June 29, 2022

 Wednesday - Hot and mostly sunny

Oh, before I get into the update proper, I won’t be updating tomorrow night as I’m going out of town. F and I are going to go to Yamagata and make a Costco run. We’ll leave after he finishes work tomorrow and return on Friday. Please don’t worry too much about me. I should be back on Friday night!

I woke up properly this morning when my alarm went off. Yes, I did wake up a little bit when F left, but did fall back asleep again. I went downstairs and K and I did a bit of a dance about going to the toilet first! I got there first, but did try to get myself out faster than usual!

I had a quiet morning. The building was going on next door and was a bit noisy, and it was so darn hot. The temperature was about 27 in here when I got up, it went up to 30 quickly. I managed not to turn on the AC for a long time. 

I had breakfast and later lunch. I realized I had forgotten to buy myself some cold meat for my sandwiches, but that was okay. I used nut butter instead. 

While I ate I watched the last episode of James May in Japan. It was okay, but I’m glad that they stopped at one series. 

I watched the news and then went downstairs a little early to start dinner. While I was in the kitchen, F called to say he’d be a bit late! I wanted to be downstairs early to catch the delivery that F had arranged to be redelivered. It arrived, but K was the person who received it. Oh well, at least one of us was able to get the door.

For dinner tonight I made a chicken stir fry out of some chicken with onion, zucchini and mushrooms. It was rather nice. We also had some leftovers from the last few days too. Dinner was nice and there were a few leftovers for K’s lunch tomorrow…and maybe mine too!

I was cleaning up after dinner and did the dishes. After the dishes were done, I did up the garbage. I asked F about a couple of things in the fridge, with an eye to throwing them out. He wanted to eat them. Say what?  He ate some noodles from the weekend and some pork that was over a week old. Okay. He started to come in the kitchen and wanted stuff to accompany his food and was getting in my way while I was trying to do up the garbage for the week. It was so annoying. He was yelling at me for getting in his way…but the thing was if he had waited 10 minutes at the most I would have been finished and he could have had the kitchen to himself. Argh! I’d also like to point out that he’d just eaten a complete meal that I cooked especially and needed old noodles and gross meat. Okay fine.

I went upstairs and left him to whatever he was doing. I thought about taking a shower and when F came up he was fine. We talked about what we’d do on this long weekend and I pointed out that I would like to do a Costco run, so F suggested that we go this weekend. We also talked about staying in a hotel, so I said that I would look into it. I took my shower and when I came back upstairs did. F took his shower and I looked for a hotel while I watched Grey’s Anatomy.

When he came back he said that he couldn’t go on Friday night as he has to go to the doctor’s office on Saturday. So, I checked and we were able to get a decent room for tomorrow night in Yamagata city. I’m hoping that we’ll have a good time!

And that’s about it for me. F is sleeping and I should get some sleep soon. I’m going to have to do a lot of laundry tomorrow and also pack a suitcase. I hope that this little impromptu trip goes well. 

So, I’ll most likely talk to you again on Friday night. Until Friday….

June 28, 2022

Tuesday - Hot, sunny and muggy

I woke up again this morning when F got up. He is a very noisy person. I love him dearly, but he makes so much noise sometimes. After I heard the car leave I got up and then came back to bed. I actually turned off my alarms for a bit and slept quite a bit later than usual. However, I got up earlier than I have been lately, so that was good.

I did a load of towels and hung them up in our room. I also watched a movie today, Reminiscence, a fairly recent one with Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson. It wasn’t good, but it reminded me of a film that I loved, Strange Days. That was a good one but has a lot of scenes that make it difficult for people to watch.

After lunch I watched an episode of The Mentalist and…..Patrick John found Red John! It was quite an exciting episode. There’s a few more episodes to go, but I’m pumped because so often with these kinds of shows they don’t solve the big mystery.

It was so hot in our room up here today. It was 32°C. I probably should have turned on the AC, but didn’t want to do it quite yet. 

I watched the news and then waited for F to call. The thing was, he didn’t! I had given up and gone down to the kitchen to get started on dinner. I’m not sure why he couldn’t call when he left work, he called me from Tsuruoka. Didn’t make sense to me.

I got a late start on dinner, but happily it didn’t take too long. I did the spicy tofu in my air fryer again and also made gapao rice. F had set the rice cooker for me last night, so we all could have fresh rice with the meal. I even got the eggs pretty close to perfect for the top of the rice and meat, so that was good. We had gapao rice, tofu and salad. I had forgotten to put out the bean salad leftovers. Oops.

After I got everything cooked, we had a nice meal. It was pretty darn good and K said it was good. Yay. I was worried the tofu might be too spicy for her.

I did the dishes after the meal and it didn’t take as long as usual. I kept the door to the living room on and we had been using the AC in there, so the kitchen was a tiny bit cool too. 

After dinner I wanted to go out and get a few groceries. F needed a break first, so I waited upstairs for him. He texted me when he was ready to go and I went downstairs. We drove over to our usual grocery store and did our shopping. We picked up a few things. I’m going to do a stir-fry with chicken tomorrow night and then something with shrimp on Thursday night. I told F that I’m not cooking on Friday night as it is Canada Day and a national holiday for me, so….

We came back to the house, I put the groceries away, and then went upstairs. We had a pretty good evening. I watched FBI: Most Wanted and then turned off the TV. Yes, I could have watched The Handmaid’s Tale, but I’d rather not stay up too too late! That is what DVR’s are for!

And that’s about it. I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow, so you’ll have to check back and find out. 

June 27, 2022

 Monday - Humid and rainy, cooler

I went to bed a little late last night. F wasn’t sleeping…his knees were bothering him. I managed to sleep a bit, but had to wait until F settled down a bit.

This morning F was very noisy and woke me up. I managed to pretend I was sleeping, but I wasn’t! He finally left and I slept a bit longer. I had a very quiet morning. I was so tired and it was so dark and gloomy out that I just fell asleep and didn’t want to get up at all. 

I went downstairs to grab breakfast and came back upstairs. I decided not to do a load of towels, I’ll try tomorrow, if I get myself moving that is. 

I had a very quiet day. I barely saw K at all. I didn’t mind if I’m honest. There was food for her in the fridge, but I wasn’t sure if she was having any of it. 

I watched an episode of Bake-off when I was eating my lunch. It was the finale of season 2 and I enjoyed it a lot. 

I watched the news tonight and F called around 5:30 to say that he was on his way back. I went downstairs and got a start on dinner. Tonight I made crispy chicken wings, summer bean salad, salad and beets for dinner. It was pretty darn good I thought. I had a bit more than I should have, but it was good.

I did the dishes and listened to a podcast. When I finished I just didn’t want to go upstairs. I really should have, but I was tired.

I got F to go and take his shower first and a little later I took one too. It felt really good to get in the water again. It’s been so hot and sticky lately. 

I came back upstairs but it was after midnight, so I didn’t have much time to do anything except my nightly stuff. I needed to get on with my blogging. And that brings you up to date!

Not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow…hopefully some laundry and I have to make Gapao rice for dinner. I also want to make a tofu dish and probably some stir-fried mushrooms. Yum. Come on back and find out what I get up to. 

Oh, and pictures....I promised you pictures of my basket....here you are....

Until tomorrow….

June 26, 2022

Sunday - Hot, sunny and muggy. Rainy at night.

This may be a little controversial so feel free to stop following me if you don’t think the same way as I do. Don’t bother saying goodbye either. 

I’ve spent the last few minutes reading Twitter and tearing up at some of the stories of women who had to have abortions due to medical complications. There are so many reasons why a person may have to end a pregnancy and the recent US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe Vs. Wade is scary. People will die. 

I am a Canadian and at a stage in my life where I don’t need to worry about getting pregnant, but I have family and friends who are in the stages of their lives where they might. Some of them are US citizens. I am furious and frightened on their behalf.

Now, on with my regular update.

I got up this morning when F came back into the room. He turned on the air conditioner as it was really hot in our room. I was half asleep and couldn’t understand why my shoulders were getting cold all of a sudden!

I got up and got dressed and after a bit F and I went out for lunch. I suggested a few places and we were going to go to one. I noticed that we were close to a Japanese restaurant I like, so suggested we go there for lunch instead. F was okay with that so we had soba for lunch. It was nice.

After lunch, F and I went to Musashi to buy some beverages for K and F. We got a few things and then left. We went and had a drink at Cafe Studio Cinq. It was really nice. We also had a cream puff with it. They’ve gone to a new system now, we have to order online to get our food and drinks. That makes it a bit tricky for me!

While we were at the Cafe, we realized that we didn’t get a couple of things at the hardware shop, so we went back! This time we picked up some masks for wearing with our glasses on.  F got a saw for cutting branches off a tree. After that, we were doing the grocery shop. 

We went to Yamaya first and picked up a few more foreign foods and a few snacks. After that, we came back to the house to clear out the car. There was so much stuff in the car that we couldn’t get anything else!

I put away some of the stuff and a few minutes later went back out to the car to wait for F. However, he wasn’t in the car, he was up a ladder cutting down branches from a tree. I was a bit afraid since he’s on crutches most of the time and here he was up a ladder and kept going UP the ladder. I was rather freaked out for him, but he got down safely.

We went off to the grocery store and picked up some food for the next couple of days. I’m going to do chicken wings tomorrow and then gapao rice on Tuesday. That’s the plan at the moment anyway.

We came back to the house and I unpacked the groceries. I went upstairs for a while when we were done. F had suggested going to Kushibiki to the Chinese style restaurant there, so we decided to leave before 7 pm tonight. I had enough time to have a cup of decaf and then we left. 

The restaurant was fairly busy so we couldn’t get a table at first, but a nice couple offered to move to a smaller table so the three of us (K was with us) could have a table. It was very nice of them and F thanked them profusely.

F and K both had ramen, F’s was mapo-ramen. I had a set menu of the egg/pork/fungus dish that I like. It was good. After the meal, we brought K back to the house.

We had forgotten to get a couple of necessities at the grocery store earlier, so we picked them up later. We went to Mina and I got the eggs and mayonnaise that I needed. F got a bunch of stuff that we didn’t really need, but oh well. 

We came back to the house and relaxed. It was so hot in our room that F turned on the air conditioner again. It was nice. I watched a couple of shows off the Fire Stick, The Mentalist and The Tick. I finished my basket during The Mentalist. Woot! It looks great. I’ll try and get pictures of it tomorrow for you!

At 11pm I watched Project Runway. It was the second episode where one of the designers left and I’m not really sure why. There was a lot of stuff going on that I didn’t understand. I don’t know if they didn’t film things or if I just didn’t get the cultural references. I’ve found sometimes with those reality shows that they blow events up out of proportion or make them worse than they seem for ratings. Or, maybe I just didn’t get it. 

The TV went off after that and F and I have been up and chilling for a while. He’s not having much luck sleeping so I’ll have to end this soon and get to bed. I don’t want him to blame me for his not sleeping. 

We’re in the midst of a huge thunderstorm at the moment. It’s shaking the house something fierce. Scary!

Not sure what I’ll get up to, so you’ll just have to come back later and see. Until tomorrow….

June 25, 2022

Saturday - Hot and sunny

Today was an interesting day. I got up around 9:30 and used the loo downstairs. I was thinking about going back to sleep, but I didn’t. I got back on the bed and looked at my phone for a while, but didn’t really sleep. 

F came back a few minutes later and we had a nice reunion. We actually spent the next couple of hours on the bed…no…nothing naughty going on, just spending time together and relaxing together. 

Finally I started to feel rather hungry so I suggested that we go out. F agreed and then we went out. I suggested that we go to Coco’s and I was surprised that he took me there! We got a table and had a pretty good meal. I had my favourite pork hamburg in a mustard cream sauce, F had a Japanese meal of chopped tuna on rice. We both shared an order of fries and we had drink bar. I had to go rather often for F. 

After our meal, F wanted to go to a drugstore, and he said he wanted to go to our usual one. He kept turning the wrong way. It was really annoying. I finally asked him where he was going. I would suggest going down this road or that road to get to a drugstore, but he would turn in the opposite direction. I’m not really sure why. We ended up at on the other side of Komagihara park. We didn’t know where anything was at the store and again, F kept going in the wrong direction! We got a few things and then came back to the house for a few minutes. 

F had a massage scheduled for himself at 4:15, so we left a bit before 4. He dropped me off at S-Mall and then he went on to his appointment. I went into the mall and did a little shopping. I got a bit of stuff at the hundred yen shop and the grocery store. I looked around a little more and then went into Doutor and had an iced tea when F was due to finish his tea. 

He phoned me and then joined me at the coffee shop. We both had tea and then talked about dinner. F thought about sushi, but he couldn’t contact the sushi shop. Then he tried to contact another place that he likes. No answer. We decided to drive there since they have told us that they can’t always answer the phone. When we got there, they were closed! Oh no!

We talked about our other options and ended up getting bentos from a bento shop. They were nice as it happened.  We bought three bentos and came back to the house. I went upstairs to change and F put the bentos out. I was happy to see that he put out the drinks too. He doesn’t usually bother.

Our meal was nice, but having to clean up afterwards was a bit of a pain. I did it and then I went upstairs. I’m afraid I was a bit grumbly about washing up.

Upstairs, F joined me a little later and I asked him if he’d like to finish the movie that we started last week. He said yes, so I put it on. It was great. We finished watching Long Shot with Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron. We both enjoyed it. I did a little bit of my basket. I didn’t finish it yet, but hopefully I will soon.

And that was my day basically. I took a shower after the movie and then watched FBI. I followed that up with the news from very early in the morning. 

So, I’m off to bed soon. It’s horrendously late now and I need some sleep. Come back later if you like and hear about my Sunday. Until tomorrow….

June 24, 2022

 Friday - Hot and muggy, rainy at night

When I woke up this morning I was surprised that morning had already arrived. I was a bit late getting to bed last night. I got up and went downstairs, then came back up. I filled up my water pot and then I plugged it in. I turned on the TV and watched the morning news and then I turned off the TV and took a little nap. Happily, I didn’t oversleep so was able to go downstairs and start a load of laundry and grab my breakfast.

I came back upstairs, ate and watched a bit of TV. Today I watched a bit of stuff so that was good. I watched the news from early in the morning and deleted it too.

I went down to get my lunch and noticed that the warning light on the stove was flashing. I wasn’t sure why and then I noticed that the button was down for one of the burners. There wasn’t any fire as there is an auto-off function…that’s why the warning light was flashing, it was letting me know there was a problem. K must have boiled a kettle or cooked something and forgotten to turn off the burner. Glad nothing bad happened.

I prepared my lunch and also decided to eat some leftovers for lunch. There was enough to share so I made a bowl for K and gave it to her. I think she was surprised!

I went back upstairs with my lunch and watched this week’s episode of The Handmaid’s Tale.  It was good. I did have a discussion with myself today though about whether I want to watch it again or not. It’s getting rather….bleak. It’s been bleak for a while though.

I watched the news and folded my laundry and put it away. After that, I went downstairs and got started on dinner. F hadn’t called today but I knew that he was going to be late. He had to drive to Yamagata city today.

It is Friday, which means it was pasta day. I decided to just make pasta for K and I. If F wanted pasta when he got back, it would be easy enough to just throw some in the pot. [Spoiler alert—he didn’t want any]. I reheated some of yesterday’s chicken in the air fryer, boiled the pasta and put the salad out. I put some other leftovers from the fridge on the table too and then K and I ate. We were nearly finished when F called. He said he was finished work. It was close to 7 pm when he called, and he got back around 7:15 or so. 

F said that he didn’t want to eat so I cleared the table and put food away. I started washing the dishes and then for some reason F came in the kitchen and wanted to start cooking for himself. Using my pan. I was not a fan. He ruined the other pan in my set at the apartment and I had visions of him doing it again. Apparently, he was annoyed by me being in his way (Umm, I was there first!) so he turned off the stove and left. 

I finished up the dishes and then asked if he still wanted to use my pan. He did. I left the room and went upstairs.

Later on F came upstairs and relaxed. I suggested sharing a bottle of caffeine free Diet Coke and he agreed. I went downstairs and washed my cup, his cup and checked my pan. It was okay. It had been washed, but not dried properly. Grr. I put it away because I don’t want anyone else using it. By the way, it really is MY pan as I bought it.

I watched quite a bit of Apple TV tonight so that was fun. I watched another episode of Severance, then an episode of Trying and I also checked out the new show Loot. It has potential. I miss comedy shows so much!

And that was about it for my day today. F has a few things he wants to do tomorrow, I’m not sure how I’m going to fit in, but hopefully I can have a good Saturday too.

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

June 23, 2022

Thursday - Hot and muggy.

For some reason I woke up early this morning. It was 7 am and I couldn’t really see the clock. F wasn’t in the room for the moment, so I had no idea what time it was. F came back in the room and I knew that it wasn’t my wake up time yet. I went back to sleep for a bit! (Sorry F.)

I woke up a bit later when my alarm went off. I had a bit of a hard time getting out of bed, but did finally. I had my usual sort of morning and then snoozed a bit too long. I grabbed breakfast and came back upstairs.

I had a fairly quiet day today. I watched a reality show about Lizzo that was kind of fun and another episode of The Mentalist. F came by for a few minutes bearing gifts. It was nice to see him.

After I watched the news later in the day I went downstairs to start dinner. Tonight I did some chicken in the air fryer and it was really nice. Dinner was a little small and simple, but it is so darn hot downstairs that I can’t be bothered making something gorgeous! There was tons of chicken, so much that I’m actually going to serve the leftovers for dinner tomorrow night. 

I did the dishes, listening to my podcasts and then I went upstairs and got F to take me out to the store. We went to Mina, the grocery store fairly near us. I got quite a few things for dinner and a couple of things for me. F got a few things for himself and his mother. 

We came back to the house where I put the groceries away and then went upstairs. I got changed and went downstairs again and took a shower. 

Upstairs again I watched The Rookie and then F saw something he wanted to watch. I left it on for a while until he left the room for 5 minutes or so. 

I spent a bit of time on my computer and getting myself ready to post this.  Oh, one cool thing that happened today is I got a parcel from a friend in Canada. She’d taken a photo of F and I from Facebook and blown it up and framed it. Then she sent it to me. It cost her a blooming fortune though! F and I love it and we’ve already picked out a spot for it to hang in our room. 

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

June 22, 2022

Wednesday - Hot and muggy

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I got up, went downstairs and came back and watched the rest of the news. After that, I got dressed and packed my backpack. I even grabbed a novel to take on the bus. I took The Children Act by Ian McEwan because it wasn’t a huge heavy novel and I like his work a lot.

Last night, before I did the dishes I made a plate up for K’s lunch today. It was just leftovers from our dinner, but it was quite hearty and I hoped that it would be enough to last until we came back. I checked the fridge before I left and…the plate was gone. She’d eaten it for breakfast. Sigh. I put a few other things on the table that she could grab if she wanted a quick meal for lunch. 

A little after 10 I changed the insoles in my shoes and then went on my way. K wasn’t around so I couldn’t say goodbye. I walked to the bus stop. It took me about 20 minutes and it was hot. My feet were burning. I think that the sidewalk was just so hot that it heated up the bottom of my shoes. It was around 28 or 29 degrees when I left. I got to the bus stop a few minutes early. I had worn a hat and taken my parasol, so hopefully, I didn’t get too much sun.

I got on the bus and then I opened my novel and really I don’t remember too much else. I looked up at one point and realized that I was getting off at the next stop! Wow. 

I paid and got off the bus. I went into the mall and did a little looking around. I did a troll through the larger-size ladies' clothing and mentally made a few notes for later. I went to the post office and made a deposit to my account and then went off and looked for lunch. I ended up going to a pasta restaurant and had their lunch special, a spinach and ham cream pasta. It came with the drink bar and a small salad. F did a little texting to me while I was in the restaurant, that was fun. 

After lunch, I did a little window shopping and went and tried on some of the clothes that I had wondered about. Most of them fit fine, but I didn’t like them enough to get them. Some had itchy fabric, some had tight sleeves, and the last one, well, I almost bought it. It was nice, but it had a detail in the front that I thought was rather dumb. It had a black T-shirt material on the front and then on the back a cottony striped material. They then took some of the cottony striped material and put it on the front at the bottom of the t-shirt material. It called attention to my hips, which are not really an area that I want people to look at! By the time I finished there, it was nearly time to meet up with my friend, so I went over to the meeting place. She was a few minutes early and we had a great time together.

Over our time together there was ice cream, massaging chairs, and then coffee. It was great to get together and we both really needed to do a reality check! We’re both married to Japanese guys, so sometimes we start feeling like we are the odd ones when usually it isn’t us! (Or it is, but with a good reason!!)

She had to leave to pick up one of her children so we hugged goodbye and then off she went. 

I decided to go and wait for F to finish work. I sat in the mall and read a bit more of my book. F called to say that he was on his way and I told him where I was. I specified this time, last time we ended up at different ends of the mall!

F came and met me. We decided to have dinner in the mall. We went upstairs to the food court. F had udon and curry-rice, and I had bibinba. I didn’t have my usual one, I had negi-ton and it was good, but I still prefer the one with kimchi, but I had a lot of kimchi last night. F ate a lot and regretted it later, I was fine!

We drove back into Tsuruoka and went to a grocery store. We picked up a bento for K and then  I picked up something for tomorrow night’s dinner. I’m going to do chicken but I’m not sure what else I’m going to serve!

We got back to the house and F gave K her bento. I put the food away and then went upstairs. I was up here for a while before F came upstairs. I did up the garbage in our room and also went downstairs and did the kitchen garbage too. I did a bit of cleaning there too. I left the bags in the genkan, F said he’ll take them out to the gomi station tomorrow.

I came back upstairs and watched Grey’s Anatomy then turned off the TV. F was asleep on the bed, so I went over to see if I could get him to go to bed. He was “watching” a video on his computer, but he was snoring so he wasn’t really watching anything. 

That was a brief outline of my day. It was really lovely to get out of the house, even though it was so hot. 

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

June 21, 2022

Tuesday - Hot and muggy

Hey, it was the longest day of the year today!

When I went to bed last night, F woke up and was rather fussy. He said he couldn’t sleep and was tossing and turning a bit. I was tired and I wanted to sleep so wasn’t quite as patient as I should have been! Still, I fell asleep and I think he did too.

This morning, I woke up with my alarm and got myself up and out of the room fairly early. I went downstairs and after did the watching news thing I do. I got up and then went downstairs. I grabbed breakfast and then came upstairs and ate.

I had a quiet day today for the most part. Well, sort of. It was quiet within this house, but the house being built next door was terribly noisy. There were beeps and motors, all right outside the house. Ugh. I barely saw K, she spent most of the day in bed I think.

I watched a bit of TV off the DVR today and another episode of James May in Japan. I think I’d like it more if I hadn’t lived in Japan for so long. His terrible pronunciation annoys me more than it should. I also found a few series I should check out as they are types I am interested in. Unfortunately, Orphan Black costs money to watch. Sigh. 

F called me around 5:45 and said he was nearly here. He called me from the road rather than from the parking lot at work. Yikes. I went downstairs and got ready to make dinner. Unfortunately, F said that he didn’t want to eat. Damn! I had bought a lot of food for tonight since I thought he’d be eating with us. 

Tonight I made Buta-Tama-Kimchi stir-fry and a really nice spicy tofu bake dish that I found on Youtube. That was good! I felt sorry for F that he wouldn’t eat.

K and I ate and then she went to bed. I did the dishes, listened to a few podcasts and then went upstairs. It was dark in our room. I was walking across the room and luckily I felt something with my toes. F had just dropped his backpack and other stuff right at the foot of my bed, right where I walk to either go to bed or to my desk. What the heck was he thinking?  He wasn’t of course. He was fairly asleep, and asked me where I had been! He told me a little later that he thought it was 3 am rather than 9 pm!

F ended up going out to grab a few things. I did up the cans in the kitchen and then put them in the genkan for F to take out in the morning. Not in his way I might say! I took a shower and when I was done I grabbed my ice cream (F’s little present!) and went back upstairs. I watched FBI Most Wanted and then turned off the TV. The Handmaid’s Tale season 4 starts tonight but I am going out tomorrow so I wanted to get my usual stuff done so I could go to bed at a decent time! 

So, that’s about it for me really. Tomorrow I’m off to Mikawa Mall to meet with a friend for a while. It’s supposed to be really hot tomorrow morning so I’m not sure how I’m going to make it to the bus stop! I think I might need my parasol or a big hat at the least. 

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

June 20, 2022

Monday - Cloudy and muggy

I got up this morning after a bit of a struggle to wake up. I was a bit late. I watched the news and then snoozed for far too long. I finally dragged myself out of bed and did a few shirts in the washing machine. I think I got the soy sauce stain out of my shirt, fingers crossed. 

I had a quiet late morning and early afternoon. A friend and I had an online chat which was lovely. I had asked her if she’d like to talk, I really felt the need to talk to another person. Lately, I’ve only talked to my husband and he doesn’t always talk to me! I start to get an odd perspective on life…his! 

We talked about all sorts of things, lots of news on her end and it was nice to have the connection with another person.

I grabbed my lunch after I finished talking to my friend and then ate upstairs. Around 3 K’s daughter came by to pick her up and take her to the doctor. I said goodbye and locked the door. 

I took care of a personal chore and then put on the kettle in the kitchen. I made a couple of pots of Lemon Pie tea to cool down to have with dinner. K got back just as I was about to go back upstairs. I opened the door and let her in. 

I watched the news which had already started, then watched my recording of it. I wasted a bit of time and then went downstairs to get a start on dinner. As always on a Monday, I was upset with the state of the kitchen. I did my dishes, put F’s stuff away and then got started with dinner. F had said that he’d be late today so I planned to have dinner with K and that F would come up with his own food.  Of course, as I was getting food on the table, F phoned to say he was finished work!  I reminded him that he was on his own for dinner! 

I had a very hard time getting K to wake up and come for dinner. I had to go into her room and make quite a bit of noise. The first time it didn’t work, the second time it did. 

We had a fairly decent meal. It was simple, just chicken nuggets, salad and shrimp pilaf, but it was nice. There were pickles and tomatoes for her too. 

F came back while we were eating, we were nearly done though. I gave him some of my Lemon Pie tea and told him he could have some of the pickles. I did offer more of the pilaf but he turned me down. 

I did the dishes from my dinner and K’s and then went upstairs. I relaxed for a while and watched some YouTube for a few minutes and looked up a recipe too. 

F came upstairs with some food and then went to bed. I watched the first episode of The Essex Serpent on Apple TV+. It was interesting and I’ll likely watch more of it. 

I’ve been blogging and watching YouTube for a while. I’m almost done. I’ll probably post this and go to bed. 

Not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow so you’ll just have to come back and find out. Until tomorrow….

June 19, 2022

Sunday - Hot and Muggy, cloudy

I went to bed rather late last night, but I did wake up at a reasonable time this morning. However, I got up, went downstairs and then went back to sleep. It was great.

I got up around 11 am. F had no plans and couldn’t really make up his mind about what he wanted to do. Finally, we decided that we’d go out for lunch. I had suggested going to Naa, on the outskirts of Tsuruoka. F was grudgingly okay with that. He went downstairs and was in the car before I was ready to go. 

When I got into the car, F suggested that we try a “new” restaurant, Blackbird Market. He said we haven’t been there. I reminded him that we have, but only for coffee and dessert once. I was completely fine with going there for lunch. 

We were able to get a parking space at the restaurant and were seated soon afterwards. F had the shrimp paella and I had Thai-style green curry. Mine was very hot, but I enjoyed it. F had a slightly cheaper set so he got a green salad and I had a more expensive one so I had some appetizers and a small salad. I really enjoyed mine. We had coffee at the end too. 

After we finished at the restaurant, F said that he’d like to go to a hardware store. I was fine with that. We went and F picked up a couple of planters for some plants he got. He took them out to the car and then did a little more looking around. He found a toaster oven that was kind of interesting, but it was very cheap and very simple. I didn’t buy it. F took off for a few minutes, he needed a washroom and with his crutches couldn’t use the one in the store, so I did a bit of looking around. 

I found a bath set that I thought F might be interested in. Both F and K sit down in the bathroom to wash, but the little stool that they sit on is very low to the ground. I found one that was quite a bit taller. Right now, it is difficult for F to get up and down with his knee. When he came back I suggested it to him and he thought it was a good idea. 

We left the shop and I suggested getting a drink. F agreed and took us to Komeda’s Coffee. We both had iced decaf coffee. It was fine and nice to relax inside a place with air conditioning.

After Komeda, I made a quick run to Daiso. I got a little yarn for a project I’m planning, then a soap dispenser for the bathroom. I also picked up a cake pan that I think will fit inside my air fryer. F stayed in the car. 

We went to the grocery store next. Well, I did. F stayed in the car and I got the groceries. I far prefer that to the usual way we do things. This way, I got to decide what I wanted to make and didn’t have to second guess what would please F. There is no pleasing F most of the time. 

When we got in the car, I asked F what he wanted to do for dinner. He apparently thought I had bought food for dinner. Umm, no. That wasn’t something I even thought about. 

We came back to the house and I put the groceries away and then went upstairs. After a bit, F made dinner for his mother. He keeps making her noodles. The poor woman hasn’t eaten anything except noodles this weekend. And even on Friday night, I made pasta. Ack. 

We relaxed for a while. F didn’t really want to eat much, so I suggested keiten sushi. He could eat what he likes and as much or little as he wanted. He was grudgingly okay with that. We went to Kappa Sushi and had an okay meal. I managed to upend my soy sauce dish and splash myself and my favourite shirt. Sigh. I have to get it in the wash tomorrow I think. 

We came back to the house after our meal and chilled out for a while. I took a shower and then settled in to watch Project Runway. It was pretty good and it is so nice to see it again.

And that’s about it for my day. F is sleeping away and I should get to bed fairly soon. I am on dinner duty with K tomorrow night. F will probably be late, so I didn’t get food for him. He said he’d go out or get his own. That’s fine with me. 

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

June 18, 2022

Saturday - Hot and Sunny, hazy

I went to bed a bit late last night, but nothing too unusual for me. I slept in this morning because I didn’t set an early alarm and I didn’t have to be anywhere early. Yay. However, I did wake up about 5 minutes before the alarm that I did set went off. 

F was still out. He’d gone to the onsen and also to the doctor’s office. I got dressed and heated up my kettle and had just made myself a cup of coffee when F appeared. He wanted to leave for lunch right away, but I got him to wait a little while. He suggested going to a restaurant in Amarume. He had gone there with co-workers during the week and I wanted to try it too! He phoned to make a reservation, I suggested making it for noon since we had a half-hour drive to get there. He did. Then he realized that he had to make some food for his mother. Head shake.

We got on the road around 11:30. We got stuck behind a slowpoke and were a little late, but the restaurant wasn’t that busy so it was fine. The meal was nice. I had the Korean-style lunch and F had a more prestigious meal. We added on soft drinks. We also shared our meals and they were good. It wasn’t the best yakiniku I’ve ever had, but it was quite good. After our meal, we did a little looking around the building and then we left and came back to Tsuruoka. 

F wanted to get his hair cut, so he planned to do that. He came into S-Mall with me, but I went upstairs and he went to the washroom! 

I did a little shopping at the hundred yen shop and then the grocery store downstairs.  I was in line for the check-out, but was social distancing. A woman got into line in front of me. Hmm! I made a noise and she moved. I mean, seriously. I was standing just a little back and she should have seen me!

F called me a few minutes later and we agreed to meet at Doutor. While I was waiting for him to arrive, about 10 people went in. Ack!  Still, we were able to get a table and I got the drinks for us. We spent a bit of time there and then decided to go grocery shopping. I asked to go to Gyomu Supa, which F was nice enough to agree to help me with. On the way there, we tried to visit the craft shop but discovered it had closed last weekend. Not to worry, they are moving into S-Mall, which is actually more convenient for me!

We did a quick run-through of Gyomu and I picked up a few things. I really wish that F would stay in the car as he never has an opinion when I ask him if he’d like to try something. I end up not getting things that would be very nice to have for our dinners because he just shows no interest. 

We came back to the house after our shopping. I put the things away or tried to. F kept getting in my way! It was rather annoying. I went upstairs and spent time on my computer. F came upstairs and napped a little and was on his computer for a while.

Around 7 pm we started talking about where to go for dinner with K. F wanted ramen of course, so I suggested going to the restaurant in Kushibiki. F wouldn’t phone them, so we all bundled into the car and drove out there.

It was a lovely ride. It was still a little light out for most of our drive and it was beautiful. I live in a gorgeous area of Japan.

Sadly, when we arrived at the restaurant it had already closed for the day so we went to Gusto instead. F and I ordered off their special menu and were both pleased with our meals. F had cold ramen with lemon dish and I had a chicken with lemon special that was tasty. I had to do the drinks for everyone as we can’t let K loose on the drink bar and F is still on crutches. It wasn’t a big deal though.

We came back to the house after dinner. I asked F if he’d like to watch a movie from the Fire Stick and he agreed to. We got about half into Long Shot with Charlize Theron and Seth Rogan. I had seen it before, but F hadn’t. F wasn’t able to keep watching as he couldn’t get into a comfortable position. I stopped the movie. I hope we can catch it another time.

I spent the rest of the evening mostly by myself. I watched FBI and then the early morning news. I also watched too much YouTube, but that can’t be helped. Or it can, I just don’t want to stop.

I’m not sure what we’re going to get up to tomorrow. I’m hoping that we have a good day anyway. Come back later if you like and read all about my day. Until tomorrow….

June 17, 2022

Friday - Sunny and hot

I did wake up this morning when F left. I heard a noise but didn’t know what it was. When I woke up properly, I noticed his clothes hanger bar had fallen down. That must have been what made the noise. 

I got up, and did my usual morning things. I did fall asleep again, but got up and took down a load of laundry and put it in the machine. I grabbed my breakfast too. Today I put the last of the fruit salad from a few nights ago on my yogurt and cereal. It was really yummy!

I did clean up some of the clutter in my room today, and it looked so much better. It was only a corner, but still. F and I texted a bit, and he sent me a few pictures from his lunch. He got another great lunch today. Lucky guy!

I had lunch which was a bagel today, and that was great. It was one of the ones we got at Costco last month. I watched another episode of The Tick and one of The Mentalist and enjoyed them.

I watched the news and then I ended up folding my laundry. I put it away and a few minutes later F called and said that he was on his way back.

I went downstairs and got started on dinner. I came up with a cunning plan tonight. I buy pre-portioned pasta so I usually cook three portions, but it is too much. Tonight I weighed the portions and then took half of a portion out and kept it for next time. You know what, it was the right amount!

Anyway, tonight I did pasta and salad and that’s about it. I kept it simple tonight and it was okay. Oh, yes, there were sausages too. 

I did the dishes afterwards and then went upstairs. I relaxed for a bit and F came up after a bit. 

I took a shower and then came back upstairs. F was already mostly asleep. He’s got a few things that he needs to do tomorrow, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do anything that I want to do! I watched an episode of Severance and did a couple of rounds of my basket. 

Anyway, I’m done. Come back later if you like and hear what happens on Saturday. Until tomorrow….

June 16, 2022

Thursday - Sunny but a bit muggy, warmer

I went to bed a little early last night, and read for a few minutes before going to sleep. I think I woke F up a little, but I think he fell asleep again soon!

This morning I woke up and got up right away. I had my usual morning, I watched the news and also sorted my laundry this morning. I did take a bit of a snooze, but then took the first load downstairs and started the washing machine. 

I had a fairly quiet day again today. I hung the laundry up in my room and that’s about it. I watched a couple of shows today too, another episode of The Mentalist and then I tried a new show, The Tick. It was quite funny. When I was still living in Canada I used to watch an animated The Tick and it was hilarious. 

F called a little after 5 so I went downstairs eventually and started dinner. Tonight I did a simple dinner. I air-fried some chicken, cooked a few potato patties and washed some lettuce to have a salad. We were able to sit down before 7 pm which was quite cool.

After dinner, I did the dishes and when I finished went upstairs. F and I went out and got some groceries. Since he was having knee problems tonight I suggested that he go to the drugstore to get more masks and I would go to the grocery store to get the groceries. 

I picked up a few things. I didn’t get too much.  We needed salad, some breakfast for F and K and a protein source for our dinner tomorrow night. 

F and I next had to go to a gas station and get some kerosene. Yes, it is really warm now so we don’t need our heater, but the water heater runs on kerosene, so we still need it. For some reason, our usual place is doing construction in the area so we couldn’t go there. The next place didn’t sell any, but happily, the place after that did. F got one tank. 

On the way back to the house, I got F to let me do a conbini run since I was looking for something for later. He stayed in the car. 

We came back to the house. I put the few groceries away and then went upstairs. I watched half of Bake Off and then a bit later The Rookie. I enjoyed that one. It was done as a documentary which was quite an interesting way to do the show. I did a couple of rows of crochet while I watched. I had to change some of the yarn too. Yay!

F is sleeping. He’s had a lot of pain in his knees today. I hope he doesn’t have a busy day tomorrow at work. 

That’s about it for me. I do have at least one load of laundry to do tomorrow, and I have to cook dinner so there is that. 

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

June 15, 2022

Wednesday - Sunny and warmish

I got up this morning when my alarm went off. I had my usual sort of morning except I fell really asleep. I wasn’t snoozing, I was asleep. When my alarm went off I was surprised, but did get up and grabbed my breakfast. 

I spent a very quiet morning and afternoon. I didn’t get a lot accomplished, sad to say, but at least I changed the towels downstairs. F didn’t come by, but we did text a little bit.

I watched a couple of things off the Fire Stick today and they were okay. I watched another episode of The Mentalist and then one of Extras, the Ricky Gervais series. It was funny, but uncomfortably so. 

I watched the news and a bit afterwards, F called. He had said that he’d be late, but he wasn’t!  I went downstairs and got started on dinner. 

Today I cooked some ginger pork which we had with air-fried veggies, some pickles and beets, salad and K & F had rice too. I wasn’t happy with the veggies, but I think I let the veggies defrost too much before I cooked them. They weren’t roasted really, they were steamed.

I did the dishes and then the garbage then went upstairs. F was on his bed and very sleepy. I felt for him. 

I took my shower after 10 pm and came back and watched Grey’s Anatomy. It was fine. By the time it was over, F sounded like he was asleep. He’s so tired and in a lot of pain these days. I’m glad if he can get some sleep. 

And that’s me up to date. I hope to do a bit of laundry tomorrow and maybe I’ll tackle a bit of the room. I’m not sure! Come back later and see. 

Oh, and before I go, I forgot I promised a couple of basket pictures today…here you go. It’s coming along nicely, although I didn’t do any tonight…

It's deeper than you would think.

It's about 25 cm tall now.

Until tomorrow….