March 30, 2023

 Thursday - Sunny and warmish

Today was a bit odd. After I woke up, went downstairs and turned on the news, I noticed that I got a text from one of the people I’m meeting tomorrow. It was…rude-ish. It really put my back up and to be honest, I thought about cancelling my part of the get-together. I’m still thinking about it. I’m hoping she was just saying something badly, but it upset me a lot. 

I did my snooze thing and then I got up and went downstairs. I took my load of laundry to do with me but I got halfway down the stairs and heard the washing machine going. Darn! K pipped me to the post.  I didn’t mind except she didn’t take the laundry out for hours. I checked it, but she had washed some unmentionables and I didn’t feel like I should be touching them! I finally got them done around 2:30 or so.

I finally did do a bit of going through clothes today. I found some clothes that still fit (woot!) and some clothes that don’t (boo!). I put a bunch of clothes in a pile to be washed so that I can wear them this summer. I did a bit, but I need to do a lot more as well.

While I ate lunch I watched another episode of Bake-Off. I really miss Mel & Sue, and if I’m honest, Mary too. I do like Prue though.

After lunch I watched the news and a bit after that, F called to say he was on his way. I asked him about dinner and he said that his stomach was still upset and he wasn’t sure about dinner. 

I went downstairs and started working on dinner. I had to cook everything even if F didn’t eat as some of the veggies wouldn’t last the weekend. When F got back to the house he said that he wouldn’t eat dinner and he said he was sorry. I was sad for him, but to be honest, I didn’t mind! He told me so I wouldn’t be dirtying extra plates and such. 

I got dinner made and had to go and wake up K again. I set the table and even turned on the TV to get the end of the news. K and I had dinner and it was quite good I thought. She ate everything that I gave her and a little more.

I did the dishes up fairly fast and then went upstairs. F and I decided to go out fairly quickly. I was a little surprised though when we got to the store and he wanted me to go in and do his shopping for him. Huh?  Okay. I did with a few pictures and checking in!

We came back to the house and I put away the groceries and then came upstairs. I watched New Amsterdam and did about 3 rows on my blanket. I think it is nearly as tall as I am…not that I am, but it’s getting there! It’s so heavy that when I have to turn the blanket it is a little difficult!

F and I chatted a little bit and he ate some of the leftover stir-fry. Unfortunately, he ate the plate that I put aside for his mother! He said that he would make another plate for her. I hope he did!

So, that’s about it for me. I won’t be here tomorrow night, hopefully I’ll be off having a good time. I should be back on Saturday, but if I’m overly tired or we do something fun, I may not write!

Come back on Saturday if you like and hear all about my day!  Until tomorrow….

March 29, 2023

Wednesday - Clear and sunny

I woke up when my alarm went off. I went downstairs and then did my usual watching of news and then sleeping for a bit. I got up a bit later, went downstairs and grabbed my breakfast and then came back upstairs.

I had a quiet morning and afternoon. When I was a bit hungry, I went downstairs and grabbed my lunch. I came back upstairs and watched Bake-Off and ate lunch.  I watched the news and texted a person about my new pants.

F called before 5:30 and said he was on his way back. I went down fairly soon after and started on dinner. I washed some blueberries, prepped some radishes, and some Brussel sprouts. When F came back from work he said he wasn’t feeling great. I asked him if he could eat dinner tonight and told him what it was. He said it sounded good and he’d have dinner. I got things cooked and heated and set the table and called him…and he said he couldn’t eat. Sigh. I wish he had told me earlier, or been honest when I asked him. I wouldn’t have dirtied so many dishes and I probably wouldn’t have made so much food. 

I did the dishes after K and I ate. I listened to a couple of interesting podcasts so that was good. When I finished doing the dishes, I did up the garbage and put it in the genkan.

I went upstairs and did the garbage in my part of the room, then gave F the bag for his. I relaxed for a while and then went and took a shower. When I finished, I watched the last episode of The Rig. Then I checked to see if they’re going to make another season and supposedly they are. That will be cool.

That’s about it for my day. F is sleeping or pretending to do so. 

I didn’t get any packing done so I think I had better do that tomorrow and finish getting myself ready. It’s only one night and I’m staying in Tsuruoka, so I don’t need to worry too much I think.

Anyway, it is late and I have to get some sleep. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

March 28, 2023

Wednesday - Sunny but cool

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I didn’t wake up early, yay! I went downstairs and came back upstairs to watch the news. 

I had a quiet morning and went downstairs again before 11:00. I grabbed my breakfast and came upstairs to eat.

I watched some YouTube and while I ate lunch I watched Bake-Off. I haven’t seen this series before, so it is rather interesting to watch it. 

While I watched the news I made a new ball of yarn for my afghan and I also tried out my afghan for size. It’s about long enough for me to cover myself when I’m lying down. I’d like to make it a little longer because F is taller than I am and he might want to use it. It is warm and has the potential to be snuggly. 

F had texted me to say he might be late so I took my time going downstairs to cook dinner. I should have been quicker!

Tonight I did a veggie bake with sausages in my air fryer, so I had to prep the veggies first. It took a while. I also washed some blueberries and got the salad together. F came back in the middle of my prep complete with a haircut. That’s why he was late!

Dinner was good. I had to do the veggies in two batches, but it was nice. I let K and F have rice with their dinner, and I gave us dessert tonight too. We had some of the cake I got from the hotel for my birthday last month and some blueberries. 

I did the dishes afterwards and it took a lot longer than I expected it would. I screwed up big time too. I filled up my air fryer basket with water and soap to soak. I left it on the table…and it leaked. Sigh. I had to wipe up the water on the floor. I guess I must have had the water above the place where the handles were attached. Oh, dear. Well, I won’t be doing that again.

When I finally got things cleaned up in the kitchen, I  went upstairs. F was downstairs and was ready to go out. I went up and changed my clothes and then left. 

We went to MaxValu and I went in and did the shopping. I wasn’t too organized tonight, but I think I bought enough. I also got F and I drinks. I was so thirsty! I got a bottled rooibos which was okay. 

We came back to the house, I put the groceries away and went upstairs in time to watch FBI: Most Wanted. I did a couple of rows of my blanket tonight and then I showed F how long it was. He wanted a bit of a snuggle when I was on the bed with the blanket on top of me. 

He went to bed at a reasonable time tonight and I am staying up late as usual.

I’m not sure what I’m going to get up to tomorrow. I might look at a suitcase/backpack for the weekend and get a few clothes together. I’m away this Friday night, by the way, so no update then. 

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

March 27, 2023

 Monday - A bit overcast

Hey, today is my 26th Japanniversary!!

Last night I was nearly ready to go to bed when I heard F tell me that his computer was broken. After my eyes stopped rolling, it turned out that he’d been using it without plugging it in. I suggested that he plug it in. He did, but it didn’t work…for a minute or two. I suggested that he wait a couple of minutes for the battery to recover a tad! It was fine.

I went on and went to bed, F didn’t as far as I know. He didn’t feel well, apparently. 

This morning, F woke me up. I don’t think he meant to but….I waited until he left before I went downstairs. I had thought about going back to bed but didn’t. I watched the news and then I fell asleep again! I did get up a bit earlier than usual and grabbed my breakfast and such. 

I did a quick load of laundry today too. I need to have some clean clothes by the end of the week, so I really wanted to wash them today. While I was downstairs, F’s sister was over and was going to take K out. Good for her.

I had a fairly quiet morning and then afternoon. I watched a bit of a movie which was on cable today.   I went downstairs and grabbed my lunch then came back upstairs. A bit later, I watched the news and a bit later after that F called me to say he was on his way back. He said he wasn’t feeling that well.  I asked him to bring some ice cream for us for dessert. He said he would.

I went downstairs and made dinner. Tonight I baked some chicken in the toaster oven, cleaned and prepped some radishes, and made some bibinba rice. I also washed blueberries for us to have for dessert. 

Dinner came together fairly easily tonight, I’m happy to say. I think I got most of the things on the table around 7pm. I called F down and he came.  Dinner was good. 

After dinner, I did the dishes and listened to my podcasts. I finished and then did up the plastic garbage to go out tomorrow.

I went upstairs and relaxed for a bit and then after 10:30 I took a shower. I came back upstairs and watched an episode of Shrinking on Apple TV. It was a good one today, about an engagement at a party. I got a couple of rows of my blanket done too. Woot!

And, that’s about it for my day. I watched a bit of YouTube and did my blogging. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

March 26, 2023

Sunday - Rainy and Cool

Well, today was pretty crap. 

I got up early, went back to bed and slept until before noon. I got up, dressed and basically spent the next 7 hours in front of my computer. 

I ate a little bit of food. I had some cup-pasta early on, and later on, I had some leftovers. F spent most of the day in bed and ignored me for the most part. As for me, I couldn’t be bothered to talk to him. He wasted my day. I had asked that he take me out today, but he couldn’t be bothered, so why should I talk to him.

Close to 8 pm, I was watching some YouTube and F all of a sudden asked if I’d like to go to Edoichi, the Yakiniku Buffet restaurant. I said that I would and also that we needed to do some shopping. A few minutes later we left the house and went to the restaurant. 

It was quite busy when we went in and it was quite expensive. Still, F hadn’t had to pay for lunch today, so big deal! We had an okay meal. It used to be a horrible place to eat and things were always quite sketchy, but in the last ten years or so it has really improved. The meat is also fairly good quality too. F ordered us some sushi and I grabbed some of the cooked food from the display area.

We left basically on time, at 10:00pm. I had eaten so much that I didn’t want to move. F had eaten a lot too. 

We went over to the grocery store and I went in and did the shopping. I decided to make chicken one of the next nights and bought a few things to let K and F have breakfast over the next few days.  Me too for that matter! I paid and then left the store. 

We came back to the house and I put the groceries away. I came upstairs and then F came up later. There was a small earthquake here as well. I think it was around a 2 or a 3 on the Japanese scale. 

So that was my day. It was a complete waste of time and I’m really angry that my day was wasted the way it was. F and I may be talking, but it doesn’t mean that I have forgiven him. 

Until tomorrow….

March 25, 2023

Saturday - Warm and sunny

I slept in this morning but so did F. We didn’t really have any plans for today anyway.

We got up, and I was up around noon or so. F wanted to go for lunch fairly soon, so I dressed and also finished up the envelopes I wanted to send. We did our usual negotiations about lunch and F had a good idea for a change, so we set off. First up, we went to the main post office and I sent off my envelopes. 

We headed over to the restaurant and had a good meal. We went to our favourite yakiniku restaurant.  F surprised me, he had a much more expensive meal than I did. We shared a bit of the meat, but it was expensive in the end.

Next up, we made a quick stop at K’s Denki and then went over to Shimamura. I wanted socks and F wanted a new belt. He found one and picked it out, then wanted to go back to the car to sit down. His knees were bad again. I found some socks and then had a quick scan of the large-size ladies clothes. I found a few cute things, but I didn’t want to try them on right then so I left after paying for our goods.

F invited me to go and have a drink, so we drove over to Komeda and had a cake set and a drink. I picked up a bento at the grocery store nearby for K’s dinner. 

We came back to the house and I let F deal with K’s dinner. I did my part by buying it I think.

I went upstairs to wait and see what would happen later. We talked about going out around 7 and I suggested Foodever. I wanted to check it out for my friends coming next week. F said he was okay with it.

Well, we got there and the parking building was busy. He found a spot and we went downstairs to Foodever. There was no one there, sad to say. Most places were closed and F took a look at the open place's menu and got all stuffy about it. I found something I’d eat and when I asked him he said that he wouldn’t eat. Well, that would be fun for me, wouldn’t it? I decided not to stay. 

On the way back up to the car in the elevator, I was harangued to tell him where I would eat. He also started whining about ramen. He decided that he’d go and have ramen. I told him to drop me off at the Indian Restaurant. He did and was trying to give me money when I exited the car. I told him to keep it. I decided he could complain about how much I paid if I took his money, so I wouldn't take it. 

I went into the restaurant and had an okay meal. Honestly, it was so nice to eat by myself. Recently F has become a slave to TikTok and it is annoying to “interrupt” him while he’s watching if I want to talk to him about anything. When I finished I paid and then went over to the nearby drugstore. I saw F’s car in the parking lot. As I went into the store F was coming out so I told him I was going shopping. I picked up a couple of things in the drugstore, paid, and then headed out to the car.

I haven’t talked to F since, nor him to me. 

I think he got overtired yesterday and didn’t know how to tell me that, or didn’t want to acknowledge it to himself. He’s been so odd lately. This afternoon I asked him to take me to the mall tomorrow so I could go shopping for my BFF’s birthday present. I suggested that he go and see a movie or hang out in a coffee shop while he waited. He said that he’d drive back to Tsuruoka and then come back when I was ready. What the hell? I said I’d rather just take myself out to the mall by bus and have him pick me up after work one day. 

Anyway, I have one more day to endure before he goes back to work. I’m not sure how things are going to go. Wish me luck. 

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

March 24, 2023

Friday - Cooler and a bit hazy

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I got up and watched the news. F got ready and then he went off to the hospital. I finished watching the news and then did my little napping bit.

F phoned to say he was coming back later and I was snoozing. I got up and waited for him to come back. When F was back, he said that he was okay to go to Yamagata, so we got ready.  

First of all, we went to a grocery store and picked up some food for K for the day and also some drinks for us for the road. We dropped off K’s food and then we went for our lunch. F was suggesting Gusto, but I reminded him about his favourite place so that’s where we went. We both had the daily special and it was pretty good. It was a mix fry and sashimi.  We had a great lunch and then left the city. 

We made good time to Yamagata. I played one of the new CDs I made to check the quality and that the order was correct. It was! We made a brief stop at the Sagae rest stop and then went into Yamagata.

We stopped at the Aeon Mall for a little while. I went to Kaldi and picked up a few things, but not my favourite tea for a change. I got a few things like sriracha mayo and today I picked up some Norwegian crispbreads that were in the bargain bin. They look amazing, so hopefully, I’ll get to enjoy them. I also visited the 3 Coin store, where I bought myself a salad spinner. Technically, I still have one, but I haven’t seen it in 6 years, so I think it is time I got a new one!

After this, we went over to Costco. We had a little fun parking, but it wasn’t busy compared to when we usually go, so that was good. We went in and at first, F wanted to look for something so we did that. He didn’t find what he wanted, so he went off to the food court and I went and toured the store. What did I buy? Mostly the usual stuff. Toilet paper, Havarti, sausages, Kleenex, Bibinba mix, bagels, Brussel Sprouts, blueberries, radishes, potatoes and a few other things.  I went through the checkout and F and I took the groceries out to the car. We bagged everything out there. I find it too stressful to do it while the clerk is ringing in stuff. In the past, I had many bags of stuff and the clerks were throwing things in bags that I didn’t want, F was yelling at me about almost hitting people (I wasn’t) and I was trying to keep up. I prefer this way. 

We went back into the store and went to the food court. I had a hamburger, an ice cream and a drink. F had already had a hot dog and a drink so he didn’t want anything. We discussed having dinner in Yamagata, but I was quite full and so was F. We decided to wait.

On the way out of Yamagata, we made a stop at Yamaya and I picked up a few little things for the house. I got some new spices because some of mine are rather old. After that, we were back on the road. 

I dozed off a little, but I think for the most part, I did stay awake on the trip back. I didn’t really fall deeply asleep like I often do so that was good.

We got back into Tsuruoka and I suggested that if we were hungry we should get some food first. We went to Gusto and had a quick and cheerful meal. F had chicken and so did I! I had chicken with a honey mustard sauce and a side salad, and F had chicken with salad. It was pretty good. 

We came back to the house and F helped carry in the food. He even put some of it away. I hope he put it where I wanted it. He went off to the toilet and I packaged up the bagels for the freezer and put the rest of the stuff away. I went upstairs and checked the CDs I made on our DVR. I’d forgotten until today that I can play music CDs on the DVR. Success!

And that was basically my day. It was quite a good one. We had a good trip to Costco and it didn’t cost as much as either of us thought it would. That probably means that I didn’t buy enough!

I’m not sure what we’ll get up to for the rest of the weekend. We could go see a movie, but I’m not sure if we will. There is some exciting news on that front though, Machi-kinema reopens tomorrow! They aren’t as big as they were before and it seems that they are playing a lot of older films. Last year when we went they didn’t have any popcorn or drinks on offer, so I’m not sure if they will do that again or not. 

Anyway, that’s it for me. It was a pretty good day. Come back later if you like and find out how my Saturday goes. Until tomorrow….

March 23, 2023

Thursday - Cooler and a bit overcast

I woke up early this morning which I wasn’t too happy about. F had already left for work. I went downstairs and then came back up and watched the news at 8 am. Afterwards, I fell asleep and overslept for a change. 

I got up and did a load of laundry. After it was in the washing machine I grabbed my breakfast and came upstairs to eat. I did another load and hung it up.  I relaxed for a bit and then it was time to have my lunch. 

F called me a bit early and said that he’d finished work for the day. He took some of the afternoon off. I was quite surprised.

He came back to the house and a bit after that he took his mother off to the onsen. 

I went downstairs to the kitchen and got a start on dinner. At first, I had big plans, but then I decided to just simplify them and I’m so glad that I did. I finally got all the veggies chopped up and the meat sliced into bite-sized pieces. They came back as I was nearly ready. 

F came into the kitchen and told me that he didn’t feel like eating as his stomach was upset again. Sigh. That meant I would be on K duty by myself again. Not my favourite thing if I’m honest. 

I cooked the stir-fry and served it to us. I just brought plates from the kitchen. I gave K rice and I had the leftover couscous from a couple of days ago. Dinner was quite good really. It’s a shame that F didn’t have any. 

After dinner, I did the dishes and listened to some of my podcasts. I went upstairs when I was done. I had a fairly quiet evening tonight. F went down later and made himself something to eat. I watched New Amsterdam and then turned off the TV. F took a few minutes to look at the DVR setup tonight but couldn’t find anything wrong. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for! I was a bit annoyed, but at least he tried…I guess. 

I didn’t do any crochet tonight, but I did make a couple of balls of yarn so that I can crochet a lot next time!

Anyway, we may or may not go to Costco tomorrow. It depends on how F is feeling tomorrow and how early we can get going. He does have to go to the hospital in the morning to see the surgeon about his knees again. 

So, anyway, that’s it for me. It was an okay day, but a bit odd. This has been a strange week, I won’t be sad when it is over.

Come back later if you like and hear all about my Friday. I most likely will be back tomorrow night, but if I’m not, don’t worry over much about it! Until tomorrow…. 

March 22, 2023

Wednesday - Sunny and warm

I woke up this morning when F was getting ready for work and asked him how he was. He said that his back was a bit better. It turned out that he had taken medicine this morning. Hmm. Why didn’t he do that yesterday?

I woke up again when my alarm went off. I got up, went downstairs and then came back and watched the news from the bed. I was dressed and all. Yes, I snoozed afterwards, but I did wake up a few times. 

I grabbed breakfast and some water and then came back upstairs. I ate and watched a bit of YouTube.

I had a quiet afternoon really. F called at 1:30 or so and said he was coming back to the house for a while as he was waiting for his passenger. He offered to bring something for me so I asked for a salad. I went downstairs to get my lunch and F came back while I was in the kitchen. He brought me a huge salad for my lunch…so big that I split it and will have the rest for tomorrow’s lunch. I came upstairs to eat while F relaxed. 

I watched another episode of Bake-Off. It is one of the ones without Mel & Sue and Mary Berry. The others are okay, but they haven’t found their feet yet. 

F went back to work, I watched the news and relaxed a bit. A bit after 5 pm I went downstairs and washed my dishes from the day. 

F came back from work and brought his mother a bento. He gave it to her with some miso soup. He’s nice sometimes!

F and I went for dinner to Gusto. It was okay, It wasn’t my favourite but it was fine. We shared an order of fries and they were pretty good. F had unagi and I had a mixed grill. I didn’t mind mine, F didn’t like his that much. 

After dinner, we went to the grocery store and I bought a few things for dinner tomorrow. I’m going to do another stir-fry. I’ll have to use some of our own veggies for it. I forgot to pick up a salad tonight, but it should be okay I think. 

We came back to the house. I put away the groceries and then I did up the garbage in the kitchen. I threw out a few extras that maybe I shouldn’t have…or maybe it is a good thing that I did!

I came upstairs when I was done and watched a bit of YouTube. After 10 pm I went downstairs and took a shower and then came back upstairs and watched a bit of Apple TV. I did a couple of rows of my blanket tonight too. Ooh, I have an updated photo for you all tonight too. It’s now longer than it is wide. I’m not sure how much longer to make it as it is getting so heavy to work on.

After midnight, I got started on my computer stuff and now I have written this blog entry. What do you think?  Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

March 21, 2023

Tuesday - Sunny and a bit overcast

Well, today was a not-great day. I hate days like this.

I woke up a bit early this morning. We had no set plans so I decided I’d sleep in. I went downstairs and came back up again. F said that his back was sore. Last night he’d said he might take his mother to the onsen so I wondered why he didn’t do that.

I woke up later and got up. I got dressed for going out and heated up my water pot and had a drink as well. Around 12:30 I asked F if he was thinking about going out for lunch. He started whining immediately about wanting to have ramen. Again?! I told him that he was welcome to go and have ramen if he dropped me off somewhere else first. Then I reminded him that I love Greek food and I can’t get it anywhere. I was trying to let him see that even though I won’t eat ramen with him, I never get to have my favourite type of food either. He can make it in the kitchen downstairs, go to a ramen shop and have it at work for lunch…I don’t get Greek food ever. 

Then he decided that he wasn’t going anywhere as his back hurt too much. I’m afraid I didn’t really care. It felt a bit like a bad excuse. 

Since he didn’t care about whether I ate or not, I decided that I would take care of myself. I didn’t want a repeat of Sunday where I didn’t get to eat until the late afternoon.

I checked the bus schedule and there wouldn’t be a bus for a while. I had a cup pasta and some tea and then around 2 pm, I left the room. I asked if he’d come and pick me up later and take me grocery shopping. He said he might. 

I caught the bus which was late as usual and I was the only passenger for a while. After a while, another person got on, but there were only the two of us for the majority of the trip. I got off at the mall and went to check out what was going on! I decided to have lunch first so I went to the Pizza Hut Express and had their pasta and mini-pizza plus drink special. It was okay. I ate and then went upstairs to do a little shopping. 

I went to Doutor for a while. I had sent F a text asking if he’d like to meet me for a drink. He didn’t see the text for a while and then after he did read it, he didn’t bother to answer it. Okay then. I left the cafe and then caught the bus back to the house. 

I enjoyed myself when I was out and I’m so glad that I didn’t just stay at the house and snipe at F. However, when I came back he barely acknowledged that I was back. I asked him when he’d like to take me to the grocery store but he said he couldn’t move. I told him he could stay in the car, but he said he couldn’t even get down to the car. I told him that if he didn’t take me I couldn’t cook dinner for the next couple of nights. He didn’t seem to care.

Since he wasn’t moving at all, I went downstairs to make my dinner. I had a weird one, but I enjoyed it anyway. I made some couscous and had a can of sardines on a bagel. I followed it up with a bit of cheese later on.  While I was making my dinner, F came down and said he was going shopping and did I want to go with him? I said no because I was in the middle of making MY dinner. He left. 

He came back later with a bunch of crap that he didn’t need. He bought more rice and we already had some…He said he got something for his mother’s breakfast and lunch but I don’t know what that would be. 

Later on, upstairs I gave him a cup of decaf coffee and he gave me one of the sweets that he bought. Honestly though. I know that his back is bad, but he just was a real jerk today. If I hadn’t gone out, I would have wasted an entire day at the house with him. Well, the good thing is that now I know I can get out of the house and back by myself, so I can do this more often. I’m not sure I’ll always come back!

I watched FBI: Most Wanted and it was okay. It was about an incel killing a bunch of people. I turned off the TV after that and then I started doing computer stuff.

This really wasn’t the kind of day that I hoped I’d have. I’m so glad that I did go out in the afternoon. I just wish that there had been somewhere exciting and fun to go but there wasn’t. That’s the problem with living in a small city. 

Anyway, F wants to go to work tomorrow, even though I suggested that he take the morning off and go to the doctor. He’s not into that. Whatever. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. What will I whine about tomorrow? Until then… 

March 20, 2023

Monday - Warm and sunny

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I got up and then did my usual watching of the news from the bed. I took a nap after that, quite forgetting that I could attend a Zoom meeting this morning. Oops. I actually meant to do it this time.

I had a fairly quiet morning as usual. I had breakfast and a bit later I swept the stairs. I changed the towels downstairs, the usual Monday kind of thing too. I watched a new-to-me episode of Bake-Off today and then the news as well. 

I went downstairs after F called and worked on dinner. Today, I baked some chicken in the toaster oven and also made a mushroom marinée and some mabo-dofu. The last one was from a packet I got in a drugstore’s bargain bin.  It was easy, just add tofu and microwave. It turned out to be quite spicy. We also had salad and I cooked rice for F and K as well. 

We had a nice meal and a lot of the food disappeared. I made a plate for K although I’m not sure if she’ll eat it tomorrow. I did the dishes and listened to a couple of podcasts, but was out of the kitchen before 9 o’clock. Yay.

I came upstairs after saying goodnight to K and then relaxed with some YouTube for a bit. At 10 pm I watched the re-run of last week’s New Amsterdam and then I turned off the TV. I took a shower too.

That’s about it for my day. Tomorrow is a national holiday and we haven’t made any plans. Sigh. I’d really like to do something or it might feel like a waste of time. F is still up this late but said he might take his mother to the onsen in the morning. Good for him. I think she needs to get out a little bit. 

So, come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

March 19, 2023

Sunday - Warm and sunny, with dark clouds

Well, we didn’t go to Costco today. I woke up with my alarm in the morning. F hadn’t slept well and said he was tired. A few minutes later he said that he wasn’t feeling well and didn’t go. No worries. I would rather not get in a car and drive for 2 hours when I’m under the weather, so I can’t expect F to do that either. 

I went back to sleep and slept quite late today. Oh well, we had no other plans. I got up around 12:30, filled up the kerosene tank and started up my hot water. F and I had some hot drinks a little later and then he went downstairs to make lunch for his mother.

By the time he finished, it was after 3 pm and I hadn’t eaten. I wasn’t too happy with that. He demanded that I tell him where I wanted to eat and I suggested the tonkatsu place at the bus depot.  F suggested some “Michi no Eki” in the boondocks. I said no because I wanted to eat soon and I reminded him that many places close early these days because of the pandemic. 

We drove over to the bus depot and of course, the restaurant had closed early for a change. F pushed the idea of his road-stop place and against my better judgment went along with his idea. He swore it would take 20 minutes to drive there. [Spoiler Alert] It didn’t. It took 30 minutes.

We drove out to the middle of nowhere. Honestly, it was a beautiful drive, but there was nothing out there. We reached his Michi no Eki and….it was closed. Of course. I was pretty ticked off but tried really hard not to get upset. I asked him to drive me back to the last convenience store that we passed and I would buy food there. That’s what we did.

F said that he didn’t need any food, but would take a drink. I picked up a couple of onigiri, a sandwich and a drink for F and a piece of chicken for myself from the display case. Back in the car, I started with the chicken. I gave F one of the onigiri and he did eat it. 

We headed back to Tsuruoka and F asked if I wanted to go for yakiniku.  I said maybe later. I had just eaten and didn’t want to eat too much right away. 

When we got back to Tsuruoka we went to the grocery store and I picked up some ingredients for dinner tomorrow night and a few other things. After that, we went to the gas station and F picked up kerosene and also gas for the car. 

We came back to the house and I put the groceries away. I heated up the bento I bought for K and gave it to her. I went upstairs and a few minutes later F came up too. We talked about going for dinner right away so we did! We went to Togashi for yakiniku and I asked F to call and make a reservation, which he did. Hurray!

We had a lovely meal. We had a combo plate plus a veggie mix to grill and a kimchi combo. We both had two drinks tonight which is quite unusual for us!

After dinner, we just came back to the house. I watched The Black Phone and did some crochet on my blanket until my ball of yarn finished. I enjoyed the movie a lot. I had heard that it was good, so I was glad that I finally was able to see it. 

Oh and during the day, I finished my book. It was Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs. I really liked it. 

So, today was an odd one. We didn’t go to Costco, but I’m okay with that. We might go next weekend, it depends on how F is doing then. 

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

March 18, 2023

 Saturday - Cloudy and a little cooler

I went to bed at a decent time last night, but this morning decided to sleep in. F woke me up early on, I went downstairs and then went back to sleep. He got up and made something for his mother’s breakfast and took a shower before his massage. He came up to the room and then discovered that he was already late for his appointment. Oh, dear.

I slept on and then got up around 11:30.  I got dressed and waited for F to come back. I gave him a drink and then we discussed lunch. Of course, he wanted to go for ramen. Why does he do that? Does he really think I get to go for food I like often in Tsuruoka? With him? I dislike rice, don’t eat ramen and am ambivalent about Japanese noodles of any sort. I like Indian or Greek Food. He never wants to go for Indian food and there is no place around that served Greek food. So annoying really. 

Anyway, we came up with a few ideas for lunch. The first one didn’t work out as it was only open for reservations. We planned to go to one place, but on the way there, F suggested another. We went and neither of us liked the food, but at least he didn’t whine about not getting ramen. 

After lunch, we went for coffee at Starbucks. I had a tea latte and enjoyed the heck out of it. It was decaf too. After that, I picked up a bento for K and a few other things. We came back to the house and dropped off the food, then were off again.

We went over to Mikawa, found a decent parking space and then went into the mall. We bought our tickets and then went downstairs and had a drink at Doutors. F had to leave early so I gave him his ticket and told him I’d go upstairs.

I went upstairs a few minutes later and bought the popcorn and drinks. I was wondering where F was but I finally saw him making his way toward me. We went into the cinema and saw Shazam! Fury of the Gods.  I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t a great movie, but it was light, fun, and slightly silly.

After the movie, we came back to Tsuruoka and again had a discussion about dinner. F wanted ramen again. I did not. I suggested a family restaurant or Mos Burgers or later Keiten Sushi. That’s what we went for.

We went to the sushi place and were able to get in right away. I decided not to have too many fried foods tonight, so I turned a lot of things down. We shared an order of fries though, but I turned down most of the tempura on offer. I did have one shrimp tempura sushi thing that was okay. 

We came back to the house then and relaxed. I watched a little Apple TV and then my FBI show. 

That’s about it for my day. Tomorrow, we’re planning to go to Costco if we can get ourselves up and out in the morning. Wish us luck!

Until tomorrow….

March 17, 2023

Friday - Warm and sunny

F woke me up quite early this morning. It was around 6:30. He didn’t mean to of course, but he went downstairs. I went downstairs after him and then tried to go back to sleep. F’s alarm went off at 7 and he didn’t get up. I suggested that he get ready, but he wanted to snooze a little longer. We snuggled for a bit and then F got up again.

I had a fairly quiet morning. I had forgotten to buy yogurt last night so I didn’t have breakfast. Oh well.

A bit after noon I started to get ready. I knew my friend would be by soonish. I gathered my things and took them all downstairs. It did take a bit of time for her to come, but it was fine.

At first, my friend and I talked about going to one restaurant that we’d been to before, but when we got close we could see that there was a crowd of young people in suits outside the place. The parking lot was also full. Instead, we went to Ischia.

I haven’t been there for a couple of years, but it wasn’t too busy and we got a seat. We had a very nice lunch. We had the lunch special which had bruschetta, pasta with porcini mushrooms, roasted chicken with risotto and some bread with olive oil. Everything was wonderful and my friend even declared that this restaurant was now her favourite! We treated ourselves to dessert, but the waitress made a mistake with my friend’s and she got hot chocolate instead of chocolate cake. I had a bun with whipped cream in it, but it wasn’t really too dessert-like to me. It was okay, but it looked better than it tasted.

After lunch, we went to Daiso, the hundred yen shop and picked up a few things. I bought more yarn. I know, I know, but I noticed that I was getting low on the darker yarn. Sue me!

We visited Komeda Coffee for a while. I had a decaf iced coffee, and my friend had a milkshake. We enjoyed ourselves and it was great to catch up and chat.

Sadly, she had to go back to her family and I had to go back to mine. She drove me back to the house and went on her way.

I came into the house and changed and relaxed for a bit. I watched the news and F called me at his usual time to say he was on his way back.  I went downstairs and got ready for dinner. 

When F came back he said he wanted dinner to be a bit later. Around 7 pm I started to get cooking and a few minutes later I had everything on the table. 

We ate and dinner was quite good. Most of the food disappeared so that was good. I did put some away for later though.

I did the dishes, listened to my podcasts, and then went upstairs and watched YouTube for a while. After that, I took a shower.  When I finished that, I came back upstairs and watched a programme on the Fire Stick, The Rig. I have one episode left now. It’s quite suspenseful.

And that’s it for me. Tomorrow I’m hoping we’ll go to a movie and maybe have a nice day together. We’re thinking about going to Costco on Sunday, we’ll have to see.  I’m not sure if we will though. I think it depends on how F is feeling. 

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

March 16, 2023

Thursday - Cloudy and then Rainy

I woke up late this morning. I had forgotten to set my alarm for the morning, so I completely overslept. Oh, dear. When I did wake up, I decided to do some laundry. I’m going out tomorrow, so I won’t have time to do it otherwise. I started a load and also grabbed my breakfast.

I had a quiet rest of morning and then afternoon. I did a couple of rows of my blanket and I also made another ball of yarn for my blanket. 

Lunch was good and I watched the second Christmas Bake-off episode before watching the news. 

F didn’t call before I went downstairs. He had said he’d be late so I didn’t expect him to. I got started on dinner and it went quite well. Tonight I did a stir-fry with some kimchi-flavoured meat and it went very well. Everyone seemed to like it a lot. We had salad too, plus some egg tofu. K and F got to have rice with theirs, I skipped that.

I did the dishes afterwards and finished fairly quickly. We didn’t start dinner until later as F was late getting back. I was done by 9pm tonight. Yay.

F was watching baseball in the living room so I reminded him that we needed to go out to get groceries. He said he knew.  

I went upstairs and got dressed for going out. I waited quite a while. F didn’t come upstairs until 10:20. I was annoyed. The closer stores were closed, so we had to go to the further away store. We went there and I went in and did some shopping. 

I had fun doing the self-checkout tonight too. They had just changed the packaging of F’s beer so when I scanned it, the price of one can showed up rather than the whole six-pack! The lady had to come over and help me, but it was fine. It was the first thing I had scanned. I paid and then went out to the car.

We came back to the house and F actually helped with the groceries for a change. That was a surprise!

I came upstairs and watched a programme on Apple TV+. I rather enjoyed that. It was the Eugene Levy-The Reluctant Traveller. He’s funny in small doses. 

And that was about it for my day. Tomorrow if all goes well, I’m having lunch with a friend tomorrow. After that, I’m not sure what I’ll get up to. 

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

March 15, 2023

 Wednesday - Cloudy, warmer

I woke up with my alarm this morning and got up and went downstairs. I came back upstairs, got dressed and then watched the news from the bed. After that, I took a bit of a snooze.

I went downstairs, grabbed breakfast and then came back upstairs. I watched some YouTube and relaxed a bit. I did some of my morning stuff and then decided I’d have lunch a little early. Good call for me!

I grabbed lunch and came upstairs. I watched an episode of Supernatural and then a Christmas episode of Bake-Off. I enjoyed them both.

I watched the news and a little after it finished, F called. I changed and went downstairs and got ready for making dinner. Tonight I was busy, but it went well. I made a cabbage salad kind of thing, there was real salad, a dim sum style rice thing, vegetables with bacon and some air-fried pork. I just didn’t want to fry the meat tonight, so I tried it in the air fryer and it worked very well!

F came soon after I called him, and he got K up. I tried earlier, but she didn’t hear me and I don’t like to go into her room. Dinner got good reviews from everyone. F even had seconds on the pork, which surprised me a lot!

I did the dishes and the garbage, then came upstairs and watched some YouTube. I finally went downstairs and took a shower. I came back upstairs and watched some shows off the Fire Stick. First up was The Red Green Show and then I watched an episode of The Scottish Play. That last one just is so close to being funny, but it didn’t quite make it.

That’s about it for the night. I’m blogging and watching a bit of YouTube. Tomorrow I should do a bit of laundry, and I’ll have to do dinner again. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

March 14, 2023

Tuesday - Cool and a bit cloudy

Happy π Day!

I woke up this morning after my alarm went off and went downstairs. I watched the news and then took a little nap. And then I took a longer nap! 

I got up later and had breakfast. I had a quiet little day, but it was nice if I’m honest. I had lunch a bit later and enjoyed that too. I watched the finale of Bake-Off today and enjoyed that a lot as well. 

I watched the news and then relaxed a bit afterwards. I waited for F to call me, but he didn’t.  I finally went downstairs to start dinner. I wondered when F would call, but he didn’t call until about 6:45.  He thought he’d be another hour or more. Ack.  When I washed dishes, the hot water gave out on me. F hasn’t filled up the heater in a long time. Sigh. Tonight I made baked herb chicken, stir-fried eggplant and mushrooms, salad and bibinba rice. I got things on the table a little late, but F still wasn’t back. I made K eat because I wasn’t sure how much she had eaten earlier. In the middle of our eating, I got a message from F saying that he’d arrive soon. 

F came after we finished eating. I gave him a plate and suggested he fill it and then I’d heat it up. He did that, but I didn’t think he ate enough. He had less than either K or I did. 

I tried to get a start on the dishes, but F still hadn’t filled up the water heater yet, so I had to heat hot water on the stove. That was a bit of a pain. Between F being late and no hot water, the dishes took a long time to get done. I didn’t really finish until after 9 pm. A lot after 9pm. We had to do shopping tonight, but it was too late to go to one of the closer stores. We had to go to the 24-hour shop.

F stayed in the car and I did the shopping. I got food for the next couple of nights and also a few staples for the kitchen. When I got back to the car F told me I could keep the change. Woot! He also asked me if I’d like to get ice cream and I said yes. I suggested going somewhere that I could charge my Suica card. I got one on my trip and I can use it for buses and vending machines, etc. We went to a convenience store. I got us ice cream and charged my card a bit.

We came back to the house and F did his patented hiding in the toilet while I did all the work. I put away the groceries, filled up the kerosene tank for our upstairs heater and carried everything upstairs. 

I watched FBI: Most Wanted and was really shocked by the ending of the show. They killed off a major cast member. Good grief. 

After the show ended I turned off the TV and turned to YouTube for a bit. I updated my computer and it took quite a while, but then I got started on my blog. And now, here I am!

That’s it for me for tonight. Tomorrow I’m on dinner duty and hopefully I might throw in a load of laundry or two, but we’ll have to see about that. 

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

March 13, 2023

Monday - Cloudy, cooler and rainy

Well, today was my high holy day…it was the Academy Awards. I wasn’t sure that I’d make it this morning if I’m honest! I woke up when F left the room and then I had to go downstairs. Usually when I wake up early, I just go back to bed, but I knew that if I did, I wouldn’t wake up in time for the Oscars.  I compromised. I turned on the TV and went back to bed but I didn’t go back to sleep.

Just before 9 am I went downstairs and prepared my breakfast then left it in the fridge. It was a bit too early for me to eat and I didn’t want it to sit out in my room. I’m so glad I did that. 

For the next 4 hours, I watched the Academy Awards and they were pretty great! Everything Everywhere All At Once cleaned up, although All Quiet on the Western Front did very well too. This year I had seen 6 of the 10 best picture nominated films which must be some kind of record for me!  Some of my highlights from the show were Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan winning their Oscars, and of course, Sarah Polley winning for Best Adapted Screenplay. Strange that she wasn’t nominated for Best Director! (Sarcasm) I was pleased for Brendan Fraser, even though I haven’t seen his film.  I must admit, that I was hoping that either Austin Butler or Colin Farrell would win as I thought they were both excellent this year.

After the Academy Awards were over, I relaxed a bit and then grabbed my lunch. I ate and watched part of a documentary that was on TV about a casting director…oh, some directors didn’t like her being called a director. It was about Marion Dougherty and even though many actors went to bat for her to get an Oscar, even an honorary one, the establishment didn’t grant it. According to Casting By she gave many, many actors their start.

Later on, I watched the news and then went downstairs to start dinner. Tonight I was making a simple one, pancakes with bacon and sausages. The only problem with it is that I was stuck in the kitchen and if F wasn’t there, K wouldn’t eat. After F came back, he brought me milk…hurray! I had asked him for some since the stuff in the fridge was old and there wasn’t that much. 

I made the pancakes, set the table, and called F down. I had cooked the bacon and sausages earlier and then supplied the table with pancakes! I didn’t get to eat until everyone else was done, but that’s okay-ish. 

I did the dishes and happily, it didn’t take too much time tonight. I was really tired. I think I had less than 4 hours of sleep so I was rather draggy tonight.

I came upstairs when I was done, put on my PJs and then watched a little bit of Apple TV+. I watched Mythic Quest and an episode of Shrinking. I quite like both of those shows. I’ve been watching Mythic Quest for a while. 

I went downstairs and took a shower. When I finished I came upstairs and decided not to watch TV. I watched a few short YouTube videos and then stopped to listen to the playlist I’m making. I’m hoping to get to bed soon for a change. 

I did a bit of crochet tonight too. The blanket is getting decidedly unwieldy now. It’s quite hard to handle when I work on it. It’s also really warm! Here’s a photo from Saturday, I forgot to post it until now. It’s a mite longer now.

Anyway, that’s about it for me. It was my Academy Award Day and I really enjoyed it. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….