The Thames at Westminster

On January 28, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

I like this image very much and as usual this micro puzzle was a fun assembly. Looking at this picture now, when the puzzle has already been put away, makes me want to take it out again and check the castle whimsy pieces; I wonder if you can line them up and make a bigger castle. Hmmm. 🏰

I’ve been having such a hard time getting back to my puzzling routine that was interrupted by a weeks “vacation” away from home. Side effects from medications and other issues have made it extremely difficult for me to sit at my puzzle table and puzzle for any length of time. I think because of my limitations at the moment I’m extremely picky about what puzzles I want to do; I want easy puzzles, like collages, where I can pick a small group of pieces and assemble them and feel like I’ve accomplished something. I have well over 100 puzzles here at the house, and hundreds more over at moms to choose from but none of them interest me right now. It doesn’t make much sense to me that with so many puzzles available I still can’t find one I want to do.

I’m planning to buy a new chair for puzzling very soon in the hopes that it will be a little more comfortable to sit for more than a minute; which means perhaps soon I’ll be back to my regular puzzles. Yesterday I went on a quick puzzle run with mom and my daughter; I got a couple of cool collages (and a few others) and I’m hoping they will help me get my puzzle juju back soon! 🛍

This is the last of the hospital puzzles – hooray! There are still about 10-15 micro puzzles left I haven’t assembled, but I can pepper them in here and there; there’s no need to do them all at once.

It was such a blessing to me to have puzzles to do to break up the boredom and take my mind off of everything stressful going on. The micro puzzles are small enough to do all at once, which is nice because for some reason laying in bed all day is exhausting; the larger puzzles I assembled took a day or two, but it didn’t matter – I loved them all. Wentworth Wooden Puzzles helped save my sanity. Thanks Wentworth! 💕

Kitchen Cats

On January 27, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles3 Comments

This was my least favorite of the micro puzzle images so far. Unlike many little old lady puzzlers, I don’t have cats and am not a huge fan of cat puzzles either. Still, when I want to puzzle I’ll try just about any image; it’s a real stress reducer for me, and it really works!

Every whimsy in this puzzle was a silhouette of a cat, again not really my cup of tea but absolutely perfect for this puzzle. Otherwise the assembly was the same as most of the other micro puzzles I’ve done, more challenging than you think it will be and ultimately very fun. When I first saw the cut of the Wentworth puzzles I thought they looked too easy, and not challenging at all but they are sometimes quite devious with their cuts and every puzzle has the right amount of difficulty in my opinion.

Cute image, fun to assemble, small enough to take and put together just about anywhere. What’s not to love?

Yosemite Fall

On January 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

Another hospital puzzle, but at least the whimsies in this one made sense. It’s a beautiful image that was a bit more challenging than Fuyune, but luckily my daughter helped me with this one too. I love working puzzles with her. ❤

I liked the whimsy pieces in this puzzle, they went along perfectly with the picture; a squirrel, a butterfly, a rabbit, a bird, and a tree. The assembly took a little more time than what seems to be the average for these micro puzzles, but I had plenty of time for concentrating and puzzle assembly.

This image isn’t one I would normally buy, but because there were only 40 pieces there was absolutely no hesitation when purchasing it. In fact, of all the micro puzzles available at the time there was only one that I didn’t buy – an image of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip; I’m not much of an anglophile, and it didn’t interest me at all. There are several puzzles that I did buy that I would never purchase new in a large piece count. There’s something about such a small amount of pieces that it gives me confidence; I can absolutely do that one, it’s only 40 pieces! 🙂

Fuyune

On January 24, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

I should have pushed the pieces together to take a better picture. Still, even with the less than perfect picture this puzzle is beautiful with a stunning image by Haruyo Morita – so pretty!

My daughter helped me assemble this puzzle, it seemed to be a popular pastime when visiting me. I’m a little cranky and not fun to be around when I don’t feel well so perhaps it was easier to deal with me when I was working on a puzzle? 👼

I can’t figure out why the whimsies in this puzzle are holiday themed, it doesn’t seem to lend itself to the image. It was still a fun assembly, but the incongruency of the whimsy pieces took me out of picture a bit. All in all it was a beautiful puzzle that was fun to put together, I’m really glad I have so many small puzzles that can be done almost anywhere; they’re the best!

Review: We Are All in this Together

On January 22, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

We Are All in this Together by Sandy Miller – Springbok (Thingies) – 60 pieces

I really loved this little puzzle, it was challenging enough to not be boring, small enough to fit the small bedside table I’ve been working with, and very nice quality.

Mom brought me a few puzzles that I can do here in the hospital so I won’t be bored out of my mind staring at the tv, this one was so interesting we assembled it right away, together. I know, a person doesn’t need assistance with a puzzle this small, but we like doing puzzles together and she came to help keep me entertained. It worked!

I’ve never heard of these Springbok Thingies, what a neat concept! Small, round puzzles in small, round boxes that you can take and assemble anywhere. From what I could find online the Thingies were produced in the late 60’s, all with the designs of Sandy Miller, and were quite popular for several years. The one we purchased has a copyright date of 2013, so it seems they have been reissued, I would love to find more of these! They’re rather like the micro puzzles from Wentworth – excellent quality, small piece count puzzles that you can take with you and assemble almost anywhere.

I love that although they are only 60 pieces and they aren’t childish images, they’re actually a bit more challenging and take a little bit of focus. Mom and I had a great time assembling this one. The finish on the pieces didn’t feel the same as larger piece count Springbok puzzles we’ve assembled, it was almost soft and feels really nice in your hand.

I’m hoping mom finds many more of these, we enjoyed this one very much! 🙂

Details: