Vegetable stew … yum, yum. 
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@Bobbi
Hi Bobbi, sorry to hear things are still difficult it must be very frustrating.
Your stew looks amazing and very nourishing. Thank you for posting your recipe, I am going to give it a try.
Stay well.
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@Lizzie22 Thanks for your concern.
I’m hoping that I am emerging from this black patch. I am feeling more confident and less achey painy. It must be the stew.
On the subject of vegetable stew. It is something both Hilary and I enjoy. It’s good to give one’s stomach a break from meat every so often.
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Reporting in.
Almost the end of 2025 now. I was wiped out for a while there but rest has brought improvement.
I’m more or less back to my silly self again. Had a quiet but enjoyable Christmas at home with Hilary. We did as we pleased. (not so sorry for myself now)
New Year 2026 is almost on us. We are ready to see what is in store.
To those who have offered encouragement and advice, thank you for being there. You made difference.
Best wishes everyone,
keep on keepin on
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Good to hear that @Bobbi is back on form.
Hope 2026 brings lots of good things to you and Hilary.
Best wishes
Ann
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Did you ever figure out what took your good leg out from under you? I pressume it was a trapped nerve or something in the lower spine. And more likely due to your right sided weakness there, resulting in poor posture.
Many years ago, long before stroke, I had a similar incident where my legs just gave out from under me and I crashed down in a heap up against my wardrobe. Scared the spit out of me. But it only took a few minutes to get movement back along with a mad session of pins and needles. But I’d had lower back issues too and just put it down to that, a trapped nerve somewhere. Never had a repeat performance either than crunchy. But it does shake you up a bit 
I just about made it to the end of boxing day before I crashed from the festivities. Was over in Liverpool to meet up with family and I was supposed to drive home. But just getting out of Liverpool in the dark was a little disorientating so my hubby had to take over. If I could have just made it to the East Lancs I would have been fine. But being in a part of Liverpool I was unfamiliar driving around just threw me 
I know my limits 
You made the right choice celebrating Christmas at home with Hilary. You don’t need undue stress at Christmas, it’s your time to celebrate and who better to celebrate it with And I wish and Hilary only things for 2026 
Lorraine
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Lorraine there is a long story connected with my left leg.
When I was five, in very different times, my dad used to take me to school on the back of his motorbike. I loved it and was proud to be seated there. As we passed by a friend who was being walked to school by his mother I span around to show off and give a wave.
I put my foot in the back wheel and paid for my pride by being thrown into the gutter. It really hurt. I never had a ride on that bike again.
My father full of concern for me arranged for an ambulance to take me to the local hospital which had been a military hospital in the war. I was examined and sent home with a bandaged up foot.
After a day or so it became obvious that something was wrong. My father refused to take me back and we went to another hospital.
It seemed I had acquired gangrene and would likely lose a limb.
There was an emergency operation. I went home in a tiny wheelchair with my foot in a huge dressing looking like one of those cartoons for a person with gout.
If I could have got at my foot through the bandages I would have scratched all the flesh off. It itched continuously and intensely. My mother told me it was mending. I was thoroughly miserable.
Somehow they didn’t remove foot or leg and eventually I was able to stand and walk, even, in my teens taking great pleasure running both up and down the hills and mountains of the Lake District.
I am not aware of it but have been told on occasions that I have a gait of my own making me particularly recognisable.
So I have a functioning left side but perhaps not one that is normal in the usual sense of the word. It has been this way since I was five years old so it causes me no concern. I’m just used to it.
Since stroke, which took my right side, the left side of my body has had to do more. I wasn’t really aware of an issue being the sort of person who just keeps up the pace as best he can.
However a fall earlier this year brought me to a complete stop. I just couldn’t keep going. Neither side worked.
I was forced, unwillingly I might add, to ease down and just do nothing.
Three months later I am beginning to feel my old silly self but feel I must learn that keep on keepin on is okay as long as keep on taking breaks is included in the mantra.
It is important to know your strengths and be able to use them.
It is equally important to recognise your weaknesses and to make appropriate allowances.
No-one understands this better than oneself.
I had pushed myself over the edge and had to make great efforts to return to a better state of affairs.
Thank you Lorraine for your concern and interest. You do the community and yourself a great service by being a part of things in this way. Long may it all continue. 
PPS
It is also extremely important to ensure you are having some fun along the way.
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Hey Bobbi - Good to have your Silly Self back again 
Glad you and Hilary had an enjoyable Christmas and wishing you both all the best.
Look after yourselves and Keep on keepin’ on. 
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This is the second time in about fifteen years I’ve had a quiet Christmas and must admit, enjoyed it thoroughly, still had the usual issues with symptoms sans the hubbub that often surrounds the festive period. My partner even brought over a plate of traditional Christmas meal that was prepared in what I know would have been kitchen chaos, so I didn’t have to cook or wash up. Bliss.
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@Rups , love listening to their radio shows on BBC Radio 4Extra. Very funny. 
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