Happy Mother’s Day! This is the puzzle I chose to do for today because it reminds me of my mom. ❤

For most of my youth mom was a stay at home mom, and there was usually something fresh baked or homemade on our table. Not only because she didn’t work outside the home, but because it’s much less expensive to cook things from scratch. We lived in the country and there were plenty of fresh foods for canning and freezing that helped keep our grocery bills down. There were lots of family trips to pick apples, blackberries, cherries, strawberries, etc. And then we “got to” help mom prepare them for whatever she was going to do with them. My sisters and I were not always thrilled about it to say the least. Raspberries and cherries were the worst! Cherries especially because they had to be washed, then you had to remove the stem and then remove the seed inside – one by one. Ugh. We didn’t even like cherries or the cherry pie filling mom made from them!

When I see a jar of canned tomatoes like in this puzzle it reminds me of my mom and how much she worked at home so that she could be at home for us. I’ve turned into my mom, because my kids know how much better homemade cookies are, and that it’s almost always cheaper to cook at home then to go out for dinner. I learned what I needed to know from my mom who is the best there is!

And now as an adult mom is my best friend. A lot of people say that, but for me it’s actually true. We talk every day, go shopping together when I’m able to, work on puzzles together and just hang out whenever we can; we have our own little jokes together and can crack each other up with a single word or a look. I’m so glad she’s my mom and in my life and that I get to see her as much as I do. I love her bunches and bunches!!

This is where the comparison to my mother ends, she’s awesome and the best – this puzzle leaves a lot to be desired. 😐

The pieces of this puzzle fit together so tightly that you can see in the picture that the it doesn’t even lay flat, it’s curled up on the sides. Every piece required a lot of effort to connect, it’s one of my puzzle pet peeves. When I have to work so much to put pieces together it makes me feel as if it’s not the correct placement. This is especially difficult when you have a darker image, you feel you need to check and double check if the pieces really fit there. Also when the fit is so tight the pieces don’t all lay flat and many of them have several edges sticking up; and the piece shapes are quite prominent in the finished puzzle, even from a distance. The image was crisp and clear in some areas and very fuzzy and vague in others. On the plus side, the pieces were quite thick and the variety of piece shapes was very good.

Sometimes it’s hit or miss with Springbok in my opinion. This one was a miss. Thrift store shopping is always interesting, it could be an awesome find or a dud. But that’s alright, there are plenty more puzzles to try – maybe the next Springbok we find has amazing quality and an excellent image!

So Happy Mother’s Day to all – but especially to my thrift store shopping, puzzle hoarding bestest friend. I love you to (puzzle) pieces, but if you need help canning some cherry pie filling YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!!! 😎