Some days are like diamonds......while others make me feel as though I am digging up fool's gold. And just occasionally I find it's both. Today was such a day.

The morning was fine. While Jules went to the gym, I went for a 30-minute walk with Moochie. On my return I discovered workmen installing the garage roller door we had been waiting for for weeks. It's almost finished...just have to wait for the battery and solar panel to be installed tomorrow.

The middle part of the day was miserable, with the normal old aches and pains taking hold of my body, although maybe I was at fault in terms of the hand and arm pain. I used my new mirror box a little too enthusiastically....but, hey, at least the arm was exercised.

During the afternoon Jules and I loaded up the car with stuff we no longer use and drove it too the local op' shop where we unIoaded it. While there I discovered a book called "Felicia" - The Late Don Dunstan's autobiography - and upon checking the index at the back discovered three references to myself. The major one related to me discovering the body of one of Don's mates, Gerry Crease, in bed while arriving at his home early one morning to assist him in writing a speech for Don, who at that stage was the South Australian Leader of the Opposition. Anyhow, I purchased the book for $4 just for old time's sake.

The late afternoon I prepared the night's meal....my peculiar version of shepherd's pie, which Jules and I both love. And it was one of the few times I have managed to chop the onion myself. Amazing how a bloody stroke can hamper one with cooking. But it was delicious, and I spiced it up a little with cumin, paprika, turmeric and a can of chopped tomatoes....not to mention the topping of mashed potatoes and grated cheese.

But the hand and arm are still troubling me, and I don't really know why. I used to put it down to nerve pain caused by the nerves not knitting after my lung draining operation. But with the passage of time (5 1/2 years) I reckon it is really yet another byproduct of the three strokes. My latest MRI failed to show any significant change over the previous on undertaken in mid to late 2011.

I just wish someone could tell me why, after the expiation of around 4 years and no apparent subsequent stroke, the stiffness and spasticity has started to haunt me. And it is much worse than the loss of movement I experienced several months after the stroke in early to mid 2010.