On a snowy autumn day it's time to show some progress :)

After a full summer and early fall, with two trips out of town, lots of company, and just Life in general, I'm finally able to concentrate again on my stitching and on some sharing of a few recent finishes and progress. 

Here's today outside my front window - very fine rain last night turned to snow, and a white covering still remains on the ground even this afternoon.  I'm sure it will disappear by tomorrow, but in the meantime we're reminded what's just around the corner :)  

As for stitching, I've been moving along on several pieces.  High Hill Farm isn't yet complete, but is now a lot more recognizable.  Mostly the cloud detail, the roadway, and the backstitching to finish ...... Although I seldom stitch "pictures" or work predominantly in cross-stitch, I do like the way this one is coming along, a companion piece to Cragside Farm that I completed last year.  

And with Advent and Christmas close on the horizon (barely six weeks till Advent Sunday), I'm working on several small ornaments.  I'll save my Advent stitching for a separate post, but these little Christmas tree ornaments are either finished or within a day or so of being completed:

This first ornament was from a small kit produced about 15 years ago - the pattern calls for the date and initials on either side of the row below the crown, but I think I'll leave this as-is and consider it as my  Diamond Jubilee ornament in honour of Queen Elizabeth's 60 years.  (maybe a small 2012 underneath the crown, what do you think?)   The beads were a nice addition, but I won't be doing a major beading project anytime soon LOL  

This Drawn Thread freebie, First Snow, is one of my favorites, in spite of every  one of those falling snowflakes being a Smyrna Cross stitch (on 36-ct Silver Fir linen) - my magnifier stood me in good stead here.  The threads are a mixture of Gentle Arts Sampler Thread, Weeks Dye Works, Soie D'Alger, and Fibers to Dye For (Amy Mitten's silk) - these ornaments are great for using up small amounts of thread. 

And this little piece to the right is what I've stitched so far of the Tristan  Brooks Christmas Sampler Trio - each ornament is a tiny sampler in itself, with more detail than I'd usually include (that little row of gold eyelet stitches, for example!) but the stitches are a good challenge, and I love working with the beautiful colours of the Pearsall's Silk that were included. 






The finishing off of these ornaments always trips me up, but hopefully I've learned more in this past year and can show you some completed pieces before the Christmas season is here.