Ruth Writes

A room of one’s own

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  • Making do.

    During these sparse, empty cupboard times the phrase ‘making do’ keeps coming to mind. I’ve discovered that I am not gifted at this. Other people can make gourmet meals out of scraps, high fashion from rags and shop-worthy cards from things that were just ‘lying around’.

  • I see you

    At the beginning of lock-down I persuaded my parents to have a Duo call with me. My mum said “peepo!” when she saw me. Last week we had a zoom church service. The first five minutes were filled with people seeing their friends and saying hi. Over and over. It was funny but also the…

  • Just a wee reminder

    If you’re bored being stuck indoors, or unable to concentrate on anything for more than two minutes, I’ve got a solution for you. By clicking subscribe below and giving £2.50 once a month, you will get half an hour’s distraction and escape into my story, The Lost Things.

  • #stockholding memories

    I have a confession to make: I hate the whole #makingmemories thing. My reason? My bad health meant that I was rarely able to create or involve myself in outings like that. What usually happened was that I would wait at home for my family to do something and then show me the photos, or…

  • The blackbird’s song

    I couldn’t write my usual blog last week because I saw so many people telling us how to think, feel and behave and I felt yet another one of the same would be too much. I’m returning to my usual today because I miss the discipline of positive thinking I practise every Monday. I’ve partially…

  • The Lost Things…

    I mentioned back in January that I have a new book ready for publication. But that I’m going to try a different approach. Well, it’s finally ready for release, and you can sign up now! It’s called The Lost Things, and to get it you’ll need to pay for a subscription.

  • Eggs

    He rummaged through the broken pencils, bits of chalk, rubber bands and old receipts to find a thin ring-bound notepad. He took it and the only working pen to the table. He looked out beyond the dripping tap, the empty counter and checked the sky. Grey but not black. He’d be dry at least. The…

  • A pocket full of posies

    That nursery rhyme has been stuck on repeat in my head for at least a week now. Did you know that it was only in the mid 20th century that people associated it with the Plague and Black Death? When it was originally sung or chanted in the 17th century, there was no such dark…

  • Being one of the ‘only’s.

    Last week I read a tweet criticising the common tendency now to dismiss the coronavirus as something that will affect only the elderly and the vulnerable: the ‘only’s’.

  • Have a go hero.

    My daughter is scared of heights. It took her at least seven months to jump off the edge into a swimming pool. Up until that point she stood, knees bent, ready to go. But she always changed her mind at the last minute. It took the swimming instructor putting his hand out for her to…