Lone tree, WIP

I haven't been spending as much time as I normally do outside lately - there has just been too much else to do but yesterday was absolutely stunning...

...I mean, how can you possibly stay indoors when the skies are like this....? There is so much to do in the vineyard at the moment. Each year I am equally surprised how quickly the vines turn from bare and dead looking trunks to vibrantly green and lush. If we don't stay on top of it, it quickly becomes a completely unmanageable jungle. 

Despite being busy with too many iron's in the fire, I have managed to sneak a teeny-weeny bit of stitching time here and there. 

A few more sand hills are filling the ground around Lone Tree. It is nice watching the bland ivory ground turning into rich shades of ochre and burnt orange...

I am loving creating the various textures with the stitches. Most are really simple, basic stitches: stem, chain, couching and running stitches - with one or two hills in burden stitch thrown in because I love the brick like bumpy texture is creates. A super fine gold thread added to the laid thread gives it just that tiny bit of sparkle, like sun rays reflecting on shiny pebbles.

The hill I am working on at the moments is close rows of twisted chain stitch. I am using a firmly twisted variegated silk from Colour Streams called 'Nasturtium'  - it is the same thread as the middle hill in the picture above. Isn't it just a glorious colour? It makes happy every time I use it. 

So it is getting there...

...slowly but surely. 

I have packed it away again, though. The next few days are earmarked for packing kits and preparing for the Partridge workshop at the end of the Month.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Anna