Admont Abbey Library

Admont Abbey Library by William Carr – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

This is an absolutely beautiful image, and even though photographic puzzles aren’t my usual fare this one was completely enjoyable. I remember that I bought this one new, but when and from where is completely erased from this old lady brain. It’s been floating around the puzzle room for years because it just looked too difficult, or too dull, or not enough of something else; I’m glad I finally decided to give it a go, it was well worth the wait.

Excellent Ravensburger quality, as usual, with an exceptionally good fit – almost good enough to stand on it’s edge, but not quite. The colors seem muted, but in reality are brighter than shown on the box. My one peeve about this puzzle is that the image on the box was covered in two different places, and there was no poster on the inside of the box to make up for that. Honestly, why companies continue to cover up parts of the image with their redundant branding is so confounding and annoying. It is for me anyway.

This is another puzzle where a closeup isn’t really needed, you can see what there is to see. It’s a beautiful picture of a stunning library that looks too beautiful to have people traipsing in and out and touching things. It made for a wonderful build that I am so glad I finally tried. Loved this one!

Midnight in the Garden

Midnight in the Garden by Ute Thonissen – Ravensburger – 368 pieces

Um…..you may be shocked to hear this, but I didn’t like this Ravensburger puzzle at all. It’s one of the Escape series and it was my first time with these puzzles; I didn’t really understand the concept and I don’t think the instructions are helpful at all. I won’t be writing a lot about this. It’s another type of mystery puzzle and I don’t like to spoil things for others who may enjoy them, so I don’t discuss solutions or show the entire finished image.

This puzzle made me feel stupid because I don’t think that you are given enough information to begin with, and I found it extremely confusing.

If you just want to assemble the puzzle you can do that, but I have a warning for you – do not assemble the border first. It’s very dark, it’s hard to distinguish if you have the correct piece because all the pieces seem to be interchangeable. It’s frustrating if you try to start with the edges, so just don’t.

I really wanted a fun puzzle to play with today but this was not fun for me. 😥

Lily

Lily by Sasha Fortova – Ravensburger (Puzzle Moment) – 200 pieces

This image is so different and gorgeous, I just had to have it! And I love the smaller piece count puzzles that are not childish looking for us “adults” who enjoy smaller puzzles sometimes. Plus I found it in the sale section at Puzzle Warehouse, so I got it at a discount – bonus!

I love that this 200 piece puzzle doesn’t have large pieces. Don’t get me wrong, I love a large piece puzzle too, but sometimes I just want a smaller puzzle with regular pieces, and there aren’t many of those around in my to do pile. In addition, this was the best quality Ravensburger puzzle I’ve done in quite some time. The finish is matte and the image reproduction is beautiful, and it’s the best fitting Ravensburger I think I’ve ever done IN MY LIFE!

That’s quite the statement, I know. But take it from someone who has done hundreds of Ravensburger puzzles, this was the best fit I’ve ever had. Never have I been able to stand up one of their puzzles, but…

Not only does this one stand up, it’s very tall, and that makes it even harder to do. Usually landscape oriented puzzles stand up best, the taller ones don’t have the integrity to withstand it – but this one did with no problem at all. I was amazed, truly. This was a wonderful quality puzzle with such a stunning image that I cannot possibly get rid of it.

I rarely keep cardboard puzzles unless there’s a sentimental value for me. I have one of my grandmother’s puzzles, several puzzles mom and I did together and loved, but probably 99% of the cardboard puzzles I do get sent on to a friend or donated to the local thrift store, senior center, or the VA where we live. But this little beauty stays with me, it’s fantastic!

Aristocats In Progress…

Aristocats – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces

This one got started two days ago, but there was almost no work at all done on it yesterday. Most of this assembly was done on day one, although I did put in a lot of the piano yesterday evening. It was going pretty well that first day, and I was thoroughly enjoying myself; hopefully when I get back to it later on today (if a morning nap helps to revive me) it’ll be just as much fun.

Thursday I took my son out later in the afternoon/evening, and it really wore me out. I spent almost all day Friday in bed trying to recover – still trying to recover this morning, actually. I got out of bed to take this picture and type up a small blurb about it, and then I’m right back to bed again.

I’m hoping when I do get back to the board that it continues to be as enjoyable as that first day – this movie for me in particular holds very dear memories of my momma. I’m missing her, but thinking of those memories also makes me smile. 💗

Admont Abbey Library In Progress…

Admont Abbey Library by William Carr – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

This puzzle is going together rather well, which is not anything like what I’d envisioned. I stayed away from this puzzle for quite a few years, it just looked so muted and as if it would be very difficult; but it hasn’t been that way at all. This poor thing has been shuffled around and around always not making the cut cause I was too scared to try it that day, or not in the mood, or whatever reason I told myself. Thank goodness I finally took the plunge because it’s been way more fun than it looks!

The pieces seem brighter than the image on the box, although it’s still quite muted in color. But it’s not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. One small section leads to another and things are going much more smoothly than anticipated.

I’m having lots more fun than I’d even hoped for!