Puzzling pumpkins

This 1,000-piece "Heirloom Pumpkins" puzzle was a lot harder than I anticipated. The puzzle colors don't match the poster colors and many of the colors are similar. It did provide a nice resting area for Ruby.

This took a long time but I finished before Halloween!

There's one piece missing and I thought I opened this one new. Fortunately, I found the "missing" piece when I was putting the puzzle away!

Halloween puzzle

It's officially fall so it's time to bring out the Halloween puzzle. Piper and I thought this eould be a hard one - it wasn't easy - but once I got going it came together pretty quickly.

Finished and complete!

So many cute details on this one.

Seeing double

I was looking through my stash of puzzles to decide which I should do next and noticed I had this puzzle twice. At least the boxes are different.

It did come in handy when a neighbor asked for a trade for, yes, another cat puzzle.

Heart puzzle

This was one of the puzzles I got from a neighbor. These puzzles that are made up of smaller designs are so easy - not that I'm complaining. And it's complete!

Harvest puzzle

This is one of the puzzles I picked up from a neighbor's porch. Had the note been on the box, I wouldn't have grabbed this one. At least it says where the missing piece is.

Piper usually doesn't bother me when I'm working on a puzzle but here she is ... and caught in the act of taking two(!) pieces in her mouth and racing away. No wonder I lose so many pieces.

It's done but I'm missing three pieces!

Funny that instead of a brand, the tractor says, "Farm Tractor."

Two cereal puzzles

I found this White Mountain cereal puzzle on a yard sale for $1. Can't beat the price but they're one inch bigger than my puzzle board can hold. I got it anyway and decided to add it to the pile of things Cindy bought when she was here.

I added it to her pile and noticed that one of the puzzles she bought when she was here was a White Mountain cereal puzzle. Oops.

But wait. On closer inspection, the two puzzles have different pictures of cereal boxes even though some of the cereal included is the same on both. Who would have thought?

Neighbor’s puzzles

One of my neighbors set a bunch of puzzles out on her porch and posted on FB they were free for the taking. I walked over with the intent of just getting the heart puzzle but then found a couple of others I thought I'd enjoy. I hope others take her up on her offer. I did my part, but she has about a dozen left to get rid of.

Candy cat puzzle

This cat puzzle is so cute and so easy to do. When I took this picture there were two pieces missing but I found one on the floor. What are the odds I'll come across the last missing piece?

Neon sign puzzle

This is a puzzle Cindy bought at a Goodwill when we went thrifting before our Alaskan cruise. I figured I can get it done before she comes to pick up the rest of her shopping finds or before I go visit her and drop them off. I was a little disappointed to pull pieces out of the box and find many still together. You can bet when I give it back to Cindy every one of the 1,000 pieces will be separated.

Ruby kept coming over, wanting to be petted and eventually settled in this sad position on the back of a chair (her favorite place to sit).

And it's done and complete. The edge pieces on this brand (Springbok) are so hard to find. The interior pieces are weird shapes too.

Bird puzzle

Ruby was trying to help put this bird puzzle together.

I got it new so all of the pieces were there and was able to finish it before I leave for Alaska!

Cute cat puzzle

I thought this was going to be my next puzzle. I opened it up and all of the edge pieces had been placed in a bag. I started putting the frame together and it was missing pieces - unless those pieces never got put in the bag. I decided the wait of putting it together and the frustration if those edge pieces are never found just wasn't worth it. Into the recylcing bin it went. So I started another cat puzzle.

Only 750 pieces so it didn't take me long to finish. Yay, it's complete!

The question I have, though, is whose tail is this?

Happy Fourth of July

I chose this "patriotic puzzle" because the Fourth of July was coming up but once I opened it and saw that it wasn't completely taken apart, I had second thoughts.

It's features Keystone, S.D. and it and it had all of its pieces. That was a good roadtrip with the kids. I had printed out multiple choice trivia questions for the long car ride, having them answer which president on Mount Rushmore was the correct answer. We also ended up with a flat tire, ate a lot of Little Caeser's pizza because there weren't a lot of places in town to eat, and watched the July Fourth Mount Rushmore fireworks from our hotel room.

That trip also gave me one of my favorite photos ever of the kids at the monument. We used a "happier" one from the same photo session for our Christmas card that year, but this one tells a better story of that hot day.

‘Traveling Cowboy’ cat puzzle

I was very careful to keep this puzzle covered up when I wasn't working on it.

Regardless, I found seven pieces missing. Seven!! It's headed to the recycling bin.

Quilt block puzzle

This puzzle made me think of our quilter, E. It fit on my puzzle board so all of the pieces were there ... and I didn't take one cat photo during the entire time I put it together. Maybe they've decided my puzzles aren't interesting.

I loved how the puzzle named every quilt block. I even recognized a few. This was a fun puzzle.

Deterring the cats

I need to pay more attention when I'm geting puzzles that they will fit on my puzzle board. This one didn't so I had it (I thought) covered up with enough things overnight that the cats would leave it alone. They did not. I woke up to pieces strewn about the living room and dining room and the puzzle edge all torn apart. That's when I grabbed a tablecloth and put over the puzzle. Now, they're laying on the tablecloth.

The next morning I woke up to the tablecloth and half of the puzzle on the floor. Hmmm.

So then I tried covering it with the tablecloth and anchoring it down at at corners. They still sit on it but hopefully won't knock it off the table.

By some miracle, there are only three pieces missing.

Flashback pantry puzzle

I feel like I'm being watched which, while a bit creepy, is better than having Ruby sitting on the puzzle.

This puzzle is called "Mom's Pantry." Just labels of food items a few decades ago and some still look the same, unless they have changed and I just haven't noticed. Complete!

Cat library puzzle

Piper usually doesn't bother my puzzles, but this one must have been particularly interesting.

Ruby prefers puzzles with bigger boxes. This one doesn't quite fit her.

All done with one piece missing.

New Yorker Impressionism puzzle

I like puzzles of New Yorker magazine covers (they remind me of my mother-in-law who appreciated the cover art) but this Impressionism painting one was hard. I tried to start with the border, then switched to the water and the title. The rest was piece by piece and a lot of luck.

This was a difficult puzzle but it's done ... and surprisingly, complete!

Coffee label puzzle

Uh oh. All of these edge pieces looked very similar so I had to use B's strategy and work from the inside out on this one.

This was such a fun puzzle (and complete)! It was a good idea to do the inside first as the border was hard even with the inside finished.

Such cute graphics and one of the highest-quality puzzles I've found.

I've had coffee in New York and Seattle ... and Hawaii and Costa Rica. OK, I've had coffee everywhere I've traveled. It would be hard to wake up without it.

This ebay seller might be overly optimistic trying to get $78 for this puzzle I paid $1.99 for at Goodwill. I've never seen one from this company before - Anderson Design Group - but I'll keep my eye out for them from now on.

Harder than it looked

This box was taped shut but the condition of this corner didn't give me high hopes that all of the pieces were going to be there.

With the temperature around zero on Saturday, Jan. 24, Andy went to church for the annual congregational meeting while I stayed home and got to work on the puzzle (while watching the meeting on Zoom). This was my progress in a little over two hours.

Finally done a week and a half later. The part with the buildings wasn't too hard, but the sky about did me in. Even with the beat-up box, all of the pieces were there!