurant magazine.  It was cold and very quiet in there, it looked like it was a one person operation.  Anyway, the food was excellent!  I had a pot-au-feu and F had a mixed fry lunch.  Very nice.  If it hadn’t been really cold in there I would really have enjoyed myself there.  

After lunch, F picked up some money and we went to the photographers.  We went in and asked about having my passport photos taken.  They did them then and there.  It was a bit expensive, but they are done now.  Whew!

The next thing up was to go to the electronics store.  We decided last night to get me a new printer and today we followed up on it.  F bought me a really nice one, a beige colour that has wifi and prints and scans.  It’s great.  He brought me home, helped bring the box into the apartment, and then left to go over to his mother’s.

While he was gone, I cleaned my printer up.  It was in good shape but was a bit dusty.  Then, I carried it over to the place that F wanted it. Next, I took mine out of the box and carried it to my area.  I was just starting to set things up when F came home again.  He helped me set things up and between me and the cd-rom that come with the printer, I got things working.  Yay!  Then, I had to get F’s printer working too.  I had to download a few things to get it to work, but it finally worked.  Yay me.

It was a bit past our dinner time, so we left.  We went to Cocos and had a good meal.  I had the chicken confit again and F had seafood paella.  We shared the Valentines Day Mud Pie and then came home.  

At home we’ve had a quiet-ish evening.  We talked about some quite serious family stuff, but it was good that F actually told me about it.  I often feel that he doesn’t share family stuff with me.  Anyway, it is late and we should be getting some sleep soon.  Tomorrow I don’t have any plans yet.  F has to go and help his mother and then he’s not sure what will go on afterwards.  That’s about it for me.  Until tomorrow….

February 13, 2015

Friday - Cold and snowy

A good day.

I got up a little late this morning, but caught up with my schedule and had a usual kind of morning.  Today, F came for lunch.  It was nice to see him, but I’m not sure why he comes this far for lunch!

In the afternoon I watched some of the TV that I taped while we were away, plus some on live TV too.  

F came home around 6:30 and I was already working on dinner.  Tonight we had teriyaki chicken, salad and stirfried brussel sprouts, along with leftover toad-in-the- hole and gravy.  It was pretty nice.  F seemed to really like it.

Tonight, since there wasn’t much on TV for a while I suggested watching a DVD.  We ended up watching Burke and Hare.  It was odd.  I laughed a lot at it because I just got the humour of the film.  It had Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Tom Wilkinson, and Ronnie Corbett amongst others in it.  I wouldn’t recommend it for most people honestly, I don’t think F liked it much.  

That’s really about it for the night.  It was a quiet day.  We do have a couple of things planned for tomorrow.  I’d like to go and get my passport photos taken and then F and I may go to an electronic shop and look at printer/scanners.  I just realized tonight that I could give my printer to F as he is running a lower system on his computer than I am.  My printer/scanner works really well, it is just the system has moved too far away from it now.  I spent almost an afternoon trying to make it work, but it wouldn’t.  

Come back tomorrow night and see what we get up to! Until tomorrow….

February 12, 2015

Thursday - Rainy and snowy

A good day.

I woke up early this morning, on my first alarm.  I got up, snoozed on the couch, but did wake up a bit later and read my blog.  I got the first chapter of Middlemarch read during my reading time and then I had some tea and breakfast.

I had a very quiet day.  F didn’t come home from work today for lunch, so I had a quiet afternoon. I did do something very silly though.  I managed to erase the list of new members for the group that I moderate.  I had to go through many old messages to  rebuild the list.  It was an accident, I double clicked my mouse and Yahoo seemed to think that was an approval on my part.  No, it wasn’t.  The good thing is that I did it in February, rather than September or something.  The list is long, but would be much longer then.

I had a snazzy dinner planned so I prepped the batter early and got my mental ducks in order so to speak.  I planned out what I was going to do, read through my recipe and a few others and then left it for later.  

I had a late, late lunch today but it was okay. It was basically some instant pasta, but I quite liked it.  F called to say he was going to his mother’s so I asked him if he would call me when he was on the way home.  I set a timer for part of the time and vowed that I’d start pre-heating the oven then.  F called me before my timer went off.  

Tonight I made toad in the hole and it was yummy.  I made it last year and a woman in a foodie group I belong to announced that she made it this week, so I wanted to as well.  I used my new cake pan but I think it might leak a bit.  We had toad in the hole with onion gravy (I faked it by adding caramelized onions to regular gravy), salad and sauteed snow peas.  It was nice!  There was oodles of batter left, so I made up a few individual ones and baked them too.  They’re in the fridge.  I don’t suppose they’ll be as nice tomorrow, but I was too full to eat them tonight.

The rest of the evening I spent rebuilding that list, then I finished darning in ends on my afghan.  I tried to join them but realized that I hadn’t done the edging bit first!  I had planned to do some Postcrossings as I don’t have that many travelling cards at the moment, but I didn’t have time.  I’ll have to try and send some next week.  Fingers crossed that I can.

Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’ll get up to.  I should start my column for the next journal.  I should also do a bit of laundry and I’ll be cooking dinner tomorrow night too.  What an exciting life I have!  Got to go. Until tomorrow….

February 11, 2015

Wednesday - Rainy and a little snowy

A good day!

Sorry about my absence last night.  It wasn’t really planned.  Since today was a holiday, my husband asked me if I’d like to go on a mini-trip and I said yes.  There you go. 

This morning we drove into Sakata and had lunch.  That wasn’t quite as easy as it sounds because we had to find a place that was open.  We had bought a magazine with many local restaurants in it and the first two that we went to were both closed today.  Oh no!  The third restaurant was really hard to find.  They had their name up on the window, but the letters were about 3cm high.  Pretty hard to read from a moving vehicle.  Anyway, we found a place and went there.  F had dry curry, which came with (get this!) rice, couscous AND mashed potato.  I mean…3 starches?  The mind boggles!  He liked it, but doesn’t really like couscous.  I had Singapore chicken rice.  It was steamed chicken with some kind of really mild sauce and a cup of long onion soup.  I liked mine, but really thought it would have a bit of zing!  We also had some of their special drinks there.  F had some kind of sake leavings drink and I had a houji-cha latte.  Mine was fab.  

While we were at the restaurant, I texted a friend to see if she’d like to meet up for a drink at the new Starbucks in the city.  She would, but it would a couple of hours.  That wasn’t too bad.  F and I decided to go to the Aeon Mall in Sakata to do a little window shopping.  We bought some DVDs for cheap in a hardware store.  I went to the wool department and didn’t buy anything.  I also priced out new printer/scanners.  It’s annoying that I can buy a new printer/scanner for cheaper than a scanner by itself.  

We went to Starbucks and were able to get a table in the far corner.  It was quite a good one.  F went to get our drinks and a few minutes later my friend and her son came in.  He was allowed to come and sit beside me and we amused each other for a few minutes.  We all spent an hour together, but it was time to get on our way after that.

We started to drive home.  F was going to stop at the big mall, but we decided not to go because we were both feeling like we might have colds.  Our noses started running this morning and it’s quite annoying!  Back in Tsuruoka, we picked up some kerosene and then came home.  

I put on the heater, turned the water back on and waited for the apartment to warm up.  It took a long time.  F and I checked email and unpacked some of our stuff so that we could relax.  Soon, he went over to his mother’s house to check on her and walk the dog.  

When he came back, we talked about going to dinner.  I suggested using the new magazine again, and I found a place that looked interesting.  We drove off there and found a very new cafe.  It’s very nice inside.  The only downside for me is that they only have 3 dishes on their menu. They have chicken curry and rice, pasta with meat sauce and ginger pork.  We had the chicken curry, which was nice and had a bit of a kick to it.  It came with soup and salad, dessert and then for 200 yen extra coffee or tea.  We had tea and it was lovely.  We’ll probably go back for the tea/coffee aspect, and to see if they change up their menu.  The outside of the place doesn’t have any lights, so if I was going to give them advice, I’d say put some lights up!  I thought they were closed when we arrived!

We bought some groceries at the store.  On one of the next two nights I’m going to make toad in the hole, so I’m looking forward to that!  I also bought brussel sprouts and snow peas.  I’ll be a cooking fool.  

We watched a bit of TV tonight, I darned some of the ends in from my granny square blanket and then did the garbage up for F to take out tomorrow morning.  

It was a lovely day.  It was so nice not to fight with F, and to try some new restaurants! 

That’s it for me.  Until tomorrow….

February 9, 2015

Monday - Cold and Snowy

A good day.

I got up this morning and it was very cold in our apartment.  The weather has taken a turn for the worse all of a sudden.  There’s a little snow outside and temperatures are lower than they have been for a bit.  I think we’ve been spoiled!

I made myself some tea and checked out my computer. I did a few things on line and then at 10:00 I settled in for a read.  I read the rest of my novel and finally finished it.  Hurray for that! I finished a Japanese novel (in English of course) called Snow Country.  I didn’t like it and I’m glad that I’m done!  The author may have won the Nobel Prize but this book left me cold.  I read a bit of the Middlemarch introduction after I finished Snow Country. 

Breakfast and the usual things happened.  Around 12 I took a shower.  I expected F would come home, so when I finished I even turned on the kettle for him, but he was a no-show.  Poor guy.  

In the afternoon I wrote a couple more postcards and then planned on scanning them.  One problem…my scanner doesn’t work anymore.  I updated my operating system yesterday and my scanner isn’t supported now.  It wasn’t when I got this new computer either, but I downloaded some software and got it to run.  I tried and tried, but it didn’t work.  Sigh.  

F popped in on his way to his mother’s and I asked if I could try his scanner.  He told me it wasn’t working, but I could try it if I wanted to.  I did, and it worked just fine!  I downloaded a little software to run the printer/scanner and ta dah!  Scans.  Of course, it was now too late to run things to the post office, so I have to go tomorrow.

While he was gone, I got set up for dinner.  I cleared and set the table, and started the water boiling for pasta. When F called to say that he was on his way home, I put the pasta in the pot and started making the sauce.  I didn’t have to do much.  I was just adding some shrimp to the alfredo sauce, so it wasn’t difficult.  

F arrived home with the salad I’d asked for and we were able to eat within 10 minutes.  How’s that for service?  F changed out of his work clothes and into his pyjamas when he came home, so I knew that he was tired.  I gave him the night off from the dishes too.  There wasn’t that much, and sometimes I feel like being nice!

We had a good night.  F watched a bunch of noisy Japanese TV while I worked on my passport application.  I have to apply for a new one as it runs out this year.  The new forms are easier, but the price is way up.  BOO.  

F took a bath and I went over to the couch for a show and some crochet.  I now have all the small squares made into big squares of 4.  My next project is to darn in all the ends.  I think it’ll go fairly quickly.

I came back to my computer to do a little bit of internet stuff and of course write my blog.  I’ve been here for a while and I need to get to bed soon.  That’s it for me then.  Until tomorrow! 

February 8, 2015

 Sunday - Rainy and cold.

A good day.

I got up late this morning, but I went to bed very, very late last night. I was having an interesting dream in bed this morning. I really didn't want to get up. I did get up and I got dressed. F and I discussed where to go for lunch, and he chose his fish restaurant. It is a good restaurant so I went along with his choice. 

We were able to get a seat quickly at the restaurant and we ordered. I had salmon and F had dish of fish that he kept describing to me as being quote “a fish with a very big eye.” He mentioned the very big eye about five times and each time it sounded more disgusting. I decided not to order the fish with a very big eye, instead I had salmon. I like salmon and it usually doesn’t come with a very big eye on my plate. Of course, his didn’t have a very big eye on his plate either!

After the restaurant we went to the craft shop for me to have a snoop around.  I had a discount postcard and today was the last day.  Even though there were cool things, I decided NOT to get anything.  My crafts are taking over and I need to finish some of them, sometime before I start something new.

I was thirsty so I suggested going for a drink.  F bypassed all our usual places, so I thought that he was going to take me somewhere exotic. He didn’t take me anywhere cool, just to McDonald, but the one halfway across the city.  I don’t know why. We had a drink or an ice cream and then left.  We talked about going to the Chido Museum as we haven’t been in ages. We arrived there and were halfway to the entrance when a woman came out and loudly told F that they were closed.  We had time!  They weren’t supposed to close until 5 pm and it was barely 4:00 pm.  Oh well.

We came home and then F went over to his mother’s to check on her and walk the dog.  While he was gone, I got a bit of prep done for dinner.  I sliced mushrooms, washed the basil, sautéed the shrimp and just generally made sure things were prepared for our dinner.  

When F came back, he prepared the dough in the bread maker and then we took a break.  I thought to do things like clean up the kitchen and just generally make things tidy.  I wiped the table and so on.  

F rolled out the dough and got the pizza ready to load up.  I suggested to him that he get the other pizzas made too, and he did that.  They were smaller than the big one.  

F did his basic load everything on the pizza, but I have to admit it looked good.  He did a bit of a “ramen on pizza” them.  He used chasshu pork, myanma and nori on his as well as shrimp, caramelized onions and basil, plus cheese too.  He put his in to bake when the oven came to temperature and I got started on mine!  I was a bit more restrained.  A bit.  I had bacon and mushroom, pineapple, black olives, a touch of basil and a scatter of cheese on mine.  When F’s was done, he took his out and then I put mine in.  

We ate 3 pizzas tonight.  They were good, although I think the last one wasn’t quite cooked enough.  I liked mine the most, but F’s first one was really good.  Here’s a look at my pizza. 

Bacon, mushroom, pineapple, black olive, pesto sauce and cheese pizza.
All yummy!

 After dinner, I helped F do a little bit of the cleaning.  I had done a lot before so it wasn’t too much for him.  I also asked him to make us some bread for the morning, which he set up.

I watched Blue Jasmine which was good, but mostly because of the actors and the riffing on A Streetcar Named Desire. When it was over, I set up the DVR to record Project Runway and Downton Abbey for me, although I actually watched Downton Abbey.  It was the Spanish Flu episode.  Scary stuff that.  I did some crochet through the show and thorougly enjoyed myself.  I can see the end in sight for this baby blanket.  Whew.

I wrote up a postcard tonight and I downloaded Yosemite to my computer.  I’ve been putting it off for a while. I hope that it doesn’t mess everything up.  I can’t recognize Safari right now though!  It’s all changed, and I don’t like it.

So, a bit of a busy night tonight.  It was a pretty good day overall though.  Not much planned for tomorrow, but I do have to get to the post office and mail something, plus the postcards from last week that I still haven’t mailed.  It snowed a bit tonight, so getting out might be a bit fun.  We shall see.  Until tomorrow!