March 31, 2015

Tuesday - Sunny and warm, overcast later.

A really good day.

I got up this morning before 8:30, which for me was amazing.  My alarm hadn’t even gone off yet.  I took a quick shower, got dressed and had a quick breakfast.  I was just getting ready to go when F called me to say that he wasn’t finished at the doctor’s office, so he couldn’t take me to the station.  As I hadn’t really planned on that, it didn’t matter too much.  

I walked as fast as I could to the station and got there just in time.  I had time to buy my ticket and buy a bottle of water before getting on the train.  F called me just as the train was leaving to see where I was and to let me know that he didn’t have flu.  Whew! 

I have never taken a local train south of Tsuruoka and after today, I really wish I had.  It was a lovely trip.  The views, especially along the ocean were amazing and the train was quiet without a lot of passengers.  I had planned to listen to music, but found myself unwilling to put on my headphones!

This just reminds me of the Alberta prairies...so flat.  It's a rice field rather than a wheat field though.

Glimpse of the ocean! Kobata station

Houses and ocean.  Some houses were much closer to the tracks than this.

My friends were there in Murakami and we went over to Gusto.  It’s a family-friendly restaurant and it was nice to sit and chat and eat and drink.  After the restaurant, we decided to look around the city.  We tried to go to the castle area first, but there was no parking. Instead, we went to Maizuru park.  It was great.  The two children could run around and let off some energy, the adults could have a look around. The park we went to had three old houses set up and open to the public for free.  There were also Hina Dolls set up in some of the rooms.  The kids enjoyed the look at history, and so did I!

One of the Hina Doll Sets...completely open to the public!  No glass or anything.

We still had some time before my train home, so we tried the Castle area again and this time found a place to park.  My friend’s husband took one of his children up to the top on his shoulders, my friend, her other child and I followed a little more slowly.  We didn’t make it quite to the top, but the view was nice from where we stopped.  Because time was winding down, and none of us knew the city well, we decided to walk back down the mountain and drive back to the station.  On the whole, it was a good call.

The view from ¾ of the way up.  Very nice really!

My friends dropped me at the station and gave me presents and then we said our goodbyes.  They went to the Tourist information booth and brought back a brochure for me.  With about 3 minutes to spare, my friend’s husband got permission to come in the paid area, and ran the brochure over to me.  That involved running up steps, along a walkway, and then down steps at the other end!  He just made it.  I opened the train door and took the map/flyer.  Fun!

The ride home was equally pleasant.  This time I had a beautiful view of the sunset over the water.  Lovely!

Lovely sunset, horrible power lines

When I arrived in Tsuruoka, F hadn’t quite made it yet, so I ran to the ladies room. Of course, he arrived while I was there and looked a little worried when he didn’t see me.  We had a nice reunion and then went for dinner to a soba chain restaurant.    

We bought a few groceries and then came home.  It was a great day, but I’m a bit tired now.  If you’re up to it, check in later and find out what I do.  Until tomorrow….

March 30, 2015

Monday - Sunny with a little rain

A good day.

I got up this morning and took a shower.  After that, I made some tea and checked my email.  I watched my silly model show while I ate breakfast.  Oh, and I did laundry too.  Yay me!

F came home in the afternoon and we went out for lunch.  He’d already eaten, but I hadn’t.  We went to Aurora, a little cafe we went to once before.  I had ginger pork, F had cheesecake and coffee.  It was quite nice.

After lunch, F took me over to the train station and we bought my train tickets for Saturday.  F paid for them too, which was very sweet of him.  

He dropped me off at S-Mall and he went off to have a haircut.  I hacked around the 100 yen shop, but didn’t buy very much.  F came back to the mall with his new cut.  He looks good.  

We went off home.  F dropped me off and went to his house to take care of his dog.  I stayed home and checked email and such.  

Tonight for dinner we went to Misono again, the local Japanese restaurant.  It’s quite good.  F had ramen and I had chicken cutlet.  I didn’t have a set, but it came with salad and pasta salad and was very nice.  

We bought a few groceries after dinner, well, two things!  I needed yogurt, F “needed” ramen!  We came home and spent a quiet evening together.  F watched boxing and now that midnight has passed I am watching Law & Order.   I’m nearly ready for my trip tomorrow.  I just hope that everything goes well.  

I’ll let you know all about my trip, so come back later.  That’s it for now.  Until tomorrow….

March 29, 2015

Sunday - Cloudy and rainy

A good day.

I got up early today to check my email.  There was a message from my friend with a meet-up time.  F came home soon after I got up and we had some tea while I got dressed.  

Around 11:30 we left the apartment and drove over to the restaurant.  We met my friend and her little boy and had a lovely meal with some laughs.  After a couple of hours we went our separate ways.

F and I headed over to the Chido Museum and went to see the Hina Doll exhibit.  There were some lovely sets of dolls and dolls equipment.  There were tiny, tiny sets of dolls too this time.  They were interesting to see.  

After the museum we came home, ostensibly to use the washroom, but in actual fact, for F to snooze on the couch for a while! He roused himself after 5:30 and went over to his house to take care of the dog.

We had dinner over by Voice tonight.  I had curry with fried chicken on top, F had ramen and gyoza.  Mine was quite nice, but not wonderful.  

We drove out to Mikawa and parked at the mall.  We had a while before the movie, so I went and looked at wool.  The wool section has become very small now.  There are only a few things left.  Most of it is on sale, but I’m not too happy about the quantities and types or yarn, so I left it for tonight. On the way back to the theatre, F saw that shirts were on sale, so bought himself a couple of them.  

We went to see Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.  It wasn’t my choice of film, but I thought I should let F pick the movie once in a while!  It was okay.  I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either.  There were a few yucks and I enjoyed some of the cameos and the British actors, but over all, I wouldn’t see it again unless it was free.  

After the movie,  F wasn’t feeling that great, so we just came home.  I watched Downton Abbey, while F fell asleep on the couch.  He is half-convinced he has flu.  He’s going to go to work in the morning, then take the rest of the day off, take his mother to the doctor and maybe get a flu test.  I’ve told him that he is not to give me anything that will make me sick.  This week I have two  trips coming up that I don’t want to cancel.  

And, that’s about it. My day, and you are now up to date!  Tomorrow I’m probably going to have F around for a while.  I need to do laundry and prepare for my trip on Tuesday.  I’m looking forward to meeting up with a couple of old friends and their children, but if F has the flu I’ll likely have to cancel.  Until tomorrow…!

March 28, 2015

Saturday - Warm and sunny

A good day.

I stayed up quite late last night, but got to bed finally.  I slept well, and even got up at 9 am.  I did fall asleep at my computer, but I was out of bed!  F came home around 10 and I fed him some hot cross buns and tea.  Unfortunately, around 11 he was called in to work.  There was an emergency happening and he had to go.  He put on some “work” clothes and left.

I had a quiet but enjoyable afternoon by myself.  I watched a bit of telly, tried on some old clothes and even cooked myself lunch.  Lunch today was a cheese and spinach omelette and was rather nice.  I used real cheese too, so very yum!

F finally got home a bit after 5.  He’d been to Yamagata City and back.  We talked about going for lunch, but in the end he made himself some ramen.  We then talked about going to see a movie, but F was feeling quite tired.  Instead, I suggested going to the Internet Cafe for a bit.  

We were lucky enough to be able to get massaging chairs and spent the next few hours being pummelled.  I did some knitting with circular needles, drank a bit too much tea and even ran into an old student who was much more surprised to see me than I was to see him!  He’d thought I’d gone back to Canada! 

Around 10pm I went and chatted to F to see if he wanted to stay or go.  I told him I’d stay, but I’d have to order my dinner as I was really hungry.  We left!  I suggested going to Cocos and that’s what we did.

At Cocos I had a hamburger steak that was quite nice, and F had a starchy veg and seafood over rice dish.  He liked it, I liked mine.  We didn’t have drink bar for a change.  After dinner we bought a few groceries and then came home.

For the rest of the evening I’ve been watching telly.  I’ve quite enjoyed it to be honest.  I just finished watching Marple and one of the people in was Ian Ogilvy…my huge crush from Return of the Saint when I was a teenager.  It was so lovely to see him.  Tonight’s Penny Dreadful was odd.  A couple of the characters started drinking absinthe and it got a little kinky.  

Anyway, we have a few plans for tomorrow.  Poor F has to cram a whole weekend into one day.  We hope to go and see a movie later, but we aren’t sure about it.  Catch me next time when I fill in all the blanks for you.  Until tomorrow….

March 27, 2015

Friday - Warm and sunny

A good day.

I got up this morning and had my usual kind of morning.  I rather enjoyed myself.  I read the paper, had breakfast and watched my shows.  Lovely!

In the afternoon I ended up re-watching Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont.  It’s a lovely little movie, I adore Joan Plowright in it.  

After the movie, I went out.  I took my postcards to the post office and while I was there I deposited some coins into my account.  Yay.

I went to S-Mall and had a very late lunch at Doutors followed by a little bit of shopping.  I didn’t buy much, but did get some things for baking.  I picked up a couple of Subway Sandwiches for my dinner and then came home.  

I watched a bit of TV and then got out the bread maker.  I made some Hot Cross Buns tonight.   Well, I tried anyway.  I’m not sure how good they are.  I’ll try them again in the morning.  Okay for a first attempt I’m sure.  

During the rising times I had my dinner.  I really didn’t finish baking until fairly late. I watched a bit of telly and then decided to put in a DVD that a friend loaned me.  I’m on my third episode tonight of Mr. Selfridge.  I really should stop soon because it is late and I’m sure F’ll be champing at the bit tomorrow morning!

And that was my day.  I was quite surprised that my DH didn’t phone me at all, but maybe his phone wasn’t charged? I did have a nice day, it was very enjoyable.  I honestly have no idea what I’m going to get up to tomorrow. Come back then and find out!  Until tomorrow….

*Posted late because the Internet Provider was doing maintenance and I couldn't access the internet last night when I tried to post.*

March 26, 2015

Thursday - Warmish and sunny

A better day.

I went to bed at a normal time, for me, last night.  F stayed up quite late himself!  

This morning I woke up at my usual time, got up and had quite a nice morning.  F popped home for a few minutes, he was quiet, but fairly friendly.  I was on the couch watching America’s Next Top Model.  I’m not sure what my fascination with that show is, but I haven’t seen this season before.  It’s quite interesting actually.  

In the afternoon I had a bagel (F had bought me a couple probably before our argument) with peanut butter and then I headed out.  I went to the craft shop and drooled over the wool.  I thought about getting a few things, but didn’t…Should I? I dunno. I bought something in the drugstore and then started to come home.  Since I didn’t buy anything that I shouldn’t in the drugstore, I decided I needed a treat and had a drink in McDonalds.  It was just iced tea, but it was nice to not be at home.  I read a book on my iPhone, My Japanese Husband Still Thinks I’m Crazy.  Some of it is very good, some of it doesn’t apply as F and I are much older than the writer.

I came home and relaxed for a bit.  Around 7 I started working on my dinner and F came home.  He basically headed into the bedroom and went to sleep.  He hasn’t been feeling well for a while.  

I had dinner.  Basically, I had what I didn’t eat yesterday!  I had chicken, stir-fried vegetables and lettuce from the store, plus an onigiri that F had brought me.  It was quite nice. I also finished the book on my iPhone. I did the dishes and then retired to my computer.

Tonight I put on the headphones and watched my two must-sees, House and Bones.  They were gruesome as always, well, Bones was!  It’s getting more and more gruesome methinks. I also watched tonight’s Massan (the silly NHK 15 minute drama that for a real change is about a Scottish woman who marries a Japanese man and they make whisky in Hokkaido…based on a true story btw.) Ellie collapsed twice in the show, I’m sure she’s not long for this world. It was sort of cool, because some of the characters were speaking English in this episode so I had a clue about what was going on!  I also wrote up 5 postcards for postcrossing.  Yay me.

Around 11:30 F got up and is now sitting at his computer on the coffee table.  He doesn’t seem angry or anything at the moment, which is very nice.  He has a work party tomorrow so he has to be away at it.  I’m looking forward to having a night alone.  I’m not sure what I’ll get up to, but I think it’ll be fun.  

Today is also the 18th anniversary of the day I left Canada to come to Japan.  It’s been a crazy ride, but a reasonably enjoyable one.

Tomorrow I am planning to go out again in the afternoon.  Come back and see just what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

March 25, 2015

Wednesday - Cloudy with some rain or snow

A mildly okay day.

I went to bed early last night because the whole fight with my husband had upset me so much that my body went into a protective mode.  I took a hot water bottle with me and as a result was too hot for most of the night.  I woke up around 3:30 last night and laid there, very awake for a while before I fell back asleep.  This morning, just to prove his point and be a total git, F didn’t turn off his alarm when he got up.  I debated throwing it on the floor, but didn’t.  

I got up around 8 and watched BBC news on TV.  That’s one benefit to getting up early! Not enough however.  

As someone was off at work, I could relax and enjoy my day.  I did my usual things and enjoyed them too.  I finally finished a chapter in Middlemarch, read the paper and watched my shows.  During the day I scanned my cards that I have received recently and also priced flights back to Canada. Sadly, a bit out of my budget at the moment unless it is an emergency situation.  

I had a nice lunch and watched the TV that I DVR’d last night.  I didn’t go out today.  I probably should have, I probably will tomorrow.  

I wasn’t sure when F would come home. I figured that he was still avoiding me.  A bit after 7 I started preparing my dinner.  Sure enough, he came home then.  He wasn’t rude which quite surprised me.  I asked if he had eaten, he had.  He’d cooked for his mother. I continued my cooking.  Tonight I had a quite nice meal of garlic sauteed chicken (prepared in the store, I cooked it), snow peas, and a veggie stir-fry.  I just realized that I had lettuce too, but I forgot about it.  Oh well, something green to eat at lunch I guess.  

We’ve talked, but not really.  

Anyway, I’m going to end this now.  I’m not sure what’s going to happen tonight, I’ll be sure and fill you all in tomorrow.  Come back and find out what I get up to then.   Until tomorrow….

March 24, 2015

Tuesday - Snowy and cold

To call today a bad day would be calling a root canal a mild toothache.  Sigh.  

I got up early enough, had a nice morning of reading the paper, my book, my blog, the usual.  I took a shower and then got dressed up nicely so I could go out when F came home.

I noticed that he’d called me when I was in the shower so I called him back.  He wasn’t done at the doctor.  His mum needed more tests or something in the afternoon.  Fair enough.  He wouldn’t be home until 4ish.

I hadn’t eaten anything yet, so I decided I had better do that.  I made myself an omelette and was just tucking in to it when my phone rang.  F was coming home.  Huh?

And that’s when my day went all to hell.  He came in, saw me eating and decided to make himself some ramen.  He ate that and made more ramen.  I was a bit upset because he was getting in my way in the kitchen and was generally being not nice.  We ended up fighting and he started up with the old “you have to go to bed at the same time as I do and get up when I do” baloney.  That of course made me very angry and I said a few things I probably shouldn’t…but maybe I should.  

I tried to clear the air by asking if he’d like to go out but was rudely turned down, so I went out for a walk.  That was a really good thing to do.  I was out of the apartment and out in the cold for about 30 minutes or so.  I just walked around and then, finally and sadly came home.  

F hadn’t improved in mood at all.  He went out after a while to his house, came back around 7 with food for himself.  He ate it.  I asked him to take me out and so we went to the grocery store where I got food for myself for the next couple of nights.  

I came home again and ate, then did my dishes.  

That’s where I am now.  I have no idea why he’s being such an idiot.  I am really getting tired of it.  

Ironically, I’m thinking of going to bed right now because I can’t get warm and I have a huge headache.  I’ve set up the DVR to tape my programmes so I might end up going to bed soon anyway.  

I do hope that he doesn’t try to contact me at all during the day tomorrow.  I need a full day without him….a month would be better though!

That’s it for me.  Until tomorrow…?

March 23, 2015

Monday - Cloudy then snowy

A good day.

I had a quiet, normal Monday morning. I even finished my latest Sue Grafton novel, which was terrific as usual.  It was a peaceful morning until 11:40 when F invited me out for lunch.  He wanted to go to the nearby Chinese restaurant.  I said okay and that I’d walk over, since it is very close.  Unfortunately, just as I was getting ready to leave the apartment at noon, he phoned me again to say that the car’s tyre had a puncture and he couldn’t come.  Oh no!  At least I hadn’t left the apartment yet.

The afternoon was quiet too.  I scanned cards and then took them, and the present for my BFF to the post office.  I sent them off.  Hurray!  Also, I asked if they had the new Gotochi cards and they did.  I bought two of them.  Hurray for me.  This year’s design is the “tama konnyaku”, which F and I sometimes get when we go to Sendai.  It’s balls of konnyaku cooked in a broth, spread with hot mustard.  I like them, but they don’t taste of much. Good fibre though, and not a lot of calories.

tama konnyaku

When I came home I started to get the kitchen in order.  I did the dishes, cleared the table and washed the nabe.  F came home fairly soon afterwards and after he changed, prepared dinner.  We had a duck and cabbage nabe and it was lovely.  Very nice.  We also had a couple of onigiri.

I did the dishes while F went out to get gasoline.  He was going to wait, but I persuaded him to think about what would happen if there was an earthquake and he didn’t have fuel.

In the evening, we watched a movie on WOWOW.  It was The White Countess and it was very stylish and a little odd.  It had Ralph Fiennes, and a whole bunch of Redgraves in it.  It also starred one of Japan’s most famous actors, Hiroyuki Sanada. After that, I watched a documentary on Bergdorf-Goodman, the department store.  Another place I’ll likely never go. 

The weather was bad, so my TV channel was out.  I don’t have a reason to stay up, so I’m going to try and get to bed a little early.  F is off work tomorrow and will go to the doctor’s office.  After that, I’m not sure what we’ll get up to.  Wish us luck with that eh!  Until tomorrow….

March 22, 2015

Sunday - Warm and sunny

A good day.

I got up this morning to an empty apartment.  I worked on my computer for a while, then decided to get dressed. I even finished a book I was reading on my phone! F didn’t come back until after 1:30.  We talked about going out for lunch, but I wasn’t terribly hungry.  I suggested going to Subway in the mall.  F liked that idea, so off we went.

In the mall, F had a ham sandwich and I had one of roast beef.  It was really good. We went to the grocery store and each picked out a bottle of wine.  Mine was for cooking, his was for drinking! After that, we had a drink in Doutors.  

We checked out the hundred yen shop and then came home. A little later, F went over to his mother’s and walked the dog and did a few other things there.  He came home again and we started to think about dinner.

I suggested going to the Nepal/Indian restaurant because I wanted some naan and curry.  F said it was a good idea, but when we started out, we discussed our stomach’s conditions.  Neither of us felt 100% great, so changed our minds.  I suggested a Japanese/western restaurant near one of the grocery shops and F agreed, once he remembered which one I meant!

We went there and had a really good meal.  F had a Japanese dish that looked really interesting, and I had a more western meal that included soup, salad and a grilled pork cutlet.  We both got dessert.  Because I don’t drink coffee these days, I got my coffee switched to oolong tea so I was happy.  

After dinner, we bought a few groceries in the Pal shopping area and then came home.  We had a quiet evening and I didn’t turn on the TV until time for Downton Abbey.  It was a good episode tonight.  It was Sybil’s wedding.  I did a bit of crochet during the show.  I’m a bit worried about my tension!  I might be making the squares too big to match the other ones.  Sigh.

Anyway, F went to bed a while ago and I really should go soon.  I had a surprisingly enjoyable weekend.  It was so nice not to fight about food for a change.  In the last couple of months we’ve bought the local “foodie” magazine and have been using it as a guide to find good and new places.  It has worked for us.  Yay!

I’m not sure what will happen tomorrow. I have a parcel to mail and I have a few postcards I need to send as well.  I’d also like to buy some train tickets, so come back and find out what I end up doing.  Until tomorrow….

March 21, 2015

Saturday - Sunny and cool

A good day.

I got up this morning before 9 am.  I quite surprised myself.  I got up and sat on the couch for a bit.  F came home to get a few things and then left again to take his mother out to an onsen and then to lunch.  

While he was gone I took a shower and watched a bit of TV.  He came back and we discussed lunch.  I suggested a fairly expensive place at first, and then after a minute suggested something a little more budget.  We tried to go to that one, but they were full.  F then suggested going to Simon, so we went there.  In a break from tradition, I had fish and F had pork.  It was a lovely meal and I wasn’t hungry for ages afterwards.

We went to karaoke for a couple of hours in the afternoon.  It was great, except for the technology!  The input devices were basically all in Japanese.  I managed by getting a couple of books of songs, but it was a little annoying.  However, the singing wasn’t!  We had fun.  

After karaoke, F dropped me off at home and then went to take care of his mum and dog.  I stayed home and caught up with my email and such.  When he came back he told me that he’d had a bit of food at his mother’s, where did I want to go for dinner.  He claimed that he didn’t want a lot of food and then suggested a restaurant that he knew I didn’t want to go to.  Not sure of the logic there.  I countered with another, much nicer place, so off we went.  

We went there and we were the only customers, for the first five minutes!  After that quite a few other customers arrived and we ordered.  F had tempura on rice, I had salmon and salmon roe on rice and it was yummy.  I really enjoyed the meal.  If you are counting, that’s two meals of fish today for me.  Weird!

We went to the local cinema after dinner and saw Still Life with Eddie Marsan and Joanne Froggatt.  It was great.   It was a quiet little movie, but very moving in so many ways.  It was about a council worker who made the final arrangements for people who had died alone.  He arranged funerals and tried to find relatives or friends to contact.  It doesn’t sound terribly exciting, and true enough, there aren’t any car chases, but it was riveting.  After the film, F looked at me and said, “I liked it!” and he never says that without me asking for his opinion first.  

We came home after the movie, although I would have liked to go out for a bit.  We watched some TV, or at least I did.  I watched a few odd things tonight, Helix, Penny Dreadful and then Marple.  The last one wasn’t odd at all, but it did have Benedict Cumberbatch in it tonight, and Tim Brooke-Taylor (from The Goodies) and the woman that played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies so quite cool!

That brings me up to now, and now is when I am thinking of heading to bed!  For a change I have no idea what we will get up to tomorrow, so come back later and find out.  Until tomorrow….

March 20, 2015

Friday - Sunny I think

An okay day.

I got up fairly early this morning, did my usual stuff.  I read a bit of my book today and I had my yummy breakfast.  

In the afternoon I got dressed and made the bed, worked on some things on my computer, scanned my cards, same old, same old.  

F called and said he’d taken time off work.  He came home to change his clothes and then took his mother and himself to the doctor.  He came home and collapsed into bed again.

I asked him if I should cook and he said I should, so I did.  Tonight’s lovely meal was miso pork, baked asparagus with parmesan cheese and salad, plus leftovers from yesterday.  Everything was lovely.  There were so many vegetables, I felt rather proud of myself.  

F did the dishes and then turned on the TV.  I had a Skype appointment at 8:30 so I suggested he wear headphones.  There were two reasons for that, he could hear the shows he was watching and I’d have a modicum of privacy.  

After a few hiccups getting started, 4 of us were able to have a nice chat.  We talked for a while until most of us had to go.  It was nice.  

Unfortunately, as soon as I finished my “call”, F decided to go to bed.  I feel like I hardly saw him again today.  I hope that he’ll spend a bit of time with me this weekend, not just physically with me, but mentally too!

I watched a bit of TV tonight and enjoyed most of it.  I’m looking forward to getting out of the apartment.  I didn’t go out today, since I thought that F might like to go out for a “date-night” kind of thing.  I think I must have been too late tonight.  

Anyway, that’s about it for me.  I’m a tad tired, but I’m not quite ready for bed yet.  However, I think I’ll go anyway. I’m hoping that we’ll go and see a movie or something.  Until tomorrow….

March 19, 2015

Thursday - Rainy and cloudy

An odd day.

I got up this morning early if you can believe it!  I took a shower and then got dressed and came through to the living room.  I watched a little TV and I when it was time for my friend to arrive, I went outside.  She had just arrived so it was good timing.

We had lunch in Cocos and it was nice.  We both had the same thing, a white bean curry with chicken and rice, plus drink bar.  The waitress brought us the wrong dish at first, luckily my friend said something about it because it had tomato sauce all over it.  We had a great gab session, and really enjoyed ourselves.  We also went to a nearby drugstore, mostly to look around.  We found out that they are closing their doors at the end of the month.  It’s a bit sad, but that area of town has far too many drugstores anyway.

In the afternoon I wrapped the presents that I want to send to my friend in Canada.  It took a while and I found something a bit later that I had forgotten I bought! Good thing I hadn’t sent them yet. 

I had just started working on dinner prep when F came home.  He was tired and headachy again.  I tried to find out how long it would take for him to cook the fish, but he claimed that he couldn’t do it.  That meant I was stuck doing the fish too.  So, I went to check out the fish rack and it was filthy.  Whomever had used it last time (NOT ME) hadn’t cleaned it.  I started to clean it and then I thought nope, not going to do it.  I made F do it.  He wasn’t very gracious about it, but did clean it.  However, he put it back in the stove all covered with soap!  This from the man who thinks that dishwashing detergent is poison.  I rinsed it and got a start on the other dishes.  Tonight I cooked gindara, new potatoes and swiss chard with garlic and onion.  I managed to get everything done at about the same time.  F even graced our table with his presence.  The food was good, but the company was not.  He hasn’t been feeling well for a while and work makes it hard for him to see the doctor.  

The rest of the evening has been fairly quiet.  F fell asleep on the couch and is still there.  Another lonely night.  Yesterday he had talked about going to karaoke tonight, and even said he would when I reminded him, but then he fell back asleep.  I wrote a couple of postcards when it became apparent that we weren't going anywhere.

Tomorrow I’ll be cooking again at night.  I’m thinking that I might go out in the daytime if I can, and if the weather allows.  F said he might take time off work and go to the doctor.  Honestly, I hope he does.  Come back in a bit and find out what I get up to.  Until tomorrow then…!

March 18, 2015

Wednesday - Warm and sunny

A good day!

I got up this morning and did my usual stuff.  I had some tea and read some of my Kinsey Milhone novel during the break between shows.  I read my paper as well.  I got really sleepy just before noon, so I decided to snooze for a few minutes.  I felt much better afterwards.

I did some laundry in the afternoon and watched a bit of TV while I used my computer.  The doorbell rang at one point.  I got a postcard today and I had to sign for it.  That’s not happened before so it was strange.  The coolest thing though is that the card came all the way from Bangladesh.  They are quite rare.  I got another card later in the day from Belarus but it arrived with the regular post.  

I had some leftover chicken and some of F’s yummy pan de compagne bread for lunch.  I also decided to cook the two leftover pieces of chicken that I couldn’t fit in the dish last night.  I was minding my own business when I heard a loud crack.  Yup.  My pyrex (or Japanese facsimile) had just cracked.  Yikes.  It stayed in one piece so I finished my cooking.  Sigh.  The ironic thing is that two weekends ago we almost bought a glass dish that wasn’t for baking.  This was and it cracked anyway. 

F came home around 7 tonight.  He’d had to go over to his mother’s and do a little shopping for her.  At home we took out all of the meat trays and milk cartons that have been piling up in our apartment for recycling.  Tonight, F suggested a local restaurant near his house so I agreed.  We went there ….and it was awful!  F had curry rice and fried food, I had yakiniku curry spaghetti and it wasn’t good.  The curry was odd.  It didn’t taste like Japanese curry and it wasn’t anything like Indian curry.  I told F that we’d been there more than 10 years ago and it wasn’t good then either.  He joked that maybe it was the same curry in the pot.  I really wanted to like the place.  It was clean, bright and fairly modern inside, but we were the only customers.  Oh dear.  

We came home via the grocery store where we dumped off the recyclables and then did some shopping.  F requested fish for tomorrow night, so he’s going to be cooking that.  I’m going to cook Swiss Chard and new potatoes I think.  At least I hope it goes well.

I watched a bit of TV tonight and for the first bit worked on the doily I’ve been making for two years.  Obviously I haven’t done much of it for the last year or so! It’s very pretty and doesn’t take much time to do a motif.  

That’s really about it for my day.  Tomorrow I’m scheduled for an early lunch date with a good friend and then we’ll see.  I might come home and do some of my pre-cooking so that I can let F have the stove as much as possible.  He doesn’t like to share!  Come back and find out what happens….tomorrow!

March 17, 2015

Tuesday - Sunny and warm

A good day.

I got up a few minutes late this morning and went through to the living room to catch the show I’ve been watching for the past couple of weeks, The Fosters.  It’s actually quite good.  A bit “ABC Movie of the Week” in a way, but some interesting people and ideas.  

I got my blog read, my paper and some of Middlemarch read this morning, along with breakfast and tea.  Yay for me.  In the afternoon I watched some of the TV I’d DVR’d over the weekend and scanned my cards.  I also tried out my new popcorn popper and it worked really well.  Lunch was small and simple, but good.  

After 4 something I doodled off to the post office to mail my postcards, then came back and did a bit of weeding in the Unflower Bed under our windows.  It looked nice really.  

I came into the apartment and after washing my hands thoroughly registered the 4 cards I received today with Postcrossing.  Wow.  

F called and said he’d be a bit late, so I waited until starting dinner.  However, a bit after 6 I started.  I got the chicken ready to go in the oven and then started baking it, and also sliced the Brussels sprouts.  When F came home, the chicken had been in the oven for about 15 minutes so dinner was on its way.  Tonight it was a fairly simple meal, classic baked chicken, stir-fried Brussels sprouts and salad.  It was really nice.

Later in the evening, I made some more popcorn so F could see the maker work and then later on we had some Greek Yogurt.  

I don’t have any plans for tomorrow really.  I should do some laundry and I feel like going out as I’ve been a bit tied to my apartment lately with the weather.  Until tomorrow….

March 16, 2015

Monday - Clear and sunny

A good day.

I got up early this morning, but fell asleep on the couch and overslept!  Yay me.  I watched TV, read the paper, had breakfast and lots of tea this morning.  It was nice.  

I had a basically quiet day.  I showered, and in the afternoon I took the new grill out and washed the takoyaki plate and the griddle too.  I set it up on the kitchen table and around 5:30 started some quick soup.  

When F came home he wouldn’t let me help him, and he took so long getting everything ready.  I was a tad annoyed, but really, there was no point in showing it because then he’d get mad at me.  

We had takoyaki, soup and salad for dinner and it was rather nice.  The takoyaki were too hot to eat at first. I had to wait until they cooled down.  F kept telling me that they were supposed to be really liquid-y inside, but I’ve never had one that was.  Of course, I’ve never had home made ones before either.  We made some with leftover smoked duck towards the end and I think I liked them the most!  That was rather yummy.  

F did the dishes, although I did offer, and then I asked him to let me put the grill away tomorrow when it’s properly cool.  I’ll probably do a better job of it than him!  

I wrote a couple of postcards tonight and then worked on a very long ago sleeping craft project for my sister.  I did tell her it would likely take me a long time to finish it!  

F went to bed fairly early tonight and I’d like to get a bit more sleep tonight too.  I don’t have many plans for tomorrow.  I might go out and get something to go with our dinner, or not. I haven’t decided.  It depends if I want to go fancy or not but I’m thinking not really.  

I don’t seem to have any long term effects from the chair incident in the restaurant, but my foot is still swollen and my back hurts.  Not sure if it’s related or not however.  

Oh, yes, and I promised you pictures.  I forgot to take them until after the sun went down, so I’m sorry about the light not being great.  Here are a couple of shots of my little blanket!

Based on Crochet Granny Square Baby Blanket
Pattern by Black Sheep Wools

 I found the pattern on Ravelry.com.  It's a very simple Granny Square, what I like is that at the end of a round, you turn the square and go back the way you've come for the next round. That means there are no wrong sides to the squares!

This was a great stash buster.  I mostly used leftover yarn. I did buy more white in order to have enough of one dye lot though. 

Anyway, I am out of here.  Talk to you on the morrow I believe!  Until tomorrow….

March 15, 2015

Sunday - Clear and sunny, warm

I said Julie…don’t go!  But he didn’t listen….

A good day.

I got up this morning and went through to the living room.  F was watching Ultimate Fighting (bleck) and had just finished some noodles and was now eating my Greek Yogurt from the fridge.  I realized he wasn’t going to be too interested in lunch anytime soon.  

I went back to bed for a short nap and then I got up.  I checked our magazines for places to eat and asked if we could go to Hyakkenbori. It’s restaurant of one university and is quite good.  The food is always presented well and is usually great.  F thought that was a good idea, so off we went. 

We were able to get a table and sat down.  We had the same thing today, the special lunch.  It was lovely.  We had sashimi, tempura vegetables and salmon, miso soup, teriyaki chicken and rice with grains in it.  We added on tea afterwards.  It was very nice.  During our lunch, F asked if we could go to the Internet Cafe afterwards, so I said it was fine if I could stop by our apartment first to get my bag of stuff.  

We arrive home and then F decides that it isn’t a good time to go now.  He takes a snooze on the couch while I sat at my computer and drank some orzo.  Around 5 I woke him up because I’m mean like that and sent him off to walk his dog.  

When he came back, we went off to the Internet Cafe.  We were able to get massaging chairs and went in.  I read the newspapers for the last two days, did a bit of a craft thing, snoozed and watched a couple of things on TV.  I barely drank anything today.  I grabbed a cup of hot water on the way in and that did me the whole time.  

Just before 9 pm, F knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to go.  I did, so we checked out.  I had to pack up my stuff, but it didn’t take that long.

We went to have dinner in Cocos.  Tonight was the last night for their White Day Mud Pie, so we first had dinner and then had dessert.  Yum.  We both had tandoori chicken curry and it was nice.  It was the right spiciness for me, and the chicken gave me some protein for the day.  We shared the Mud Pie, with F taking most of the bananas off it for me.  Yay!  It was very nice. 

We bought groceries tonight too.  We’re going to try and make takoyaki tomorrow night for dinner.  During the day, I’ll try and wash the necessary parts of the new grill.  I might even try my new popcorn maker!  Won’t that be fun boys and girls?

We got home a scant 10 minutes before Downton Abbey, so I hustled myself to get ready for it.  I sat and finished the last round of my blanket and finished it.  It was after midnight so you’ll have to wait for pictures, but I really love it!

F is off to work in the morning and I’ll probably have a quiet day at home. I might do a bit of housework tomorrow, or I’ll just lie down until the impulse goes away again!

Come back again and find out if our new grill makes good takoyaki or not and if F and I manage to work out how to make them together!  Got to go.  Until tomorrow….

March 14, 2015

Saturday - Sunny, bit of rain at night.

Happy Pi Day!

What a day….

I woke up late again today.  Even later than I did yesterday, but we won’t tell F that, will we?  He was out with his mum at the time.  I got up, made the bed and then took a shower.  I was even dressed and on my computer when he came home.

We had lunch over in Voice shopping area this afternoon.  We went to Cafe Soco Garden and it was nice.  We each had a lunch set.  I had pasta, F had curry and we were both pleased.  The lunch set included two drinks (very unusual here), plus soup and salad with our meals.  We tacked on dessert for another 200 yen and that was nice too.  Very small, as is usual for Japan, but reasonable for the price.  I had mushroom cream pasta and the dessert was a small piece of tiramisu, some vanilla ice cream with a sticky topping and some fresh fruit.  I had oolong tea and then hot tea to drink.  F had a beef curry thing that looked good and oolong tea and coffee to drink.  Dinner was quite nice and the place is non-smoking.  Yay!  I think we’ll be back.

After lunch we went over to the shop where we bought the glass plate last Sunday to see if we could trade it in.  I hadn’t removed the box from the plate, so there was no problem with it.  We looked around and looked and frankly, there was nothing that interested me.  There was some great stuff, but I’d worry about where to put it.  Finally F suggested getting a hotplate thing.  It comes with a takoyaki plate so we got that.  Of course, F had to pay quite a bit extra so really the shop did well out of the deal!  It’s different from the hotplate/nabe that we have, although we can order a grill and a nabe for it.  

We came home for a while and then F went off to his house to take the dog out and run any errands his mother needed.

When F came back I wanted to have dinner in the mall, but F suggested going to a place near his office.  They serve Chinese food.  I said it sounded okay, so off we went.

The restaurant was basically a one man operation and we were the only customers.  We had a pretty nice meal.  F had ramen and fried rice, I had special fried rice and soup.  We shared an order of gyoza too.  So far, so good.  Everything was delicious and I enjoyed it.  However, when I tried to get up to go, I pushed my chair back and the next minute I was falling to the floor.  One of the metal legs of the chair had bent at the top and the whole thing had collapsed.  I was lying on the floor somewhat stunned when F appeared above me, ready to haul me to my feet.  I asked him to back off as he was in my way and slowly got to my feet.  I wasn’t in any serious pain, although a few parts feel like they might be bruised.  F paid (although honestly, I think we should have been comped a meal!) and we went out to the car.

We drove to the mall and did a little shopping.  My BFF’s birthday is next month and I needed to get her something.  I think I did.  I also got me something, or rather, F did.  He bought me a new top.  I was actually looking for pants, but they didn’t fit yet. Sigh.

He put the stuff in the car and we went to see Into the Woods.  It was okay.  Meryl Streep was definitely the best thing in the movie, although Chris Pine and Anna Kendrick held their own too.  I enjoyed the first three-quarters of the movie but the last bit was a letdown.  

After the movie I asked if we could go to Don Quixjote.  I wanted to buy myself a popcorn popper and I saw some there the last time we went.  I picked one up, F saw some warm undergarments for himself and then we hit the food section!  We came out of the shop a bit after 11 with a couple of bags of stuff.  

We drove home and when we got here I mentioned that it was an odd day today and F looked at me strangely.  He had totally forgotten about the incident in the restaurant.  

When I put on my pyjamas and took off my socks I saw that one of my feet is a bit swollen. My shoe was getting a bit uncomfortable during the movie so I wondered if something was up. F was talking about taking me to the Sunday doctor tomorrow, and I might go, especially if I have a lot more aches and pains. I’ll have to see how I feel in the morning.   

Poor F isn’t feeling well today.  I probably shouldn’t have run him around town so much, but if I don’t, we don’t get anything done and then he gets annoyed!  

Come back and find out if I’m still in one piece or if I figure out how to make popcorn with my machine!  Until tomorrow….

March 13, 2015

Friday - Clear but a little cooler

An okay day.

I overslept this morning.  I vaguely remember slapping ineffectually at my iPhone to turn of the alarm, but somehow I managed to oversleep by an hour and a half.  I got up and made myself some tea and had breakfast so I wouldn’t fall back asleep.

I had a quiet morning around the apartment and then a fairly quiet afternoon too.  I did my computer stuff, then scanned my cards fairly early.  I had quite a few to do.  I had a quick lunch and then made my way over to the post office to mail off my stuff.  I had a bookmooch today too, so I had to go into the post office too.

I came back and washed up the few dishes left and stayed ready to go out.  F came home a little after 6 pm, but had completely forgotten that we were going out and begged off.  That meant I had to get dinner going right away.  Luckily, it wasn’t a difficult one tonight.  

I sautéed some chicken and also did a stir-fried cabbage dish.  We had that with lettuce and I had couscous and F had bread.  Dinner was delicious.  

Afterwards I let F deal with the dishes and settled in by my computer.  F napped on the couch but at 11 I made him move so that I could sit there too.  I worked on my blanket.  I finished up the sewing and I’ve crocheted one round around the blanket.  I might have enough yarn to do another round, so the next time I have time, I’m going to do that.  It’s nearly done.  Woot!

That’s about it for me now.  We have a few things planned for tomorrow, shopping, maybe a movie or so.  Tune in and find out what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

March 12, 2015

Thursday - Cold and snowy

An okay day.

I got up on time this morning and got my day started.  I read my blog and also the paper today, as well as a bit of my book.  Hurray for that.  

I took a shower in the afternoon and spent a lot of time on my computer.  I didn’t hear from F for most of the afternoon.  He called me when he left work, so I did the things I needed to do to start dinner.  I started the water for pasta and I set the table.

We had a simple and yummy dinner tonight.  It was just pasta with a bought sauce and smoked duck, leftover broccolini and salad but it worked.  I also gave F some cream cheese and crackers since he wasn’t sure if dinner was enough for him or not.  

After dinner, he did the dishes, sat down on the couch, turned the TV to something in Japanese and then fell asleep.  I wasn’t best pleased, but let him alone until it was time for House to start.  Then I changed it!  He snoozed for a while.  

I had planned to go over to the couch, but didn’t manage it.  F was taking up the whole thing and there was no space for me.  Sob.  Not really, but I would have like to finish my sewing tonight.   Instead I wrote rather a lot of Postcrossing cards.  I did five tonight, so I’ll have to scan them tomorrow before I go to the post office.  I also have a book mooch to send out so I’ll get on that too.  

F woke up around 11 and took over the TV again.  There wasn’t anything on for me anyway.  He finally made some more bread like he promised, so I’ll be able to have some with lunch.  

Not sure how tomorrow or the weekend will go.  Come back and find out.  Until tomorrow….