In the south of South Africa, not far from Cape Town, is a town called Franschhoek.
In Franschoek there is a memorial to the Huguenot settlers that sailed across from France in the late 1600s, fleeing religious persecution.
One of my ancestors was one of these original French settlers. They were granted land and started making wine.
I've been to the Huguenot memorial a few times, over the years. The last time I was there it was a beautiful, sunny day. It was perfect for colourful photos - beautiful blooms and blue skies. One of these photos has been in my 'to do' project list for a while, waiting for the right opportunity.
I've recently been doing more of my own work, rather than projects for workshops, and I decided it was the right time to raid my stash of threads and recreate one of my favourite photos.
The beauty of stitching something like this is that it takes a while - and while you stitch - while you battle with every french knot, and all the thousands of stitches in the grass, you think of the time you had there.
I spent the time I was stitching thinking of how we're connected with our ancestors from centuries ago, even though they don't know anything about us, and couldn't possibly have imagined the world we're living in today.
I thought about the sunshine and the colours.
I thought about the people I've been there with - various family members, at various times of my life.
In the case of this photo, I particularly remember being driven round the wineries of the area, sampling the wares, and thoroughly enjoying myself!
