Stuck in a writing rut?

Not so much stuck in a writing rut as just a bit plain stuck.  I can't complain, mind, there are few more perfect places than being stuck at the home you grew up in, surrounded by family and friends and occasionally benefiting from a cuppa made by your Mum in just the way you like it.

So I'm in Kent, UK for more than just the two weeks that I expected to be, and unlikely to be back home in Gibraltar before the end of August.  The pros, besides loving spending precious time with the family, are many:  I can't go to work so I am having to relax, something I find difficult to do; I can nose around old haunts and see how these have changed, or not, improved or worsened, all of which is quite fascinating; I can go to London which is only a train ride away and I simply love London; I can enjoy warm sunshine without having to hide from the intensity of August Mediterranean heat; I can take a walk on cool grass, breathe clean, country air within a short walk, lay flowers on my father's grave, visit my grandparents' grave and remember my youth.

St Mary Magdalene Church, Gillingham, Kent

The cons: I need to get back to work (no work, no money, although with the internet I have been able to complete some of my writing commissions and hope to Facetime or Skype some clients before they find other writers for their projects); I struggle to get into a routine, interruptions are numerous, distractions more so.  So when I do manage to sit at a computer or tablet, or get my notebook and pen out, I find the hours stroll by at a noncholant pace and I write nothing.  Not even something vague which might be shaped into something useful in the future.  Just plain nothing.

There's only one thing for it.  When I get stuck in as much of a writing rut as I am at the moment, the best thing I can do is walk it off.  Visit places, see people.  For the writer, embracing these distractions can sometimes pay off.  People are endlessly fascinating and even a brief glance at the people in the supermarket queue in front of you can spark an idea, or crop up in a short story in a few months' time.  Places are evocative of emotions, and emotions are what stories appeal to, strive for and evoke.  

Tonight I'm browsing through some of the snapshots I took on my phone of the places I've been to in these past few weeks.  Tomorrow I know that I will be writing.  I've walked, I've contemplated.  By tomorrow the ideas will be formulating and the words will start to flow.  A writing rut?  What's that?

On London Bridge

Rochester Castle, Kent