We went to the Custodian Café at the Richmond Club for breakfast this morning. When we arrived the café car park was busy, including this lovely antique Austin. The Café was not so busy. The owners of the cars outside were at a meeting elsewhere in the Club. I’ve been to the café for lunch […]| Ruth's Reflections
I have a pair of purple jeans I bought at an op shop a couple of years ago. I love their bright colour, but don’t often wear them because they really need a belt. My preference is for an active waistband, i.e. elastic. This morning I decided to try wearing them without a belt because […]| Ruth's Reflections
Alice’s is my favourite Christchurch cinema. It’s small, independent, quirky, and has history. It takes me half an hour to walk there from home, and at the nearby bus exchange I can always get a bus to take me most of the way back. These days cinemas are almost completely automated. You can book online […]| Ruth's Reflections
In between reading this novel, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. The main character is an American woman who served as a nurse during the Viet Nam war. The descriptions of Viet Nam, the country, and the field hospitals are so real you just know they are authentic, and the story often brought […]| Ruth's Reflections
It’s years since I planted freesias in the Cottage garden, but they have survived, multiplied, and spread, and are always a welcome sign of spring. This year we have white ones by the side gate: Mauve ones outside the front fence: And a lone red one beside the patio: Freesias were named after a German […]| Ruth's Reflections
“In 50 years half of what we’ve taught you will be shown to have been wrong. Unfortunately we don’t know which half.” This is a remark often made at medical school graduations. Dr Peter Ganly, a physician and pathologist at Christchurch Hospital who specialises in Haematology, told us that the interest humans have in health […]| Ruth's Reflections
Do you eat Brazil nuts? Because selenium is low in the soil of Aotearoa I ensure I get sufficient by eating two Brazil nuts every day. I keep these near my LaZboy and eat two with a glass of cordial while I watch the 6pm News. When I went to PIKO to get more nuts […]| Ruth's Reflections
The taxi driver we’d summoned had no idea in which direction Papanui Road was, and started to head east. When we told him it was west he tried to change lanes, which caused other drivers to t…| Ruth's Reflections
9 posts published by Ruth during September 2025| Ruth's Reflections
Dr Nurina Katta is part of the University of Canterbury’s Nutrition Research Group, and she spoke to us about how good nutrition can aid our mental wellbeing. Our gut and brain are connected by nerves, and influence each other in ways that can affect stress and bowel movements. Research has proved that a Mediterranean diet […]| Ruth's Reflections
Our writing prompt today was How to lasso the moon. It’s hard to lasso the moonnot so much because the moon is far awaybut rather because lasso has only one Oand moon has two.Although they sound similarthey can never match up| Ruth's Reflections
Do you sometimes feel dizzy? This happens to me occasionally, and these days I’m always careful to hold the handrail when I’m climbing stairs. Dr Jeremy Hornibrook, a retired ENT specia…| Ruth's Reflections
Our annual literary festival is always an outstanding treat. I’d carefully chosen three sessions that I could attend on one day. First up was Epic Adventures: with Naomi Arnold (author of Nor…| Ruth's Reflections
Usually we choose somewhere familiar when we go out to dinner. Yesterday we decided to try a different restaurant and selected Original Sin on The Terrace. With Stephen’s Total Mobility card …| Ruth's Reflections
This is a realistic and necessary book that is at times scary. Atul, who is a surgeon, writes about what can happen as we grow old and frail. He points out that at one time we might have turned to …| Ruth's Reflections