Double Puzzle

I thought this puzzle of Thomas Kinkade's Deer Creek Cottage would be difficult. 
I was wrong, but it was a lot of fun to work.

Personal Puzzle

My sister gave me the neatest gift for Christmas. Knowing that I really enjoy jigsaw puzzles, she got me one that is a picture of where I live! No, not an actual picture, but a puzzle made from the U.S. Geological Survey map of where my home is located.

Despite the fact it's only 400 pieces, measuring 18-1/2 by 12-1/4 inches, I think it's going to be a fairly difficult puzzle. I have no picture to go by and since I live in a rural area, there aren't a lot of distinguishing city landmarks to assist me. I've started working on it and there sure is a lot of green!

The puzzle covers an area of 4 x 6 miles with my home address as the center. They even make the center piece in the shape of a little house! While setting up and starting on the border, I managed to find my "house" and a couple of the pieces that adjoin it. You can click on these photos for a little better view.

Thanks, Sis!

Watercolors

This puzzle, entitled "Watercolors", was a freebie with an order from Bits and Pieces. It worked up quickly until I got to the sky. Not a particularly challenging puzzle, but satisfying in a therapeutic sense.

The Watchers

It was a busy summer and this remained only half worked for months. A few focused "puzzling sessions" completed it.

The Watchers

by Jack Williams

Ballroom Dancing

I love to work Jan Van Haasteren puzzles, but they never seem to photograph well. For that matter, I have trouble taking photos of puzzles in general. I was going to blame it on my camera, but I'll just be honest and admit I'm not much of a photographer. Oh, well... you can still get the general idea here.

Listening and learning

Stressful moments are not the only times I work jigsaws. I also like to work puzzles when I'm on the phone, especially while studying with my daughter. Let me explain...

When our children were little, I would "give out" their spelling words each week to help them study. By the time they reached upper elementary school, our son and older daughter no longer wanted any help. Not so with our younger daughter. Throughout elementary school, junior high and high school she brought me notes and study guides to give out. I would kid her and ask if she was going to fax or e-mail me her notes from college so I could give out over the phone. Turns out the joke was on me. Sort of.

I don't give out notes anymore, but I listen to them. My daughter takes meticulous notes in her classes. Before a test, she calls me and goes over them... teaches me what she's learned. It benefits us both. She gets to review her notes in the way that best helps her and I get to work on my puzzles while "auditing" her classes!

My daughter is scheduled to graduate from college in May with degrees in History and Psychology. Thanks to her "study habits" I feel like I've gotten to go back to school - only without the tests, papers, deadlines and stress. Learning just for the pleasure of learning. What a treat!

Puzzle therapy

There's nothing quite as frustrating as knowing your loved one is hurting and knowing there is nothing you can do about it. Two loved ones, actually. One very old, one not so old.

I've always found jigsaw puzzles to be fun and relaxing, but when my life gets ultra-stressful I can literally lose myself for hours in the mindlessness. My 360 blog from several years ago was filled with photos of completed puzzles. This blog, not so many. That says something about my life right now. I'm thankful.

I'm saying extra prayers for my loved ones. Meanwhile, I have a puzzle in progress. I wish it could ease their suffering.

Keep that mind alert!

I think it's pretty much agreed upon that as we age it's important to "exercise" our brains. There are many ways to do this: attempt another language, play bridge, learn to play a musical instrument, take a different route to the store or to work each day. I enjoy working jigsaw puzzles when time allows for it. Life's been too busy for that in recent months, but there are a few "brain exercises" that I always make time for. My local paper carries three daily puzzles that some folks would consider time-wasters, but I look at as ways to enhance my brain power.

I begin with the daily crossword puzzle, which is a simple one. Created by Thomas Joseph, it rarely takes me more than ten minutes to complete. If I'm really feeling daring, I work it using my left hand. (I'm right handed) There is one a little more difficult in the state-wide paper my husband reads, but I'd rather do the easy one and still have time for the other two puzzles. On rare occasions I will work the more challenging Los Angeles Times puzzle which appears in my Sunday paper. If my husband and I take a road trip on a Sunday, I'll take it to work in the car. (Yes, I'm one of those lucky people that can read while riding in a car.)

I next move to the cryptoquote. It's all about looking for patterns that appear in words and grammar. Sometimes the author of the quote is what gives it away. (look for anonymous, source obscure, source unknown, or some country's proverb) Also, if you do these enough, you'll start to recognize a lot of the folks who are quoted. I can't always work the cryptoquote. If nothing jumps out at me I move on to my last puzzle and come back to it later. Even that doesn't always work and it just goes unsolved.

The final puzzle I work is the sudoku. The version in my paper is called Conceptis Sudoku and starts the week easy, getting more difficult as the week progresses. I challenge myself on Mondays to work the puzzle without making any notations in the process. As the puzzles get harder, though, I have to makes notes. By the end of the week, I don't always complete them. If I find I've made an error or I just plain get stuck, I won't slave over it. I think one of my pet peeves is when folks claim they won't try sudoku because they "don't do math". It has nothing to do with math. The numbers could just as easily be substituted with the first nine letters of the alphabet. It's all about logic.

So..... that's how I try to spend about a half hour of my day. I find it relaxing. Hopefully it's doing my brain some good in the process!

Ocean Dimensions

After taking a couple of months off from “puzzling”, I recently completed the final puzzle in the Visual Dimensions 3D Motion Puzzle series. Jungle Dimensions and Outer Dimensions are featured in entries on this blog. I worked Floral Dimensions when I still used 360.

It’s disappointing how poorly they photograph. Being “motion puzzles”, they really need to be seen in person and viewed from several angles to be appreciated. I think this one took the poorest picture of them all.

Next up is a Jan Van Haasteren puzzle. They don’t photograph well, either, but for other reasons. They’re a lot of fun to work, though!

Guiding Lights

This one’s for Quid.

Smaller and easier than the last puzzle I worked, I was able to finish this one in just a couple of weeks. Also by artist Alan Giana, it’s called Guiding Lights.

Dragonfly Garden

I had Marion (my dragonfly friend) in mind when I got this puzzle. It’s by artist Alan Giana and titled Dragonfly Garden.

I didn’t realize how long it would take to finish. If I’m not mistaken, it’s been in progress for three months! Yes, it was a little more difficult than I anticipated, but also I didn’t spend as much time at my puzzle table each week as I have for other puzzles.

Would you like me to send it for you to work next, Marion?

Mystery at the Fairgrounds

Pictured here is a puzzle I completed last Tuesday. It's one I had bought several years ago and just hadn't ever gotten around to working. The puzzle included a booklet with a short mystery which, along with clues from the puzzle, would enable one to solve the murder.

Due to the upsetting events of Wednesday I didn't get around to reading the booklet until later in the week. What a disappointment to reach the last page and discover that the solution (along with the winners...evidently it was also a contest) was to be posted on the Bits & Pieces website in June.... of 2007!! Even though I thought I had solved "who done it", I didn't know any of the particulars.

I had little hope of the solution still being on the site, but checked anyway. I was right. Nothing. As a last resort, I sent an e-mail to their customer service explaining the situation. I was excited to find a response in my inbox today, with the solution attached!!

I think I've learned my lesson about setting aside puzzles that might have an "expiration date". Oh... and I've put the solution in the box for the next person who works the puzzle.

Palm Sunday

I started this puzzle several weeks ago with the goal of having it finished by today. Appropriately titled Palm Sunday, it’s the work of artist Ruane Manning. I’ve done other puzzles featuring his artwork including At the Watering Hole and one depicting Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

In honor of the day I’m posting the legend of the Donkey’s Cross along with a photo of the cross on Buster's back.

The Donkey's Cross

"Bring me the colt of a donkey," was
the Master's request.

A young donkey was brought to Jesus
to carry Him into Jerusalem.

A week later Jesus was ordered crucified.

The little donkey so loved the Lord that
he wanted to help Him carry the cross.

But alas, he was pushed away.

The sad little donkey waited to say
goodbye until nearly all had left.

As he turned to leave, the shadow of
the cross fell upon his back and shoulder.

And there it has remained, a tribute to
the loyalty and love of the humblest
of God's creatures.

author unknown

Outer Dimensions

You know you’re competitive when the conversation goes like this:

Her: “Well, I’d better get out and start scooping poop. I’ve got two weeks worth to scoop.”

Me: “Oh, I’ve found I have to do it most every day.”

Her: “I’m scooping for four dogs, too.”

Me: “Yeah, but mine are bigger.”

Her: “That should make it easier. Bigger piles are more visible.”

Me: “Not necessarily. Depends on how high the grass is.”

Her: “Maybe so….”

It actually got a little more detailed than that, LOL, but I’ll spare you the rest!



I finally completed the puzzle I began shortly after Christmas. This is the third “3D Motion Puzzle” I’ve done. They are fun, but a little hard on the eyes due to their depth. For the same reason they just don’t photograph well. Puzzle time has been limited since we took in the new puppies. I’ll have to remedy that. I need my sanity breaks!

Andy Thomas

I received an e-mail today featuring this painting, “Grand Ol” Gang”, to which someone had added their own caption. The artwork was credited to an artist named Andy Thomas and included a link to his website. Fascinated by the painting in the e-mail, I checked out the site and was equally captivated by a corresponding work entitled “True Blues”.

Thomas’ artwork is primarily Western and Civil War based, but includes a few other interesting subjects. One in particular caught my attention. Check out the Pirate Party Prints!! Most of his work is available for purchase in various formats including a few as jigsaw puzzles.

I’m very tempted….

The Antique Show

I’ve completed a number of Jan Van Haasteren puzzles over the years. They work up quickly and are lots of fun. I don’t think I’ve ever included a picture of one (on this blog or my 360) because they don’t really photograph well. Too detailed and “busy”. That said, here is one I just finished entitled “The Antique Show”.

Fall puzzles

It’s been a busy fall which hasn’t left much time for working puzzles. Here are two I’ve managed to complete over the past couple of months.

The first is a Joan Steiner puzzle. As I explained in an earlier entry at 360, the real fun in working her puzzles is identifying all the everyday items used to create the scene. This one is called Look-Alike City.


The next is a “Kodacolor” puzzle entitled Autumn in Portland, OR. It didn’t start out to be that difficult, but the last 200 or so pieces were a real challenge to place!

Woodland Habitat

My least favorite part of working a jigsaw is sorting the pieces to get started. This is especially true with "shaped" puzzles like the one shown here. After dumping the puzzle onto a work surface, I sort the pieces that aren't edges into two trays leaving the border pieces on the table. With irregular-shaped puzzles it isn't always obvious which pieces are edges! I still attempt to sort them, but usually end up working the puzzle from the inside out rather than doing the border first. This one worked up fairly quickly once I got started.

Photomosaics

I held off on working the second puzzle my daughter gave me for Christmas fearing it would be a nightmare to complete. Once I had it laid out, I realized it wasn’t going to be impossible… just challenging.

The title of the puzzle is “Sunflower” and it is part of the “Photomosaics” collection by Robert Silvers. “Photomosaics” are pictures made from pictures. Thousands of tiny photographs are pieced together to form a larger image. In “Sunflower” all the photos are flowers. Stepping away from the puzzle, the sunflower image is quite distinct, but upon closer observation, the individual photos become apparent.

There are several books of Silver’s work available. I have the first, published in 1997, which provides a nifty little magnifying lens for examining the individual photos. Although all the images are impressive, two of the more notable are a portrait of Abraham Lincoln done entirely with Civil War photographs and a portrait of Marilyn Monroe commissioned by Life magazine using only photos of Life covers (including all those featuring Marilyn and others in her life). The book also includes images from nature, art history, currency and more.

It’s a fascinating form of art!

A Beagle Birthday and more....

Today is Betty's 9th birthday!! Happy birthday, Betty!!! It's hard to believe so many years have passed since she and Veronica came to live with us. I made her a little party hat which she was NOT happy to wear. Poor Betty.

My son and his girlfriend gave me two jigsaw puzzles for Christmas last year. I completed the first one in January. I worked the one pictured here this past week. It's part of a series called "Angel Wishes" by Kathleen Francour and is entitled "Vintage Violet". The glittery wings made it fun to work!

Here's a little time waster for those of you with nothing better to do. Click on the ball and it will change color. "Ball Time Waster"