June 18, 2020

Thursday - Sunny and warm, a little muggy

I woke up in surprise when my alarm went off this morning. I didn’t think it was morning already!

I got up, did some of my usual stuff, but went on my computer quickly as I had to do a bit of posting on the group I moderate. After that, I went back to bed to watch the news.

I had an okay but quiet morning today. I had breakfast, I didn’t see K for most of the day. I couldn’t really get myself motivated to do anything for a while, so I watched YouTube and caught up with my computer groups and such.

I brought up my lunch and then I put on a movie I’d recorded, Skyscraper. It was a bit of a DieHard wannabe, but to be honest, I enjoyed it. I like Dwayne Johnson, he does have presence. It was undemanding, which was what I wanted. While I was watching that, I did a bit of work on the mask I’m making. It’s close to being done, but I have a couple things to do yet.  

I went downstairs to start dinner around 5:30 when F called to say he was on the way. I was making something due to expire today, so it was about time I think!  When F came back I got him to go over the method with me. It was fine and I understood what to do. I told him dinner would probably be in 20 to 30 minutes so he disappeared. 

I got things nearly ready. I was putting things on the table and trying to get early things done early. I finally gave a yell to F and asked him if he’d come and help me. I wanted him to make the miso soup. We usually use instant. It’s dead easy, but I didn’t have hands free for it. I’d boiled the water for it, I needed the packets put in the bowls. Which were on the table waiting for him. Next thing I look over and he’s cutting up a negi to put in the soup. I didn’t need that right then. I know he likes it but I don’t. I needed him to HELP ME! 

I put the bibinba rice in our dishes, took the fried eggs out of the fry pan. F did help by carrying two of the dishes to the table, plus the soup so that was good. He tried to start washing dishes, but I asked him not to as there was something I needed in the drainer and I didn’t want to move it just then.

I went out to the table in the living room with my dish of rice and sat down. Then I realized there was no drink on the table. F told me to relax about it. I told him that I couldn’t relax. It’s the truth. He might not have needed the tea, but I did. He certainly didn’t bother getting up to get the glasses out for me. I did it, poured the drinks too for everyone.  I was upset with him for telling me to relax. How the heck can I? I’m constantly expecting him to get into one of his moods. He usually does.

Despite my worries, dinner was pretty good. There’s some leftover for lunch tomorrow (I didn’t put it out so it didn’t get eaten!) However, I got gifted with all of the clean-up again. How nice for me. It took quite a while as I had used quite a few dishes today. It got done while I listened to a couple of podcasts.

I went upstairs when I was done. I was a bit angry when I came upstairs so I couldn’t talk to him at first, not that it would have been welcome anyway. I tried to chill and then went over to talk. I asked if we could go out to get some food for dinner tomorrow. He said it was okay, so off we went.

I picked up a few things at the grocery store and then he asked about ice cream.  I said it was okay, but maybe we should get it at the convenience store on the way back to the house. The grocery store didn’t have any caffeine-free diet cola that I liked. I was trying to replace the bottle that his mother drank from the fridge. In her opinion, it is a free-for-all in the fridge. She drinks/opens/eats anything that she can reach or find. 

On the way back I asked F which convenience store he wanted to go to and he went off on me about how bitchy I am when I cook. I told him that it was because I didn’t get any help. It’s true. His mother sits in the living room and waits to be fed, he’s upstairs watching YouTube videos.  Anyway, he went back to the house a different way than when we came to the grocery store, so there were only 3 convenience stores and 2 of them were the ones I don’t like. We went to the closest to the house and of course, it was the company that I hate. And they didn’t have my drink. I got an ice-cream, so did F, and we came back to the house.

We ate our ice cream fairly soon after, then I took a shower. F took one a bit later too. 

Tomorrow I’m hoping to finish my mask. I really just have to do some pressing, edging and then cutting the elastic for it. I also will have to cook dinner again. I’m not excited about that!

Come back later if you like and hear me whine some more! (Or hopefully not whine….) Until tomorrow….

May 21, 2020

Thursday - Cold and a bit rainy

I got up this morning bright and early…who am I kidding? I got up, went downstairs, watched the news and then snoozed and went over the time I planned. Oh well. I’m a lady of leisure I think, so it didn’t matter too much.

I got up, dressed. I wore my new black jeans from Canada. I realized that if I don’t wear them soon, I won’t be able to as summer is too hot for jeans. 

I had an okay but quiet day. I didn’t watch much TV in the early part of the day. I worked on my face mask and actually finished it today. I didn’t do the edging stitching around the mask. I probably should have, but to do it by hand means it isn’t going to look perfect (at least the way _I_ do it) so decided not to. I did iron it though!

I watched a movie called Nomis later in the afternoon. It was okay, it had a lot of good actors in it, and the story was okay but it was a made in Canada cheapie. I liked it but didn’t love it.

I went downstairs a little after 5 pm tonight to get started on dinner. I made some spicy cucumber pickles, and eggplant and mushroom stir-fry and some salt lemon chicken. We also had a bit of mushroom left over from last night and some salad. Almost everything vanished, but no one said that they liked it, which was a bit sad. As usual, F skived off helping with the dishes. He said that he needed to go to the onsen and off he went to the closest one. Hmm. Getting to be a nasty habit. 

I washed and dried all the dishes and put them all away. Happily for me, I listened to a couple of podcasts so it was enjoyable at least. 

I went upstairs and when F came back he was bearing ice cream, so I almost forgave him!  

We ate our ice creams and then we went out to get food for tomorrow. I’m planning a mostly leftovers meal, but F is going to cook fish. Sigh. I wish he wouldn’t. I’m going to need the stove and I hope he’ll let me use it while he’s grilling the fish. 

We came back to the house and F went to bed fairly soon afterwards. I know he is really tired and his stomach thing is taking a lot of his energy so I have to let a few things slide with him. We are talking about going to Yamagata City this weekend and maybe meeting a friend on Sunday, not sure if we’ll be able to both or just one of those. And we’ll probably have to Social Distance anyway. 

I stayed up watching some YouTube videos and dealing with some Moderator type stuff of things that came up. 

Tomorrow I’m thinking about cutting another mask out and getting started on sewing it. I’ll probably do a better job of the next one, we’ll see how it goes. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about Friday! Until tomorrow….

February 28, 2019

Thursday - Bit rainy in the am, clear at night

I got up this morning after F left for work and watched the news. It was hard to get up afterwards, but I did. I watched ER, had breakfast and then watched The Mentalist again. I’ve seen all the episodes of this season I think but I enjoy the show anyway.

I did have an odd thing with K this morning. I was in the bathroom washing my hands when she came in and basically demanded I open my bottle of liquid detergent for her. I was a bit upset as it is my detergent, I like it as it doesn’t bother my skin and it is a liquid.  She was out of hers apparently. I opened it for her and she just poured it into the machine, no measuring. It was nearly empty but I didn’t really appreciate it.  Her and F use a powder detergent that comes in a box. It was on the floor and empty. 

I did a load of laundry myself, later on, I washed my shirts and my new sweater.  I also spent a bit of time darning in the ends of my new scarf. It looked very cool.  

The free pattern on Ravelry is called Sweet Eleanor Scarf

I did this in a self-striping yarn from Daiso.
 I thought the colours would look good with my black coat. 

One of the ways to wear it.  

I watched a bit of stuff off the DVR today. I watched an episode of Killing Eve and two of This is Us.  Great stuff, and totally different. 

In the evening, F came back to the house and was tired. I asked him what he’d like to do this evening and he told me not to ask him.  Okay then.  I gave him some space for a while and suggested that maybe we should give his mother some food.  I also suggested going to Kintaro Sushi for dinner, with K if she’d come. F liked that idea, so off we went. We had a nice meal at the closer of the two sushi places. It was so quiet in there, a bit sad really. K seemed to enjoy herself, although she said she just wanted a bento and didn’t need to go out with us!

We dropped her off at the house and went out again a few minutes later. We went to the onsen again. F took a bath and I listened to a movie podcast from Britain and did a little knitting. I also uploaded pictures of my scarf and it seems quite popular.

We went to a drugstore on the way back to the house to pick up a detergent refill for K and of course, a few things for us. We got back to the house and discovered that the empty box was no longer in the bathroom. Oh dear. K must have thrown it away. We bought a refill for it. Sigh. 

I took a shower tonight and watched a bit of TV. I caught the end of Elementary and this week’s Killing Eve.  I really like this show. Sandra Oh is amazing….

And that’s about it for me. Today was good. It was nice to actually finish a crochet project. I’ve started a few lately, but haven’t finished one.  I think I might try and work on something from before to see if I can get it done.  Wish me luck!

Tomorrow, F is off work. I do hope he won’t be underfoot all day.  Come back later if you like and see what we get up to. Until tomorrow….

February 27, 2019

Wednesday - Sunny and relatively warm

I woke up this morning rather surprised that it was morning as I was in the middle of a dream and didn’t want it to end. Still, it did.  I watched the news and then ER and then The Mentalist with a bit of breakfast in between.  

I took a bit of a nap just after 12 and woke up about 45 minutes later. I had set an alarm, but I reset it once and then ignored it!  Oops.  

I prepared some envelopes for my friends that are coming up to Tsuruoka in April. It didn’t take that long, but somehow I missed my lunchtime.  

I had a quick lunch around 2:30 and then around 4 I went downstairs with my coat and a backpack.  I did my dishes and then went off on my bike to the post office and the drugstore. I had planned to go to a few other places, but I left so late that I dropped that idea. At the post office, I bought stamps, got my prizes for the New Year Cards (I won two sets of stamps from my cards.) I also sent off the envelopes and they cost a lot less than I thought they would!

I crossed the street and went shopping in the drugstore.  I got a few things that I needed and wanted, and then paid and left.

I came back to the house and I was just going to pump up my bike’s tyres when K came out.  I said hello and that my legs were sore!  They were, my first bike ride of the year and all. I also had my bike in the wrong gear for most of the trip I think.

F called me about 10 minutes later to say that he was on his way. When he arrived he asked about dinner as he always does. I asked for the budget and then suggested bento for us all from a different store. It’s run by a butcher so the meat tends to be really good.  

F and I drove over there and ordered. It didn’t take long at all. F wanted to suppliment the food a bit, so we went to the local grocery store and he picked up sashimi and I picked up a bean salad. 

We came back to the house and got dinner on the table rather quickly.  I had a vegetable stirfry with chicken and it was good. It came with rice and a tiny amount of potato salad, some cabbage salad and a little pickle. I had some of the sashimi and some of the bean salad. I especially liked that. They’d used a sesame flavoured sauce, so it was rather nice. 

After dinner, F and I did the dishes. He washed and I dried and put them away. When we were done, I came upstairs and have been here for most of the night.

F isn’t feeling that great again, so wanted to keep close to the house. Of course that was fine with me, so we watched an episode of Castle Rock from the DVR together. He didn’t want to watch another one, so we stopped there. I watched some TV or stuff off the DVR for the rest of the night. I have a big backlog on the DVR to be honest. 

During Castle Rock and just after, I managed to finish my scarf/shawl.  I still have to darn in the ends and I might try to block it, I’ll see. It’s really cute and I want to finish it and wear it before it gets hot around here!

So that’s about it for me. It was quite a good day and I am rather pleased with myself for going out on my bike. I need to do a bit more of that to be honest. Come back later and see what I end up doing. Until tomorrow….

February 26, 2019

Tuesday - Sunny with a bit of snow later on

I got up this morning when my alarm rang. I hadn’t been asleep long enough, but woke up and stayed up. I had a quiet morning until 10 am, then went downstairs with the first of three loads of laundry. I washed clothes, hung them to dry, folded the older stuff from the hangers and put them away. I tried to tidy up a couple of things, I didn’t finish though. 

F popped in a couple of times, once he brought some buns and a drink for me. It was a nice thought. I had a generally good day, got a few things done, didn’t watch enough off the DVR though.

In the evening, F called to say he was coming back here. I thought about dinner and decided that I could offer to cook tonight, then did. It was only pasta with ume sauce, plus smoked duck breast, broccoli and the last onion cake from the freezer. F and his mother had a couple of things from the grocery store on Sunday…they were stuffed. I was full just from what we had, I’m glad I didn’t have extras!

After we did dishes, which F washed and I dried. F has this funny, funny way of doing them. He’ll wash things from one spot in the kitchen, and then from another. He’ll wash a pot before he’ll finish the plates and cutlery, that kind of thing. I had to keep reminding him to wash everything!

We went out tonight, the two of us. It was just to Starbucks, but the place was really quiet so it was nice. We ordered decaf drip and although I thought it was strong, enjoyed it. Fewer calories than the yummy drinks I love and no jitters or sleepless nights.

We went to the grocery store and I picked up a few necessaries. F loaded up on cup noodles which were on sale. 

We came back to the house and after a bit, I took a shower. When I came back, F was watching a movie with Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren.  I didn’t watch it. 

After that, I put on the first two episodes of Killing Eve which were on WOWOW. They had the third episode on too, but I haven’t watched it yet and I don’t think after midnight is good for that for me.

Tomorrow I am planning to go out in the afternoon. I didn’t go out today, I was rather sad as the weather was okay when I was thinking about it. I will have to go out tomorrow or Thursday, but I vote for tomorrow. 

That’s it for me. Come back later and see how Wednesday goes with me. Until tomorrow….

February 25, 2019

Monday - Cloudy and rainy

Apologies for not posting last night. I had rather a bad day, but not all of it was bad.  On Sunday we slept in a bit, then went out for lunch. We went to my Indian restaurant, only to discover that they were closed until April for a vacation. I don’t grudge them a holiday, but I’ll miss the good food until then. After that, F decided to take me to a fish restaurant. I was not happy with that. I know it was a good restaurant, but what a comedown from yummy, spicy Indian food. 

We went to the Mall in Mikawa in the afternoon and went to see Alita: Battle Angel. We both enjoyed it. It was nice as we both had full movie cards, so it was free, we just paid for the drinks and popcorn!

We bought food for dinner and then came back to the house. That’s where it started to go really wrong. I had bought myself some chicken to eat. That’s all I wanted. Chicken. Nothing else. I’d had my daily shot of rice, I was full of popcorn and I didn’t want any miso soup or pickles or anything. We started to get stuff on the table for dinner. F had picked fish for him and his mother and he’d heated it up. It reeked and the smell was making me sick. F started putting pickles on plates, three of them. He was angry with me that I didn’t want rice.  I put glasses on the table and then went back into the kitchen for the pickle plates. I put them on the table and then told F I couldn’t eat anything. I put my chicken in the fridge and went upstairs and got into bed. 

He came up a bit later and said that dinner was ready, but I told him that I wasn’t hungry. (So true.) I stayed in bed for a few hours, I did sleep a bit.

On one of my trips downstairs I talked to him in the kitchen, but the fish was still reeking and he’d started to make cinnamon bread too. The combo of the smell of cinnamon on top of the fish was making me gag and I had to leave. 

Later on, I got up and he gave me a bit of his bread.  It was good. I think he was upset with me, but I don’t like being forced to eat food that I don’t want or like. I try so hard not to ask him to take me to restaurants where he can’t get something he’d like, but he makes no attempt to please me. Saturday lunch was soba and it wasn’t good, Sunday’s lunch was raw fish.  It was fine, but the soup was gross and I didn’t finish it. It wasn’t something I’d pick for the two of us at all. 

I just went to bed last night around 1am I think. 

Today, he went off to work and I got up to watch the Oscars. Yay! I got dressed early, drank decaf tea and coffee and managed to make it through the programme with only a few breaks! I Facebooked them with a couple of friends from University and it was fun.  I was so glad that Olivia Colman won as I’ve been a huge fan of hers for years. (I have been a fan of Glenn Close too, it must be said, but I didn’t think The Wife was worthy of her huge talent.)

Of course, watching the Academy Awards took up a huge chunk of the day.  Oh well. Tomorrow I go back to reality and laundry!

When F came back to the house he wanted dinner. He did ask where I wanted to go, so I suggested Gusto and he was okay with it. We took his mother too. I know it isn’t the best restaurant, but I don’t mind it and the drink bar is both cheap and good.  His mother liked her food, I liked mine, but F said it was only okay.

We brought K back to the house after dinner and F and I went out to the onsen. He took a bath and I sat outside and did some crochet. I got a row and a bit done. Yay. I’m nearly finished the yarn so will have to quit soon. I listened to a movie podcast from Britain and laughed a lot at it. 

F came out and we sat for a while and used the wifi. Then, we headed back to Tsuruoka. We popped into a conbini and got a few things and then went to the house. I put on the repeat of the Oscars for F and we watched them together. 

That’s really about it for today. I’m not sure what I’ll get up to on Tuesday. I’m thinking about going out for a couple of errands or a coffee if the weather is okay. The roads are mostly clear so I could ride my bike if I want.

Come back later if you dare and see what I get up to. Until tomorrow….

February 23, 2019

Saturday - Sunny but cool

Today wasn’t bad at all. F and I had to go to the doctor this morning, it was okay. After that, we had lunch. He wanted to take me to a soba restaurant. I was a tad sceptical, but said okay. It was…okay. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t that great. All they served was soba and udon, no tempura, no meat, just noodles. I actually was a bit upset about it later. I mean, this was our chance to have something interesting for lunch. We could have tried a really exciting place because we didn’t take K with us…. Oh well, it is what it is. 

We had lunch at Coffea just off the main street, then got some things for K’s dinner.  We dropped them off at the house, I changed and then the two of us headed for the Aquarium. We got there and did a quick tour of the place. It is so much nicer there when it is empty!

Gratuitous Jellyfish Shots

This one reminded me of the "angel" that comes out of the Ark
in Raiders of the Last Ark. Beautiful at first, then deadly!

We went to see a concert tonight at the Aquarium. It was okay. I wasn’t too into it at first. It was another jazz one and it seemed a bit too improvisational for me.  It went a bit late but we didn’t mind.

We drove back to Tsuruoka to have dinner and the first four or five places were either closed or busy. I was quite annoyed. F finally suggested Bardet, the izakaya run by the owner of our favourite French restaurant. F called him to make sure he was going to open tonight.  He was, but in a few minutes.  I suggested going to the drugstore first as I needed some new Bandaids and a couple of other things. We really only picked up a couple of things then came back to Bardet.

We had a lovely meal there. We shared a few dishes, most of them were ones that F chose and they were all good. We had some carpaccio, some chicken and some duck, some yummy french fries and an omurice that was darn good.  We didn’t drink as F was driving and didn’t want to take a taxi. 

We came back to the house via the grocery store. F went to bed a while ago and I am up way, way too late. But, now I am going to go to bed.  Catch you later? Until tomorrow…. 

February 22, 2019

Friday - Warm and a bit cloudy

I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning but finally managed. When I was looking at my computer a friend of mine asked if I was up for a video chat and I was!  I had a quick breakfast and then got my computer moved over to have a good chat. 

After we finished I had a bit of time on the TV and then watched some of the DVR stuff. That was good really. I watched the second part of Counterpart. I like J.K. Simmons, just not sure where this show is going. 

Lunch was a little different tonight. Instead of my usual open-faced sandwiches, I had a meat pie from New Zealand. The Aeon grocery store was selling them and the one I had was really good. I have one left. Woot. 

I put up another list of things to do in this area for the ladies that are coming to Tsuruoka in April. I’ve been putting in quite a bit of work on all of this, I hope things go well.

F didn’t call tonight when he finished work, he just showed up. He was tired.  I hadn’t really planned a “meal” but I made dinner anyway. Tonight we had tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole dip, tuna salad which I made, and a hot vegetable and pasta salad from the freezer.  Things worked out rather well and everyone enjoyed dinner.  I had to portion out the dip and the salsa though. One of our family members double dips and the rest of us don’t like that! I did get a shock though. When I went to open the salsa which we bought last night, there was tomato sauce on the outside of the jar. I was really worried that I’d bought one that someone had opened in the store and not noticed. The plastic wrap around the edge of the lid was still there, but it had a bit of gunk on it too.  I asked F to ask his mother if she’d opened the jar today, and she had. WTH?  Why on earth would she do that? The only reason she probably didn’t get into the guacamole dip was the jar lid was so tight I had to get F to open it! Since I had bought the salsa last night, I didn’t worry about using it, but if the jar had been left out for more than a day I would have had to chuck it. 

After dinner, I ended up doing all the dishes except the bowl that still held a few chips. I left that on the table for K and F to finish. So, when I say that I did the dishes, I washed, dried and then put them all away. F is really letting the side down these days. He doesn’t do any of the work. He did offer to help prepare, but I’ve noticed that when he’s around I expect him to pitch in, but he has no idea what to do and just gets in the way. Afterwards would be helpful though. 

I came upstairs to have a moment of rest and discovered that the kerosene tank in the heater was empty. I filled it up. I was just going to have some tea or decaf when F asked if I wanted to go out. I didn’t mind so we talked about where to go. He wanted to go to the onsen, so off we went. 

F took a bath, and I found a seat and bought myself a couple of snacks and a drink.  I sat in a chair and did a bit of knitting tonight and listened to a podcast. I rather enjoyed myself.

When F finished, we left the onsen and went to Starbucks for some Hoji-cha. It was nice and relaxing there, but we had to leave at 11 pm.  We came back to the house. I watched a little bit of TV and F went to bed fairly soon. 

And that’s it. Tomorrow we have doctor appointments in the morning and may go to a concert at the Aquarium tomorrow night. It really depends on what our day is like. There’s a movie in the mall as well (Alita) so I’m not sure if we’ll go tomorrow or wait for Sunday or another day.  

Come back later if you like and see how Saturday goes. Until tomorrow….

February 21, 2019

Thursday - Cloudy and rainy

I had a quiet but fairly productive day today. I got up on time and watched the news, then I got dressed and a bit later had some breakfast. I vacuumed today, something I haven’t done in a really long time. I did the bit under my desk and also at the top of the stairs. I couldn’t go further down as the cord wouldn’t reach!

I did a bit of tidying up too. I went through a couple of drawers today. I discovered that one drawer holds work clothes so I left it for now and another drawer had two pairs of yoga pants for me, that fit! Woot. I must have put them away when I was smaller, but they fit now. 

I went through a couple of boxes and left one mostly as it was. The other box had some magazines that I have put in the garbage. I don’t have time to read the brand new magazines I get from friends, I certainly don’t have time to re-read old ones. 

I also moved the box with my sewing goods from in front of my closet. One of the reasons I can’t put things in my closet is that I can’t get into it. I’m not at the KonMari stage yet, but I have some more space and I’m happy so that’s a good thing!

I saw K a couple of times. She didn’t say much to me, but that’s okay. She cooked her lunch today, she had fish and it smelt terrible! I was a tad worried that she had burned something.

I didn’t hear from F during the day at all. I didn’t really expect to. When we are fighting he doesn’t call me at all. 

He got back to the house around 6:30 and was quiet. I spoke to him and he did answer so that was good. I asked if he needed a hug and he said he didn’t, then I said “what if I need one?” and so we hugged and it was nice.

I suggested going to Youme-shokudo near the main Post Office for dinner and F was okay with that. We took K along too and had a decent meal. I had Chicken Namban, F had Aji-fry and his mother had Grilled Saba.  We were all quite pleased with our meals.

After the meal, we drove K back to the house and left her. F and I went to Komeda Coffee and made use of the free wifi, then did a little grocery shopping nearby. We decided to have dinner at the house tomorrow. It’s not going to be terribly healthy, but should be fun. We’ve got some tortilla chips, some guacamole dip and some salsa and I’ll heat up something from the freezer so it isn’t completely unhealthy. 

We came back to the house and both of us had showers. F got to watch a little TV so he was happy and I watched a couple of things tonight so I was too.

Not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow. I may do a bit of laundry and I hope to do more sorting or tossing out of things. Come back later and find out. Until tomorrow….

February 20, 2019

Wednesday - Rainy and cloudy

We slept in this morning, but I was up before 11 and stayed up. F continued lying in bed and playing with his phone for a long time. Around noon he roused himself and started demanding that I pick a restaurant to eat at.  Never a good start to a day, is that. I suggested a couple, one in budget, the other not and I thought he was okay with it. Then it turned out that K would be coming too. Surprisingly F suggested a good place and then changed his mind to a horrible place. I said yes to the good place…

We went to Hyakkenbori near the University and had a nice meal. Our meal was the weekly special so it was under budget and quite good too. Afterwards, F dropped me off at S-Mall and took his mum off to his father’s grave since it was the anniversary of his death. 

I hacked around the mall, bought some stuff at the hundred yen shop and then F came back to the mall. We decided to have some ice cream and did. I got my pouch from Baskin Robbins. It’s cute. We went back to the house because F decided he’d go and see his doctor.  He left and I watched the US news on TV.

F came back and had a nap or something.  Around 7 pm I went over to talk to him and he was watching something on his phone. I asked him to pause it while we talked and he said he could keep watching, but I insisted. I feel like I never get his full attention these days. He’s half deaf too, so him wearing an earphone and listening to me means that he isn’t listening really.  

I just wanted to know about dinner, if he wanted to go out or not. He demanded I name the restaurant or type of food so I suggested sushi. He got all angry at that and so I dropped it and left him on the bed. After another hour of being ignored, I had had enough. I went downstairs and got myself a bowl of cereal. I missed breakfast this morning, thought some cereal would be a good thing.

Well, apparently not. He stormed downstairs and made himself and his mother dinner. I don’t know what the hell he was thinking.

We’ve barely spoken to each other since then and it just hasn’t been a good evening. I thought we could still have a nice dinner, but apparently not. I am being ignored.  He’s sleeping/snoring at the moment which is good as I don’t want to talk to him. 

Tomorrow I have no idea what I’m going to get up to. I’m hoping to have a better day, but I won’t hold my breath.  

Until tomorrow then….

February 19, 2019

Tuesday - Warmer and rainy

I got up this morning but it was a tad difficult! I’d been up earlier then went back to bed. I got up and watched the news from my bed though.  That’s where most of the news makes me want to stay…in my bed with the covers pulled up over my head.

I got up, dressed and did a few things around the room. I watched some TV this morning and decided that I was going to send some postcards today. I did in the afternoon.  

F popped back to the house once and was friendly. Later he called me with news about the returned items from the catalogue shopping I did at Christmas. He also told me that he took tomorrow off work. Okay then.

When F came back to the house he asked about dinner and I suggested getting Bentos in. I had thought about cooking but hadn’t made any plans to do it.  We ordered some Bento and had to pick them up by 7:30.

F and I drove over to that part of town and visited the Gyomu Supa. We got a few things for the house, both necessary and not. After that, we picked up the bento and came back to the house. 

We ate and K had some awful program on the TV where “tarento” tried to sing Queen songs.  I was wincing in pain at the horrible pronunciation and the lack of understanding of what the songs were about. I have the crazy idea that if you are going to sing a song on national TV in a language you don’t know, you probably should make sure that you understand the song a bit. 

F washed the few dishes after dinner and then I went upstairs. He spent a few minutes helping his mother with her heater before going upstairs.

When F came upstairs he suggested going to the Internet Cafe. We haven’t been there in ages so I said it was fine. We both got massaging chairs and spent 3 hours there. I watched some TV and some YouTube, did a little crochet and ate some junk food. Sigh. 

We came back to the house and I took a shower. F relaxed for a bit and has just gone to bed. I’m not sure what we’re going to get up to tomorrow. I’m trying to get him to see a doctor tomorrow but who knows if he will.  He has a mind of his own after all!

Come back later if you like and see what we get up to. Until tomorrow….

February 18, 2019

Monday - Clear and Sunny, warm

F didn’t sleep very well last night and as a result, I didn’t sleep very well last night. I was woken up around 7:30 when F got up. He was his usual noisy self.  I said a sleepy goodbye to him and he was off.

I got up a few minutes later to watch the news and then ER. I snoozed through the non-English news but had to rewatch the US news because I snoozed through it too. Oh dear. However, once I was up, I was up.

I had a pretty quiet sort of day. I was fairly busy though. I removed a couple of people from my women’s groups and called the Cull done. Yay. I emptied out a drawer of clothes and went quite Marie Kondo on it. I tossed a bunch of socks that I hated. F sometimes buys me socks that he thinks I’ll like, but they are usually too tight or too high for me. I like soft and stretchy ones, not synthetic tight ones. I was able to put the undies that I wear every day into the drawer afterwards, so that is a sort of progress I think.

I ran into K a couple of times today. It’s unusual as there have been many days when I don’t see her until the evening. She did come up here and sweep outside my door in the late afternoon. I used to go out and make her stop, now I’ve decided it is her way of snooping on me or showing me up, so I’ve decided to just let her get on with it! She didn’t come in and that’s a good thing. 

F came back to the house a little late and we discussed dinner. We decided to go to a curry/ramen restaurant since he had a discount coupon. We invited K along too. F had to run an errand first though. We stopped at a hardware store and F got out. K was all set to follow him into the store when I called her back. I told her it was only F going in!  He could shop much faster without us. He was back in a few minutes and we drove off to the restaurant.

When we got there, it was closed! Oh no! F suggested going to the other curry place, Coco Ichibanya and I was happy with that. We got there, got seated, and all had the same dish, the Grandmother’s Curry. It’s a promotion thing right now and they are giving away spoons in a lucky draw if you order this curry.  Well, F pulled out a lucky ticket. Yay!  I pulled out a lucky ticket. Yay! K pulled out a lucky ticket. Yay!! We were quite surprised.  In the car later F said, “we’ve got four spoons now” but I corrected him. “I’ve got two spoons and you two have two spoons.”  Yep, I keep mine separate.  They are nice spoons though!

I've got two spoons!

We dropped K off at the house and took a few minutes to do a few things. F worked on K’s heater for the living room since it wasn’t working well. He discovered the remnants of a tissue inside.  I filled up the kerosene tank in the heater upstairs and then waited for F.

We popped out for a few minutes to the grocery store. I needed bread, but we got a few things like garbage bags and noodles for F.

We came back to the house and relaxed. I watched some TV and F went to bed. I looked over at him and he was in bed. I think he’s sleeping now which is good as he really needs more sleep.

That’s about it for now though. One thing to mention though. I’ve basically been living at this house for two years now. It isn’t home. I hate it here. I have no furniture except for a bed. There is nothing comfortable to sit on. The desk I use for my computer belonged to F’s sister, as does the uncomfortable hard chair. I never thought I’d get to be in my fifties and not even have a decent chair. 

I just found the box on Sunday that my favourite pots and pans are in, but I have no idea where to store them if I take them out of the box. 

Whoever designed this house was a complete moron and had no idea about safety or comfort. There is a steep staircase up to the second floor with no handrail. There is no heating or cooling in the kitchen. It’s a separate room from the living room so in winter it feels like being in Siberia when washing dishes or cooking meals. There is no light switch in the Genkan for the Genkan light. That means that someone has to put their shoes on in the dark.  

There’s more I could write, but I’m sure you get the picture. So, two years in and I still feel like this isn’t my “home”. Not sure what that is anymore. 

Bah humbug.

Until tomorrow….

February 17, 2019

Sunday - Clear and warm

I went to bed insanely late last night, so when my first alarm went off I ignored it. I suggested to F that he take his mother to the onsen, and then when I woke up again around 11 they were gone.  I took care of a few things and then checked my email.  My friend was on her way to the meeting place, but F was still out. Oh no!  I texted him and then he called me.  He’d taken his mother out for lunch and the place was really slow.  He said he’d come back as soon as he could.

A few minutes later he phoned to say that he was on his way back. He’d cancelled their lunch order as the restaurant had served people that had arrived after them before F and K.  Not good that.  

F and I drove off to Mikawa where we went into the mall and met up with our friend and her children. We had a yummy lunch at Doutors and then walked along to the game centre so her son could play a game for a while. While he did that, her daughter got to ride a couple of rides for little ones. It was rather fun, except when the ride got stuck up in the air!  No problem really, it was an automatic safeguard when someone touched the barrier, but we didn’t know that!

After the games, we went for some ice cream and chatted a bit more. It was lovely to see my friend as it has been a few weeks and she’s very busy these days.

She decided that she had to be on her way as it was getting late and children needed to be fed! We have a date set up already for next month, so I’ll look forward to that. 

F and I spent a little time in the mall. I suggested getting a few things for our dinner since the deli section in the mall is quite good. We decided to do that. We picked up a Chinese style hors d’oeurves tray, some sushi, some chicken wings and I grabbed a salad too. I got something for my lunch on Monday and F picked up some of his adult beverage.  We went through the checkout and drove back to Tsuruoka.

There was a “moment” where another driver waited for F to turn when they should have turned first as they had the right of way. F wouldn’t turn and got a bit annoyed at it. He kind of lectured me about it, but I had absolutely nothing to do with it!

At the house, I heated things up and got the table set and put the food out. F was MIA for that part of the job, which surprised me as he was usually the person doing most of the work. Still, it got done.

Dinner was nice and once again everything got eaten up. I was thinking there’d be a few little things for K’s lunch tomorrow, but she ate them tonight. Oh well.... F and I did the dishes and went upstairs for a little bit. 

We went out again as we had forgotten to pick up kerosene and needed some barley tea for the kitchen.  We went to the drugstore first and bought the tea, a few snacks and some windshield washer liquid that F needed.  We got the kerosene and then came back to the house. 

I waited until our rooms had warmed up and then I took a shower. It was warmer out today and since the bathroom wasn’t freezing I did a little cleaning there.  Yay me.

F had gone to bed, but he’s just got up. He says he has a headache. I really hope that he isn’t sick again. All night he’s felt a bit off and cold. Our room is quite warm, so I’m getting a bit worried about him.  

I’m not sure what I’m going to get up to tomorrow. I have a few things that I’d like to start. I’d like to do a bit of Marie Kondo-ing but I haven’t read her book!  (I looked for it, couldn’t find it.)

Anyway, that’s about it for me. Come back later if you have the urge and see what happens around here. Until tomorrow….

February 16, 2019

Saturday - Clear and sunny, snowy at night

Today was a nice surprise of a day. I didn’t expect it to go the way it did, but I’m happy that it did.

F and I slept in this morning. I was up before 11, but he wasn’t!  We didn’t have plans today so no worries.  F decided that we would take his mother out for lunch and we tossed around a few ideas for lunch. We ended up at Foodever near the station.

It wasn’t too busy today and we each had food from a different restaurant, so it was a good thing we’d gone to a food court.  I had gapao rice as usual, F had a fried chicken donburi and K had soba. We were all quite pleased with our meal. I walked over to the Tourist Information area and got some more brochures for this area.  We left and came back to the house.

We all had quiet time after lunch. I kept meaning to take a nap, but I never got around to it. I was trying to take care of some moderating stuff. I hope it gets done properly.  

F started suggesting things for dinner long before I was even hungry.  He talked about ordering in sushi which I thought sounded good and said so. After a bit, he went downstairs to ask his mother if she wanted food, but she’d already gone to bed and turned us down!

We decided to go out. We planned to go to one place and then on the way I suggested going to our local place. It was an excellent idea!  It was busy. We had to sit at the counter for a while, but it was okay. We ordered an entree each and an hors-d'oeuvres

Yamabushi Pork. Underneath are gorgeous roasted potatoes that were even better than the pork!

platter. It was all fabulous.  I had local pork with a mustard sauce, F had the fish course which was a gratin with cod and mushroom and a bunch of things. We had rice or bread and soup with those.  The hors d’oeuvres had smoked oysters, marinated chicken nankotsu, spicy chicken, marinated vegetables, omelette and some potato salad that we ate like pate on toast.  Everything was really good!

After our meal there, we were a tad surprised to see that the snow was really coming down outside. I had offered to buy F a coffee after our dinner, so we went to Aurora. We were the only people there tonight.  We had a cup of blend coffee and a piece of cake each.  It was a nice way to end our evening.  

We came back to the house and came upstairs. F didn’t feel well all of a sudden and wouldn’t watch a movie with me.  I watched a bit of YouTube and did some crochet for a while. After that, I turned on the TV and watched something and caught up on my internet stuff.  

And that’s about it. We do have plans for the afternoon tomorrow, but bad weather might upset them.  I hope things go well tomorrow, you’ll just have to come back and see how they go.  Until tomorrow…. 

February 15, 2019

Friday - Clear and cool

I woke up this morning to an empty room. I went downstairs to use the ‘loo and F was still here. We said hello and goodbye and when I finished he was gone. I came back upstairs and watched the news and then ER. I think I snoozed a little but got up for the last half of ER.

I had quite a good day today. I finished the cull of my women’s group members and then did another group’s members for good measure. I spent quite a bit of time on my computer and also did some reading in the afternoon. I’ve been re-reading a novel I read 5 years ago and I’ve just been enjoying it so much. Lately, I just haven’t been reading and that worries me a lot.

I had lunch and breakfast and never did bump into K today. I think she slept in, but then again, we had her out quite late yesterday.  

Around 5:50 or so I went downstairs and started working on dinner. It wasn’t a stressful one or anything, but it was the first time I’d used the toaster oven to cook meat at the house. I made some roasted chicken with a herb coating, steamed broccoli, shrimp pilaf and a salad. I had just put the meat in the oven to cook when F called to say he was on his way. I knew he’d be late, so I was planning to feed his mother. We were able to all sit down together and enjoy our meal. I cooked more of the pilaf and put out extra of the chicken and it almost all disappeared. I had thought that I’d leave some of the rice and chicken for K’s lunch on Saturday but it all vanished, except for 1 piece of chicken!  She can have it if she wants! 

I did the dishes but that wasn’t a big deal really. F was tired from work and I don’t like the way that K does them so I’d rather anyway.  Everyone did enjoy dinner, so that was really good. Yay.

F asked if I’d like to go out and I would. I did tell him that if he was too tired, I wouldn’t push it. We ended up going to Starbucks for a bit of wifi and relaxation. We both had the drip coffee and I had a cinnamon bun because I had wanted more pilaf but F gave it to K! He didn’t know and I didn’t say anything. 

We spent a bit over an hour in Starbucks and then came back to the house. I took a shower when it warmed up a bit and then watched Forever. It was a good one tonight. It’s too bad that the show was cancelled. I like Ioan Griffiths a lot. 

I finished my book when I really should have been blogging, so I’m a bit behind. I’m not sure what we’re going to do tomorrow. There aren’t any movies and F and I haven’t made plans. I suggested watching a DVR film or two, we’ll see if F likes that idea tomorrow night. Come back later and see what happens. Until tomorrow….

February 14, 2019 - Happy Valentine’s Day!

Monday - Cool but clear

Today was okay. I went to bed “early” last night and was able to get up this morning and watch the news and get my day started. I did a couple of loads of laundry today and hung them up in the room. I watched a few of the shows off the DVR and made a bit of space for the new stuff!  

I didn’t see K all day. I knew she was up, she seemed rather genki today. I heard the TV or the radio, but I never bumped into her face to face.

F texted me quite early that he was going to be late. I was glad that I knew it so I wouldn’t worry.

Today I put my tea in a bigger box. I have a lot and I think I’m going to try and not buy any for a while. I stocked up on decaf teas when I was in Sendai last week, so I really should drink more at night! I also made myself some Goma Latte today. I bought the packet in Sendai but discovered that I had to mix it with milk or soy milk, not hot water as I had assumed. It was rather nice, not sweet at all.

Around 4 pm, I did my dishes and then went outside and moved a bit of snow. Much of what was left was ice and it was packed down so I couldn’t move too much of it. I tried though.

F arrived somewhere around 6 pm today. I had already asked him to take us out tonight. I suggested that his mother might like to go to the onsen since she didn’t get to go on the weekend. She wanted to go, so we went out to Yupoka. First up was dinner. K had their special cheap ramen, F had udon and I had yakiniku without rice or soup. I think we were all fairly well pleased.

F and K went off to take their baths and I went to the chairs and read a bit of my book. I’m re-reading a Patricia Briggs from a few years ago. After 20 or so minutes I switched to some crochet and a podcast.  That was good. It wasn’t too long after that that I saw K wandering around the lobby looking for her people. She’d forgotten her glasses tonight. I waved and she came and sat beside me. F was just a few minutes behind her.  

We all drove back into Tsuruoka and went to a grocery store. I got something for dinner tomorrow night and K got some stuff. It was supposed to be for her lunch, I’m not sure about that though! We paid and came back to the house.

F and I had a quiet evening in. He gave me some chocolate that he’d bought from an office’s store. He didn’t have a lot of time in the last couple of days to buy me any. I gave him a box of chocolate that I’d bought in Sendai and he was happy. We did share a little with each other too. 

It was a very low-key Valentine’s day, but it was nice. My women’s group had a lot of women complaining about their day today, but honestly, it was fine! F was sick over the last few days and didn’t have much chance to shop. He tried and got me some chocolate, so that is what I care about more than anything else!

Tomorrow I’m going to be cooking dinner and I have a few other things I hope to do. I hope that dinner works out okay…come back later and see how that goes! 

Until tomorrow….