I won’t be posting for a bit. Somewhat similar to what happened last year, someone I love is in the hospital, and my focus is required both there (where I cannot be) and here at home taking care of my family.
My husband is the one in the hospital right now, but unlike last year I cannot be with him or even visit. My hope and prayer is that he will be home very soon. Until he is home and we know that all is well, I will be taking a break.
Here’s hoping it’s a short one.
I not only finished yesterday’s puzzle, another one got started too. That, ladies and gentlemen, is progress! (For me)
Re-marks may not be a “premium” brand, but I appreciate their catalog of fun and interesting collages; and to be honest I can overlook a bunch of puzzle dust or a slightly spongy fit if it means having images that are fun and exciting to assemble. 🙂
Hubby is off fishing this morning (thank goodness for hobbies that get him out of my hair for several hours at a time), and so hopefully this puzzle shouldn’t take long at all. I won’t be hearing “Honey where is my…” and “Babe, do you remember where I put…” or “Could you come at look at…..”
Here’s to a productive weekend of puzzling and relaxation!
A puzzle full of kittens? I know, right?! Even though this isn’t my typical genre of puzzle image, it was still pretty darned enjoyable and I would recommend it – especially to multi-generational families who enjoy puzzling together.
Every time I assemble a Cobble Hill puzzle I am reminded of what a great quality product they put out. The linen finish on their puzzles gives not only a great hand feel, but cuts down on glare and make for such a pleasant puzzling experience. The pieces are thick, they fit together well, and the image reproduction is lovely. Why am I not assembling more of their puzzles? I have no answer to that right now – because I should be, they make me happy.
This is a “family puzzle”, which means that there are three different sizes of pieces. And this brand does it the way that seems most practical to me; large on one side, medium in the middle, and smallest on the other side. I have assembled family puzzles where the largest pieces are the outer edge and the pieces get smaller towards the middle – that makes no sense to me. The point of a family puzzle is that everyone can work together, but if the entire outside of the puzzle has to be put together before the smaller pieces fit anywhere, you cannot work together; you have to wait for one section to be finished before you can actually begin. Nonsensical in my book.
Even though I almost always work on family puzzles by myself, I like that Cobble Hill family puzzles are made so that everyone can work together.
This side of the puzzle has the large pieces, and takes up the most space. I love the bright colors and fun image, it made for an entertaining assembly.
You can see in this image how the pieces fade from larger to smaller, and it’s pretty seamless and well done. And even though we all know kitties aren’t my preferred animal for puzzle images this was some really beautiful artwork by Amy Rosenberg.
By the way, I’ve had sort of an epiphany about why I enjoy family puzzles so much; and it truly just occurred to me this morning as I was getting ready to type up this post. It’s the sorting! It’s the ease of sorting differently sized pieces that almost buoys my spirits. Sorting is the worst part of puzzles for me, even though my mild OCD requires that I sort; but having it made so much easier and faster because of the different sizes of the pieces makes all the difference. 😎
Stacey loves herself some puppy puzzles, and here’s another one. Look at those adorable faces – completely irresistible!
The scarves on this one were the most difficult part for me, it wasn’t always easy to tell which way things went and what went where. But overall this puzzle wasn’t too terribly challenging, and in the end you get this sweet image of two best friends. Aw!
I’ve been trying for an hour to set up my new computer and get myself onto my blog, and I gotta tell ya – frustrated isn’t quite a harsh enough word for my feelings. My struggle to get myself to the place where I was logged in to WordPress and able to get onto my site has probably caused quite a rise in my blood pressure. My cardiologist would not be happy.
Anyway, I’m finally here and ready to get today’s post up, and afterwards I cross my heart that I will – at last – get my butt back to the table and start a new puzzle. I need to get myself there for many reasons, not the least of which is lowering my blood pressure back to acceptable levels. 😉
Since I finished the Wizard of Oz puzzle I have not put together any puzzle pieces at all. Anxiety, depression, pain, exhaustion have all played their roles in keeping me out of the puzzle room. And I now find myself overwhelmed by the thought of starting any puzzle larger than 300 pieces.
When I finished the Oz puzzle I chose a 1000 piece collage that was to be next; it sat on the board for a couple of days, then my daughter and I spent the weekend making masks, and then I spent Monday and Tuesday doing absolutely nothing. Now, the thought of starting that collage I’d previously chosen makes me uneasy. I don’t know how to describe it to those who haven’t dealt with anxiety, but it feels awful; racing heart, taking deep breaths and taking them too quickly, a sense of dread, a pressure in my chest, etc. – in short, it really, really sucks.
And so, because of that, the next puzzle will be a 200 piece kids puzzle, and then, perhaps a 300 piece; and we’ll see how it goes from there. You might want to get used to seeing smaller piece counts for a while, because that seems to be as much as I can handle at the moment.
So here’s to hoping I can get used to how this new computer works, and happy puzzling today for all of us!
My Jigsaw Journal 