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.