November 30, 2020

 Monday - Clear early on, rainy at night.

Today was an okay day. It was a tad quiet, but that was fine. I did my usual stuff. In the afternoon I worked on more of my little angels, tonight I sewed the pieces together and made a hanging string for some of them. I’ll finish the others tomorrow hopefully.

For dinner tonight I made pancakes and we had them with sausages and salad. It was a breakfast for dinner sort of thing. I thought that there would be pancakes left over, but they all got eaten. In fact, there were no leftovers at all!

I did the dishes, listening to a podcast. It was darn cold in the kitchen. I’m working on making it warmer down there.

F and I went out for a few minutes tonight to pick up a few things for tomorrow’s dinner. I hadn’t known that I was going to need them last night when we were shopping. We came back to the house, put away the groceries and then came upstairs.

I got some of my plastic bottles ready to go out and then I went downstairs to prepare the plastic garbage and take a shower. 

I came back upstairs, checked out the internet, sewed some of the angels together and even took a picture of them. 

Here's a sneak peek...

And that’s about it for my day. It was quiet, but that’s a good thing I think. Oh, and I even wrote a couple of Christmas cards today too. Woot!

Come back later if you like to hear about my Tuesday. Until tomorrow….

November 29, 2020

Sunday - Rainy

What a day! 

I went to bed too late again last night, but got up at 8:45 because I had said that I would! I was up, dressed and ready to go around our planned leaving time of 9:00am.  Fumihiko was dressed but was looking for his wallet. I went downstairs with my stuff, and he was still looking for his wallet. He looked in the car, in the clothes he wore yesterday, everywhere. At 10 am he was still looking and we had decided not to go to Tendo today. At 10:30 I suggested that he call the grocery store since that was the last place that he used it. He called and his wallet was there. It had been found outside a dry-cleaner in the opposite direction from the entrance we had gone in. 

F drove to the supermarket and retrieved his wallet. Happily, his credit cards and such were still in the wallet, but his cash was gone. So much for the fabled Japanese honesty. We aren’t sure if his wallet fell out of his pants or if he left it on the counter in the store and someone picked it up. 

I was glad that his wallet at least had been found, and that his cards were intact. He came back to the house and we both did the same thing. We went back to bed for a few hours!

I got up just after 2 pm and suggested lunch. F agreed and we took ourselves and his mother to Arpeggio, the Japanese restaurant we all like. F had just bought some coupons for the shop last week, so he didn’t have to pay very much real money. We zoomed off in the rain and got a seat in the almost empty restaurant. We were at the end of their lunch service, so there were hardly any customers. F and I had the ten-item meals and K had my usual, Soboro don or ground chicken on rice.  It was all very good. 

We came back to the house after our late lunch. F and I came upstairs. I got stuck into some crafting and made a couple of little angels. I finished the one I started yesterday and made another one. They are so cute! There will be pictures eventually.

Since we weren’t very hungry for ages, we didn’t bother about dinner for a while. Around 8 I reminded F that we wouldn’t have any choice of places if we didn’t go soon. I suggested either Gusto or Coco Ichibanya, so he chose the latter. It was a good choice. F and I drove there and both had the same thing, the Asian Spice Curry. It’s supposed to be a South Asian curry. I had mine with fried chicken, which I shared a little with F, he had his plain but upped the spice level and the amount of rice. It was good! I really love it and it is being taken off the menu at the end of this month. 

We did a little grocery shopping at MaxValu tonight. I got some things for dinner for tomorrow and Tuesday. Tomorrow, the plan is to do pancakes and sausages, on Tuesday probably tacos. We’ll see if I decide to do something else. 

We came back to the house (after me checking that F had his wallet!) and put away the groceries. We came upstairs and had a quiet night in. 

Tomorrow F is back to work and I’m back to my usual daily stuff. I might make a couple more angels if I have time, and I really should write some Christmas cards.  

Come back later if you like and read all about my day if you are interested. Until tomorrow….

November 28, 2020

 Saturday-Rainy with sleet and snow (maybe?)

F arrived at the house yesterday around 4:30am. I had turned on the light so he could see to open the door. He came upstairs and within a few minutes went to bed. At his party last night, some of the men were talking late into the night and it was difficult for the others to fall asleep. 

This morning, I woke up before my alarm, which really bothered me because I didn’t want to get up yet! I went downstairs and came back to bed, adjusting my alarm a little. I did get up around 9:30 though. 

F and I left to go to the doctor’s office just before 11. We got there in good time and had a seat. It was really quiet in there. I did a little reading and then a little crochet.  We were called fairly soon and were in and out of the office quickly. We went over to the pharmacy and picked up our meds too. No problems today.

We went for lunch after this. I chose the newish Indian restaurant. It wasn’t busy so we got seated right away. Today, F had his usual Pork Curry and I had Keema Curry today. To be honest, I was a tad disappointed with my meal. It didn’t have a lot of taste. It was okay, but not anything special. They have lunch specials and also a daily lunch. Every time F and I have been there for lunch, the daily lunch was Butter Chicken. I love it, but it is more expensive. Maybe another time!

We were both quite tired so didn’t want to do much this afternoon. After getting some gas for the car, we came back to the house and then put on our pyjamas and went to bed!

I woke up at 6:30 and was rather dazed. I had no idea if it was 6:30am or pm! A few minutes later I woke F because I was worried that his mother might be hungry and needing food. He talked to her but when we went downstairs later, she’d gone to bed!

We decided to go out and get our dinner. I didn’t really have an idea of where to go. F did suggest going to the restaurant close by but I reminded him that he said he hated the food there and he said that he did. Grr. We ended up at Udon-ichi tonight. It was fine. It was crowded so for the first time we had to sit in the Japanese seating area. It was hard for my back, but it doesn’t happen often. 

We visited a grocery store after dinner to pick up something for K to eat both tonight and tomorrow. We got a couple of other things and came back to the house. F woke up his mother to let her have dinner and I came upstairs. 

I watched a little TV but F went to bed. He’s been asleep for hours. Usually he wakes up when I move around the room, but not tonight. 

Tomorrow, if we still feel like it, we’re going to get up early and drive to Tendo so that F can renew his driver’s license. While he’s doing that, I’m hoping to visit the shopping mall and spend a little time doing some retail therapy. It’s a lovely mall, so I hope it happens.

So, that’s it for me. It was a slow day, with a lot of sleeping. Come back later if you like and hear all about my Sunday. Until tomorrow….

November 27, 2020

Friday - Sunny then rainy

I had a pretty good, if quiet day today. I woke up this morning when F was getting ready for work. He also was going to spend the night away so had to prepare for that. He didn’t think to do it last night when it wouldn’t have bothered me!

We did hug before he left, so that was nice. I went back to sleep for half an hour or so. I got up, figured out my clothes for the day and then went back to the bed to watch the news.  

Around10 I did a load of laundry and saw K, but I’m not sure if she saw me. I grabbed my breakfast and came back upstairs. I watched a bit of YouTube and then went back for my clean laundry.

In the afternoon I watched a film that was on WOWOW. I thought it was something else, a much better movie about the same person, Hercules. The one I saw was really terrible. The lead actor is someone I’ve only ever seen in a Twilight movie so that might give you a sense of his acting ability. 

I watched the news at 4:15 today and then got ready to go downstairs and see about the delivery. F told me that the food would come between 5:30 to 6 pm. I got the kitchen ready. I boiled water in the kettle, I got dishes out for soup and sauces and then the food arrived. Yay. I paid but I think the guy made a mistake with the cash when I paid him. He gave me back too much change so I put the extra in the bag that he gave me with the receipts, and I put it back in the crate. I hope it gets back to him.

I set up the table and K and I had our dinner. I had chicken cutlet and sushi, K had soba, sushi and tempura, but she didn’t eat the soba tonight. I put it in the fridge for her. 

After we ate, I washed all the dishes, and put the crate near the door so it can go out tomorrow for pick up. 

I said good night to K and then came upstairs. I watched a documentary I recorded earlier, then an episode of The Rookie.  I basically just had a quiet evening in. I took a shower later, then watched my Friday night stuff. I even finished another ornament that I just love!

I thought my night was getting quiet and boring when my phone rang. My husband has decided to come back to his house. Should I mention that it is 4 am? The phone made me jump. 

And that’s it. I was going to head to bed now, but I guess I should wait up until F gets here or he’ll wake me up when he comes in!

I’ll probably write tomorrow, but if I have an early get up on Sunday I won’t. There was a road trip half planned, so we’ll have to see what happens with that. 

Oh, and some of the mail to Canada has been stopped. It is a good thing that my friend and my family have decided not to exchange gifts this year. I wouldn’t be able to send any!  My poor nephew though, I haven’t got him anything yet. He has a New Year birthday. 

That’s it for me, I’ll hopefully write tomorrow night! Until then….

November 26, 2020

Thursday - Sunny but cool

I got up this morning before my alarm, then set up my water pot for tea later and watched the news. I managed to drag myself out of bed and did a couple of loads of laundry today too. Woot.

I had a very quiet morning and afternoon. I think K spent most of the day in bed, I didn’t see her at all. I did sweep the floor outside my room and a little down the stairs. If she’s not around tomorrow I might try it again. We’ll see. I also started a little crochet ornament tonight that I might send to my partner. The pictures of it were adorable and I want to see if I can work it all out.  I have two out of three parts done. Wish me luck!

Tonight’s dinner was a bit quick and easy. F called me when he was almost back to the house, so I hadn’t had time to prepare veggies for dinner. However, I realized that my lovely soup was FULL of veggies, so we’d be fine!  We had baked herb chicken, salad, garlic fried rice and chicken vegetable soup. It was quite nice. 

F didn’t eat for a while though because he was trying to order food for his mother and me for tomorrow night but was having problems. I was a bit worried about him having his computer on the table where we were eating things like hot soup, but that’s F!

Because he was working on his computer, we didn’t have the TV on. K was in bed when I started to set the table. F got her up for dinner. 

I did the dishes, listened to a couple of podcasts again. I quite enjoy listening to things again, rather than just watching TV.

After I did the dishes, F and I went out. We did quite the shopping trip. We went first to the grocery store to get a few essentials, then to Yamaya so he could have some sake for tomorrow’s trip. After that, it was the grocery store for some supplies and some munchies for tonight and tomorrow night. We came back after that and we put the stuff away. 

That was about it. I didn’t even turn on the TV tonight. Tomorrow night, F will be out of town so I’ll be on K duty. We’re having our evening meal delivered so hopefully there won’t be too much for me to do in the cold kitchen tomorrow night. 

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

November 25, 2020

Wednesday-Sunny and then rainy at night

I went to bed terribly late last night and for some reason woke up at 6:30. I had to run downstairs and then I went back to bed. Poor F was awake then and said that he hadn’t slept at all. I didn’t have that problem. 

I got up a bit late, watched the news and did my usual morning stuff. I didn’t do laundry, even though I should have. I brought my breakfast up early and had that.  Around 11:30 I went downstairs.

Today I made soup. I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen making chicken vegetable soup. I washed, chopped, sliced and then parboiled some of the vegetables. After a while I was ready to clean up. I cleaned up and went back upstairs.

I thought I’d just have a cup pasta for lunch, but I was peckish afterwards so went down later and got more of my regular lunch food. I came back and ate, I relaxed for the most part. I watched the news and checked the kitchen at 5 pm.  

I was downstairs in the kitchen when F called. He was on his way back to the house, so I got a little busier. He got to the house, said hello to both K and I and went upstairs. After a few minutes I went to see if he was ready to come down. He was, so I asked him to help me. However, most of the stuff made it to the table before he arrived. He did take a plate or two though.

We had my lovely chicken vegetable soup with French bread toasted. I added butter, cream cheese or cheese to the slices. We also had some salad. It was really good, but no one except me had more soup. I’m a bit sad at that. The soup was nice!

I got to do the dishes and while I did them I listened to a new-to-me podcast. It was about a woman in Hollywood and was quite interesting. I hadn’t heard of her, but that didn’t surprise me. 

I went upstairs when I was done. F, when he came upstairs, asked if I wanted to go out, but I really didn’t. I said I would if he wanted to go out though. We have to go out tomorrow, so he put off his trip till then.

We had a quiet evening in. I watched New Amsterdam and then turned the TV off again. I tried to do some of my internet stuff and now I’m writing to you.

I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow. I’m hoping to do some laundry and maybe get a start on my Christmas Cards?  We’ll see what happens! Come back later if you will and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

November 24, 2020

Tuesday - Sunny and then drizzly

I went to bed quite late last night and woke up late this morning too. I did set an alarm and it finally woke me up. I got up and stayed up. Yay me. F slept a bit, didn’t really seem to want to get moving. I thought we’d go downstairs and have some of the leftover food and had even steeled myself to look forward to it. F however, wanted to go out. 

We didn’t leave the house until two pm so we didn’t have many choices. We decided to go to Arpeggio and it was a good choice. We probably slipped in just before last call, so it wasn’t busy at all. We had a pretty good meal, then paid and left. 

We came back to the house to look for a bill that F wanted to pay. He didn’t find it! After that, we went to S-Mall and spent a bit of time there. We had a drink in Doutor and then visited the Daiso upstairs. I got a couple of crochet hooks with handles and something to cushion my ornaments in the box I’m sending. 

We headed out to the car and F found the bill in the back of the car! We headed toward the house and nipped into the conbini to pay the bill. That done, I suggested going to Gyomu Supa for a bit of shopping. F was okay with that. I couldn’t buy anything frozen as our freezer is full, but I got a few things for Christmas and the time around then. We headed across the street then and went to Yamaya. I got a couple of things there, nothing too exciting. 

We came back to the house for a while and I thought that we’d eat in again, but F didn’t want to. We relaxed for a while and then we went out again. It was to a Japanese restaurant again, but it was one of my favourites, so that was good. I had Duck with udon. The shop was out of soba, so I couldn’t have that. F had tempura on rice and the shop owner gave us a little bit of soba since she knew I usually ordered it. We both had some and enjoyed it too.

After dinner, we went to the grocery store and bought a few things for dinner tomorrow and Thursday. Tomorrow I’m going to try making Chicken Vegetable soup again, and on Thursday just chicken and I’ll probably serve leftover soup with it and something from the freezer.  I hope K doesn’t mind if I take over the kitchen for a bit!

After we unpacked the groceries, we came upstairs. We had a quiet evening, both of us took showers and I watched a bit of TV. 

That’s about it for the day. It was quite a good one, but tomorrow, F goes back to work and so do I in a way! Come back later if you like and hear all about my Wednesday. Until tomorrow….

November 23, 2020

Monday - Rainy and cold

I slept in a bit today, but we all did. F got up around 9:30 and so did I. He and K were off to another funeral event.  I got up as he left and stayed up for the rest of the morning.

I had a fairly quiet time of it. I did some computer stuff and had a big breakfast.  About an hour later, F and K came back bearing more food. 

F came upstairs and changed and he wanted me to come and eat something. I told him that I didn’t really want anything as I’d just eaten.  I did go down a few minutes later and he’d filled up a plate for me, filled up with things that I didn’t want to eat. I redistributed the things that I most didn’t want and played with my food for the rest. I ate a bit, but not everything. F and I had an argument about food again. I had hoped to take him out for a nice meal or something for his birthday and he was talking about eating more funeral food for dinner. Not what I hoped.

I washed my dishes and then went back upstairs and went to bed. When F came back I did apologize to him but he still was mad at me. I slept for a while, but woke up after a couple of hours.

When we woke up and got up, F asked if I’d like to go out and I said that I’d like to buy him a piece of cake for his birthday. After a while, we went out to have some. We drove to Komeda Coffee and had their cake set. We each had the same thing, decaf coffee and almond cake. 

We came back to the house afterwards and came back upstairs. After a while, F asked if I’d like to go out. He suggested one place which would have been fine, but I didn’t think it was open right now. He called them and there was no answer. He changed his mind and suggested the Korean restaurant nearby. They were still open, so he called a taxi and off we went. We kind of had to avoid K on the way out, she wasn’t too happy with us leaving.

We went to the restaurant and looked at the menu. We were the only customers! F suggested a kind of Yakiniku, so that’s what we had. We also had a plate of gyoza each and we were given some kimchi starters as well. We also had a couple of drinks. I had one, F had two.  It was really nice actually. After we told F that it was his birthday, she brought over some persimmon for us too.

When we finished our meal, we paid and left. We had decided to walk back to the house. It wasn’t too far really. We made a stop at the convenience store and then came back to the house. I’m sure we were back by 9:30 or close to that. 

We came upstairs and had a bit of a rest. I finished my latest craft ball and then took a break. F had another drink I think and I had some tea.  He’s in bed sleeping now and I am not!

I’m not sure what we’ll get up to tomorrow. The original plan was to go and get F’s license renewed, but with the funeral and such, he needs a day to recover and relax. I’m not sure when he’s going to go and get it done.

So that was my day. Come back later if you like and hear what we’re going to get up to on Tuesday. Until tomorrow….

November 22, 2020

Sunday - Dark and dreary, rainy at night

I went to bed late last night, so when my alarm went off this morning, it was hard to get up. I did though. I wanted to see F off and give him the support I could.  Today was part of the funeral for his grandmother. He went with his mother, I thought they were keeping the number of people down so I didn’t go. 

After they left, I stayed up for an hour or so, but then I went back to sleep for a couple of hours. I got up permanently later. I watched a bit of TV and I did some things on my computer before I had a late brunch. 

F came back to the house around 2. He’d left his mother at the funeral. He told me there were 20 people there at least. I’m glad I didn’t go. There is a raging pandemic and I thought that the numbers were being kept low. 

We went out for a bite to Gusto. It was rather nice. We had the same thing, some chicken tempura strips and then shared some fries. We each had an ice cream since we had coupons. F also got his birthday dessert, cake and ice cream, so that was nice. He brought me back to the house and a bit later he had to leave to go back for more ceremonies or something.

While I was alone I did more craft work, I watched some YouTube and then it seemed that F was back again with his mother. They brought back two huge trays of food with them, so we met in the living room and had some of the food. 

I was in quite a bit of pain as my lower back is killing me and that made bending something I tried to avoid. My knee is also really wonky at the moment. Poor me!  I took a tylenol and it does seem to have helped, but it’s wearing off a tad.

Neither F nor I wanted to go out tonight so we just stayed in. We had a quiet evening. I watched a British movie called Swimming with Men. It was okay, nothing too special. 

And that’s it. I think F and K have one more day of ceremonies, so they’ll go off tomorrow. After that, I hope that F and I will be able to do something fun for his birthday. Poor guy doesn’t really get to enjoy his day. 

Anyway, it was a quiet day for me, but a bit nice in a way. I couldn’t do anything too exciting while F was away. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

November 21, 2020

Saturday - Sunny with some rain

F and I slept in a bit, well, I did for sure! I got up a couple of times, but then ended up sleeping quite late. I did have a bit of computer time in the middle though.

When I did get up, F asked me if I’d like some toast. I said I would so he brought toast for both of us plus some decaf upstairs. We had a little feast and made plans for the day. He took his mother out in the afternoon, but didn’t stay out too long. They went to his uncle’s home, but there was a fight going on between a couple of relatives, so F left soon. 

When he came back to the house, the two of us went out for a light bite. We went to Cafe H&P and had crepes. They were nice and we got to relax a bit. After that, we did a little hundred yen shopping before going back to the house. F picked up some things for the funeral at the hundred yen shop, I picked up some stuff for my Christmas Ornament exchange.

We had a bit of a rest and then decided we’d all go out for dinner. F thought of a good place, but when we got there they were full for the evening. Oops. That’s why we should always call first. F doesn’t do that often.

We ended up at Youme Shokudo and had a nice, if simple, meal. I had chicken steak that I really liked, F had kara age (fried chicken) and K had grilled mackerel. We all seemed quite pleased with our meals. Over dinner F said that he’d drop me off at the house and then take his mother over to his uncle’s house. Then he said he’d take me to his uncle’s as well. I said I didn’t mind either way, but wasn’t sure if I was dressed appropriately. He said it was fine what I was wearing. Yay.

We drove to the Uncle’s house in one of the suburbs of Tsuruoka and went in. We chatted a bit with F’s uncle and his aunt when she came back. F and K did their rituals at the altar set up on the tatami.  I couldn’t really see what they did. No one tried to make me do the same, which made me feel more comfortable. After a while, when there was a lull in the conversation, I asked F if he’d walk me though the procedure so I paid my respects too. It seems a bit odd to have F’s grandmother actually in the room while we’re sitting around a table chatting, but that’s my cultural bias speaking I think. I explained to F’s aunt afterwards that it was my first time doing this, so I think she understood why I took so long and why I needed F to help me. 

K was getting a bit tired so F drove us all back to Tsuruoka. On the way, I said to him that he had turned the wrong way but he insisted that he was going the right way and this was a direct route back to Tsuruoka. I decided that I wasn’t going to nag him and I apologized to him and said that he was the driver, he was born there, so he should know. Except he noticed the sign for the famous temple up ahead, the one that is definitely not on the way to his house from his uncle’s!

It was dark and he was tired and it didn’t matter much anyway. We turned around and went back the correct way.

K went off to bed and F and I went upstairs. I was going to change when F asked if I’d like to go to the store. I had suggested that he get something for his and K’s breakfast tomorrow morning. We went off to the supermarket and got a few things, then came back to the house. K was up looking for her clothing for tomorrow. She couldn’t find some of it, so I’m not sure what she’s going to wear. 

I took a shower and wrote an email, the usual type of stuff. I’m probably not going to some of the ceremony things tomorrow because of Covid restrictions. If K gets upset in the morning, I might try to go, but I think I’d be a distraction more than a help.

So, that’s it for me for today. Have a good one. I hope to be able to catch you up tomorrow night. Until tomorrow….

November 20, 2020

Friday - Very rainy

I got up this morning, went downstairs and came back up and watched the news. I drowsed a bit afterwards, but dragged myself out of bed, dressed, and then started the first of a couple of loads of laundry. I didn’t see K at all. 

I was hanging up a load of laundry when I thought I heard voices downstairs. I didn’t think much about it. A few minutes later I got a call from my husband. F told me that his grandmother had died, so he’d be taking the afternoon off work and would come back to the house as soon as he could.

I finished hanging up my clothes and then folded up my other laundry so that the bed would be clear. 

F came back as he said. We had a hug and then he said that he’d take his mother to the hospital to view the body. I didn’t need to go, I felt that people shouldn’t really go to hospitals in this climate unless they needed to, if that makes sense.  F and K left and I decided to have my lunch while they were gone. I didn’t have a good one for a change, I just had an instant pasta and later a piece of peanut butter toast. 

F and K came back around 4 pm. They’d gone to the hospital and then on to K’s brother’s house.  F told me that the very small funeral will be on Sunday, and hopefully a memorial service next year. 

After 5 pm I went downstairs and started on dinner. It was a fairly simple one from a Japanese point of view, but from mine, not so much!  I tackled yakisoba and had some dishes on the side as well. We had some orange chicken from Costco and also some leftover curry, pasta from last night and my forgotten salad from lunch. I made the yakisoba and it was okay. I underestimated the amount of cabbage I should use, but the carrots that I thinly sliced and parboiled were fine. F was a little pointed about the fact that the noodles were short…apparently, if I massaged the bags of noodles before I opened them, they wouldn’t be so short. Honestly, who cares? Easier to eat I say. Another point is that I tried to get F to come down and give me a hand but he didn’t. I texted him, and then I yelled twice. No F. I finally had to go upstairs where I found him asleep in bed with his earphones in. It took a lot to wake him. I guess I feel sorry for him, it was a difficult day. He woke up and agreed to come down.

I got everything on the table, and then we ate. The food went over quite well, K ate fairly well too. I was worried in case she wouldn’t want to eat, but she said she liked the food. F ate too much and curled up in a ball on the living room floor so I got to do the dishes alone again. Good thing I listened to a couple of podcasts.

After I finished I went upstairs. I wished K a good night first. I think she was surprised. I spent some time on my computer and then got really sleepy. I changed into my pjs and got into bed with F. We had a very PG-13 snuggle. It was really nice. We probably haven’t spent much time together without our various devices for ages so it was about bloomin’ time. I didn’t get to snooze, but it did relax me and wake me up!

I got up and watched my Friday night telly and did some of the stuff I usually do. And that brings me up to date. 

So, the ceremony is on Sunday. F says I don’t have to go and I’m not sure if I’m up to the crematorium procedures anyway. I will look out some black clothes so if he does want me there I can go. She was a very old lady, 103. We had been thinking she was 104, but F revised that today. She had a good life as far as I know.

And that is all that I have to say for today. I’m not sure what if anything we’ll be up to over the next few days, so if I don’t post for a bit, please don’t worry! I’ll likely be back tomorrow though.

Until tomorrow….

November 19, 2020

Thursday - Warm and sunny

Today got off to a strange start. I was woken by my phone. It was 7:30 and I didn’t recognize the number. I answered and it was someone calling from Elections Canada checking on my email address! Apparently they’d tried to email me, but it came back, so they phoned me. I gave the guy the info (it has since been followed up by an email) and rung off. 

I got up then and stayed up, more or less. I went downstairs and then went over to my computer and set something up for my women’s group. After I did that, I watched the news that I recorded over night and then I turned the channel and watched a bit of Batman and Robin. It was still pretty terrible!

I got off the bed, made the executive decision not to do laundry today and then went downstairs and grabbed breakfast. 

Upstairs again, I decided to watch the last episode of the British crime drama I watched yesterday. It was really good, BUT at the end, they showed what happened to the real people after the court case in Japanese!  I was so disappointed. They ran it bilingually so why not keep the end information bilingual too? I had to try and use the translate function on my phone but that wasn’t very easy to do. WOWOW…how come there isn’t an email address that I can find to complain? Hmm.

Over the day, I worked on another little ornament, this time in red. It’s going well. After lunch, I put on the last part of a movie I had started on Tuesday. It finished just after the news so I turned over to that.

F called me tonight around 5:30 and I had to hurry downstairs and get started on dinner. I know I should have started earlier, but….I quickly got pots on the stove, broccoli chopped and peeled, shrimp defrosted, mushrooms sliced…lots of stuff. F came back while I was doing all of that and I told him it would be a little while. 

I was working in the kitchen and I heard the phone. My heart skipped a beat or two. K yelled for F to come downstairs, but she wasn’t very loud so I joined in. It was an update about K’s mother’s condition. No change.

We ate dinner and it was rather nice! We had pasta with pesto sauce, garlic shrimp, salad, broccoli, sautéed mushrooms and it got praise from K. F didn’t say much, but he did eat a bit.

I did the dishes and I was quite tired afterwards. I came back upstairs and had a rest for a while. Then, F and I got ready to go out to the grocery store. 

We went over to MaxValu and got some things for dinner tomorrow night. I’m going to attempt Yakisoba. I’ve made it at least once before, but it was a while ago. F is a little shocked that I’m not putting meat in it, but we have another dish that has meat in it. 

And that’s about it. When we came back to the house I took a shower and watched a little YouTube. After that, I wrote this for y’all!

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

November 18, 2020

Wednesday - Cloudy and rainy, clearer at night

I woke up to an empty room of course, I got up soon after I awoke. I went downstairs and then came back to watch the news. I did that and then turned over to Batman Forever. I watched a bit of that, but did go downstairs for breakfast and to do some laundry. I hung it up here and got on with my day. 

Today, I watched a lot of a British series called White House Farm. It was based on a true story of a horrible murder in a farm house. Five family members died and police thought it was a murder suicide.  It was well acted and kept me coming back. I watched 5 out of 6 episodes today. I couldn’t fit the other one in.

I finished my crafting ornaments today. Both of them! Woot. I really like them both and I hope the person that I’ll be sending them to will like them too. Do you want a sneak peek?

I went downstairs around 5:40 to start dinner. I knew that F would be late tonight, so I tried to make things for K and I that she would like. We had Yuzu Kosho chicken with Broccoli, mini tomatoes, and salad. K had rice and we both had some cream of mushroom soup.  I think dinner was good and almost all of it disappeared. I had taken food out for F before I served us because I know what K and I are like!

I had nearly finished washing and drying the dishes when F arrived. He proceeded to get in my way in the kitchen and make himself ramen to go with my stuff. I finished as quickly as I could and vacated the room!

Later, F came upstairs and did ask if I wanted to go out tonight, but I didn’t need to. I knew he didn’t really mean it since he was very tired. I told him it was okay.

Later on I did the garbage and got it ready for F to take it out in the morning. I watched a little TV and finished sewing the Christmas tree together. Yay me. 

And that’s about it for me. Tomorrow I don’t know what I’m going to be doing! I should maybe do more laundry, but we’ll see.  Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

November 17, 2020

Tuesday - Warm and Sunny

Today was an okay day.  I got up around my alarm time, went downstairs and then came back and watched the news.  After that, I switched over to watch Batman Returns…or a bit of it. Michael Keaton really was a great Batman. He wasn’t quite as intense as Christian Bale, but he seemed more human or something. 

K was up and about this morning, she did a bunch of cleaning downstairs. It is her house so it is fine of course, but she has this odd habit of sweeping the floor and then putting the dust in my plastic recyclables garbage bag. It’s just for plastic and she’s basically contaminating the whole bag! I can’t believe that she does this (and it isn’t the first time.)

I worked on my crochet today and got it done over the day. Woot. I’m ahead of myself though.

I had lunch and watched the first two thirds or so of a movie called Widows. I really liked what I have seen so far. I hope to finish it tomorrow.

F called around 5:30 so I reminded him to buy rice for dinner. Then I went downstairs to get a start on dinner. Dinner was easy tonight as I was just reheating yesterday’s curry. It was nice for a change. I did put out a salad with it too.  F brought the rice and managed to come downstairs before I was annoyed tonight!

Dinner was good. Both F and I had a little extra, K didn’t. After it was done, I washed the dishes and then dried and put them away. 

I went upstairs and F joined me a little later. We decided to go out right away to the grocery store.  We drove there and did a little shopping.

I picked up a couple of things for dinner tomorrow and Thursday. I got chicken for tomorrow night and shrimp for Thursday. I also got some veggies too. Yay for me. 

After we got back and put the food away, I took a shower and then watched a couple of TV programmes, Prodigal Son and The Handmaid’s Tale. I enjoyed them both, although I’m not sure that I should have! One’s about serial killers, the other is a world where fertile women are forced to have children for their “masters” and women aren’t allowed to read. 

I did finish my Christmas decoration, mostly. I have to make a hanging thread for it. It’s so cool. It is all curly and you can twist it and turn it around, very tactile!

Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’m going to get up to during the day, but I will be cooking dinner tomorrow night. Wish me luck!

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

November 16, 2020

Monday - Sunny then cloudy and dark.

I woke up this morning a little early and got up and went downstairs for a few minutes. After that I came back upstairs, watched the news and texted with my sister. There’s some big family stuff going on there that I can’t get into. There is also a funny thing though. I wished her happy birthday on Facebook before I went to bed. It was the 16th here, but still the 15th in Alberta. She had a bunch of people wishing her a happy birthday and none of them noticed that I mentioned that I was on her birthday already! Tee hee hee!

I grabbed breakfast around 11 today and then ate it. I took a nap too. I shouldn’t have, but I did. I got up eventually and then grabbed my lunch. I didn’t see K at all today. I knew she was up for a while, but we didn’t see each other.  

In the afternoon I watched a movie from the DVR. I watched Dead in a Week (Or Your Money Back). It was pretty good. It was a very dark comedy about a young man who wanted to kill himself but had a bit of trouble completing the deed. He hires a hitman to do it for him, but life interferes.

After watching the movie then the news, I went downstairs to get started on dinner. Tonight, I made Japanese curry. It took a little while, but honestly, not that long. When I was ready I texted F, but he didn’t come. After that, I yelled three times for him to come but there wasn’t any answer. I got rather annoyed to be honest. He knew I wouldn’t be too long with dinner. I finally had to go upstairs and tell him dinner was ready. 

Dinner was good, both F and I had more curry. K said it was good, but didn’t have any more. She may have been snacking before dinner though. 

I did the dishes and the kitchen clean up after the meal and then I went upstairs and relaxed for a bit. F came up a bit later and headed to bed right away. I worked on my ornament a bit, but I had to stop as my eyes were bothering me. Sigh. Not enough light or something. 

Anyway, that’s it for me. It’s been a decent day for me, but I’m not sure if my sister had the birthday that she deserved. 

Come back later if you will and find out how Tuesday goes. Until tomorrow….

November 15, 2020

Sunday - Warm and sunny

I went to bed relatively late again last night but woke up early when F got up to go for his massage. I went back to sleep fairly soon though. 

I woke up next at 11. I think I had a little chat with F when he came back at 10 something, but don’t really remember it. I went downstairs and then came back up and got dressed. F didn’t appear and didn’t appear and I didn’t know what happened. I went down to find him around 1:30 or so, just in time to see K come back in the house. F was in the garden tying up the tree so that the snow won’t damage it this year. I’d let the snow damage it and then get rid of it personally, but whatever. It’s not my garden or house so I don’t get a say.

Finally around 2:30 he was done so we went for lunch. I suggested the place that he suggested yesterday, the yakiniku place. They have a decent lunch set and it goes until 3 pm.  We made it in time and both had the same thing, the beef yakiniku set. I added on some chicken and F had shrimp again. 

After the meal I was hoping to go out or do something, but F wanted to sleep. I realized that I was still pretty tired, so that’s what we did. We went back to the house, I changed into my nightie and went to bed. I think we must have slept for two or three hours. I’m not sure if it was a wise thing, but it was a nice thing really.

When we woke up around 6 pm, K had already eaten some sweets or something and didn’t need dinner.  I suggested Chinese food, and F suggested the place in Kushibiki. I was down with that, so off we went.  We were able to get in right away and shared three dishes.  I ordered my favourite pork/egg/veggie/black mushroom stir-fry and F had yakisoba, but not the one he usually has, and we also ordered some fried rice. We shared it all and it was really nice. Probably a bit too much food, but delicious. 

F wanted to do grocery shopping in Kushibiki, so we went to the big shop in the mall. We got most of the food we needed. It was a tad odd to go to a store we don’t usually go to. I forgot to buy yogurt, but I have a little. I’m going to make curry for the family tomorrow evening, hopefully that will do us for two nights. I had to buy pork chops for the meat, since they didn’t have any of the proper type for curry.

We hit up a drug store for a few things, hand cream for me and bandages for F, then came back to the house. 

I had a shower at 10:30 but I didn’t do any cleaning tonight. I just didn’t want to! Also, it really did look much better in the shower tonight so it wasn’t as necessary. 

When I came back up to the room, F was asleep. he’s been out since then.  I didn’t realize the poor guy was so tired. 

Not much planned for tomorrow at this stage. I have to cook dinner and I might do a bit of laundry, I’ll have to see. 

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

November 14, 2020

Saturday - Sunny and warm

It was so late this morning when I went to bed that I didn’t wake up at all until my 10 am alarm. It wasn’t a big deal as we didn’t have any plans today. I got up, got dressed and around 11 F asked me where I’d like to go. Of course, we didn’t leave here until1 but it was early enough that we had choices of places to eat. I suggested the new Indian place again. It wasn’t the greatest idea. 

We got to the restaurant and were seated right away. Unfortunately, it took a long time to get served, and then the food was good, but trying to get a waiter or waitress to pay attention to us was pretty hard! I did enjoy it though. I had the chicken curry and F had the pork. We went for Hot today but I think I’ll go back to Medium. It was good, but just a tiny bit hotter than I like.

After lunch, we took a drive out to Mt. Haguro. I told F that I wasn’t going to be able to climb down to see the pagoda or anything like that. I have a bit of a bum knee at the moment and that many steps would not be good for it. We drove out there and I fell asleep on the way. I felt sorry for F but I don’t think he minded. 

On the way back to Tsuruoka we went to a hardware store. F wanted to get some bamboo for his garden, I wanted some bath cleaner. I got mine easily, F didn’t. I suggested a drink, but F drove out to Kushibiki to see if they had it there. 

Once we got to Kushibiki, F was able to get his bamboo, but it was too long for the car. He “borrowed” a truck from the store and drove it to his house. I elected to stay in the store and look around. Win-Win I’d say. I had a good snoop around and decided to ask F to buy me a saucepan. He still owed me from our old apartment, but I didn’t mention that!

He surprised me when he got back, I showed him the saucepan and he agreed to get it for me. We went back to Tsuruoka and the house.

We spent a couple of hours upstairs relaxing. We were still quite full from lunch so didn’t need to eat for a while. K went to bed finally. I felt sorry when I saw that. 

Around 7:30 F asked if I’d like to go to a restaurant, but I said we’d have to leave right away to get in. We did. We drove by but it was already closed. Sigh. I suggested going to Foodever near the station instead and F said okay. 

We went there and the only place open was the meat restaurant. I was okay, I actually had pasta with salmon and spinach. Tonight they also had fish on offer, so F had that. I was pleased with my pasta, F wasn’t happy with his meal. He thought it was too expensive. It was a bit, but it looked really nice. He only wants cheap food and prefers ramen above all. 

After our meal, we came back to the house. F has been on the phone a lot with his sister and his uncle. It sounds like his grandmother is nearing the end. Tomorrow if it is possible, K will go and see her mother in the hospital and her brother will take her there. I do hope that K gets to see her mother one last time if it is safe for them both. 

I watched a bit of TV tonight, and a little YouTube. Now I’m watching and listening to some music. I admit to fast-forwarding through some of the songs with crude lyrics though. I also started another crochet Christmas ornament project to try out. It’s cute, but with it being darker in colour it is hard to see at night, so I stopped for now. 

Beautiful, isn't it?  The pink thing is a stitch marker, not part of it.

Not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow. F has an early appointment, K’s going out with her brother…Me? I have no idea.

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

November 13, 2020

Friday (The Thirteenth! Ack!) Sunny and cool

I woke up this morning and was really surprised that it was morning. I did my usual news watching and then did fall asleep for a few minutes, but I didn’t go overboard, so that was good. I got up, dressed and then did a couple of loads of laundry. 

K was up and around more today too. That was nice. F texted me to see if he should take off the day after his birthday this morning, it was fine with me!

I had a quiet day. No craft work, a small lunch. I swept outside my room today, and a little inside too. After watching the news I went downstairs a little early to start dinner. F had been so determined yesterday not to eat with us I thought I should have dinner finished before he came back. Maybe.

Tonight I steamed a few Brussels Sprouts, washed the lettuce heated up the casserole from yesterday. F called me to say he was on the way and I asked him if he’d join us for dinner. I told him truthfully he didn’t have to eat anything he didn’t want to. He said it was okay. 

When he got back he was in a good mood, but in pain. Sigh. I hate that. I cooked the meat and got the table all set up. F came down and we had a nice meal. Almost everything got eaten, not quite, but most of it did. Yay.

I got to do the dishes again tonight. It wasn’t terrible since I tried hard not to use too many dishes, but it still took a while. Over dinner, F asked if I wanted to go out and was quite upset when I said I did! I had a plan though.

When I went upstairs after the dishes, I found F in bed. I gave up on the idea of going out, but to be fair a couple of minutes later said we’d could go out. 

We went to Starbucks tonight. Yay! They opened two years ago today exactly, so I suggested going for a drink. I was set to get a cheaper drink, but I saw the new frappucinos and had to have one. It was good! The flavour for today was Berry-Berry Rare Cheesecake and it was nice! I enjoyed it a lot.

We didn’t stay until the store closed, we left before then. On the way back, we stopped in at the 7-11 to check it out. It’s been closed for a couple of weeks to renovate and reopened this morning. It didn’t seem greatly improved if I’m honest. They didn’t have a big supply of junk food, which is what I wanted! F and I got ice cream each and then something for K. We came back to the house.

At the house I ate my ice cream and then decided to take a shower. It was late, but big deal. While I was there, I decided to do a bit of cleaning. I grabbed my brush and some cleanser and got busy. I won’t say that it is perfect, but it is much improved!

And that was it. I came upstairs, watched a little telly and then decided to blog to you all. 

Come back later if you like and find out about my Saturday. Until tomorrow….