After I finished Art City yesterday my brain and my body were both exhausted. I spent the rest of the day in bed taking many naps, and was worried that I’d have no in progress update to share with you all today. 😥
Unfortunately an upsetting thing happened in the evening, and even though I was still exhausted (I’m certain adding antibiotics to my pain regimen is part of the problem) I couldn’t turn my brain off enough to allow me to sleep.
As usual, when I can’t sleep it’s off to the puzzle room, and I was able to sort the entire thing and actually got quite a bit of it assembled too. Every cloud has a silver lining, yadda yadda yadda.
There were plenty of small sections that were easy to separate during the sorting, but other than the white kitten I didn’t try to sort any of the animals. There are many, many pieces of fur left on the trays, but I hope as I’m putting this one together that the different animals will become a little more familiar and it won’t be too much of a chore to get them assembled.
This puzzle was a Christmas gift, and I was going to apologize for how long it took me to get to assembling it – but it’s only been just over two weeks! How in the world does it feel like Christmas was forever ago? My life is whizzing past me at breakneck speeds; perhaps that’s just what happens when you’re over the hill, you’re on the down slope and speeds pick up. Yikes.
To that end, there are eight more puzzles I received as gifts, and to the two lovely ladies who gave them to me, it might be a while until they’re all assembled. The two Christmas themed puzzles may have to wait until December, but the remaining six will find their way onto my table in due course. I promise that I love them all and will absolutely be assembling them, but it may take a while.
My life complicates things all the time, and it gets in the way of my puzzling. Rude. 🤨
After sitting on my board unsorted for two days, I finally got going on Art City, a 1001 piece wooden puzzle from Mr. Bob Puzzles in Australia.
The colors are beautiful, and most of the pieces have a straight or almost straight edge, so the assembly isn’t as easy as it looks. This is a large puzzle, approximately 19 x 31 inches, so the start I have here isn’t very much of the image at all, there’s a lot more to go!
This puzzle has a lot of great whimsies, and they are all roaring 20’s, jazz, and art deco inspired. I love them all, and there are several words mixed in with the whimsies that are lots of fun; my favorite of course is my name…
If only I had thought to ask for “My Jigsaw Journal” spelled out in pieces, that would be amazing! Maybe on the next puzzle…. 😁
To be honest, the first day I poured the pieces onto the board the sheer number of pieces and the large pile it made completely overwhelmed me. I put the whimsies on trays, but stopped there and did nothing on it the rest of the day, and didn’t even go in the puzzle room the day after that. I wish I could say my anxiety was under control, but it isn’t, and even though puzzling helps me deal with anxiety and reduce stress, it’s only once I’m actually working on the puzzle that this holds true. Before I start the actual assembly there are many, many pieces to turn over and lay out, and that’s where the anxiety comes in. I’m doing my best, and I have medication, but I still get stressed when I see a huge box or pile of pieces. Anxiety sucks.
It’s the annual review of my puzzling exploits, and 2019 was quite a year. A total of 203 puzzles were assembled that add up to 91,051 pieces! I set myself goals last year, but I couldn’t have known what the year would bring, and that for more than two and a half months I wouldn’t be doing any puzzles at all.
So, no more puzzling goals for me, other than to do the puzzles that excite me and make me happy, and to spend my puzzle time enjoying myself.
Municipal Bldg. NY – Pastime Puzzles? – 1600 pieces
5 pounds of vintage wooden puzzle pieces!
My greatest puzzling accomplishment of 2019 was the Mystery Puzzle Box that I assembled with mom; a box of loose vintage puzzle pieces that I bought on eBay. We had no idea what the image was, or even whether or not it was just one puzzle or many smaller ones. It turned out to be a 1600 piece one of a kind hand-cut Pastime Puzzle of the Municipal Building in New York, and we then found out it that was potentially over 100 years old! Mom and I spent many weeks putting it together; marveling over the fantastic shapes and the unbelievable fit, and in general loving the puzzle and loving spending lots of time together. I am unbelievably grateful that we had that extra time together working on this puzzle, and I cherish every moment we spent assembling it. 💝
Pretending to be Normal by Suzy Toronto – White Mountain – 1000 pieces
2019 will always be the year I lost mom, and as I write this recap of my thoughts are mostly of her and all the puzzles we worked on together. Pretending to be Normal is the last puzzle she ever did, and the last puzzle we assembled together. It will always be special to me, and once it is reassembled it will be glued and framed to hang on the wall in my puzzle room. I loved it even before I knew it would be our last, and I love it even more now. ❤
Save The Whales by Robert Williams – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 515 pieces
Best Friends by Dean Russo – Starz Puzzles – 158 pieces
The Messenger by Kevin Sloan – Artifact – 313 pieces
Air Vent Kitty – Avanti – 150 pieces
Farmer’s Market by Tracy Flickinger – Ceaco – 300 pieces
Harry Potter Book 1 by Mary GrandPre – NY Puzzle Co. – 100 pieces
These are some of the amazing, wonderful, fun, and silly puzzles completed this year. Save The Whales is a gorgeous 500+ piece puzzle from Australia that I was so happy to be able to review, the image is stunning! Best Friends is the most expensive puzzle of the year for it’s small piece count – another review that I was privileged to do – and I loved the fantastic quality and unique star shaped pieces. Show Cat is a silly little 300 piece Ceaco puzzle that made mom and I laugh hysterically when we saw it at the thrift store, I just had to get it. Petrified Wood Mosaicis another thrift store find of moms, I loved the uniqueness of the image and the challenge of the assembly. When I see it I think of mom, and I’ve glued and hung it as artwork; it’s just beautiful! The Messenger is a gorgeous wooden puzzle sent by my fellow puzzle blogger Penny. Mom and I loved the assembly, and it was our last wooden puzzle together. Air Vent Kitty is a very small 150 piece puzzle that mom and I assembled sitting on my bed, and it makes me think of her and how much she loved those tiny little pieces. Farmer’s Market is part of a series of three puzzle images that I adore, and I had the best time assembling the two that we found – great fun! Harry Potter Book 1 (and the other 6 too) were a gift from my beautiful daughter; 100 piece puzzles of the Harry Potter book covers, and I assembled and loved every single one!
I’m so grateful to have this blog as an outlet for my obsession for and love of jigsaw puzzles, and even more so as a reminder of all the puzzles I’ve assembled both by myself and with mom. Everyone who stops by is welcome and appreciated, and all the puzzle friends I’ve met are a bright spot in my life. Thank you to all my readers and members of the PADS Posse for another great year! I’m sending out wishes for a wonderful new year full of puzzles and happiness.
My Jigsaw Journal’s Stats for 2019
115 countries viewed My Jigsaw Journal
11,786 visitors to the blog
54,732 total views
304 posts
203 puzzles completed
91,051 pieces assembled
50 brands worked
1 PADS diagnosis 😉
There are plenty of other stats I could give, but to be honest I just don’t feel like spending my time compiling them. I have puzzles to assemble!
To all my family, friends, puzzle pals and members of the PADS Posse I wish you a healthy, safe, joyous and prosperous year filled with laughter, love, and hopefully some fantastic puzzles!
Most importantly, may you have plenty of opportunities to spend time with those you love and care for. 💖
This is technically two days worth of work but most of the day yesterday was spent away from home, and therefore away from my puzzle board. I did slip away to the board last night (insomnia, yay) and worked on it for a little while; it’s a bit of a challenge, and I find I’m enjoying the slow coming together of the image.
The pieces and I are getting to know each other, and every time I go through my trays looking for something specific we get more and more acquainted. Once I start seeing them over and over, and seeing the assembled bits and what might attach to them I get more familiar with the pieces and the overall image. What looked like a bunch of pieces that were very much alike are now becoming old friends, and when I get ready to assemble that curtain or a specific book I know which pieces I’m looking for and what tiny little blob of color on a certain piece will fit perfectly.
Sometimes I like a quick fix, a little puzzle with few pieces that goes together quickly, especially after working a larger or difficult puzzle. But sometimes I truly enjoy the challenge of a puzzle that takes a bit more brain power and goes together more slowly. This is one of those puzzles.
Aimee Stewart’s images are my happy place, and I’ve assembled many of them. The colors she uses and the way she blends them together makes for not only a beautiful image, but for puzzles that are pleasing to look at and even more pleasing to build. This one is going together more slowly than usual for a 1000 piece puzzle, but I’m enjoying the placement of every piece. 😍
My Jigsaw Journal 