Christmas 2019

Well, I always think I will have plenty of time for puzzling, but invariably Christmas is always busy and I never seem to have the time I want. However, I did manage an impressive number of puzzle - due in part to my Gibson's advent calendar. I had received one last year (12 puzzles) and asked again this year and was delighted to be given one as a gift. The 2 boxes combined gave me 24 puzzles which built up 2 little streets in the run up to Christmas eve. I also got a Gibson's puzzle bauble and a Wentworth cracker for Christmas day. Added into that a few other puzzles here and there and it hasn't been a bad December. I got a number of puzzles as presents, but these will now have to wait until the New Year I think - what a lovely position to be in. 

Time taken: who knows - it's Christmas. 

Basset Hound Puppies - Puzzle Mania (1000 pieces)

A very sweet little puzzle, but sadly the card was very thin and some of the pieces were beginning to fall about. I began with the white parts of the dogs and then added in the rest of their bodies. Luckily the green sections were slightly different shades which meant they weren't too difficult. 

Time taken: 2 evenings 

BCD Meeting - Lingfield

The theme of the day was 'children at play' at one member had brought along a whole host of 'Giles' puzzles. Knowing nothing of the cartoonist (must be my age!!) I was interested to learn more about him and the puzzles were delightful. I enjoyed completing this one with a friend before being tempted away by a fiendishly tricky 1000 piece puzzle which I didn't quite manage to finish. 

Time take: 1 hour 

The Veranda - Unicef Puzzles (1200 pieces)

I wasn't sure I was going to like this one due to the lack of definition in the painting. However, it was actually rather nice. I began with areas of blue before moving onto the floor and then the table. This left the left hand side of the puzzle which came together slowly but surely. Not wonderful, but a perfectly nice was to spend a day. 

Time taken: day

Fun around the pool - Jumbo Puzzles (1500 pieces)

I've been slowly working my way through a large collection of donated puzzles and am now completing those over 1000 pieces. This is not too bad in itself, other than my puzzling table now having enough space to really spread out the pieces. Anyway, that minor problem aside it was a lovely puzzle to do with a friend. We tackled the edges first, then water, fencing, sky and diving board. The main section of the crowded pool was last and was definitely the trickiest part - but still enjoyable finding all the different people and what they were up to. 

Time taken: day

London Underground Poster Series

Each one of these vintage posters was 300 pieces which made for a lovely 20 minute time filler whilst waiting for tea to cook. I didn't select them in a particular order, just grabbed a bag from the box. Each puzzle followed roughly the same format....edges, wording, bright areas of colour and then finer details. I think the zoo one was my favourite and the landscape one my least favourite - I'm not keen on people and faces really. The best bit was that this was gifted to me by a member of the BCD and has already been reserved by someone else so the joy will continue. 

Time taken: 20 minutes per puzzle spread over a couple of weeks 

BCD Quarterly Meet - Alton

The theme was 'birds' and there were some real beauties on offer to tickle our jigging taste buds. I settled myself with a cardboard one until I was tempted away by this beautiful little owl. Not only is the edging quite unique the inner owl has been line cut so we ended up with an owl shaped hole which we then filled. As for the cardboard one...although it was lovely...it proved just a little too large for the day. 

Back to school reality

I think it is most telling that then only puzzle I have managed at home this month is a National Trust miniature....ah well, only 4 weeks until half term....

Summer holiday bliss

As a teacher I long for the summer holidays - not for the normal reasons people have- holidays, lie ins, lazy lunches...Nope! The reason I like the long summer holidays is that I get far more time for jigsaws. This summer has proved to be a bumper year I have been treated to more puzzles than I really knew what to do with. To write a review for each would be a never ending task so I will simply say that I enjoyed them all and wish the summer holidays would just carry on...

Tweet Tweet

As many of you know I am a member of the BCD - The Benevolent Confraternity of Dissectologists to give it it's full title. It is a subscription-based club for followers of Jigsaw Puzzles.

Well, if anyone is on Twitter then you may be interested to know that the group now has a Twitter profile: @bcd_the

Currently only following a few people, but would love to grow the network...

Spaghetti Junction (750 pieces)

Yep, you read that right - a jigsaw puzzle about spaghetti junction - and you know what, I quite enjoyed it. I started with the patch of yellow/brown earth and then began to put in the white chevrons and grass. It was quite pleasing to work out where all the different roads were coming from and going to. The last part of the puzzle was all the houses and factories and even they were mildly pleasing - not sure what this all says about me...

BCD Meeting - Tintern

We chose Tintern for our summer meeting because of the beautiful views of the Abbey and with the hope that a summer date would give us beautiful sunshine and an extended day. How wrong could we be - thanks to the British weather most of us arrived in torrential rain. However jigging spirits can never be dampened and with a wide theme of 'Canals, Rivers and Lakes' there were plenty of 'wet' puzzles to complete. I spent most of the day with a group completing a very pretty WHSmith puzzle and by the time that was finished the weather had cleared enough for a quick walk to the Abbey. 

Bodleian Library miniature

It's always interesting to see which organisations want to be associated with Wentworth and which organisations Wentworth are happy to be associated with. I wasn't surprised to find a Wentworth puzzle during my tour of the Bodleian library in Oxford and quickly snapped it up. 

Time taken: 5 minutes 

Plumber collection continuing

So, I'm still ploughing my way through the large collection of puzzles I was given by a friend. Most have been complete which is good news as it means they can be sold on. I have had one disaster, which was missing 10 pieces, but the cut and quality was poor so it wasn't too much of a worry.  This chunk included an 'Impossipuzzle' which claim to be really difficult, but people shouldn't be put off by this. The 'Sprout' puzzle only took a day and there were clear areas to work on. 

More miniatures...

Nothing much to say - a quiet five minutes looking at a beautiful place take shape. 

Someone's getting rid of puzzles...

I have a friend who is a plumber (and a brilliant one at that). Anyway, he contacted me recently to say he was working for a lady who was having a clear out. Would I be interested in some puzzles. OF COURSE!! They were delivered to me within the week and what a haul - and such variety - there was everything from Puzz-3D, to Photomosaics and Waddington's circular. It was clear that the collection had been started some time ago so there was no guarantee on puzzles being complete as hardly any were bagged. Anyway, still a fantastic haul. I have made my way through several now - starting with the smaller ones first. Lots still to do - but I'm not complaining...