A lot of us seem to go back to our family heritage for this prompt, and I’m thinking in the same direction. I was back in Europe for a family visit last month, and as usual, I visited my grandparent’s farm which is just a few steps away from the house I grew up in. The farm, in my mind, is my grandmother’s farm as I never knew my grandfather, he passed away when I was just a baby. Of course, it then was my uncle’s farm, now my cousin’s farm, but somehow the old memories go back to my grandmother, or Oma, as we called her.

Now, the farm is a bit different, with modernized cow barns, and other parts neglected and not used anymore for chickens or pigs. Some barns house huge agricultural machines, and the main house is not housing my wider family anymore, but strangers. It is a bit sad and strange to be back there, as I have so many good memories of growing up there with my many cousins and extended family. It was also a lot of work sometimes, bringing in the straw, planting potatoes or other work in the fields that meant long, hot, dusty and exhausting days. But afterwards, we would gather around the huge dining table for a shared early evening meal and I still sometimes feel a bit like a farmer’s kid though my parents did not work there.

The influence that place has had on me is still there, and the ghosts of the past are definitely alive for me when I visit. Now, to express all this in fabric – not sure if I’m there yet!