November 30, 2023

Thursday - Snowy, rainy and cold

I woke up fairly early this morning, I saw F leave for work but fell back asleep afterwards. I got up earlier than usual as I remembered that F’s sister was coming over. I went downstairs and I saw her, but I don’t think she saw me!

I came back upstairs and got properly dressed and just relaxed for a bit. I checked out my favourite internet sites and then went downstairs around 11 to grab breakfast. F’s sister was gone by then.

I came upstairs and ate and then I got stuck into my ornament. I got it done. Woot. It took a while really, but it looked quite nice when it was done. I had lunch and worked on the ornament a little more. I even did some in the evening, even though I thought it was done!

I went downstairs later on to start dinner. Tonight I did a fish stir-fry and I also made a marinated eggplant dish. For that one, I had to do it early so that I could let it sit in the fridge for an hour. 

When F came back from work, I asked him if the rice from Tuesday would still be okay. He said it would, but when I went to put it on the plate, it wasn’t. Oh dear. Luckily I had the bachelor pack rice in the kitchen, so made some of that for my crew. 

Dinner was quite good and everyone seemed to enjoy it. F was quiet and was listening to his entertainers on his app. That was annoying as I was trying to listen to the news. He doesn’t seem to notice how rude he is being. 

After dinner, I did the dishes and then I went upstairs. F and I had to make a quick trip to the grocery store, so we did that. I went into the store and picked up some stuff for breakfast for the others. I’ve sort of decided that I should go to the post office tomorrow. I need to mail my craft off for the exchange and I have to check my Christmas cards. I bought them in Canada and they may be just too small to send in Japan. Sigh. If I can’t send them, I’ll probably have to buy some bigger envelopes and send them that way. 

I watched some YouTube and then The Rookie, which was a pretty good one tonight. It was good. The serial killer had John’s girlfriend trapped in a tank in the basement of a house. It was reasonably suspenseful. 

I wrote a few Christmas cards tonight. I still have a bunch to write though. 

After the show was over I turned off the TV and then finished up the cards I was sending. I really hope I don’t have to buy new envelopes for the cards! The envelopes are decorated on the back. 

Anyway, I’m done for today. I hope that I manage to get out of the house tomorrow and send the fun box out. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day! Until tomorrow….

PS...here's a sneak preview of the ornaments that I'm sending....

November 29, 2023

 Wednesday - Rainy, windy and cold

I woke up before F again, went downstairs and then came back up and was surprised that F was now up. I got back into bed and told him it was okay to turn on the lights!  I wear an eye mask in bed, so the light won’t bother me. He left and I snoozed on.

When I woke up, for some reason, my neck was really sore. I sometimes get a stiff neck and today was my day. I had to take a couple of pain/headache tablets during the day. In fact, after my late breakfast, I ended up having to take a nap because I got really sleepy. 

I grabbed lunch a bit later and watched the US news. After that, I got stuck into my column again and finished it. I listened to it a couple of times and then sent it into the editor. Woot, done early. Hurray. 

I went downstairs to start dinner around 5:30. I was going to make sweet potato fries, so I wanted to start early. I washed the dishes and then started peeling the potatoes and cutting them up. I only did two potatoes, but it was a lot of fries!

I had to do the Sweet Potato Fries in batches, so I started a bit early. While they were cooking, I put out the burgers on a plate to cook and then I got some of the things put out on the table. 

I made some smoked paprika aioli and while I was crushing a garlic clove, my garlic press broke. I can’t quite believe it. I’ve had it for years and it was made of metal, so I don’t think it should have broken! Weird.

I served dinner a few minutes after 7 pm and it went over a treat. F said he enjoyed it and K even talked to me and said it was delicious. Woot. The sweet potato fries were great and so was the dip. 

I did the dishes after dinner, listening to a couple of podcasts. When I was done, I did up the garbage for F to take out later. It took a while as I took a few things out of the fridge too.

I went upstairs and relaxed and after a while, I went downstairs again and took a shower. I came back upstairs and watched an episode of Still Up and then one of The Red Green Show. Fun.

F went to bed after a while and I’m going to get to bed soon. Tomorrow I have to do some Christmas Card writing and also some crafting. I might go downtown on Friday and send off some mail. I haven’t quite decided yet. I think it’ll depend on how much I get done and how the weather is on Friday.

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

November 28, 2023

Tuesday - Rainy, cloudy and cold

I woke up this morning before F did, went downstairs and then came back to bed. F was up by this time and he dressed and went to bed, I went to sleep. I got up a couple of hours later.

After I got dressed, I did a load of laundry. To be honest, I did TWO loads of laundry! I live such an exciting life. Still, it was a necessary thing so I’m glad I did it. 

After lunch, I buckled down and finished up my column. It took a while, but I enjoyed the process today. I’ll do some polishing and tweaking and hopefully, I can send it in tomorrow. Then, I can start on my Christmas cards AND finish my craft projects!

F called to say that he’d be late and then a little later he called to say that he wouldn’t be late. He showed up not too much later.

I had gone downstairs and was starting to put dinner things together. I asked him when he’d like to eat and he said it didn’t matter so I got stuck in and put dinner into a higher gear. 

Tonight we had Gapao Rice with salad and it was quite nice. We all ate quite a lot and F even went for seconds of rice and had some fish stuff with it. 

I did the dishes and then I went upstairs and changed. F was listening to his phone again and wasn’t ready to go out for a bit. Finally, he got ready and we left.

We went to Mina and I went in and did the grocery shopping. It was hard to find things that I wanted but in the end, I got enough for dinner. I think!

We came back to the house and I watched a little TV tonight and then a lot of YouTube. F went to bed a while ago, I should get some sleep soon too.

So, that’s about it for my day. I have to finish my column and cook dinner tomorrow. Come back later if you like and find out if I get it all done! Until tomorrow….

November 27, 2023

Monday - Cool and cloudy

I woke up first this morning around 8 am. I might have heard F leave, but I’m not sure. I snoozed for a while and dragged myself out of bed later. I got breakfast and brought it upstairs to eat.

I had a fairly quiet morning and afternoon. I did buckle down and did quite a bit on my column today. Yay! It took a while, but I’m quite pleased with how it is going. I’ll work more on it tomorrow, hopefully!

When I went downstairs to get my lunch I wasn’t too happy to see that K had taken a bunch of the sweet potatoes that F got from his friend and steamed them. My pot was on the table, she hadn’t used it, but why didn’t she put it away afterward? It stank to high heaven in there too. 

I wasn’t too pleased to see that K hadn’t eaten the food that I had bought for her for today. She’d been gorging herself on steamed sweet potatoes. I don’t get it personally.

I went downstairs around 5:30 to get a start on dinner. I peeled a sweet potato and cut it up, then soaked it for a while to get rid of the starch. I added more veggies and after a while threw them into my air fryer with some oil and herbs. We had some toaster oven chicken as well. Dinner was rather nice when it happened and it was good. 

I had done a lot of the dishes while I was cooking so it didn’t take too long to do them afterwards. I got them done and then bagged up the plastic garbage and took it out to the doorway for F. 

I went upstairs and watched a bit of YouTube and worked on my crafting for a bit. I decided to take my shower and went downstairs. I decided to clean the sink while I was there. I did that and it looked much better afterwards. I should have done it earlier, but whatever. 

I took my shower and then came upstairs again. I watched more YouTube and had the odd chat with F too! He’s off sleeping now and I should get to bed really soon. 

That’s it for me for today. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

November 26, 2023

Sunday - Cold and rainy and cloudy

I woke up a little earlier than I did yesterday. F came upstairs again and suggested that we leave soon for Sakata. I got dressed and a little later we left. 

We drove into Sakata and went to a yakiniku restaurant. We had a pretty good meal. We both had bibinba with some meat that we cooked. After, F wanted dessert too, so we ordered that.

After lunch, we ended up at the Honma Museum of Art. It was rather expensive to go in, but we did. The first building wasn’t that great, but it had a few interesting things. One thing I liked a lot was the museum used QR codes to give English and Korean explanations for their items. What a great way to use technology to include people.

We finished in the first building and then went over to the second building. We had to walk through an amazing Japanese garden to get there, it was lovely. The only thing was it was slightly damp and very rocky and hilly, so I was worried about F falling and honestly about me too! The second building had some interesting features and a gorgeous view of the garden. We walked back to the first building when we were done and left the umbrellas that we had borrowed just in case it rained. 

The view from the second floor of the museum.

Next up, we drove to my friend’s house and we dropped off a present for her. It was her birthday today and I’ve had the souvenirs from Canada waiting for her since I got back!

F and I drove back into Tsuruoka and I did some grocery shopping. We went to our usual grocery store and also to the Gyomu Supa and then Yamaya. F picked up some drinks for himself at the last one, I picked up some snacks and some things for my Christmas buffet thing I do. 

We came back to the house and F gave his mother the bento I bought for her and got in my way a lot!He also stayed downstairs while I went upstairs to take some pain medicine. My legs were quite sore after today’s garden climbing. 

We went out for our dinner a bit later. We left here around 7:30 and F did the thing where he didn’t even discuss with me where to go before he was in the car! I suggested either Gusto or Sushi and he chose sushi. No big deal, I had just wanted drink bar. 

We had some okay stuff at Kappa Sushi, we shared some fries and I tried hard not to have too much deep-fried stuff. Apart from the fries obviously!

I had asked F if we could go to Starbucks for a few minutes but just before the corner he had a huge coughing fit and begged off. I understood, but I was rather sad. 

We came back to the house and I decided I was going to watch something off the Fire Stick, so I found Totally Killer and watched that. It was quite funny, but also a bit suspenseful. It was a bit like Scream crossed with Back to the Future which are two movies it name-checked quite often. 

And that’s about it. Now it is very late and I really need to get to bed. 

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

November 25, 2023

Saturday - Cold and snowy and rainy

I slept in this morning and it was gorgeous! I did wake up a couple of times, F headed out to see his doctor, so I wished him well. I got up a little before he got back. I got dressed and made myself a cup of tea. 

F came back and wanted to go for lunch. He’d made his mother’s brunch earlier. We discussed a bit and then decided to go to the Daiichi Hotel for lunch and then visit the new import store afterwards, I wanted to visit the hundred yen shop after that. That’s what we did. 

Lunch was very nice. It was a bit expensive, but we did get a 10% discount which helped a little. Jupiter, the import store, was nice. It had most of the basic stuff, but it didn’t have any Christmas Puddings or mincemeat tarts, which made me rather sad. I didn’t see any in Niigata when I was there last week either. At the hundred yen shop, I picked up a few things. I had to meet F in the car afterward, but it took a little while. There was a lady in front of me who had picked up a bag of sesame seeds, but it was leaking everywhere! She sent her husband off to get a new bag and the poor clerk had a messy counter to clean up!

F and I next headed out to a hardware shop. This morning I had mentioned to F that now that winter appears to be here, it was extra important that he fix the darn door to our room because otherwise, all the warm heater air would escape! He needed a sander, which he picked up at the hardware store. 

We came back to the house and F worked on the door and he finally fixed it! It’s been blooming months since the door handle came off in my hands. I’m happy that he fixed it, but wish it had been done earlier!

We relaxed for a while and then F made his mother some dinner. I’m not sure what he made, that’s up to him!

When he finished, he suggested going for ours, but I put him off for a while. We ended up going a little before 7 pm I think. I had suggested either Gusto or the newish gyudon shop, and of course, he picked that one. It was fine. F had a very spicy dish and I had tonkatsu with some kara-age on the side. Yum. 

After our meal, we visited a drugstore near Mina and then went into Mina, the grocery store too. We picked up a few things and then came back to the house.

I watched a little YouTube and then used the Fire Stick and watched an episode of Fringe and then tried the second episode of Still Up on Apple TV. It has potential, that show. I’m wondering how it is going to work. I did have to unplug and then replug the Fire Stick in to get started tonight. I’m not sure why, it worked yesterday, but…

I watched Criminal Minds Evolution at 11 pm and then turned off the TV. While I was watching my shows tonight, I finished the ornament that I had been making for the ornament exchange. I usually make something else to go with it, so I’ll have to think if will or not. This is quite a big one, so I might not. 

I’m presently watching a blogger showing her trip to Paris. She’s been visiting Sacre Coeur…all I can think about is the end of the last John Wick movie which took place in that area! It’s silly, but that’s what I thought during her walking around!

I’m not exactly sure what we’ll get up to tomorrow. Come back later if you like and hear all about our day. Until tomorrow….

November 24, 2023

Friday - Cold and rainy and snowy?

I slept in this morning and it was great! I woke up quite early, even before F went to work. I went downstairs and then came back to bed. F got up and left for work and after that, I went back to sleep. I did oversleep a bit more than I meant to, but no worries.

When I got up, I dressed and then grabbed my breakfast. I ate and decided not to do laundry today because K was doing some downstairs. I watched some news on TV today and I also worked on my column. I’ve now written about 3 movies which I think is a good start!

I grabbed my lunch around 2 pm and discovered that K hadn’t eaten her lunch at all. I heated it up for her and then gave it to her. I watched the new Criminal Minds from the weekend and thought it was interesting. Then, I worked more on my column!

I went downstairs around 5:30 to get ready for dinner. I washed dishes and then started preparing stuff. F came in a bit later and said he’d like to eat soon. I made things a little faster!

We had a simple dinner of pasta with garlic butter sauce, sliced chicken breast and salad. It was quite a nice dinner. I did the dishes quite quickly, listening to Kermode and Mayo. After that, I went upstairs. I basically expected F to come upstairs soon after me but he didn’t. 

Around 10pm I decided that I would go and take a shower. As I went downstairs F started to get ready to come upstairs. It annoyed me a bit. He’d made himself noodles and just generally stayed downstairs. I took my shower and was still quite angry when I came out. I went upstairs and decided to get over myself after a bit. 

I went over to F on the bed and chatted for a while and it was okay. I came back to my computer and for some reason, he went downstairs and brought back a bottle of sparkling wine. He opened it and drank it all himself. Hmm. I wouldn’t have wanted anyway, but he could have asked!

Anyway, that’s about it for me. Not too sure what we’re going to get up to tomorrow. Come back later if you like and find out!  Until tomorrow….

November 23, 2023

Thursday - Warm & sunny, then rainy at night

Well, I stayed up last night a bit too late, so I slept in this morning. Thursday is a national holiday though, so no big deal. 

I finally dragged myself out of bed and F and I talked about where to go for lunch. He wanted to go to a place that he said we’d been to before. We just made it there before their last order. I have NO memory of ever being there and I didn’t like the food. It was a tempura restaurant, so we had tempura. I didn’t like it that much if I’m honest. It was really greasy. Japanese tempura is rarely that greasy so I was a little surprised.

After lunch, we took a drive. F drove us over to the ocean and we drove down the shore a bit. It was beautiful. We stopped in Yura and walked a little closer to the oceanfront. The part we were in didn’t have a beach, it was man-made with rocks and a concrete pavement along the water. It was a lovely day and we took pictures of each other.

Yura "Beach"

The birthday guy!

We drove back to Tsuruoka and went to MaxValu. We picked up some food for tomorrow and a nice bento for K. Then, we went to Komeda Coffee and had a drink. F asked me if I wanted a dessert with my drink, but we had lovely dinner plans so I turned him down. It was a good choice.

We only spent an hour in the coffee shop and then we came back to the house. I decided that I’d wear a casual dress tonight, I got a denim dress when I was in Canada, so I wore that tonight with leggings.  F wore jeans and a nice shirt.

He had ordered a taxi which came a few minutes early. I was downstairs and noticed it was waiting, so I yelled at F to hurry up!

We went over to Al Che Cciano and had a lovely meal there. F had booked a medium expensive course and told them about my tomato allergy, so we had a lovely meal. We had some amazing fish, pasta, pork and beef and at the end a gorgeous plate of desserts. There was one point though where they gave me the wrong plate and it did have tomatoes in it. Actually, both plates had some tomatoes in them. The one I finally ended up with even had sun-dried tomatoes as a garnish! I didn’t eat them. 

When we finished our meal we asked them to order us a taxi, but they were busy so it wouldn’t arrive until 9 pm. We were even given a free cup of tea while we waited, which if you know Japan, you’ll know is very unusual!

We taxied back to the house and came in. We had a quiet evening. I watched The Rookie at 11pm and then turned off the TV. F had to try and get his uniform set up for tomorrow…he was looking for his pants for a while.

He thanked me tonight for giving him a nice birthday even though I didn’t give him anything. I wanted to but I couldn’t find anything that he needed or would really want to have. He buys himself things that he wants all the time. 

Tomorrow I’ll have to work on my column a bit more and I’d like to do a bit of laundry as well. I have one suitcase left to unpack as well. I should be busy, but the question is will I be? I dunno!

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