What’s in Progress?

assorted puzzle game

I have no motivation at all this week. I’m working on a 500 piece Sunsout puzzle with lots of hummingbirds and flowers in the puzzle room, but to be honest it’s too much effort to get out of bed and take a picture of it. 😐

It’s not really the fault of the image, I’m just having a bad month so far. Mom found a Titantic puzzle that I was planning to have ready for April 15 (the day it sank), but I just couldn’t find the gumption to get it started. It’s an interesting image that I will eventually assemble, it just isn’t going to happen right now.

So what are you puzzling at the moment; something wonderfully bright and interesting, something difficult and frustrating? What’s on your board right now?

Herb Farm Friends

Herb Farm Friends
Herb Farm Friends by Nancy Wernersbach – Cardinal – 1000 pieces

This is a beautiful puzzle, but the flowers were such a PAIN! I knew they would be going in, and at times had to do a little internal cheerleading to keep myself going. When it was all said and done it’s a pretty image that was both entertaining and highly frustrating. 😉

This Cardinal puzzle actually had some whimsies, but they were awful to work with on my white board – they kept sliding around and making me crazy. My fabric covered board was occupied with another puzzle, perhaps I should have waited to assemble this one on the fabric board. Hmm.

Herb Farm Friends whimsies

I appreciate that extra work that goes in to making whimsies in a cardboard jigsaw puzzle, but these whimsy pieces added to the frustration if I’m being honest. The pieces that surrounded them almost never connected until you got 2 layers out, and there was much accidental touching of the pieces that made everything come apart. I’ve worked some cardboard puzzles with whimsy pieces that connect around the figural piece to keep things together, it would have been nice if these had been designed that way as well.

I’d love to tell you this was a fun puzzle, but although I enjoyed parts of it, the majority of my time was spent being frustrated with both the image and the whimsies. 😐

Air Vent Kitty

Air Vent Kitty
Air Vent Kitty – Avanti – 150 pieces

These pocket puzzles are so much fun to work with, there’s something completely entertaining and absorbing about the tiny little pieces. The entire puzzle fits into a test tube container that you could take anywhere – love that! ❤

All the silly pictures of the animals help with the entertainment factor, they’re much more fun to assemble than the dreaded Winter Aspen was. These are not only much smaller piece counts than that was, but much more interesting and colorful images too.

Mom told me after I posted the Corn Chipmunk that I needed to put something next to the puzzle for scale, to show how small they really are. They’re pretty darned tiny, but with nothing else beside them you can’t gauge the size…Air Vent Kitty 1

I’ve got 3 more of these fun, funny puzzles to assemble and I’m looking forward to every single one! Tried a mini puzzle before? I think they’re wonderfully fun and recommend giving them a try. 😍

Three Hunters

3 Hunters
Three Hunters? – ? – 340 pieces

This is another vintage wooden puzzle that mom and I assembled. It was great fun, with an amazing fit that you wouldn’t believe! We know absolutely nothing about this puzzle – it came without a box so we don’t know the maker or name of the image. Still, it’s lovely and mom and I enjoyed it very much.

At only 340 pieces it was much quicker the the municipal building, but it was still quite difficult. There’s something about a vintage image like this that makes all the colors seem fuzzy and indistinct which adds quite a bit to the challenge. I love the softness of the look even though it adds to the difficulty for me.

I really had a great time with this puzzle, it’s beautifully made and has a lovely image.

Vintage Bicycle

Vintage Bicycle
Vintage Bicycle – Ravensburger – 300 pieces

Normally photographic puzzles aren’t my thing, but this had such beautiful image reproduction and great quality – I couldn’t help but love it!

Ravensburger 300 piece puzzles are awesome quality, there’s something about the large pieces that helps you appreciate even more the fantastic chipboard and finish; I adore them. ❤

Buying them retail can be a bit pricey, so pretty much every one I’ve owned or assembled has been from a thrift store. It’s no big deal to pay $1.99 for one when you know that they’re six times as expensive purchased new. I do love a bargain.

I’m so grateful there are so many 300 piece puzzles out there to choose from for those of us with physical issues that make it difficult to sit for long periods or handle smaller pieces. Thankfully I live in Florida, the land of retirees, so there are plenty of 300 piece puzzles in the thrift stores around here for me find and enjoy. 🙂